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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FlashForward: Season 1 Episode 5 - Gimme Some Truth

Hello Washington D.C. and welcome to FlashForward!   And of course, welcome all of you fine readers back to the FlashForward Addicts "in training" blog!   I welcome the capital of the United States to the show because, up until now we have been dealing with the investigation into the blackouts solely from a Los Angeles FBI branch, which some people were starting to wonder why the whole world were pinning their hopes on this one group to figure things out.   This episode definitely broadened the scope of things.  Sure, the scope is still a worldwide blackout, but at least now we see more people are trying to do things about it.  And to say things got more things got complicated and a whole lot more interesting is an understatement!  You can point back to particular moments in the past 4 episodes that stood out above the rest as key moments.  I have to say this episode had my attention from start to finish.   While I'm still waiting for my world to be turned upside down, the show is definitely paving a path towards some exciting things!

The episode essentially covers 3 stories during the episode.  Primarily Stan Wedeck, Mark Benford, Demetri Noh and Agent Vreede are in Washington attempting to sell their MOSAIC Investigation to a Senate Committee to avoid losing their funding.  Janis Hawk, meanwhile, holds the fort down in L.A. as well as unveils some of her personal life to us.   On the Benford homefront, Olivia spends some time catching up with Aaron Stark on her husband's stress level amongst other things.  Let's dive in and discuss!

Disclaimer: I was unable to find any screenshots from Last night's episode. Once I am able to find some, I will go back and add them to the post (and of course, give credit to whoever's site I "borrow" them from!).  10/27 Update: Thanks again to The ODI for posting some screenshots!  Hopefully soon I will have the technology myself to do this!   

The episode is told in the classic style of putting us right in the midst of a situation without knowing how they got there.  It's 1 am in D.C. Mark tries to convince Stan that the details from his flash that he DOES remember he remembers them clearly.  Stan tells Mark to not tell anyone else or he'll be D.O.A.  Mark is on the phone with someone telling that person that Wedeck may have swung something in their favor.  Their car arrives, they get in and oh boy an SUV is coming right towards Mark, Stan, Demetri and Vreede's car.  SLAM!   Then what look to be men of Asian descent all have guns pointed at the car and one man fires a rocket and there's an explosion.    HUH?

Cut to 39 Hours Earlier

(ohhh ok!) - And yes, now spend the entire episode catching up to that moment and filling in the blanks.  I wanted to point out that the men in that scene were Asian, because there were several blatant references to the Chinese and China in this episode, that they're either trying to throw us a red herring or they were trying to beat something into our heads!

Aaron and Olivia

• While Mark is in D.C. he calls Aaron to have their daily discussion.  Aaron is working on the Benford house fixing their Alarm system, fixing the garage door that Mark fixed on Blackout Day (10/6).  Mark talks about the pressure to prove to the Senate that the MOSAIC investigation  is worth funding is stressing him out. Aaron, as Mark's sponsor, recommends Mark finds an AA meeting while he's in D.C.   Olivia just happened to be walking outside and overhears the conversation.
• Later on Olivia is talking to Aaron and asks him to program hers and Mark's anniversary as the code 0312 (note, March 12th will be 3 days before Demetri's supposed shooting.  Anyone putting a timeline together out there?)  
• Olivia mentions she overheard them talking about going to AA meetings and is worried about Mark.   Olivia also finds out that Aaron knows about her flash of being with another man.  She is very worried that fear of Olivia being unfaithful will drive him to drinking.  Well that and the fact that he needs his vision to come true for work but doesn't want his future to come true at home.
• Aaron finds himself in a sticky situation because he knows Mark is drinking in the flash but he never told Olivia.   He mentions that if she can't trust Mark then who CAN she trust?   I guess he didn't feel it was his place to tell Olivia.
• Or did he?  We'll get to the rest in our "GAME CHANGERS" section below. 

So How Does Janis Get Pregnant?

Off-Duty Janis

• Janis apparently takes Karate.  We see her whooping up on some dude that seemed to be shaping up to be a love interest for her.  He even asked her out on a date to go see "Enter the Dragon."   While she rejected him nicely, in the next scene at the office we see her smiling at a text and assume it's from him.  
• No such luck, next scene we see her with Theresa from the O.C.!   Or you may know her as Melanie from the first season of 24.  We here will know her as Maya, Janis's lesbian lover for at least one episode!   I'm sure I should have seen this coming considering it would make her "how does she get pregnant" storyline ever MORE complex!   But, I really didn't even consider it. 
• We find out in Maya's FlashForward she sees herself wearing a wedding ring.  This doesn't allow Janis to let her guard down and tell her she was pregnant though.  They get all into their dirty talking and end up spending the night together at Janis's place.  Things look to be getting all lovey dovey.   Janis tells her to stay and make herself at home.  Janis complains about her alarm clock.   Maya invites her to some art thing at a gallery. 
• So after work Janis does go to the art gallery and Maya went ahead and made things pretty weird!  First she buys her a new alarm clock with wheels that talks!  awww    But she also did the creepiest thing I could think of.  Janis would've been fine with her going through her stuff.   But no, she "MOSAIC'D" her!  Yep, she found out that Janis is pregnant in her future vision which led her to ask if she's into men too.   (not since high school Janis states. hmmmm)     Maya tries to defend herself and say that maybe it will be THEIR baby but Janis finds it way too weird and gives Maya the heave ho! 
• Okay, so let's ask it.  In what scenarios COULD Janis get pregnant since she likes women and has no interest in men?  We did see a hint of a smile at Karate boy.   There is Bryce with his drawing of a woman that might look like Janis.....OH SNAP, I think I figured it out! (yep, "eureeka!" moment in mid-typing.  Those are the best!)    Let's say Janis gets shot in the stomach and is bleeding out, and then an ambulance picks her up...takes her to a hospital where a surgeon has drawn a picture of a woman he has only seen in his flashforward comes in with a gunshot wound.   He knows that she is the father of his eventual child, so he KNOWS he will save her and then Janis somehow takes a liking to him.   WOA...that was like Chandler figuring out the path of Ross and the Copy girl back to Rachel!     man, now we just need Janis to get shot!  Can anyone from China help us?   (check out Game Changers section) 

On-Duty Janis

• At work Agent Al Gough finally cracked into the CIA with his hacker buddy "Mr. Cheeto Dust"  and got information on Somalia from the 90's.   Janis thinks this information will be helpful for the boys in Washington and wants to know if there's any more information on the dead crows and if people were unconscious.  Well, I thought that screen we saw from a couple episodes ago DID mention people had lost consciousness, but whatever!  
• The next day, Janis checked in with the Gough and some other girl to see if they had found anything in the satellite images of Somalia.  They stumble upon an asphalt road and nearby there are 5 pylons in a star formation around a secluded area of Somalia.  Construction began 5 months before the 1991 "Crow" incident we witnessed.  And the analysis showed that they were probably up to 100 feet tall when the incident happened.   Probably the same tower we saw in Episode 3 right?  This one: 

• The information is shared with Mark, Demetri and Vreede.  Mark thinks this discovery will cut some red tape and allow them to investigate in Somalia.  
• Okay, so if this "proto-blackout" (as Mark called it) was caused in the radius of these pylons, how on EARTH, pun intended, did they get the whole world to black out?    My wife threw out a good suggestion.  How about Cell Phone towers?  They're everywhere and started getting put up everywhere in the 90's right?   I'll take it one step further, didn't everyone's cell phone not work in the Pilot episode right after the blackout?   Sure, we blamed it on mass chaos and lots of simultaneous phone call attempts.  But what if the towers were being used for another purpose?  What if D. Gibbons was performing some kind of Hack with his computer operation in Utah?  Well, I'm sure it wasn't just one computer in Utah. Man, did I actually have 2 good theories in one blog posting?   I'm on a roll!  (Props to Shanna V. for the tip!)  

Washington D.C.

Pre-Senate Hearing Lie Detector Test

• Agent Vreede is annoyed being woken up early in the morning prior to the senate hearing to be brought in for a lie detector test.  He calls it a Chinese Fire drill to Demetri.  Chinese reference #2.
• Demetri is summoned in and he said that he already told them he didn't see anything.  They still bring him in to make sure he was telling the truth. 
• Not sure if we knew yet but Mark has been sober for 7 years and he was looking at his chip prior to be summoned in himself. 
• Mark's lie detector test: He was alone and working late, he saw 2 men and they were wearing masks.  They still asked if he recognized them which fired up Mark!  
• Vreede's lie detector test:  He was alone, working late and was leaving for night. He took the security exit and didn't see anyone else.   Hmmm why was he taking the security exit? 

Stanford Wedeck's Past in D.C.
As we noted above, Stan and crew are in town to preserve funding for the MOSAIC Investigation.  We learn that Stan has some history living in D.C. as we see him going around attempting to pull some strings.

• Long story short, Stan has an "in" with the current President of the United States - Dave.  We see them playing basketball earlier and Stan was asking Dave for a big dog in his corner.  We learn that both of them seem to have some kind of sketchy past and that Wedeck is not too friendly with Clemente (the senator in charge of the hearing)   It isn't until Dave takes the podium at a press conference that we realize Dave is the President of the US.  

• Did anyone notice the Press Secretary (actor Frank John Hughes) that introduced the President?  I just thought it was ironic because the last time I saw him working was in the White House for the President on 24 last season!   Crazy.  
• The President addresses the media about how they're handing the fallout from the Blackout/Flashforwards.  They're redirecting fundings to programs that ARE worthwhile.   Someone asks why he isn't sharing what he saw in the FlashForward.   Apparently, leaders around the world are not revealing what they saw for security purposes.  But we did see that the President was in bed with a woman (most likely his wife?) and woken up by a secret service agent who says "something has happened".   The only thing I can note at this point is that it looks like he's still alive on April 29th 2010 at the beginning of his 2 minute and 17 second Flash.   More on this in a bit. 

• Wedeck and the President meet in the Oval Office afterwards.  We find out that Stan was supposed to be a member of Dave's cabinet but that he couldn't work it out in the end.  Wedeck played the "you owe me card" and while he wanted the MOSAIC funding to continue, Dave had other plans in mind.  He wanted to appoint Stan to Director of Homeland Security.  He is given time to think it over. 

The Hearing

We go to the Capitol, which looks to be damage from the blackout.  The Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing are in session.

• There are several other programs trying to sell their approach to dealing with the Flash Forwards.   We go through several senate committee's.  One was investigating some kind of crazy pharmaceuticals in the water supply but it was ruled out.  Another group investigating Alien Attacks and still believe it.  The one that got the most attention though was that (3rd mention) China was behind it.  The theory was absurd though.  China did not suffer many casualties because it was 2am during the blackout and most people were sleeping.  America suffered the most.  They believe that it was a targeted event to bring down the U.S. government.   While it sounds absurd, we cannot rule out that China was mentioned so many times in this episode and that the gunmen hunting down the MOSAIC crew were possibly Chinese!   I'm not saying they were trying to cripple the U.S. but what's the connection, if any, here?  stay tuned. 
• Outside during a recess, Stanford is on the phone with his wife offering encouraging words.  Senator Clemente comes over and is, as formerly mentioned, an apparent nemesis of Wedeck's.  She is under some assumption that Stan had some kind of affair with a woman and that it would have been useful material in her campaign for President.  (I guess she went up against Dave?)    She is not a believer that the flashes show the future.  She thinks the MOSAIC investigation is a joke and is determined to make fools of them.   She mentions that her flash had her as President in 6 months' time.  Now while we do see progress by the end of this episode indicating that this could happen.  I think this is a good time to bring up again that the current President was still alive in his flash?   So what's up with that?   Was he not going to be 2 minutes and 17 seconds later?    On the other hand, if we go with the whole "types of flashes" theory, here is another person who has not gotten what they wanted in life, but has seen a flash of the future where they are on top of the world.  Interesting right?  

• Back in the hearing Stan and Clemente go toe to toe.  Stan mentions how his team is gaining information from the flashes themselves.  Clemente jumps in that it was done without approval and attacks Stan's character.  They talk about Mark who had a flash that he was investigating leads that they won't have for another 6 months and that it has led to significant breaks in the case.  While Wedeck tried to prevent bringing Mark to the stand, it was inevitable.  Wedeck advises Mark to tell the truth since it got them this far. 
• Mark starts going through his vision and the progress they made with Crow attrition.  He mentioned that he was running point on the investigation and had a wall full of leads.   He mentioned there were men after him presumably because of what they'll accomplish.  He mentions that he was on the phone but didn't know who he was talking to.   Clemente then pinpoints the one flaw of Mark's story which we really haven't discussed up to this point.  Everyone's flashes recount their entire 2 minutes and 17 seconds while Mark only remembers distinct images.   We know that Mark was impaired during his Flash, but there's no way he could tell the senate that!  Clemente gets on a roll making MOSAIC look like a ridiculous investigation.  Stanford storms out.  
• After the session, Demetri agrees that it does sound crazy when you talk about Dead Birds, D. Gibbons and everything they have found.  Mark retorts with (4th mention) China and asking how ridiculous that idea was too.  

Stanford Saves the Day

• When Wedeck left the Capitol, he called Janis to do him a favor.   Long story short, he dug up dirt on the President and blackmailed him into not closing the MOSAIC Investigation.   They searched the MOSAIC website for information on a woman, Renee, that Dave has an illegitimate child with.  She is living right there in Georgetown but will apparently be living in Puerto Rico 6 months from then in her flash.  This must be the woman Clemente was talking about and why it would have been helpful in the campaign.  But what did she think Wedeck did to the woman?   I guess he was involved with the campaign and helped sweep it under the carpet.   He also seemed to have some kind of bond with Renee and the child as he visited them too.  It must be where he got the picture of Renee, child and Dave.    Dave reminds Stan that he can only play this card once.  Stan takes the deal. 
• The President makes a call and says that he has a problem he needs to be dealt with.  It sounded like he was going to turn the tables on Stan, which maybe he kind of did.   We'll talk about in a second. 

Karaoke!! 

• We find out that Agent Vreede and Demetri are lousy singers but their choice in music is unmatched!  We get a little "Sister Christian" and some "Like a Rolling Stone" during the night's festivities.  Mark tried to get Demetri to slow down his drinking.  But Demetri is in the "live in the now" phase of his "I'm gonna die in a few months" process.   I should also say Mark gets strikes against him for not being a fan of Karaoke!
• Stan arrives and has words with Mark.  They are both mad at each other.  Mark eventually comes clean that he was "loaded" during his flash.   Stan is concerned because he has staked his whole career on Mark's flashes because he believes in him.   Oh boy.   He decides to keep it under wraps when Demetri and Vreede show up and turn it into a celebration that they saved the investigation.
• They then leave the bar and we're back in the scene we started with.   Stan tells Mark not to tell anyone else (that he was loaded in the flash). 
• They see a news report that Clemente was nominated by the President to fill in the Vice President's newly vacant seat.  (the VP was killed in the Blackouts).  That gets her one step closer to the President's seat.  But again, why does she see herself as President in her Flash if Dave still is president in his?   Will the "Something has happened" from Dave's flash be related to this?   So was this the the "problem" resolution that the President came up with in response to Stan's threat?  He makes Stan's nemesis the VP?   "Everything is a trade-off" Stan says.  Sounds about right then. 
• We see the other end of Mark's phone call and it was to Janis explaining how they saved the investigation.  
• They get in the car and....

We're finally there folks!

Game Changers

Olivia's Text

• Olivia is at home trying to activate the alarm system.  #2312  not working.  She gets out her phone to text Aaron and she receives an anonymous text message from a blocked phone.  It simply says "Mark was drinking in his flash forward".  Oh boy!!  
• So who sent the text?   The obvious choices are Aaron or Stanford since they're the only 2 that supposedly know.   Of course, anyone within shouting distance could  have heard Mark bring it up at the bar to Stan too.  But I guess option 4 could be someone who PLANTED these images into Mark's head in the first place and is operating one large conspiracy and the text to Olivia was the next step in drawing her closer to Lloyd Simcoe.   Eh I think crazy things sometimes!    

The showdown in D.C.

• Just as we saw in the beginning of the episode, the SUV slams into the car with Stan, Mark, Dem and Vreede in it.  The rocket launcher fires into the car.   We see the 4 of them jump out of the vehicle on the other side.  

• And to the tune of "Like a Rolling Stone" we get a nice gunfight.  Some Asian organization (Chinese?) fighting against the MOSAIC Investigation?  What does it all mean?  Is China really behind the blackouts?  Were they doing experimentation in the 90's in Somalia?   Where do Simon and D. Gibbons and Suspect Zero (maybe one of the two mentioned) fall into this?
• For now, one of the threats got shot and some manage to escape.   And that is all we see of this for now. 

Janis's Shooting

• Except that on Janis's end she is walking with the groceries, sees a baby in a stroller and receives the call from Mark.  
• Just as she hears the shooting in D.C. she has her own band of Chinese fighters to deal with!  She shows off some of her Karate skills but a man comes out of nowhere and shoots her in the stomach.  Woaaaaa it's like someone was listening to me up above!  Bryce to the rescue anyone??
• Janis manages to kill the 2 men that were after her.   Well, she shot one in the shoulder, not sure if we saw him again.  But then we see her laying on the ground, bleeding out.  We see more of her flash of the ultrasound where she finds out the baby is a girl and begins to cry.   

• She has to survive right?  That would really throw a wrench into things if she didn't!  But at this early in the season it would be too soon to be showing cards that the flashes don't come true.   I really like my theory that she gets rushed into the hospital and forms a bond with Bryce.   It's perfect!   Let's see if it happens.      

But that's the end of the episode folks!  I really liked this one.  It definitely expanded the universe a little bit more for the show.  It got us out of this "follow a lead from Mark's flash and see where it goes" formula which was refreshing.  And it brought a whole new level of complexity.   This might be the episode I was looking for to turn things upside down.  But I think it's more of a large stepping stone in that direction.   I think things are going to get much more interesting!

Previews for next week look good.  I don't want to spoil much for those who don't like to watch.  But it does look like we may see Simon again!   And this is where I need to bring up a disclaimer.  The local Philadelphia Phillies have made the world series and are going for a 2nd straight World Series Championship starting next week.  There just happens to be games scheduled on the following 2 Thursdays (the 2nd being a Game 7 scenario!).   Just giving you a heads up that I will most likely be watching those games with FlashForward taking priority B.   So if you don't see the blog postings up right away, have no fear.  I'll get to them soon enough!   I'm sure any local readers will be in the same predicament!   GO PHILLIES!

And with that, I bid you adieu.  As always, I love to hear your thoughts and discussions on the episodes, so please start the commenting below!  And also as always, I will see you next week!


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

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