What I’m Watching: Flash Forward

Flash Forward: Season 1, Episode 20 “The Negotiation” (B+)

Starting off with Gedeck repeating the opening narration at first seemed very much like the same thing over again, even though it’s more effective the tenth time around than it should be, but there was a fun twist: tomorrow is D-Day, the day seen by people in their flash forwards. Getting to this moment is a great thing, and Aaron’s excitement at the sun coming back and him being close to his daughter exemplified the sense of anticipation that has developed after twenty episodes of preparing for the future. There’s still some unfortunate happenings, like Janis’ boss telling her “questions get you killed, sweetie” in order to just further delay any answers, and stupid, purely unnecessary flashbacks just like on “V” last week. Fortunately, this show does do action scenes very well, and this episode was full of them. Having Mark pose as Gabriel was a great plan, and hopefully that should help the FBI prevent another blackout. Gabriel’s repeated proclamation of “can’t touch this” does manage to get serious so quickly, and it’s intense how much he freaks out when Demetri comes into the room because he’s supposed to be dead. The award for the best guest spot of this episode, however, goes not to James Callis, but instead to the lovely Annabeth Gish, who I had thought had been tossed away after just one episode but instead is back as Lita to handle Simon. Turning to Janis for help is definitely a good move for Simon, and I’m interested to see where it goes.

Don’t get too attached, though, since ABC has elected not to renew “Flash Forward” for a second season. Two more episodes and that’s it. How do you feel about that news?