Thursday, April 8, 2010

FlashForward: Season 1 Episode 15 - Queen Sacrifice

Hello Future Dwellers! Another crazy episode of FlashForward in the books with their biggest twist yet! We better enjoy them while we can, because with the ratings dwindling each week, it's not looking like this one will be a candidate for renewal.  Fingers crossed though!   Anyway, I enjoyed this episode as well.  But compared to last week's Somalia outing, it was a little bit of a slower pace until the ending sequence.  And CHEESY LINES galore!  ("Find Dyson Frost yesterday" anyone?)  Let's dive into the recap.  I will try my best to be brief again!

The episode followed a few different storylines during the episode.  There was Keiko's search for Bryce and adventures in sketchy car repair land.  This paired up with Bryce and Nicole's "day before chemo takes over" adventures.  Olivia and Mark are trying out a separation after last episode's fallout.  Olivia has a couple run-ins that we'll discuss for a second.   And of course, the main plot was Mark and Vogel tracking down the mole at the FBI.   Let's dive in.


Mark Moves Out / Lloyd Moves In

3 Years Before the Blackout
We learn that this is not the first time Olivia worried about their family.  3 years prior, Mark was shot close to the heart while on duty.  Olivia wanted them to reassess things now that they have a child.  She couldn't handle the stress of his dangerous job.  So Mark tells her he'll accept Wedeck's offer for a counter-terrorist position which involves a lot of stakeouts and burritos (what we saw him and Demetri doing in the Pilot episode).   Looks like that didn't work out with the blackout fallout!  But Mark did utter the famous last words "Family comes first!"   And that seems to be where we are today.


Present Day
We see Mark heading out and saying he's going to crash at the Wedeck residence for awhile.  They both seemed resistent to the idea, but they're doing it anyway!  Mark wants to keep his family out of danger.  Charlie is clearly upset.  Remember when we thought Mark had attempted to change the future by burning that friendship bracelet Charlie gave him?   Well, Charlie noticed he lost it and made him another one.  She even helped him put it on.   She wants to keep the bad guys away.  The future happening yet again.



Olivia and Charlie's Day at the Amusement Park
Olivia tries to take Charlie's mind off of the separation by taking her on a bunch of rides.  Although we see some creepy guy stalking them.  No fear, even though Olivia took precautions and ran away with Charlie, it's only a security guard hired by Mark.  Hmmm you think you would tell someone about that!?


Lloyd's Epiphany
Back at the FBI, we see Simon and Lloyd catching up on some events that have led them to where they are.  Long story short, Lloyd needs to go see Olivia to see if he can uncover more of the formula he saw on the mirror.  Let's dive into more of the long story!

  • They learned from the tower in Somalia that Dyson Frost and crew were using Tachyonic Dark matter before the concept was even possible.  
  • Lloyd then tells Simon about the formulas he sees in his flash forward but he couldn't see all of it.  This leads him to go see Olivia to see what she saw.  
  • He heads to the hospital and while Olivia is leaving a message for Mark telling him how much she still loves him he barges in talking to Mrs. Benford!  
  • Anyway, we jump back into Olivia's Flash and she does get a glimpse of the mirror.  Most of it she could not understand but she did notice one part of the formula C2HBrClF3 Halothane which is an anesthetic of some type.  


  • This delivers Lloyd a revelation that QED was for a Quantum Entanglement Device.  He realizes that this is what he and Mark were working on in the flash.   He apologizes to Olivia for harassing her and she understands he's just trying to save the world.  It is awfully convenient though that he just happens to be around right when Mark moves out.  I sense this will happen more often! 
  • Kudos, btw, to one of the commenters on the blog who called Quantum Entanglement Device a couple episodes back.  If you recall in Revelation Zero, Simon asks Dental Flosso if the ring he was wearing during the blackout was some sort of Quantum Entanglement Device.   So yes, it does look like they will be trying to create a device that would make people immune to the blackouts.  Not sure how they could mass produce that though, but maybe that's not the plan.   And why would they need some type of anesthesia as part of a device meant to keep people awake!? 


Bryce and Keiko's Near Misses
Keiko's LA Adventures
Keiko looks to be just hoping Bryce walks into her life one of these days.  She is hanging out at the restaurant where they're supposed to meet every day and night.  Although, she does not have much money to get by on.  So she goes out looking for something that requires no work via.  (oh and she's learning english too) 

  • Keiko goes to some sketchy neighborhood where there are a bunch of cars with hydraulics and all. And she starts talking the Robotic Arm talk and everything and she lands herself a job with crazy tattoo guy.  

  • The guy ends up giving her a pretty tough job when they get to the car shop.  Obvious "hiring masseuse" jokes happen buy "the other guys" around and Tattoo guy defends Keiko.  He calls her part of the family.  
  • That night she hits up the sushi restaurant with this dude and guess what?  It coincided with Bryce being outside!  But he ended up not coming in....we'll talk about why in a second.  Keiko talks to the other guy about following her destiny and he totally respects that.  He, on the other hand, did not talk about his flash saying it wasn't as positive or something like that.  I wonder how important this guy will end up being in the scheme of things?  Or just in the story of Bryce and Keiko? 
  • The next day at work the Police Immigration Unit busts in on the squad and Keiko is arrested with a lot of the other crew for not having work VISAs.  Oh man...if Bryce had just walked into that restaurant she most likely wouldn't have been there to get arrested.  Darn the luck!  Tattoo guy seems to have a plan though so we'll see!    Oh and by the way, the Police Van drives by Bryce as he's on the phone with Nicole's voicemail and he looks right at it.  That crazy Fate is a fickle b#$%& (Had to borrow a line from Ben Linus on the one and only LOST!  Well I couldn't let an episode go by without one!) 

Bryce and Nicole
Nicole decides to stick with Bryce during his chemotherapy.  And since it is 24 hours before the sickness part kicks in, she's gonna take him out for a night on the town! 
  • They pass by the sushi place where Nicole wants to eat.  Bryce complains that if he does meet Keiko that might mean he'd have to eat that stuff that tastes like someone's thyroid all of the time.  Good times! 
  • Bryce says that he guesses he could get the teriyaki if she has sushi.  (this sounds like me and my wife!  She loves sushi...me?  Not so much, so I always go for chicken Teriyaki!)   Then he pulls out the cancer card which was kinda much.   But not the biggest  doofus thing he did.  He actually KISSED Nicole!  She pulled back though because he was talking about Keiko the whole time.  

  • By the way, loved the Gizmo/Gremlins reference! 
  • Obviously, we saw this coming.  Bryce is going to have to make a choice between Nicole and Keiko.  And of course, this kiss made them forget the sushi place and he will make it up to her with a burger.  As they walk away we see Keiko sitting by the window.  Woa...

  • The next day when Bryce was on the phone he was apologizing to Nicole for the kiss, but then decided he wasn't sorry and thinks she's great.  Hmmm interesting....I wonder how this Keiko thing is gonna go down!?


MOSAIC LOCKDOWN

Two things going on in this story.  Mark was trying to get closer and closer to finding D. Gibbons (Dyson Frost), and in the midst of it, trying to find the mole in the FBI.  The 2 seem to get intermingled. 

Somalia Debriefing 
  • We see the entire D. Gibbons video that Demetri and Simon watched at the end of last week.  You know the one where Dyson Frost said hi to Demetri 19 years before it happened?
   
  • Turns out that Dyson has had hundreds of flash forwards!! woa.  And in nearly "ALL OF HIS FUTURES" he ends up dying on March 15th.   Hmm, all of his futures eh?   This whole "POSSIBLE" future seems to be the key.  Things definitely can be changed from what they saw as we have proven.  But maybe after various flashes they can kind of predict what's going to happen.  Hmmm, what if we do get another blackout PRIOR to April 29th and again it's a flash of 4/29 but with different outcomes?  That would be kind of crazy, right?  Probably not, but it would be interesting!  It would seem that they can Flash forward to different periods of time.  Although we don't know if it's unpredictable or they can set a time they want to see.  I believe in the novel they flash to something like 20 years in the future.  But it was not a conspiracy in the book, just a crazy accident.  
  • And of course we cannot forget that March 15th is also the day that Demetri is supposed to die, which 1991 Dyson Frost also knew.  He assumes that the Global blackout was successful (so it was planned back then?  Or maybe they flashed and saw that it actually happened and THEN planned it).   He also referred to the "near miss" in Pigeon, Utah.  Pretty nuts!    Dyson then says for the end game, the next move is Mark Benford's.  For the rest of the episode, we see Mark trying to track him down. 
  • Dyson did discuss the concept of narrowing outcomes which seemed to be hinting towards another blackout.   Mark brings Demetri into the fold on the possibility of another blackout.   So the narrowing outcomes concept does seem to suggest that the more flash forwards they have, the better chance of predicting the future.  For what purpose?  Still don't know!   But Wedeck wants Frost like YESTERDAY guys!  (so cheesy!)

Mark gets a Lead
Demetri attempts to get information on Dyson Frost and fails.  Mark, on the other hand, hit the jackpot with researching chess tournaments.  Now all of this that followed was a bit of a stretch! 
  • Dyson placed 3rd in a league in 1987.   He beat a guy named Ian McKinnon, reigning champion, using a gutsy move called the Queen Sacrifice.  Forcing the opponent to take their queen so that they can force a checkmate.  When Mark called Ian and mentioned Frost, he hung up.
  • But that's not all, Dyson made moves every 2 or 4 seconds and each game had 50 oves and then he'd resign.  They figure out that it's a Morse Code for a prepaid cell phone number.  Mark dials the number and Dyson's voicemail picks up "Well Done, leave a message"  Benford's response: "Dyson Frost.  Agent Benford.  Your Move!"    I just don't know about all of that.  Would Dyson Frost really have gone to all of that trouble for Mark to find it 23 years later?  And how in 1987 did he have the phone number?  How could he have been flashing in the 80's too when they thing wasn't invented until 1991 (when even then it couldn't be invented?)    Do somewhere in the distant future, someone invents time travel and comes back and gives Dyson Frost a machine that will allow him to flash forward?   I'm totally kidding, but that's the only thing that makes sense to me! 

  • Anyway, Mark and Demetri go to San Francisco to track down Ian McKinnon and guess what?  He was killed!  And it was near a giant Chess Board.  Crazy right?   Was that near Ian's house or something?  Why would Mark and Demetri just happen to stumble upon this crime scene for any other reason?  Oh well...TV show Mike, it's just a TV show! 


Interrogation of the Mosaic Squad
So, 2 minutes later Mark is back in Los Angeles (TV show Mike, TV show!) talking to Vogel.  They figure out that this has to be the work of the mole.  Everyone keeps getting tipped off or dead.  Mark makes an analogy to blast fishing and watching all the fish go to the top of the water.  "It was ugly, but it worked"  (cheesy!!)   Vogel "Game on!  Don't forget who your friends are."  (major cheesy!)   But Benford tops the cheese with "What's unacceptable is one of them is my enemy."    Oh my, who is writing this stuff?   

Don't worry though, Dental Flosso still takes the cake with "My name is Flosso and I am a villain."  Ouch

  • So, everyone important in the FBI assembles in the board room: Janis, Vreede, Wedeck, Demetri, This boy, That boy, RPG Guy, Marcie, Simon and a few others

  • I can honestly say I do not remember ever seeing Marcie on this show but it turns out she has been in several episodes!  Now that I think about it, she was probably one of those minor players in scenes like Al Gough was.  
  • Stan, Janis and Demetri are visibly annoyed.  We think this is going to be the start of the rift between Mark and Demetri.  But Mark quickly puts an end to that.  Mark tells Demetri that he doesn't think he's the mole, but he needs everyone else to think he's questioning all of them. 
  • Of course, they did find out that Mark's office was bugged.  the "M" key on his keyboard was a audio sensitive transmitter.  I didn't understand why Vogel singing would disrupt it though.  Just a good excuse to hear his awful voice?  I dunno. 

  • We do find out that Seth McFarland (Family Guy) is an FBI agent.  (apparently he was in the first episode as well.  Go Figure!)   He was afraid of these mole investigators finding out about his Role Playing Game habit at work.  Warlocks of Avalon eh?  Invisibility Capes too?  Neat!   

  • Janis tries to provide an alibi for where she has been when she was missing work.  Only 8 visits were to fertility clinics.  She said that ever since she was shot she has been looking into other people.  Marcie apparently has a half brother who is very sick and there was an anonymous payment of $50,000 to pay for his bills.  They let Janis go but Vogel and Mark still have some trust issues. 
  • Demetri thought she resolved the Marcie story by finding out that she did report her half brother's sickness.  Mark gets frustrated and has a semi-heart to heart with Demetri about splitting up with Olivia temporarily.  "I'm okay. No, I'm not.  No....No"   Seriously, who is writing this stuff!? 
  • Then, crazy "see things out of nowhere" Mark comes back into play as she sees Marcie's coffee habits.  While investigating various surveillance video clips they notice that Marcie only put sugar in the coffee on milestone events when they got leads.  Somalia and the DC trip (Janis's shooting), Pigeon Utah.  They look up right at Marcie and she knows she has been made. 

  • Marcie turns into the ultimate evil girl and goes on a shooting spree..shooting poor RPG guy and then a ton of other people.  Just when we thing she is going to get away on the back of a motorcycle, Janis comes out of nowhere and shoots the driver into the water and then she and Marcie get in a nice fist fight.  Good times!  Janis gets the bad guy!  YES!!   Mark tells her she was right and she earns his trust.  

  • Stan talks later with Mark about wanting to be let in on the Mole Investigation.  He knew that Demetri was told and that Stan was manipulated for the greater good.  He refers to it as a Queen Sacrifice.  Mark wanted to know how Wedeck knew about that term. hmmmmmm  We have been speculating on if Stan would end up being the mole.  Could he be another one involved still?  Could he have been tapping into Mark's conversations?   Time will tell. 
  • Meanwhile Dyson Frost calls Mark back and said that now that their mole problem is fixed, he looks forward to meeting.  He'll be in touch.   It seems like Mark and Dyson may develop some kind of bond which could lead to the phone call where Lloyd is trying to convince Mark that he is a liar! 
Janis and Simon
Man, I thought I was getting close to calling the baby-daddy again!  Simon starts flirting with Janis again.  Janis says that she is not his type.  And she starts talking about Dental Flosso's autopsy.  She said the CPR could have caused the death.  "You murdered him to send a message.  Message received."  woaaa what?   Turns out there were 2 moles in the FBI in case one was caught.  Talk about a QUEEN SACRIFICE!  Simon knew that no one would suspect it was her.  Then Janis said "That would be the point wouldn't it?" 



TO BE CONTINUED!!!! 

It just doesn't add up!  Janis seemed to be a pretty straight shooting FBI Agent.   (well, not straight when it comes to women)  We have seen some of her home life, her desire to have that baby didn't seem to be all for show.  There was no one watching her at the fertility clinic or on her date with the girl from the OC.  Is she playing Simon?  Why would she even tell Simon?  Does she know that he'll keep quiet because of something she has on him?   Lots of questions, including "why is the actress already signed up for a comedy on a competing network next season?"  I would say this is a spoiler alert, but the reps said that she'll only take the job if FlashForward is not renewed for a 2nd season.  So it's all pretty vague!   So consider me confused, but the episode was pretty solid once again.  The concept of the show and the details we are learning are still really intriguing.  I think they still need to work on some executing of it though and please...better dialogue!  Still keeping my fingers crossed for a 2nd season!  Tell all of your friends to watch the remainder of the weeks.  Things look to be heating up as we draw closer and closer to March 15th and then April 29th!  

With that, I bid adieu.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 




ENDING CREDITS 

Pictures courtesy of ABC and my iMAC! 

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25 comments:

Deebo said...

Mike,
I agree completely about the dialogue…Sometimes they have me scratching my head like what??? The mole revel was definitely a surprise, so she planned on having herself shot? I can’t really remember the details of the shooting…It’s a real shame this show isn’t going to survive; I hope they have a good ending planned…They should have taken all the agents guns while trying to find the mole lol…If Janis can reveal she was the mole now she could have told Simon in Canada….Great review as always Mike, Save this show!!!

Mike V. said...

touche' on Janis being with Simon in Canada. Very bizarre that she revealed herself now.

Thanks for the props. I wish I knew how to save the show...but if people don't want to watch it, they're just not going to! I have promoted it as much as I can on the LOST Blog! :-) lol

Unknown said...

Mike great job
I love the Lost blog too.

I'm not sure I like how they made Janis a mole. I agree with what you said about how vested they are in the character and her shooting seems very risky. Maybe that was the plan to through the viewers off but it almost seems like they are changing the story as they go.

I hope the we get to see a conclusion to the show but I don't see how they can have very many seasons based on the story line but I guess that's what they said about Lost too.

MJ said...

Woa ! Finally got to read the great recap Mike - been swamped at work.

The cheesiest - the 2 chicks fighting in the fountain getting all wet ! LOL


They pulled a 24 on us with Janis being the mole. If its's true any way. But why tell Simon she is a mole if she's not ?

Mike V. said...

Oh man...I just realized my comment didn't post!

that really sucks! Anyway, thanks Kevin and MJ for your props!

I forget what I wrote but I'm sure I agreed with you Kevin on the whole Janis mole thing...just doesn't seem to make sense. These writers haven't earned my trust like the LOST writers did. Especially with all of the changes in the showrunner department. I have no doubt that Janis's role was rewritten into this MOLE role. (rhyming unintentional)...but I could be wrong!

Showrunner #1 (David Goyer...not gone to pursue other movies) said they did have a 5 season plan (3 seasons if not as successful) for the show...and I could see with all of this multiple blackouts and flashes talk that they could take it somewhere. But I'm not so sure we're gonna see it all!

MJ - yeah i have no idea why Janis would tell Simon about being the mole ANYWAY....i mean, don't we know that Simon doesn't want to be involved with the bad guys anymore? Just doesn't add up. Totally agree on the water catfight! lol I guess if it can't be a LOST replacement...it can still be a guilty pleasure! LOL

And also got the 24 Vibe on Janis-Mole scene. good times!

Sorry you guys didn't get treated to my original comments...hopefully this substitute will do! :-)

remilyp said...

sadly, i definitely have to agree that the writers seem to have lost their train of thought and gotten kind of desperate. there are currently WAY too many plot lines going on at once for a show that just started last fall. any guesses as to when we'll see that kangaroo again?

my first thoughts upon watching the whole bryce/nicole/keiko/whatsisface storyline is that keiko and her new boss/potential love interest would come across bryce and nicole making out, she'd get pissed, and latino dude would help her achieve her dreams by doing away with nicole. get it? get it? he's unwilling to talk about his flashforward and we have yet to hear a good reason for nicole being drowned, so there you have it. you heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. i'll be here all night.
granted, this theory might prove a little more difficult now that keiko & co have been carted away by authorities, but they have to find some way to make it work...there's not that much time left!

can't think of anything cool said...

Dude! I really, really hate to say this, but what the heck is going on???? I'm losing interest fast- did I miss something or did they not even touch on Janis & Demitri 'making the baby'? I had high hopes for this show, but it's just not working for me. I will probably continue to watch, just to see what happens, but seriously, now Janis is a frickin' MOLE? Wait- what? I'm (unfortunately) starting to not even care...
----> This is me going back over to your amazing Lost blog. See ya in another life, Brotha!

Mike V. said...

@Scraping Surface - Good question on the kangaroo...they certainly said it was important! I thought maybe the black camel might be along the same lines, but who knwos?!

ahhh interesting theory on this guy drowning nicole! I'll definitely give you credit if it comes true! (you know for this audience of 15 readers! I exaggerate of course)

@Can't Think - I'd tend to agree with you but the episodes prior to this seemed to be big improvements since the first half of the season. This one was a little off....and making Janis the mole? I just don't get it. No, they didn't touch on Demetri and Janis and the baby yet....but we did see in previews for next week that it will be addressed (maybe not Demetri...but at least Janis's pregnancy storyline).....I'm still not ruling out Simon who keeps flirting with her! LOL

Now hey...i appreciate the props on the LOST blog and everything....but come on....don't diss the FF blog just because the show isn't living up to expectations! :-) lol j/k

can't think of anything cool said...

Ok Mike V., I won't give up yet. I sure was hoping for some 'wow' moments, but even Janis at the end, it just didn't 'wow' me. Maybe it's because I'm SO into Lost, and that Lost takes so much thought and digesting. I was really getting into this show before Lost started back up. But now, I watch it, but not like I watch Lost. And I hate to compare, I'm really not comparing the shows, just my dedication to them. Sorry to keep bringing up Lost. Maybe next week on FF, it will blow my mind again, but so far, since the break (and maybe that's what did it?) I just don't think about the show like I did when it started. Seems like there are too many plots, twists, stupid dialogue, too many people that we're supposed to care about, or not care about. It seems like every week, there's a new person introduced, like this week's girl Janis got into a fight with, and Keiko's employer. Why not just focus on who we already know? Why keep bringing new people in? Unless the new people will have a direct effect on what's going on, I can't really figure it out, but it's not as fun as the 'other' show to try & figure out...But I promise Mike V., I won't give it up yet. Just your recaps alone are worth watching FF for! Ha!

Anonymous said...

I just got to watch the episode last night, and I don't have much to add to what has already been posted. I was surprised to find out Janis was the mole, but I got the impression that Simon had known all along. Not overwhelmed by the episode. I thought there were some stupid things that the real FBI would have never done, like having people in the conference room with a gun, and FBI agent so easily having it taken from him, and an awful lot of shooting at whats-her-name with nobody hitting her? I think they need to go back to FBI training school or something! And Keiko and cancer guy crossing paths so many times in a city that big and still not meeting, that's getting pretty lame. Still a fan, primarily due to the overall storyline, but they need to do some serious work if they are going to save the show. Cajun QT

Mike V. said...

Can't Think - Totally hear you on waiting for the WOW. I think the hiatus definitely hurt the momentum, but I really thought they came back strong. It was just this past week's episode that was kind of rough. I'll keep the hope, but I really don't think the show will get saved! And thanks for the blog props (even if I kind of jokingly asked for it! LOL)

Cajun - really good point with allowing the gun in the boardroom....I didn't even think about that because there was so many other implausible things happening. You know, like Mark connecting the dots over almost a 30 year span to figure out that D. Gibbons was communicating to him through Chess Games! LOL

But I'm totally with you....the storyline/concept is great. Just needs better execution on an episode to episode basis. I fear the time is running out though.

MJ said...

I don't compare FF with Lost - that's apples to oranges imo.

Someone pointed out that it seemed like Simon knew. I say that whole exchange was weird really. Not just the reveal of her being a mole, but the whole 'message received' thing when she told Simon she knew he killed Dental Flosso ! So - Simon and Janis are in cahoots? Have they always been? Then why would he run from her to his family ?

AUStarwars said...

Mike-good write up

Scraping-great great theory, definately makes sense, spot on that the guy is going to be the one that drowns Nicole

The problem with this show is in part what has happened to many shows with large casts, you simply do not care about a lot of the characters. Do you care about anyone outside of the FBI in the least? Ive said it many times, but they really dropped the ball by not having more "what happened in your Flash Forward" type of episodes..but they decided right away that we were going to have the Cigarette Smoking Man and his band of Conspirits right away in the first episode (blonde chick, where the heck did she go?!)..i actually liked those episodes in the beginning where they looked at what was going on with common folk in relation to "knowing the future"..but they have turned from that path into what people "really" wanted: what caused the Blackout and Why?

Well when you drag on those questions for the whole series, but simultaneously not really focusing on character issues, you wind up with these big chunks of the show that just suck (Keiko, Bryce, pretty much anyone not in the FBI or "The Conspiracy")

Personally I feel the "Conspiracy" is split into 2 factions, or that at least Dyson Frost has defected to the Hong Kong lady's side, with Flasso and Charlies group (I guess with Janis too at this point) on the other side...

personally though, i like the show a lot, I just hope it survives!

AUStarwars said...

oh yeah i also loved that Seth McFarlane plays WoW at work lol

Mike V. said...

MJ - Totally agree. 2 different shows, just playing in the same serialized telelvision playground. As for Simon and Janis...I don't think they were in cahoots....I don't think Simon knew as much as he was figuring it out as Janis made her "message received" comment. Now whether she is playing him for some reason...I dunno. But I definitely don't think they have been working together. Like you said, a lot of those scenes wouldn't make any sense from previous episodes. Of course, a lot of them STILL don't....like with her whole objective of getting pregnant and all of that. And of course, getting SHOT! I guess the excuse there is that it would make her seem even less likely a mole suspect if she got shot.

AUStarwars - Thanks for the props! Totally agree with the "what happened in your flashforward" type episodes. I really thought that was where we were going to be going with this show from day 1.... As for Alda, she was just in an episode a couple weeks back wasn't she? When Zoey questioned her and offered to be her lawyer.

yeah it does seem there could be 2 factions in the "CONSPIRACY" part of the show. I hadn't thought about them being separate though. I just figured Dyson Frost, Hong Kong lady, Flosso and crew were all part of one group. But it would make sense if they weren't.

I did like the Bryce-centric episode though and thought it gave us some necessary background on his character. I wouldn't say people don't care about the Keiko/Bryce meeting. But I will say that the main conspiracy part of the series is definitely what keeps me hooked.

I hope the show survives too...just not holding out much of it! (the hope that is)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Excellent review mann ; Thoroughly read and enjoyed it :) ; I think the whole 'Janis the mole' thing is a set up to find out what Simon's part in the blackout was because sexy Mark Benford is suspicious of him. I also can't see what would be wrong with Dimitri and Janis having sex to conceive her much wanted 'baby girl'. He's just being a good friend and wants to help her out because she wants THIS baby so bad.. Mark better not die like Charlie saw in her vision :( ; I cannot belive btw that people aren't watching flashforward :O ; I wudn't miss it fer nuhin' :)

Andy said...

Thanks for the props on my "prediction" that the Q.E.D. stood for Quantum Entanglement Device. But like I said, it wasn't that tough to figure out because I re-watched the first 10 episodes prior to FF coming back out of hiatus. Those types of small details were still fresh in my mind.

But here is another detail that I remember from my re-watch that you may be interested in:

Do you remember when Dylan Simcoe goes to the Benford's house on Halloween? He gets on a city bus, but doesn't understand the concept of bus fare. A thuggish-looking guy stands up for Dylan when the bus driver harasses him for the bus fare. I am 99% sure that thuggish guy was actually Tattoo Guy.

And regarding you not remembering Marcie being in past episodes. I remembered seeing her here and there, often briefing Wedeck while walking through the office halls. However, I don't think they ever introduced her character by name. I thought I missed part of the episode when they first started talking about her because I thought to myself, "Who the hell is Marcie?"

Mike V. said...

@Anonymous - Thanks for the blog props! Glad you enjoyed. Definitely possible that Janis being a mole is a setup. I'm sure it will be cleared up on Thursday either way. The only thing wrong with Demitri and Janis parenting that child would be the fact that Demitri is engaged to another woman and Janis kind of plays for the same team as her! But that doesn't mean it can't happen lol I'm sure Mark wouldn't die at the end of the first season. That would be bold for any show to kill off their main character in the opening season of a show. But then again, it might not get renewed so maybe we'll see!

@Andy - No prob on the props! Yeah, you did say that it wasn't hard to figure out, but I think even rewatching it I may not have picked up on that. Interesting on the Halloweed Episode! I may have to go back and check that one. You could be totally right on that one. (I'll put this on my TO DO list lol) Yeah, the more I thought about Marcie, I vaguely recalled a minor player being in a scene here and there. but you're probably right, we may have never got a name. I think I specifically remember a scene with maybe Al, Janis and Marcie investigating something while the rest of the crew was in D.C.


Just another random note after thinking more about it. This whole Janis getting shot scene makes me wonder more about her being an actual mole. Unless AUStarWars is right and there are 2 factions other than MOSAIC involved. There weren't even any witnesses to Janis's shooting for us to think they did this to make her seem like less of a mole. She was by herself...and she even killed a couple of them in the process, if i recall. But I think they were Asian people that did attack her. So maybe their linked to Hong Kong woman (man it's hard to remember all of these names...also not a good sign for the show! LOL) where janis is linked to DENTAL FLOSS's crew.

AUStarwars said...

It seems to me that Dyson was on his own, probably escaping as much from the Conspiracy as much as from the government in general

clearly the flash forwards have made him insane, the fact that he only got third in that chess tourney made me lol..i mean this guy is dealing with Quantum Mechanics, and only got 3rd lol..

Andy, if that is true about the tatooed guy, thats a great find, props!

Mike V. said...

Only issue I have with factions or dyson on his own is: why did he call Simon during blackout and send him to flosso? Lol clealry he was awake also so had some QED also.

On my phone so i will stay brief!

Mike V. said...

God bless technology, I have all of my tivo'd shows transferred to my computer (for FF and LOST lol) So it's easy to reference back. Here's the screenshot. TOTALLY the same guy!

(of course, we probably could have just checked imdb lol)

Tattoo Guy

Good call andy!

Anonymous said...

great review. this comment is probably a week late and has already been touched upon, but i have just found this site, so sorry if this is repetitive....
mark's flashforward show's himself still alive, but hiding from gunmen.
Lloyd's flashforward has mark on the phone, quite ALIVE.
mark's daughter's flash forward ends with CIA dude saying Mark is dead.
CIA dude is in Mark's back garden saying to a stranger that mark is dead? is his flash forward a few minutes in front of everyone else's? or is he lying? or does he mean that mark is about to be dead-making him a villain?

MJ said...

http://www.tvguide.com/News/FlashForwards-Christine-Woods-1017322.aspx

Interview with the actress who plays Janis !

Mike V. said...

Thanks Anonymous! I've been wondering about the same thing with the synching of flashes. I have thought that maybe Mark dies in his flash and doesn't see an entire 2 minutes and whatever that everyone else sees and Vogel has the updated information via a phone call and reports it outside the benford house.

OR...vogel could be a baddie like you said...and he is just assuming things played out in mark's office as planned. Can't wait for the finale!

@MJ - Thanks for the link! Definitely everything we have been speculating with Janis...should be interesting to see where they go with it. And I hope she's right about getting renewed. We'll see!