What I’m Watching: Flash Forward (The Penultimate Episode)

Flash Forward: Season 1, Episode 21 “Countdown” (C+)

For the second-to-last episode of a season, this really isn’t much to write home about. Even if the writers didn’t know that the show wouldn’t live to see a second season, this is really just a waste of an episode. To defend it, it’s much like the recent “Lost” episode “Across the Sea” which spent its entire time underlining one point rather than progressing the story forward. In this case, it’s the notion that the future is inevitable, and it’s the character’s knowledge of what’s to come that makes it so. After Hellinger ominously announce that he’s seen this day more times than he can remember, he tells Mark that he’s going to lose his cool and beat him up, and that’s when things are going to fall apart for Mark. Since Mark thinks he’s going to be able to beat him, he becomes so angry when he’s not able to that he’s blinded by his rage and disappointment that he goes nuts on Hellinger anyway. By the time he’s given the flask by the man who says he saw himself quitting drinking in his flash forward, he’s succumbed to the fact that he can’t possibly do anything to avoid his fate. Sure, some characters aren’t in the right place, like Lloyd, but the general idea is on track. This episode didn’t offer anything new or startling, however, and the only reason to tune in next week is to see how it all plays out. Demetri’s confession to Zoe about sleeping with Janis isn’t terribly interesting since I’ve never found Zoe to be a compelling part of the story, and presumably Demetri still has time to get shot by the time that Zoe is strolling down that beach without him. Let’s hope that next week provides some closure, but I’m not keeping my fingers crossed.