FlashForward: Season 1 Episode 7 - The Gift

There was one thing going through my mind during the first of the final sequence of twists that occurred on FlashForward last night:  HE MUST HAVE A TWIN BROTHER!!!   Kidding, of course!   Mental note: if that does happen, I think it will be a safe time to quit writing this blog!    But in the meantime, WELCOME BACK Flashers.  Rumor had it that we wouldn't want to miss this episode and 3 quarters into the episode, I was still wondering why.   It took me about 45 minutes into the episode to remember that they save the best stuff for the end of the episode.  Sure, everything that led up to it was interesting and important in setting up the groundbreaking ending.  But it should be stated that the show has developed a familiar trend of being pretty bottom heavy on the revelations!   Not that I'm complaining.   The show did its job again and has me hooked for another week!

Sidenote: If anyone watched the stellar premiere episode of "V" this week, check out my thoughts as well as updates on LOST on the Mothership of my Blogs.   I wish I had time to dedicate a full-fledged recap to that show as well.  Maybe one day.  But come this spring, I will be pushed to my limits!   - sidenote over


This episode followed Agent Al Gough, who had been more of a minor player until recently, Demetri and Mark as they tried to crack the case of the Blue Hand Group.  Demetri and Zoey run into some troubled waters, Mark and Olivia try to dance around their troubled waters, Bryce meets Nicole and Aaron gets a visitor from Tracey's past.  Let's dig in!

On the Homefront

Demetri and Zoey

• Before leaving for their respective work days, Zoey reminds Demetri that they have an appointment to check out the proofs of their Wedding invitations.  They both talk about how both of their names are easily misspelled (I know I got Demetri right, but not sure about Zoey, come to think of it!)    
• Demetri has been distant since the blackout and completely missed the appointment getting wrapped up with the work (which we'll discuss in a bit).  Zoey calls him out on it, Demetri leaves the argument on a bad note and goes out on his little FBI mission downtown. 
• After a crazy night, he comes back and finally comes clean to Zoey that he didn't see anything in his flash.   Zoey remains convinced that he saw Demetri in his.  So, she thinks they have conflicting visions and she chooses to have faith.   Demetri professes his love for her and how he wants to make her happy, have kids, grow old, the whole 9.     Here's the thing, they showed Zoey's flash yet again and they STILL didn't show Demetri in it.  What gives?   Do we think Zoey is not being honest?   Or is she still just fooling herself?  Or, are we just not seeing all of the flash yet?    I still think Demetri would be an idiot not to go to bed on March 14th with a bulletproof vest on, and leave it on for all of the 15th!  

Mark and Olivia  

• Mark and Olivia are recovering from the grand encounter with Lloyd and Dylan in their home last week.  They fool themselves into thinking everything is okay.   Olivia has to work late and tries to convince Mark of the reasons why.   Mark tells her that he trusts her.  She hesitates and says she trusts him too.   But clearly things are not going well! 
• Lloyd and Olivia have a run-in at the hospital.   Lloyd stops in to thank Olivia for saving Dylan's life and to assure her that he would never come between her and Mark.  He would never want to break up a marriage.  He seems genuine, but there still seems to be something there that they're both trying to avoid.  Olivia continued to remain distant, however.  Clearly they can't stay in this stalemate all season.  They have to up the stakes before April 29th, even if Olivia still sticks with Mark in the end.   So I wonder what will draw them closer together?   
• After a rough day at work where everything is pointing towards the flashes coming true, Mark, Charlie and Olivia are all on the couch.  Charlie convinces her mom to let her stay up a little longer with daddy.  Once Olivia leaves the room, Mark pulls out the waterworks.   oh boy!    stay tuned

Nanny Nicole meets Bryce  

Nicole, still trying to repent for whatever she is being drowned for in the future, decides to volunteer at the hospital Olivia works at.  She is enlisted to shadow Bryce and help him out where necessary, and becomes immediately helpful.

• Well, newsflash, Nicole know Japanese because she lived in Okinawa while her dad was stationed there.  She also took classes in Japanese when she moved back to the states.  She was able to help settle down an older Japanese Lady who had received Sweet Peas, which are a bad omen in Japanese.    
• The whole revelation had Bryce impressed.  I couldn't have been further off with the picture he drew of a woman in his FlashForward.   It's definitely not Janis!  (although, I still liked my theory on that one)   It is a Japanese woman with a Japanese symbol behind her.  Nicole immediately recognized the incomplete letter and finished drawing it.  She said it's the KANJI which means "BELIEVE".  
  

  信

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
    
• Nicole and Bryce must have bonded quickly because she went to Bryce's house where he started discussing his Flash.   He remembers images but just can't put it all together.   Nicole told him to go to Japan to find her which he scoffed at thinking it would be impossible to find her.   So, she advised him to post his story on MOSAIC and she may find him.   Did he really need Nicole to give him that advice?  Janis had to advise Demetri to put his story on MOSAIC.   Don't people know it's the newest thing since Google, developed in-house by the Los Angeles branch of the FBI?   Eh, just a little nitpick, I'm fine with the overkill!    So, I guess we'll just need to stay tuned for a Bryce-centric episode to get more of this story. 

Aaron 

As mentioned earlier, Aaron got a visit from someone in Tracy's Past.   Corporal Mike Willingham to be exact.  He was there as a favor to Tracy.

• Mike acknowledged that he should have contacted Aaron earlier but he had been adjust to normal life and trying to find a job. Apparently, Tracy made a promise with Mike that if anything were to happen to her that he needed to give Aaron back a pocket knife that holds some significance between her and her father.   
• Upon this, Aaron became very emotional since he hadn't seen the knife in 4 years when Tracy deployed.  The kicker?  In his Flashforward he is giving the knife back to her!  
• Mike, not wanting to immediately spoil the moment, returns later to tell the tale of Tracy's death because he didn't want to give Aaron false hope.  We got a "flashback" (first one for flashforward!) to Mike and Tracy in an off road with their Humvee.   Tracy spouted out more military jargon in a minute than most people would in a lifetime.  Tango, Echo, Charlie, Bravo, Jericho...you name it and did I catch a "niner" in there? (actually it was sixer, but you gotta go for the Tommy Boy reference when you can right?)    Seriously, I'm still okay with the overkill!     The people they were chasing stopped and whipped out a rocket launcher.  Mike was able to escape, but Tracy was stuck in the car.    The rocket fires and the Humvee explodes.     However, we do see a shot of Tracy afterwards just lying on the ground with her leg separated.    Remember all of the theories that only "parts" of her were shipped back to the states?    Mike went back to check on her and said he saw her die.  But he also said he had to run, since they were shooting at him.   We'll hold off on theories for this until the end!  
  
  
  ***WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURE BELOW***
  
  
  
  

• Clearly, this was a blow to Aaron's "faith" in the flashes.  But he quickly recovers and calls Mike out to his place of work.  He told Mike that his story finally gave him some peace and wanted to return the favor.   Aaron gets Mike a job working with him.  awww

Follow the Blue Hand

Dear Celia

The episode opens with shots of a woman named Celia, and a voice over from Agent Al Gough.  We know it's Al in the beginning because A.) it sounds like him and B.) a few episodes back we saw him searching for a Celia on MOSAIC.  Anyway, he is writing a letter to Celia and says that he knows she has 2 young boys (twins) and knows that she didn't have a flashforward.  She ensured her that she is not alone.  They show her picking up a paper from her car that has the website http://www.alreadyghosts.com and shows the Blue Skeleton Hand that we became familiar with last week.  Go ahead, it's a real site, but it just takes you to the official ABC FlashForward site for now. 

Blue Hand Investigation
Well, you certainly can't knock on FlashForward for opening a bunch of mysteries and making us wait for answers.  We got the answers to the Blue Hand quite quickly!   Mark, Al and Demetri are in the elevator about to start their day.  We start this investigation with a little chit chat that seemed unimportant at the time, but Demetri makes a comment that I figured might come back into play eventually.

• Demetri is complaining that everything he says to his fiance is coming out wrong.  He just wants to go back to the way things were before the blackout.   Al reminded him that back in the day he used to crash on his futon until 4am playing Madden Football.  They did a little Madden trash talk of who was better (hey, I still do it, it's fun and you're never too old for it!).  Al accused Demetri of cheating.  But Demetri called it "finding a way to change the game".    You don't just throw a line in like that, without a payoff right?    We'll get there! 
• The trio head into the morgue to investigate the bodies found at the blue hand house.   We get a sidebar that Janis is recovering nicely.  The bodies all have self-inflicted gunshot wounds.  They all of traces of alcohol in their bodies and the girl also had extacy.   Al also mentions that the one man is Ian Rutherford, which Mark immediately recognizes from Al's case in the flashforward.  
• So, Demetri did some research with MOSAIC and the bodies and found out that they're all GHOSTS, the term given to people that did not see anything in their Flash.  He references the website explaining that they gather at events across the globe to embrace the inevitable.  The next meeting is in Los Angeles and is hosted by Dr. Maurice Raynaud.  (A symbolic name passed on to each host and named after some French doctor guy that discovered a disorder commonly known as "blue hands")  
• A voice on the website started blaring out "Tonnight go downtown and check the time".   This was the way to find the death party.  
• I should also note that Fiona Banks has flown in from London.  She mentions to Al that it's nice to meet him again for the first time.   Ahh, you never expect to say that sentence in your life!  We'll get more into Fiona/Al discussions in a bit. 

Already Ghost Death Party

3 FBI guys walk into a bar.  One is wearing a t-shirt of The Police (Mark), one wearing a ridiculous leather jacket (Dem) and the other wearing a cardigan (Al).   Which one stands out?   Ahh good times.  They bust on each other's attire for a bit but then continue to head into the generic "downtown" to find the party.   Oh look, there's a Blue clock on the wall of a building!

• The FBI trio, get by the doorman with the easy password of "we got Dr. Raynaud's invitation".  They all get a blue hand stamp and they roll in to the next challenge.   
• Some crazy old man with a pimp cane and a gun walks in and decides to start an impromptu game of Russian Roulette, by pulling the trigger on himself first.   Intense, but I still think the best TV Russian Roulette has to go to the one in the prison on season 3 of 24.  Wow, that was nuts!   Anyway, one of our FBI guys apparently had to play the game to move on.  Al, knowing that he was alive in his flash, grabbed the gun really quickly and pulls the trigger.   Nothing happens.   After they suggest that there are no bullets in there, the man empties the chamber and hands them a bullet.  Looking more closely at the bullet, it says "Not Today" on the side and is their ticket into the party. 

• Mark finds a book of matches that he immediately recognizes from his "FLASH Board" so he swipes it up.   You have to wonder if that really is going to play a big role in future episodes or if they just planted that in the episode because they had shown it in the pilot episode.   Oh well, moving on! 

• There is a hostess-type lady who is explaining the party and how the Raynaud changes at each gathering. And says there is something for everybody "No Limts, No Fear".
• Okay, so this party was nuts.  There was one guy all wired up to electricity having water thrown on him.  There were many prepared nooses all over the place among lots of other crazy stuff.  Demetri brings up the fact that these people have nothing to lose.  They're dead anyway.   
• Blue hand man arrives and what do you know, it's one of the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica!  (No spoilers please, I'm only in season 1!)  
• Anyway, long story short (too late), Raynaud takes out a gun and is about to shoot himself and the FBI stop them.   He yells out "I want out!  I want it to end!"   Mark, so cool with his one-liners, tells him "Not Today..."   Yeah Mark, you use their own slogan against them!    
• Sidebar: I've been reading lots of complaints about Mark comparing him to Jack on LOST (because there is a large "I hate Jack" fanclub out there).    And well, this episode was probably the best comparison since Mark did some crying!     But, I really don't have issues with either of the leads on the 2 shows.   Especially not Matthew Fox!  He's done some stellar work on LOST!   Let's give Fiennes some more time to ease into his American role before we chastise him!  

Interrogation

So Mark, Demetri and Al begin the interrogation process of Raynaud, who turns out to be Jeff Slingerland.

• Jeff talks about his vision of a bottemless pit of darkness and emptiness, like he never existed.  He said that they all find each other through MOSAIC and gets a one liner in "Couldn't do it without you"!   
• Demetri gets annoyed and starts pressing Jeff for answers on the Blue Hand stamped body of the man who shot Janis.  They get nowhere though.  Jeff explains that everything is mapped out, they could put him in prison it doesn't matter.  He's going to die.  What everyone saw is going to happen.   
• Al is pondering all of this information and then asks the ultimate question "What if you're wrong?"   "You can't escape what's coming, no one can" is Jeff's response.    I think I figured out what their next interrogation strategy will probably be!
• Mark and Demetri have a discussion later on.  Mark tries to crack more jokes saying Raynaud makes Marilyn Manson look like Mr. Rogers.  yikes...   Demetri asks how Mark is going to handle knowing the date of his death.   It's the same old speech.  YOU NEED TO FIGHT!   But I think Demetri gets to Mark this time when he says "everything in the flashes is going to happen. We can't stop it".   He explains how all of the clues they have been following are dead on.   This is what leads to Mark's crying fit at home later, by the way.

Fiona/Al
So, during the day Fiona and Al have some discussions about their flashes and start their Ian Blane Rutherford Case.

• Ian Rutherford: Born in 1984, Father was in aviation, Mother makes cell phone components (hmmm Cell phones.  Lots of theories have already been made around Cell phone towers possibly being used in the blackout)
• Fiona discusses her flash, she doesn't remember anything from the dossier besides Ian's name.  She just remembers Al and the crow hitting the window.  Her heart skipped a beat.  Al got a phone call and she looked over the ledge.  Wait, I thought Al looked over the ledge too?  Didn't we see that last week?   Did something change somehow?  (probably me looking way too much into it)   She wanted to help the bird but there was nothing she could do.
• Fiona asks Al who the call was from.   Al recalls his flash.  It's his attorney and Al is realizing he killed someone (a woman to be exact).  
• Later on Al tries to invite Fiona over for some dirty rice (nope, he actually meant food).  He was going to attempt to make his favorite dish that his mother usually cooks for him.   Fiona is jet lagged and declines.   But Al offers up an idea to change the flashes.   What if they cover the window with tape?  Maybe the bird won't crash into the window.   It's worth a shot, he says.    Finally, someone is trying to change things.  Mark burned the bracelet in episode 2, but this seems more significant.   Oh wait, we're not at the end of the episode yet! 
• So we watch Al cooking his rice at home and sitting alone drinking a beer, left to ponder the future and cry a little bit like his boss, Mark.  

"Changing the Game"

Al comes into work, looking like a dead man walking.  Leaves an envelope on Demetri's desk, tells Demetri to get it into the right hands, and walks the opposite way of Mark and Dem (heading to the conference room).

• In the conference room Stan, Fiona, Mark and Demetri discuss how to break Raynaud.   Stan is advising Mark to change his approach. 
• Demetri opens up the envelope which has a note to Dem "There's always a way out" and a letter to this Celia (ahhh the letter from the beginning of the episode!)   He realizes Al is about to end his life.  
• They find him on the top of the FBI building leaning over the ledge.  

• Al, is determined to change the predestined future.  Demetri tries to tell him that they can find and protect Celia.  He's supposed to be alive 6 months from now.   "But if I'm not here, that means we can change things.  What I saw, what you saw.  It doesn't have to play out that way."  
  
  "I found a way to change the game"   Ahhh, Madden comes back to bite you a new one when you least expect it! 
• And just like that, Al Gough becomes Al Went.   (I had to make at least one joke worse than some of Mark's this episode!)   Al jumps off the building, and just when you think that something might break his fall, we see his lifeless body at the bottom of the building.   RIP Al Gough.  We'll miss you but we'll never forget! 
• Another sidenote: My "Twin Brother" remark in the beginning would never work anyway, because it was AL who had those flashes of the future not any potential twin brother.  So besides being potentially the worst storyline of all time (right up there with Teri Bauer has amnesia and Kim is chased by the Cougar), it's technically not feasible! 

So, we all thought that they would be able to change things right?  But who thought someone would throw themselves off of a building to prove it?   Questions remain though, will Celia still die without Al there?   Will the Rutherford case continue as planned?   Will other people follow Al's lead and try to change their destiny?  

In case you hadn't figured out what I was saying earlier, I'm guessing they're going to use this to their advantage when interrogating Raynaud.  Not a large leap, but they better use his death for something!   In the face of his death, everyone can't help but have a little hope for their own futures.

Aftermath

"Dear Celia, I don't know your last name, I don't know where you live.  But i know you have 2 young boys.  Twins i believe and i know you didn't have a flashforward.  It must be terrifying.  You are not alone.  Your situation is not as hopeless as you think.  Our paths were meant to cross.  I didn't know how, I didn't know when.  But things have changed now.  Things are no longer going to unfold as i had feared.  My gift to you is release from that dread, from the feeling that you're no longer in control.   We will never meet.....live your life, live every day.  Know that the future is unwritten...make the most of it"

• During this montage we watch Fiona back in London as she tapes up the window, following Gough's lead.
• We see Celia playing with her kids and happy. 
• We watch Mark run into the kitchen and strongly hugs Olivia.  Hope has returned!

• We witness Demetri happily spending time with Zoey. 
• Simon, absent from the entire episode, is staring at a bracelet that says "Annabelle".  What is that all about? 
• Aaron is ready to move on with his life, gets out of his truck, walks into the house...and
  
  Tracy is sitting at the table.  "Hi Dad"

WOAAA!   Does this show know how to end an episode or what?  Just when you think you got your jawdropping moment for the week, she rolls in.   Double Game changing episode!     Yes, I figured she'd be in the house, why else would that be the last scene?  

• But how did she get there?  How is she still alive?  What happened to her?  I guess she could have been taken hostage for awhile, but then how did she get free?     
• Notice, they didn't show her left side, so they could be hiding the fact that she's still missing a leg.  That would definitely explain things.
• Just when they give hope that the future can be changed, the other side comes up big with showing us Tracy is alive.   So, there has to be some kind of mixture of the 2.   Everything seems to be pointing towards the information, people and situations from the flashes are very real.  But the decisions that people make can possibly change what's in store.  I'm sure it all ties back to that Schrodinger's Cat philosophy, but I'll wait for it to be explained in layman's terms.   

I still wonder how this show is going to be able to sustain multiple seasons.   But the producers and even the book author himself are very convincing that this show has 3-5 seasons outlined, depending on its success.  (i.e. could be told in 3 seasons, but could be told better in 5).   There is a cliffhanger waiting at the end of season finale that will explain to us how this can continue on.   I thought the same thing about LOST back in the day.  How will it keep going?  They proved me wrong.  And, of course, I thought that Heroes was laid out in a way that it could go on forever!  See how well that worked?   Yikes... (yeah, I'm still watching and not sure why!)  

Anyway, great episode, great ending and looking forward to more!   What did you guys think of the episode?  Discuss away in the comments section below.   I'll see you next week!

11/8 Update: Thanks again to The ODI for the screen captures!  

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FlashForward: Season 1 Episode 6 - Scary Monsters and Super Creeps

Hello Forward Bound Flashers and welcome back to the creepy children of the world!  Welcome to what will probably be a very abbreviated version of the FlashForward blog.  I'm not a happy camper right now.  I stayed up until 1am balancing my Phillies watching (they lost last night to make things worse) and my FlashForward watching and blogging.   I was 2/3rds completed writing the blog.  I saved the draft, woke up at 5:30 am to finish and guess what?   Everything I wrote is GONE!  No draft, nothing.  NOT HAPPY!   I had some good nuggets of information too!    Anyway, so I'm going to have to go with the less wordy rendition of the recap today! (besides this crazy paragraph naturally!)    It's a shame too, because I think this show is getting nothing but better and better each week.  LOVED last night's episode and was so glad I found a way to watch it in segments during the World Series and still not miss any of the game!  (God Bless TiVo!)

Lots of craziness going on in the episode named after a David Bowie song (also featured in episode).  It was Halloween so all the crazies were out!   Creepy kids, Kangaroos, Masked Men, Future Murdering Quantum Physicists.  We followed up on the fallout from the LA/DC shootings in last week's episode and get to the bottom of Janis's status.  The suspense in the Benford/Simcoe drama was kicked up a few large notches!  Demetri and Gough follow up on a lead from the shootings.     And, I thought that the show is doing a good job balancing all of the dark, dreary drama that is unavoidable with the premise of the show with some great moments of humor interspersed throughout the episode.  Dressing our heroes up for Halloween always helps to cut the tension a bit!  (Dylan - Flava Flav, Aaron - Obi-wan Kenobi  classics)   Anyway, let's try to dive in (again for me) and see what we can discuss.

Updated 11/1/2009 with Screen Caps.  Thanks to THE ODI again! 

Simon Says

We get a lot more of Simon in this episode as he is heading on a Pacific Coast train down to Los Angeles.  (Where do we think he's coming from?  Is it an important detail?  I'm thinking probably).  Most of that opening scene he seemed to be just using his flirtatious ways to get what he wanted from Camille (aka Daphne from True Blood.  You know you were wondering where you knew her from!)  but he did give some nuggets of information that are possible worth pondering.

• We find out Simon is a genius Quantum Physicist who has won some prestigious awards that he has posed with in his underwear.  Dominic Monaghan distanced himself very well from his previous iconic roles of Charlie (LOST) and Merry (Lord of the Rings)!  He seems to be working on yet another iconic role, but let's see that play out over the season. 
• Simon discusses with Callie the concept of Schrodinger's Cat in relation to what happened with the FlashForwards.  Any fan of the hysterical sitcom The Big Bang Theory should be aware of at least the NAME of this concept.  I don't think they used it in the same way, but it was used in the pivotal season 1 finale episode for the show!  Anyway, it's a thought experiment that basically investigated 2 possibilities of said cat after an event has occurred.   One possibility where the cat was dead and the other where the cat was alive.  Charlie...errr...Simon, told Callie that both eventualities exist at the same time and the observer gets to decide the outcome.  So should we take this as Gospel?  "Both eventualities exist at the same time" sounds like you could get away with the details in the Flashes being absolutely true but the decisions made by the people in their flashes could totally change?   Like Mark doesn't have to return to drinking but everything on his board is still a valid lead?    If I think about it any further than that, my head starts spinning so let's leave it at that for now!
• Daphne reveals her FlashForward to Simon.  It's funny, I think I mentioned something like this a few weeks ago when pondering why Wedeck would still decide to go to the Bathroom on D-Day.  I thought, wouldn't this be a massive global event day where people would be gathering in places like Times Square?   Surely enough, the writers of FlashForward didn't miss out on this concept by placing Daphne along with at least 500,000 others from the MOSAIC website into Times Square partying like it's New Year's.  I'm glad they discussed this on the show, but it still doesn't explain why Wedeck would still need to go to the bathroom!  But based on the humor this show has already dished out this season, it could easily be something Wedeck ate!  Or based on the bullet above, he could choose NOT to go to the bathroom maybe.  
• Simon also revealed his flash in quite disturbing detail mentioning that he remembered the smell of a meat locker and strangling a man with an Ox-like neck to death with great satisfaction.   Who is the man?  Not sure, I thought it was Bryce at first but then realized we probably haven't met who this is yet.  I'm sure we will though!  
  

Trust me, what I originally wrote was longer!  Yeah, I just don't know how to be less wordy!

Save Janis

Okay, here is where I was probably getting into a bit too much detail.  We saw a lot of the hospital in this episode.  Janis was brought to the hospital, just like I predicted, where Olivia and Bryce work and they performed the surgeries on her.  Our DC FBI travelers reunited with the rest of the LA crew at the hospital as they came to check on their fellow agent.  Once finding out she was most likely going to be okay, Wedeck sent them all home to get some rest.  Demetri didn't obey and took Agent Gough with him to follow up on the DC/LA shootings. (we'll get to that in the next section).  Mark has some moments with Olivia and Stan and Stan sticks around with Janis.

• We see Olivia clearly get more concerned about the text she received about Mark drinking in his FlashForward.  She has been calling him repeatedly worried that something happened in D.C.   When she does see him she explains this and that they are getting too consumed by the flashes and forgetting to "live in the now" which is what she wants to do now.  We'll see how long that lasts! 
• Mark is convinced that the shootings are linked to the MOSAIC investigation due to the simultaneous events in D.C. and Los Angeles.  Demetri even brought up the fact later that nothing happened until Mark start bringing up things in court like Dead Crows, D. Gibbons, Suspect Zero, etc...
• Stan apologized to Mark for his blow-up in DC.   Mark calls it even by giving him quarters for the vending machine.  Okay, so it wasn't "Hurley" funny, but still a little funny!   (Sorry for the LOST reference non fans!) 
• So over the episode, we watch Janis recover but run into some issues.  I'm sure it was just a good dramatic timing but her monitor started going crazy after Stan told her about the miracle of Childbirth which he informed Janis would see first hand.  She was brought back into the O.R. where Olivia and Bryce had to make a quick decision to save her.  They went with a "B-lynch" suturing technique.  The bullet had bounced around so much inside her that they had to leave it in.  I'm no doctor so I'm probably leaving something out!  But Janis explained that the outcome was that her chances of ever conceiving and giving birth to a child were very slim.   Hmmmmm.   So what is happening here?  Does she get pregnant anyway?  The odds are stacked against her big time now, right?  She likes women (Maya sent her flowers by the way) and her uterus is badly damaged!  Or was her flash playing a nasty trick on her planting in her the desire to want children but then taking it away the possibility of ever being able to?  That would have to be a pretty knowledgeable flash to be able to pull that off!   Is this another example of 2 eventualities existing?   Maybe her choosing to break things off with Maya changed her path from eventually mothering a child?  That doesn't sound likely, but stranger things have happened!

I promise you, this section was much longer too!

Follow the Blue Hand

As, I mentioned earlier, Demetri disobeyed a direct order for rest as he was determined to follow up on the shootings.  First stop the coroner to check in on the men Janis killed.

• They found similarities to the men they killed in D.C.   They were all Asian, and they were professionals.  They couldn't find their prints, dental records, nothing.   Scarce medical history of a removed appendix or an achilles surgery.  These guys were pretty much off the map.  The coroner did note that one of the men had LASIC eye surgery.  He called it a junior requirement for professional hitmen. 
• They eventually did find something with a blacklight though, a BLUE HAND stamped or tattooed on one of the men's hand.  The Blue Hand was a clue from Mark's board attached with the name "Baltimore".  Demetri finds himself wanting to follow the flashes to resolve this shooting which alarms Agent Gough because if he was in Demetri's shoes, he'd be wanting to prove the flashes weren't real. 

• Gough wanted to look more into the Asian connection, but Demetri thinks China is a dead end.  He thinks they need to go to Baltimore Street a few blocks away.  Which Gough reminded him that they were in D.C. which was closer to Baltimore, Maryland.  Demetri eventually convinces Gough to head to Baltimore Street. 
• And what do you know?  They find a Blue Hand sticker on a Stop sign and it's pointing in a certain direction.   They follow a sequence of Blue Hand stickers all showing different amount of fingers (indicating the # of blocks to go) and it eventually leads them to a bloodstained house with several corpses under a sheet.  One of the hands was sticking out from under the sheet and it was painted blue!  woaaaa   What is up with the Blue Hand Group? (oh come on, you know you wanted to say it too!)   I'm sure it will pay dividends in future episodes but for now we just know there are a bunch of dead blue hand people!   Did they die during the blackout?   Was it a cult-like suicide or was someone else behind it?   Perhaps there are 2 factions that we will be dealing with outside of MOSAIC.  Blue Hand vs. Red Panda?  eh I dunno. 

• Oh right, they did find one of their licenses that had a name of Ian Rutherford.  And then they remember that Agent Gough was in London investigating the Rutherford case.  Demetri points out that this investigation begins today.   Woa...Al seemed to be in denial about the flashes, but as he recalled his flash and that bird hitting a window, he recalls looking out the window at the dead bird on the ground and yes, it was indeed a crow!  woaaa

I hadn't written this section before my Blog deleted itself, but it was brief right??

Trick or Treat

It definitely was Halloween in FlashForward land.  This led to some somewhat bonding time for Lloyd and his son Dylan, to Charlie Trick or Treating and for Kangaroos to wander out and about!   Let's not forget about masked men!

Lloyd and Dylan:

In the hospital Lloyd spent some time trying to convince Dylan to move to their old house in Palo Alto where they used to live before Lloyd and his wife were separated.  Dylan was acting kind of strange throughout the episode.  You could chalk it up to his autism if it wasn't Charlie acting strange at the end too!  But we're getting ahead of ourselves.  Here's the Lloyd and Dylan pointers:

• Lloyd knows some crazy magic tricks.  The ol' Pick a card (Queen of Diamonds), memorize it and he'll guess it trick.   Lloyd didn't seem to be very impressed.  All he kept saying is "NO" that he didn't want to move back to old house. 
• Bryce informed Lloyd that it was Halloween so Lloyd went and got Dylan a costume.  And yeah, he was dressed like Public Enemy's Flava Flav.  (Or the guy from VH1 reality shows, you decide!)  Bryce definitely called the costume "SUPER FLY"

• Lloyd mentioned that he wanted to say goodbye to Olivia before they left the hospital for good.  Bryce was going to relay the message.
• Eventually, Dylan decides he's going to run off and Lloyd spends some time with Security trying to track him down (which he does by watching him leave the building on a security camera and boarding a bus). 
• There was some creepy guy on the bus that was trying to help Dylan find his way.  Not sure if he was a red herring or if he'll be important some time in the future.   Dylan rambled off an address 25656 Sawyer Court Los Angeles, California 90024.  One would think this was a reference to Sawyer on LOST, but others probably know that Robert Sawyer is the author of the FlashForward novel and an active resource for the new TV show.  Whose address was that?  And why did Dylan know it?  Read on to find out!
  

Charlie's Halloween Outing:
Charlie is getting all excited for Halloween by watching an episode of our favorite cartoon SQUIRRELIO!  (or however you spell it).  Fun fact, did you know the voice of the cartoon squirrel is Sonya Walger as well? (Olivia)  Aaron is there helping out with the kids, as well as Nanny Nicole who is going to answer the Benford's door for trick or treaters. 

• Aaron convinces Mark to come out with them and get in costume.  Mark wears an eyepatch and fangs.  Did I mention Aaron was dressed up as Obi-Wan Kenobi?   Ahh that was a good time.   Pretty fitting for the philsophical best friend of Mark's as well.  Although, I think we know that Ben Kenobi was no recovering alcoholic! 

• We got appearance number 2 of the Kangaroo!  He was just rolling (hopping) down the street in the Benford neighborhood.  I have absolutely no idea how they're going to tie this kangaroo into things but it is clearly important!
• Of course, then we had the whole red herring chase scene when Mark saw 3 masked men dressed in black.  And it was the same masks that the gunmen he saw in his flash we wearing.   Mark chases them through a cemetary before he finally catches one.  Turns out they were a few teenagers afraid that the FBI was after them because they toilet papered a house!  (Unless that was just the kid's cover but I'm guessing not)   Mark asked where he got the mask.  He said it was at the 99 cents store.   Yep, definitely seems like a red herring.

• Mark gets a call from Nicole and heads home.  Why?  You'll have to keep reading!

Collision

So everything came to a climax at the Benford home.  This happens to be the place where Lloyd was wandering and the address that he rambled off. 

• Dylan just walks right into the home and goes to a cookie jar and takes out a cooke.  "This is my house too" he says.  Nicole is beside herself and doesn't know what to do.  She calls Mark. 
• Mark arrives home and tries to talk to Dylan.   "My name is Dylan Simcoe, my favorite book his Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, my dad does magic, this is my house too"  woaaaaa  
• We then see Dylan's flash where he is in the Benford home and he reaches into the cookie jar after Charlie (also there) tells him that "this is your house too".   We see Lloyd sitting on the couch in the background (Lloyd told us he heard Dylan there.  Now we know Charlie was there too).   Well then where was D. Gibbons?  Is it Lloyd?  Is it someone else that arrives at the end of the flash to take them away?  Or is it on the refrigerator that says "D. Gibbons is a bad man". 
• We see Dylan read the address off of the refrigerator that he ranted off on the bus.  Then in the present day Charlie comes into the room and Dylan says "hey charlie!" and Charlie says "he dylan!" and then they both say "Toot Toot! Squirrelio!"   Woaaaaa that was creepy!  These kids just act like they know each other from running into each other in the flash.  Remember when Charlie was crying when Dylan was in the hospital?  So these kids, if not all kids, seem to be affected differently by the flash.  
• Then the fireworks happen.  Lloyd shows up, and Mark welcomes him in not knowing who he is yet.  Lloyd slowly begins to recognize the house from his flash.  Then Olivia rolls in yelling "Trick or Treeaaa...." oh boy...what is Lloyd doing in my house?    Mark and Lloyd put the pieces together that Olivia already knew. 
• Lloyd suddenly realizes why Olivia had been so distant from Lloyd at the hospital.   Mark clearly is agitated and informs Lloyd that nothing is going to happen.  He kicks Lloyd out.  Lloyd was calmly trying to make sense of the whole situation and seemed agitated by Mark although he still extended his hand which Mark shook.    Lloyd then says goodnight to Olivia and he and Dylan leave.  Woaaa, that scene was just intense, right?
• Mark then starts bullying Olivia.  "I can see why you like him, he's very charming".  He starts asking how his son found his way here.  He called the hospital and found out Dylan was still Olivia's patient even though Olivia told him that she got him moved off.  Then he gets all high and mighty about honesty.  And then Olivia brings up the "are you being honest with me?" card.   Mark reluctantly comes clean about being drunk in his Flash.   And then the contradiction begins.  Mark is mad at Olivia for something that hasn't happened. But Olivia is seeing the signs now of Mark's alcoholism returning which she has already dealt with, and she is not ready to deal with it again.   As I had mentioned before, Mark's apprehension of Olivia's future with another man could drive him to start drinking.  That's the way it is looking now.  But can it be avoided?    We're not sure, but it looks like Olivia is close to her breaking point of leaving Mark if she isn't there already. 

Meanwhile

• Lloyd and Dylan return to the hospital.  Dylan was happy that tomorrow wouldn't be Halloween again because today was kind of scary.  He then thanks his dad for coming to get him. awwwww 
• Then we get the montage to "Across the Universe".  Mark is alone in the kitchen, Olivia is alone on the stairs, Demetri is in his cube investigating the Blue Hand, Gough is looking into Ruitherford, Stan is with Janis in the hospital, Charlie is with Squirrelio in bed, Dylan is in bed and Lloyd is getting into his car and
• DR. FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER is in the backseat!  Naaaa, it's just Simon.  Simon tells Lloyd that "we are ALL worried about you".  Hmm, We? All?  Sounds like a shady group of people I'd like to know more about.  Apparently Lloyd fled wherever Simon came from after the blackout.  And then he explains why.  "Our experiment killed 20 million people, what else is there to say?"  ........Um, I can think of a few things!

Their EXPERIMENT?  What is this experiment they're talking about? What were they TRYING to do witht he experiment?  Was the blackout an accident?  Clearly Lloyd is not happy with the way things turned out.  Is he a Physicist too like Simon?  Are Simon and Lloyd related to the Blue Hand Group or maybe they are part of Red Panda?   Or is there some other group of scientists involved?   Does Simon's knowledge of Schrodinger's Cat and dual realities hold any weight with the "experiment" that they conducted?   Yes, Lloyd there is LOTS more to say!

But for now, I think we've said enough.  I can't believe I actually retyped everything I lost!  Hopefully, it's worth reading!  Sorry again for the lack of pictures.  There just isn't a ton of resources for FlashForward like there is for LOST, yet.   But we'll get there!  I have read that next week's episode is a pretty pivotal episode and one worth tuning into.  Here's hoping it's the landmark one we've been waiting for!  (don't forget, potential World Series game 7 next Thursday so I'm not sure when I would get to the blog in that scenario!)

Keep up the great commentary that we have going every week.  What did everyone think of this episode?  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and see you next week!

Thanks as always to The ODI for posting screenshots from the episode! 

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