FLASHFORWARD 1.13 - "Blowback"

WRITERS: Lisa Zwerling & Barbara Nance
DIRECTOR: Constantine Makris
GUEST CAST: Gabrielle Union, Laura Marano, Robert Neary, Kavita Patil & Tim "Timbaland" Mosley

[SPOILERS] Last week, I claimed I rarely stop watching a TV show I've started, but that doesn't stretch to writing about them. I'm still going to continue watching FlashForward until the bitter end -- because it's not long until the finale airs, and I'm intrigued to see if the later episodes pick up once David Goyer left as showrunner -- but "Blowback" was poor enough to make me stop writing about it every week. I may still chime in with a few thoughts occasionally (certainly for the finale), but writing about FlashForward every single week feels like it's extending the previous evening's irritation. A few brief thoughts on episode 13 before I signoff, for now:

I appreciated the episode's emphasis on character over plot, which has been a criticism of the show since it started, but the Lost-like flashbacks to explain exactly how Aaron (Brían F. O'Byrne) was told his soldier daughter Tracy (Genevieve Cortese) was KIA felt superfluous. Why did we need to see what we already knew had happened? And then Jane was kidnapped by black ops Jericho soldiers in the present-day (hiding at home was never a wise move, dummy), meaning Aaron' decided to channel Liam Neeson in Taken and went after Jericho's General Irskan (James Remar). I also found it amusing that Aaron kept leaving voicemails for his best friend Mark (Joseph Fiennes) to pick up, who's assumedly lost interest in Aaron's predicament -- not unlike the audience.

Speaking of Mark, he forced Lloyd (Jack Davenport) to recount every second of his vision (seconds of which they shared via phone call), so now we have the extra clue of a complex formula written on a mirror in lipstick in the Benford's bedroom, and Lloyd admitted that he knows the mysterious D. Gibbons -- someone who once took the credit for his achievements.

Finally, Demetri's (John Cho) fiancée Zoey (Gabrielle Union) became intensely irritating by taking it upon herself to avert Dem's death by sticking her nose into FBI business, and there was a bizarre cameo for Rn'B music producer Timbaland as an evidence clerk.

Overall, "Blowback" was rather flat and uninspired, not helped by the fact the preceding two episodes fired along like twin rockets, so it looked comparatively dawdling. It wasn't atrocious, and a few moments worked quite well, but when FlashForward does a character-building episode and you come away annoyed by most of the characters taking centre stage, it's time to worry.

Asides

-- It just dawned on me that the female terrorist is played by Rachel Roberts, of S1M0NE non-fame.

-- James Remar is a terrible actor. I know he's a regular on Dexter, and I don't pick on him there, but that's because he's confined to standing under a spotlight and saying his lines as straight at possible. Asked to do anything more, involving realistic human emotions, and he falls apart. He was truly dire here. Check out his reaction to a birthday cake in one scene.

-- The secret to eternal life: grow a big beard, then shave it. It knocks 15 years off, as Aaron proved in his flashback jail scenes.

29 MARCH 2010: FIVE (HD), 9PM