FlashForward – More Simon, please

I’ve been as jaded as just about anyone when it comes to FlashForward. I wasn’t really missing it during its prolonged absence, and wasn’t all that excited for it to return. I figured I would give it another shot, though, and see what it had left in the tank. I’m not sure if my memory of it was unfair, or if the two hours tonight were really an improvement, but I feel like the show is making a concerted effort to improve.

One of the major improvements in these two episodes was the distinct lack of Mark Benford throughout the second hour. Sure, he was there in the first, and was just as annoying as ever, but the focus seemed to shift a bit from him. Just about every complaint I hear about the show focuses on this character and the performance from Joseph Fiennes. Perhaps the brains behind the show have heard this criticism. Perhaps it was just coincident. In any case, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It certainly seemed like a lot of the attention through both of these episodes was placed on Simon, who has always been intriguing. Over the course of these two episodes, though, he went from mysterious and intriguing to the best damn thing to happen to this show since the pilot. There were answers galore and a lot of insight into his character. I know a lot of people fingered Dominic Monaghan’s character as suspect zero before his character even showed up (Keith included). Turns out they were all correct, but I still enjoyed the reveal. Simon is wrapped up in this, quite deeply, and he is capable of just about anything, as we saw at the end of the second episode.

I’m a huge Ricky Jay fan (have you ever seen him throw playing cards into melons?), so I was really sad to see that his stint on the show is already over. I thought he did a great job as a villain. The Deadwood fan in me did a little dance of joy listening to him say “Joanie.” At least I can look back and say that his death was impactful. Simon showed that he is capable of just about anything — lying, killing, sacrificing his own pinky finger. I’m excited to see what the future holds for him.

I really liked how these episodes pushed the story forward. Benford discovered more to his flash, we learned a lot more about the group behind the blackout, and we learned how Lloyd was involved (or not really involved, depending on how you see it). Hopefully the show will continue to find the balance between drawing out intrigue and dolling out answers. Through the first portion of the season, I felt like they raised a lot of questions, but every time one was asked, it was put on the back burner in favor of a newer mystery. After tonight’s double episode return, however, I am optimistic that the show is going to finish out its first season strongly. We’ll just have to wait until next week to see I can keep that feeling.

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Mar 18, 2010 @ 22:00 EST5EDT