FlashForward: Season 1 Episode 13 - Blowback

Hello Future Dwellers and welcome back!  I must say we watched another very solid episode of FlashForward!  I am loving the more character-centric approaches (please don't hate me if I refer to LOST again.)  What made LOST so intriguing, and still does, has been the character stories, learning their backstories and really caring for these characters.  And they're just getting overall more interesting the more they all interact.  Mark and Lloyd developing a bond instead of being enemies, makes things even more interesting.   Trying to figure out how Mark and Demetri will come to blows is a good time.   How is Janis going to become pregnant? (I still have a theory and it's looking more and more like it will come true!)   And how about Aaron going all commando in this episode!?  Loved it!  So much better than hearing him whine all the time about Mark and Mark caring only about himself.  I love the idea of some of them trying to fight the flash forwards and they only keep becoming more real, some are embracing the stories and wanting them to come true.  It all makes for some good old fashioned speculation and that's what we're going to do!

Once again, I'm going to try and not give a full-on recap of the show.  We all watched it, right?  We just want to talk about it!  Plus, with my other blogging commitments this year, I just need to take it easy for a bit!  But we all know how wordy I can get, so we'll see how I do!

There are 4 Main stories going on in this episode.   We get a bit of a backstory on Aaron and we see his and Tracey's path to their Flash Forward escalate at a rapid pace.  Zoey gets Demetri's intel on how he is supposedly going to die and she goes to any lengths possible to prevent that from happening.  Janis keeps progressing in her baby making business.  And then Mark and Lloyd try to make a break in preventing the next blackout by figuring out their Flash Forward connection.  Ready to get into this thing?  Let's do it!

Aaron Gets Even

Aaron benefits the most from the character deep dive this week.  We get a few flashback scenes exploring his past battles with alcohol and broken promises with his daughter and dealing with the supposed loss of his daughter (again, with alcohol).  It ties nicely into the present day as the same people responsible for her disappearance back in the day are at it again and have kidnapped Tracy.  By the end of the episode he tracks down the head honcho of Jericho and shows him who is in charge!  An all around great storyline with showing some of Aaron's military surveillance and all around badA#$ fighting skills!  Here are a few interesting things to note out. 

Flashbacks

• 15 Years ago, Aaron spent some time in jail after getting in a bar brawl.  He had a bit too much to drink.  He was up for parole and probably would have gotten off on good behavior.  Tracy was there to talk to him and he promised he would try his best to smile and get out.  But his angry side came out again as the guard started talking about his daughter in some inappropriate ways.  We can assume Aaron broke his promise to Tracy and ended up staying in jail a little longer.  

• Note: Aaron looks a lot younger without that beard! 
• 2 Years ago we see Aaron get delivered the news that his daughter had died in action.  We are reminded (or maybe found out for the first time?) that Aaron too was in the marines.   We see that it was his daughter's death that drove him back to drinking as we see him torn apart after the funeral and getting pretty violent in his house. 

Present Day

• The kid Mike Willingham that was a friend of Tracy's and that Aaron got a job in a previous episode ends up being connected to the Jericho plot.  I had this written down as a theory, but in just like many other times on this show, they answer it before we can even speculate!  Now, it did seem like he may have been involved against his will, but apparently he was going to be ordered to kill Aaron.  Naturally, he didn't get the chance.  
• We find out that Tracy has been so cold to her father because of why she was back in Los Angeles in the first place.  Kahmir, Tracy's commanding officer (?) in Afghanistan, has actually told Tracy to return to Los Angeles and bring her father back to fulfill the flash forward.  She couldn't bear the thought of bringing her father to Afghanistan.   Looks like that will be happening anyway! 
• Once Aaron finds out that Tracy is kidnapped he goes on a rampage.  He realizes he tipped of Mike by telling her Tracy was alive and at his house.  Not long after Tracy was kidnapped and placed in a box.   Aaron went back after Mike and somehow tricked him into getting into the truck.  (really, this guy would go for a burger??)   Anyway, Aaron talks about his past in prison and how he was an animal.  And he brought the animal back to beat the living daylights out of Mike.  That was a real good time.  Mike even brought a knife to the fist fight but it did no good.   Mike does say that he is going to get them both killed which made me think there was more to his possible reluctant involvement.  But I guess we'll see. 

• Aaron then takes previous intel he received on the head of Jericho, James Erskin.  He went to his house, cut the power and rained on Erksin's daughter's bday party.  James denied involvement, but Aaron's plan was to tap his cell phone somehow.  And he did.   Aaron finds out that they have Tracy, and her keeping her alive for questioning in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  And of course, he wants Aaron dead.  But Aaron has other plans, while it looks like he's going to kill Mike he hung him upside down outside the screen door at the Erskin home with Happy Birthday written on his chest (ahhh good times)   If anyone noted, this also was the image shown to us right after the FlashForward Title at the beginning of the episode. 

• Aaron leaves Mark a message saying he is going off the map for awhile, but is totally buying into his Flash.  Everything is happening as planned.  He looked at the knife he took from Mike and it's the exact knife that he hands to his daughter in Afghanistan in the Flash.   "How did you find me?"   "I'll always find you"  Awwwww     Very powerful stuff. 
• And, of course, we must note that Erksin is played by Dexter's DAD (another totally awesome show)!  

Zoey Creates Tension

In probably the most annoying part of the episode, Zoey goes to great lengths to try and prevent Demetri's death from happening.  Once Demetri explains that Mark is supposed to shoot him, she starts going on a rampage with the FBI crew.   And, most likely, she is causing some damage that may result in the actual situation that Mark and Demetri will come to blows with on March 15th 

• She visits Mark at the Benford home.  She suggests that maybe Demetri has a gun pointed at Mark first and asks if he would shoot back.  Mark doesn't answer.  She asks what could Demetri do that would drive Mark to shoot him.  Mark throws out the outrageous theory that perhaps Demetri could be the LEAK in the office.  As outrageous as it sounds, maybe it will be true.  Maybe Demetri is unknowingly the leak.
• Zoey gets even further into a mess by going to the FBI and putting Demetri in an awkward situation with Wedeck.  She throws some Legal Mumbo Jumbo out there and claims that the MOSAIC investigation has leads that could be beneficial to her and The Freedom of Information Act.  Wedeck and Demetri both know it's about preventing Demetri's death.    Dem is not happy! 

• We should also note that Demetri has plans to destroy Mark's gun.  I believe some people brought this up in the blog comments last week.  A very good call and something that should have already been done! 
• Anyway, Zoey believes that the Terrorist Alda Hertzog (that Mark and Dem caught in the first episode) may have more information about Demetri's death than she has led on.  Her sheet says that she has a history of Public Intoxications.  Not sure if that is the information that Zoey is referring to or not.   Doesn't really seem to make sense that this would be a connection between an alcoholic wanting to kill his partner! 

• Zoey meets with Alda who is less than cooperative (Sending her early condolences).  But Zoey asks if Alda was in prison in her Flash Forward.  Alda doesn't comment.  So I guess we can make 2 assumptions.  She is in prison, and by letting Zoey represent her, she is hoping to get out.  Or vice versa, she is NOT in prison and perhaps letting Zoey help her is the way she gets out.  Either way, Demetri again is very displeased.   Zoey continues to say she'll do anything.   
• Hmmm...I could definitely see something escalating in this mess where Mark is in a situation with a gun pointed at Demetri.  Maybe Demetri tells Zoey something who tells Alda something who tells somebody else something.  Maybe Zoey is part of the leak?  Was Demetri telling her stuff before she got this far into the FBI?  Other suspects could still be Wedeck or Agent Vreede who doesn't seem to do much but just linger in the background!  I'm sure we'll find out eventually. 
• Demetri finally gets over his anger and understands Zoey is doing it all for love.  We'll save the last Zoey/Demetri moment until the end of the post. 

Janis Is Baby Happy

Janis is getting very close to the point where she needs to get pregnant.  And, unlike Zoey, she is going to great lengths to make her Flash Forward come true!  Here are some pointers. 

• Janis is taking prenatal vitamins and also goes to a fertility clinic and is advised to wait a little longer due to her being shot recently.  Janis does not want to wait and truly believes in her Flash Forward.  She wants that flash baby and not just A baby.  She spends every waking moment thinking about it  

• Eventually the clinic accepts her as a patient, as she explains to Demetri.  She talks more about her dreaming about this baby girl and all of the plans she has for her.  She was afraid she was going to lose it all when she got shot.  She doesn't want her life to just be FBI.  She wants a family.  And she needs to get pregnant like in a week's time.  (you guy's see where I'm going with this yet?  No, not Demetri, hang on!)     Anyway, she talks about how she really wants her flash to come true but how Demetri needs to fight for his NOT to come true.  She encourages him to destroy that gun!    

MOSAIC Stuff 

(Mark/Lloyd & Guest Starring the FBI)

Mark and Lloyd Investigate their Flashes

So Mark summons Lloyd again to discuss his FlashForwards in order to prevent another blackout.  He wants answers, he wants to know who D. Gibbons is.  Lloyd won't budge.   So eventually, he takes Lloyd to the Benford home.  AWKWARD!!  Definitely awkward and Mark isn't enjoying it either but they go through it and end up sort of bonding by the end.   I like the direction they are going with the Mark/Lloyd dynamic.  They have to work together but somehow Lloyd and Olivia will end up growing closer together.  Will the Flash actually pan out the way they saw it?  Only time will tell.   But we do get some nice tidbits of information here.  We'll dive in now!

• First, Mark shows Lloyd a sketch of D. Gibbons (it's the same guy we have seen portraying him). Mark is convinced Lloyd knows the man, but Lloyd keeps denying it.  This man was cloning credit cards at the time of the blackout. (I think we knew that already, but it's been awhile!) 

• So we start in the bedroom.  Lloyd keeps bringing up the point that he never saw Olivia, just heard a voice.  
• We see Lloyd's text from Simon.  U(t)=exp(-Ht/h-bar) and it's part of a larger formula that he wrote on the mirror in lipstick.  Any quantum physics experts out there want to crack this stuff?

• Lloyd calls Mark in the flash and asked if he was drinking to which Mark says to go to hell.   (BTW, I think someone suggested that maybe Lloyd texted Olivia with the tidbit that Mark was drunk in the FlashForward.  Makes sense since we know now that he knew too.)  
• They bring up the QED again.  And both of the things we brought up in prior posts were mentioned here.  Mark brings up the latin quote "quod erat demonstrandum" (that which was to be demonstrated.  Lloyd says it could stand for Quantum Electro-Dynamics.   But then Lloyd realizes he said "THE QED" in the flash which doesn't make sense for either.  He then absolutely believes he is referring to the formula.  This makes Mark try to smile!   I have no idea what it means, but it's progress.  Perhaps the QED is a formula to help determine how to prevent a blackout?
• Lloyd then remembers being downstairs and hearing a little girl's voice (Charlie) who went into the kitchen with Dylan.  He was still on the phone with Mark and said that the formula is "only theoretical but he's close to figuring it out"    And then he heard a voice and before he could see who it was (Olivia) he woke up at NLAP.  
• Mark realizes he left the part out where he was adamant that D. Gibbons is a liar.  After refusing to admit he knew the man a few more times he finally cracked saying that he IS a liar.   His real name is Dyson Frost.  It turns out that he gave Frost information for some Electron Wave something or other.  (Lloyd was talking way too fast about stuff I have no idea about!)  The point was, whatever it was (and we do find out a little more later)  Frost was giving a lecture at Oxford taking credit for Lloyd's work.  Lloyd was researching Wave Mechanics on sabbatical.  Apparently, Frost faked his death and assumed the name D. Gibbons.    
• Mark then brings up that he thought Lloyd may have told Charlie that D. Gibbons is a bad man.  He did not.  So then Lloyd advises Mark to try and talk to Charlie again even though past attempts have failed.  
• Mark then changes the line of questioning to when he was kidnapped.  Lloyd comes clean and tells Mark everything he told them about energy levels, equipment settings, monitoring parameters.  He was afraid that he gave them the information that will cause another blackout.  Mark wants to work with Lloyd to stop Dyson Frost.  And Lloyd is willing to do whatever he can.  Good times! 
• (I know I know...I went into recap mode, It's a bad habit!  I can't help it!) 

Mark catches Wedeck and Vogel up

• Mark returns with the Dyson Frost information.  The information he stole from Lloyd was all about some kind of Mirror Test.  It recognizes consciousnesses between species.  He brings up humans, elephants and crows. Yep, Somalia.  All leads point to the experimentations that were going on in Somalia.  He references speaking to a team leader at Red Panda that fly in and out of there all of the time.  I love how Wedeck asks how he's going to sell "Bird Watching" to Washington.   And of course Vogel steals Mark's line about it being better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission.  

• So some experiment that causes a shared consciousness between humans.  Could that mean that this experiment could have shown a FALSE/POSSIBLE future?  That it somehow tapped into the collective brainwaves of the world and threw some stuff out there?  And maybe they did it to see if people begin to self-fulfill these prophecies?  Maybe these experiments can SUGGEST certain futures to their liking?   I guess that's the other big question we're looking at.  WHY?   Why would  Dental Flosso and the higher ups want to knock out the world?  Do they care about the visions they're having?  Or do they like the idea of the entire world being knocked out for 2 minutes while they rob Fort Knox or something?   Is MONEY the key to it all?  Is it Power?  Or is it creating some kind of utopian future to whatever liking they desire?      (Well, I had to break RECAP mode just for one bullet!) 
• We find out that while Vogel was finally being nice to Mark, he still dislikes him.  He considers him very important to all of them, because of what is in his head.  (he lied before)   So because of all of this, Janis and Demetri are chosen to go to Somalia. 
• The 2 are briefed on the mission.  They reference information from previous episodes with the crows falling from the sky, a mass loss of consciousness and a perimeter of towers.  Only one tower remains standing today. Their mission is to go to this tower, gather intel and determine if a blackout ever happened there.  And they are going undercover as RED PANDA.  Simon drops by and says that with his expertise he must go along.  He references his designs from when he was 13 and naturally, he also sells Vogel that he can go because he saw Blackhawk Down!  

• Here's my continuing theory folks.  Janis and Simon will continue their flirtation in Somalia and she is going to get preggers!  I know, she likes the ladies, but maybe she tells Simon about her flash and he volunteers for help.  Or there is alcohol involved.  I don't know.  She may be upset because it is the exact day when she needs to get pregnant and become vulnerable.   I started the theory last week, I'm sticking to it this week.  Let's see if it happens NEXT week! 

Gun Destroying Time! 

So, Demetri brings Zoey to the Evidence Department to retrieve Mark's gun and destroy it.  Zoey gets all happy and apologizes to Demetri for being so confrontational.  Demetri had plans to throw the gun in the river before the guy in Evidence suggested a blowtorch.   In either case, it's going to be pretty hard to destroy Mark's gun.  Why?   Because it's GONE!!!    HUH???

TO BE CONTINUED

Woa, who on earth would take the gun?  Certainly Mark didn't try to get it back right?  Maybe whoever the LEAK in the department is took it?  Maybe that person wants Mark to get this gun back?  Perhaps, Nhadra's connections made sure the gun wouldn't be destroyed?  Lots of possibilities, but it is definitely intriguing.   The show has definitely picked up the pace and it's a fun adrenaline ride each week.  Next week looks to be just as exciting! 

Speaking of next week, just as a heads up it is a Thursday leading into a Holiday Weekend.  I will try my best to get to the recap in a timely manner but I ask for your patience if it is not up around the normal time!  I may be running into a few issues during the month of April with getting the post up on Friday morning.  But I will continue to try my best!  

As always thank you for reading.  Definitely share your comments below.   I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

ENDING CREDITS 

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FlashForward: Season 1 Episode 11 & 12 - Revelation Zero Parts 1 and 2

Hello Future Dwellers and welcome back to FlashForward!  That was a crazy long hiatus wasn't it?   A lot has happened since it left the airwaves in December.  Lots of Executive Producer changes, retooling, negative press of how the show won't survive, oh right and LOST is airing it's final season!   I just threw that one in for good measure.  Anyway, FlashForward has had a lot to live up to with it's return.  And I think it came back with a solid outing!   Albeit, I probably didn't need a 2 hour episode of it right off of the bat.  The blogging Gods are trying to take me down in 2010 with my crazy schedule.  But, alas, I will try to make due.    For anyone familiar with my LOST Blogs, you know I can tend to be a bit wordy.   Well, for my sanity, I'm going to try and keep things brief with FlashForward for this season.   I hope no one minds too much!

So let's get right into it.  Let's call the first 10 episodes of the season "The Setup".   This 2 hour episode unleashed a lot of answers our way and set the show up for a whole new direction heading up to the April 29th date.  It feels like someone hit the fast forward button and we're off!  Big answers, big deaths (thank God on one of them!), big things can be expected!    The plot lines: The first hour was all about the rescue of Lloyd Simcoe who we last saw being carted away by fake paramedics.  Simon ends up getting captured with Lloyd as well.   Mark had turned in his gun and badge and was going to therapy to unleash his flash forward and become relevant again.  Then there was the whole Nicole/Bryce/Window Washer story and the Sanctuary.   Part 2 of the evening was a Simon-Centric episode where we got a whole bunch of information and it's laid on in LOSTian fashion with flashbacks and mirrors!    You'll have to excuse me with all of the Physics talk in this episode.  I'm no scientist so I'm just going to try my best!

REBOOT!

The show opened up and tried to reflect more of the global scale of the Global Blackout.  We revisited October 6, 2009 and showed cities around the world in peril.  And of course the Window Washer we come to know as Timothy was saved by what he calls "FATE".   He was falling and his safety cord latched into something on the skyscraper he was working on (the same building that the helicopter crashed into in the pilot episode "No More Good Days").    Many of the fans were complaining about how this show focused so much on a small scale in Los Angeles.  Why wouldn't the world be concerned about what happened.  We heard of these "millions" of people dying, but we were never shown anything on a massive scale to reflect that.  I thought this was a nice touch for the "winter/spring" premiere.  

FBI - MOSAIC

We continue right where we left off with Mark and Demetri returning from their revealing trip to Hong Kong.  Will Mark shoot Demetri?  That is to be determined in a future episode.  Olivia is also at FBI headquarters after Lloyd has been taken captive.  Here are some things to take note of in this storyline. 

• Mark is upset with the pace that they're moving.  He wants to go to Somalia, he wants to find D. Gibbons.  Wedeck is fed up with Mark and tells him he is working on this stuff.  He sends Mark to mandatory therapy to get back in working shape.  
• Mark and Olivia meet up.  He sees the video on Simon's computer of Lloyd hugging her but he doesn't flip out about it.  He is calm and collected.  Hmmm, did they do some retooling with his character in the mini "off season?"  Mark is just happy Olivia is okay.  
• Agent Vogel (the guy that was a nuisance to Mark and Demetri in Hong Kong) is now working on MOSAIC.   Demetri isn't too thrilled as they are now partners while Mark is out of the picture. 

• Lots of leads are followed to try and find Lloyd.  Simon wants to gain access to Lloyd's home to log onto his computer.  He and Janis head there.  I believe we start noticing some "flirtation" between Simon and Janis this early on in the episode.   I know she's into girls and everything, but could Simon be the one that impregnates her somehow?   That would be kind of crazy I guess!
• Anyway, long story short, the MASKED goons come to Lloyd's house and next thing we know we find Janis unconscious and Simon is gone.  Of course, having watched the 2nd hour, we know that Simon most likely wasn't "kidnapped" per say! 

• I missed why Demetri and Vogel ended up hanging at the train tracks but I guess they were following a lead.  Vogel beats it into Demetri's head for him to stop being so concerned about his death on March 15th.  The whole Blackout/Flash Forward conspiracy is so much bigger than a murder that might happen that day.  He taunts Demetri with saying someone else will be marrying Zoey on that beach if he doesn't get it together.   They have a little rumble but Vogel gets the upper hand and genuinely seems to be trying to help Demetri in his own crazy way.  

• They end up finding dead bodies in one of the trains.  Hmm, maybe these were the guys that were supposed to be driving the ambulance?   That makes sense (sorry guys, I could have just rewound the episode and watched but there's too much to cover!)  

• Anyway, the found a cell phone case which leads them to think the cell phone might still be in the ambulance that was hijacked.  They trace the number and follow the lead to an abandoned restaurant.  And once they get there they open the ambulance door and BOOM!   The ambulance goes bye bye! 

• Apparently, the bad guys are 10 steps ahead of the Feds.  The bomb was set to trigger based on their radio frequency.  They knew how to find them in D.C., in Pigeon Utah.   They have known that Mark and Demetri are involved based on Mark's Flash Forward.  Vogel says they have to think about how they are using that knowledge to their advantage.  Well that's a pretty generic statement!  Go ahead and crack that code Vogel!  Maybe we'll see more of this genius idea at work in future episodes!   In other words, the FBI hit a dead end.  It was one loner guy that ended up finding Lloyd and Simon in the end.  But we'll get to that. 

Sanctuary

So we get a little more story on Nicole in this episode as well.  We found out her mother is a bit on the looney side.  She even burned "the family bible" as she was reading passages from Genesis (yep, good ol' Adam and Eve.  Is this LOST again??)   Nicole apparently has a sister that watches Mom when Nicole is working at the hospital.  This window washer guy, Timothy comes into the picture as well.  And Bryce and Nicole's relationship seems to be growing at a steady pace.  Look out Keiko!   

• At work Nicole gets a glimpse of a man that may be strangling her in her flash forward.  She follows him but loses him.   But she gets paranoid about it.  Olivia recommends Nicole talking to the detective she reported it to last time.  But we don't see her going down that path.  Some nurse recommended SANCTUARY.   The signs are up everywhere. 

• So our episode's narrator, Timothy the Window Washer, has taken up into public speaking about God and Faith and how to embrace Free Will AND Fate at the same time.  Man, seriously, is this LOST or what?  (sorry, I know the non-LOSTIES are probably tired of me comparing!)   There are similar themes, so it's hard not to compare at times.  
• We find out that Timothy had a flash of him being a very successful EVANGELIST in his vision of the future.  It has inspired him to start down that path.  

• Nicole gets all preachy and asks about how God figures into all of this.  She doesn't understand how the blackout can be good when so much bad has happened from it.  He offers to talk over coffee.   Nicole brings Bryce to the coffee shop for some extra comfort.   And she asks him to get any change from his order in pennies.  

• Nicole and Timothy have a little chat.  Timothy tries to find the positives in Nicole's flash of being strangled and dying.  Maybe it was a baptism, maybe she only fainted.  REALLY?   Did she buy that?    
• But then he mentions that every day God puts something good in life and she should embrace it.  She looks over and sees Bryce putting pennies into a bag. awwww  She likes him.   Look out Keiko!  
• Later Nicole brings Bryce into her home and her mother seems to be enjoying the new company.  Apparently she is pasting a bunch of pennies on the wall.   And they are all 1989 pennies (the year that Nicole was born).  She seems a little less crazy this time around, but she's still wearing angel wings!   She says she was struck by lightning 6 times (anyone else think of that guy in the Great Outdoors?  Ahh good movie).   And she called Coincidence "God at Work".   Okay, sounds good to me!  I didn't get anything too insightful out of this scene but it was sweet watching Nicole, Mom, and Bryce bonding over pasting pennies on the wall! 

• Bryce later went to Timothy without Nicole and told him he wanted to make sure she wasn't getting involved with anything that will end up hurting her.  Timothy asked when getting more love in their life ever hurt anyone.   
• Well, did anyone else get the creepy vibe from Timothy in this whole episode?  Could he be involved in the eventual potential strangling of Nicole?  I'm sure we will find out!   I can see it now, Nicole is going to get very on board and involved with this Sanctuary group to the point where she is obsessive.  And Bryce is going to get concerned and he's going to have to make a choice between Nicole and Keiko.  But lots must happen before any of that happens! 

Hospital - Olivia and Dylan's Relationship Grows

So while Lloyd is missing, the suits are looking to take Dylan to foster care.  Olivia refuses to allow that to happen.  So she makes up a sickness to keep Dylan around.  We know from Dylan's flash forward that he seemed to be living at the Benford household.  And he and Charlie form a strong bond.  Olivia's actions here might be steps in that direction.  

• Dylan seems scared at first, but Olivia sings the "Squirrlio" theme song (the infamous cartoon that is featured in a lot of the episodes) and Dylan seems at ease.  
• Later on Dylan asks Olivia if his father will be okay, and she assures him that he will. 
• He saved her a cookie and gave that to her as well.   
• And per Dylan's request, Olivia does sing to him again.   
• Not much here in this storyline, but worth noting since we know where it could potentially be headed by April!

Interrogation of Lloyd

So, while the stakes were pretty high in this scene, we witnessed some of the worst acting to ever grace the TV screen (I know I exaggerate).   Basically, the interrogation was to ask Simon about the "experiment" on Blackout day.   They need to know the amount of collision energy that was created from the hydro accelerator.  

• We find out that Lloyd didn't cause the blackout, the experiment actually AMPLIFIED it.  And any information he would give up could lead to another blackout.  (we eventually learn that he is aware of Mark's additional FlashForward information)
• But the worst thing about this scene was THE VILLAIN.  Yes, it's the LORD of the RINGS from that other episode back in the day.   Every line that he delivered, you could tell, was meant to be chilling but he was totally the wrong actor to pull it off.   And the NAME they gave to him.  "I have emphysema.  All villains smoke.  You can call me FLOSSO and I'm a villain!"  Your bad guy is named FLOSSO?????   Yes, in all of my notes I called the guy Dental Flosso.  How could you not?   I just prayed and prayed the entire 2 hours that this was not the BIG BAD and that he was somehow going to perish.

• They go away for a bit and leave Lloyd and Simon to talk.  Simon talks about his Flash Forward again of strangling the man.   Which Lloyd didn't think made sense because he remembers getting a text from Simon at the same time.  Simon said maybe he sends the text earlier and he is just getting it.  (naturally, what we found out later totally enlightens this whole scene...including the choking of the man)   
• So, remember how after the FlashForward logo in the episode they may start dropping clues to future episodes?  In episode 10, they showed us a Cheesesteak Menu with the words "HELP US" written on them.  That came into play in a big way in this episode, as Lloyd writes it and puts it outside the window.   It blows away and right into the hands of DENTAL FLOSSO!!! 

• Did he really say "Let the Wild rumpus begin???"   Wow, this was rough stuff.   Anyway, there is more talk about electrons and Plasma Wakefield Acceleration.  He asked about detecting anything superluminal or of there was Cherenkov radiation?   Lloyd refuses to tell anything, so they start hurting Simon.   And yes, they use a cigar cutter and cut his finger off.  OUCH!!!   That was actually pretty tense, but it could have been better without DENTAL FLOSSO!

• Lloyd does eventually talk.  We find out they have been watching him since before the blackout.  They know all about his son.   And they're going to hurt him if he doesn't talk.  We find out that the experiment generated more than a Quadrillion Electron Volts (Petra??)  and they came close to finding dark matter but there was a breakdown in some kind of symmetry.   I told you, I'm no scientist.  All I can tell you is they did something massive with this experiment and it helped cause the GBO.  And DENTAL FLOSSO wants to be able to do it again!   
• Dental Flosso says to clean up the mess, they put hoods over Simon and Lloyd's heads and start walking them up.  We'll save the rest for Mark's story! 

Mark Goes Solo

Mark took pictures of his office on his way out and began building his Mosaic Board there.  As he says, he is no golfer and has nothing else to do!  He begins seeing a shrink which leads to us seeing more of his Flash Forward and it leads to him getting a lead on where to find Lloyd.  But we'll get there.

• Mark and Olivia finish their talk about Olivia saying goodbye, which she said was simply that.  She was glad for it to be over.   Mark was just glad she was okay.  Olivia isn't content.  Why don't they just run away away from LA since they know that's where all of this stuff happens.  Makes sense to me!  She said she would do anything to save their marriage.  And even referenced Al Gough jumping off the FBI building.   Mark, isn't ready to give up and run away from their problems. 
• Mark then goes to the Psychiatrist Dr. Callie Langer who loves her lattes.  He talks about his flash forward that he was off the wagon and guns were pointing at him.  She knows that there is more to his flash and wants to help him uncover it.  Or he won't be able to settle down his "God Complex."   There are drugs to help enhance his memories.  Mark is not sure he likes that solution.   Makes sense, it could lead to him being back off the wagon and making his flash come true.  

• BTW, it's 140 days until D'Day.  Any math nuts out there want to tell us what date that makes it?  My brain is really working slow right now!   April 29th minus 140 days equals?  4-5 months?  I guess we're still in like November/December right?   I'm sure they originally intended this week's episode to be a pretty significant week since March 15th just passed by.  But we'll be getting there a little later.  Oh well! 

• Mark does eventually agree to the treatment.  We see more of his flash.  We finally get a glimpse of RED PANDA.  We had heard clues (and there is even a website) that this organization was going to play into the show.  He also is on his phone with Lloyd Simcoe!   He talks about how he wished Lloyd was standing behind the 8 ball when he came crashing through.  We didn't know what he was talking about, but we find out!   So now we know who Lloyd was talking to in his flash forward.   We see this flash in pieces.   Eventually he's outside a bar and needs Aaron Stark to come and talk him off the ledge.  Then we hear Lloyd's end of the phone conversation.  He doesn't blame Mark for hating him.  Mark doesn't hate him.  But he does need to talk to Lloyd about QED.  We have heard this brought up before on the show.   It came up in the poker game between Simon and Lloyd.   We came up with various definitions for this in that episode, but perhaps it stands for Quantum Electro Dynamics  From wikipedia "QED mathematically describes allphenomena involving electrically charged particles interacting by means of exchange of photons. "  sounds good to me!     Mark also sees the CHEESE STEAK "HELP US" menu on his wall.    And of course he also tells Lloyd that if they don't stop something there is going to be another blackout!  That is the real kicker here.  So now, they are not just worried about their destinies coming true, they are worried about preventing another blackout.  That seems to be the bigger fish to fry right now doesn't it?  

• We also find out that Mark is trusting of D. Gibbons.  Lloyd tells him on the phone that the man "claiming" to be D. Gibbons is a liar.  Very interesting stuff.  I guess we'll see where that all goes! 
• Surely, we still haven't seen all of his flash.  Mark is probably going to want to be drugged again to see more.  Could he develop a dependency?   Maybe, I dunno.  Just a thought since Mark brought it up himself. 
• Mark brings all of this information to Wedeck.   Wedeck tells Mark to keep it on the down low and carry on investigations in private.  They don't want to alarm anyone of another blackout until they can be sure it's a possibility.  
• Mark also recalls a picture of some kind of crazy serpent from his flash.  He pulls it out of a drawer at home and puts it on the wall.   
• Charlie comes in with a picture of a flower and talks about how she solves puzzles with her grandmother.  Start with the corners!   I'm not sure Mark exactly took that advice, but it was a sweet moment! 
• Mark does take a swing by Red Panda Resources.  They claim to be involved in humanitarian aid since 1998 including the Middle East.  Mark asks about Somalia but that blackout event was in 1991.   Mark wanted to see if he could go on a trip but the person he was talking to said that most people working there have police records.   Huh??  I guess Mark went in there as a member of the FBI?   The scene didn't make much sense to me but whatever.  It's an introduction to the organization.  I'm sure we'll see a lot more! 

• And it just happened to take him to his next lead!  He found a cheesesteak menu that looks identical to the "HELP US" menu!  He goes to the address and doesn't find what he's looking for but found out they are in a new location.  The old place burned down in the blackout.  NICE!!  (by the way, a cheese steak place in LA?  Don't trust it!  Nothing outside of Philly and South Jersey is an actual cheesesteak!  Take the advice from a LOCAL!)  

• So Mark arrives at the other location and sure enough it is the place where Simon and Lloyd are being held captive.  The door is locked and he gives up.  REALLY?!   I thought that was a bit hard to swallow but whatever!  He is driving away and recalls his flash of talking to Lloyd and the "crashing through the 8 ball comment"   There was an 8 ball on the front door!  He swung the car around and crashed right into the building.   I did like how all of that came together pretty nicely.  Convenient that he just remembered the stuff at the right time, but whatever. It's a TV show! 

• There's a big shootout.   Mark kicks through his window and knocks a guy down and then beats him a little more.   Simon grabs a gun and runs after another guy and says "Next time, take the trigger finger!" and shoots the guy dead.  Woaaa....this dude was a born killer!  
• Lloyd wanted to know how Mark found him.  They laid out their Menus.   Mark said that they were on the phone together in their Flash Forwards.  And now he wants answers!  

Back in the FBI

• Mark gets his wish and is reinstated into the FBI for tracking down Lloyd Simcoe.  But now he wants answers.  
• Vogel isn't happy with the decision citing that Mark is a loose cannon. 
• Lloyd does not appreciate being interrogated.  Mark wants to know why Lloyd didn't come clean about the potential for another blackout.  Lloyd claims he wasn't sure he could trust the ramblings of a drunk.  So Lloyd called Mark in the flash forward and Mark wants to know why.  He wants more information and Lloyd isn't talking.  I guess we are saving that or a future episode because the rest of hour 2 belongs to Simon! 

Simon's Story

Simon and Dental Flosso!

So after the Cheese Steak Incident, Simon is put on board an ambulance to be treated for his finger.  And what do you know, it's Dental Flosso and goon in the ambulance waiting for him! 

• Looks like Simon has been in on this story a little more than was led on.  But he doesn't really want to be involved.  Losing a finger wasn't part of the plan but that's how Flosso improvises folks!   
• Simon wants out, but the bad guys aren't giving him much of a choice in the matter.  And then they give him a threat saying that they'll tell the authorities who was awake in the Detroit Stadium during the blackout.   But they don't waste any time revealing to us who Suspect Zero is!  
• Simon Campos, as we suspected is Suspect Zero!  The height requirements matched up and everything!  

Flashback Time

Whoosh..we are taken back to 10/6, the day of the blackout at 7:30am.   Was this in Toronto?  That would seem to make sense based on information we get later.  So then this is 7:30 East Coat time compared to 4:30am Pacific Coast time or maybe 5:30am I guess? (blackout happens at 10:00am Pacific)

• We are at the funeral of Simon's father.   We meet Simon's sister Annabelle (the one with the bracelet) and Simon's Mother and Brothers are also seen in the scene.  Flosso had informed us during the Lloyd interrogation that Simon wasn't even around for the experiment.  He was at his father's funeral.  It turns out that was true.  
• But what he didn't reveal was that some guy picked Simon up right after the funeral and told him that his services were requested.   It turns out that this man may have been in Toronto for another reason as well.  

• We find out Simon has been involved with this evil organization from a very young age (13) but hasn't been very active.   It seems like he has been involved against his will.   This driver gives him a ticket to the baseball game and tells him he will be airlifted to his final destination. 
• Next we see, Simon is in Oxide Super Stadium with black coat and black hat on.   He gets a call from D. Gibbons and he is telling Simon exactly what to do.   He tells him to go to his seat and start eating the popcorn in front of him.   The Magic Ring to rule them all is located in the popcorn.  He is told to put it on.   The Clock strikes 2:00pm and the whole crown blacks out.  All except Simon, and D. Gibbons.  We see a shot of Detroit, explosions occurring, a plane crashing.  We return to Simon, D. Gibbons calls and instructs him to get up and walk through the tunnel, just like we saw of Suspect Zero in the video. 

• And what do you know, who is on the other end of the tunnel?  It's Flosso asking for his ring back!  So, as suspected the rings did prevent these 7 or so people from blacking out.  And this group definitely planned for this all to happen.  All, except Simon, who appears to be a pawn in their game.  Overall, I thought this whole scene worked out pretty well.   Except for the fact that Simon was in Toronto and the flew him to a stadium just so he could witness the event.  Of course, it was probably so he would get caught too.  We do find out more about the funeral near the end of the episode.  Wasn't too hard to predict that these goons were involved in that as well! 

• It's probably worth noting that the last episode that we saw Flosso in, he was getting a ring returned to him.  We assumed this was Suspect Zero's ring.  Turns out that it isn't.  Was it D. Gibbons' ring?  Or someone else's that we haven't met yet.  I guess we'll find out! 

The adventures of Simon and Janis

• Back in the present day we see Simon looking in a mirror "reflecting" on what he has been through.  Yes, we have just learned much more about the mystery man.   (And I'm sorry I have to do it again, isn't it ironic with all of the mirror things going on in LOST this year?) 

• We have a brief scene with Olivia checking in on Simon at the hospital.  Simon is his usual flirtatious self.  He is given some medication for his pain and Janis escorts him out of the hospital. 
• The rest of the episode plays out like a game of cat and mouse between Janis and Simon.  
• Janis is under the advisement to not let Simon out of her sight.  Simon pretends to be allergic to the medication, Janis runs for help.  Simon flies to Toronto.  Janis finds him by tracking cell phone calls.  I love that this all happened in a matter of minutes!  A cross-country flight and all.    Simon convinces Janis that he needs 24 hours to tie up loose ends in Canada.  Janis, reluctant at first, wants to see how it plays out so she gets permission from the chief. 

• Simon gets an ankle bracelet with a GPS attached (because Janis just happens to have these on her at all times) and they go on to Simon's childhood home.  
• Again we meet Simon's British family residing in Canada.   The mother is under the assumption Simon joined the FBI (which I guess, technically, he did).   They are apparently not concerned about Simon coming forward about the blackouts with Lloyd.  They just are calling him a celebrity.  Pretty funny stuff.  They also seem to aid him getting away from Janis one more time!   The mother talks about a time where Simon would get made fun of as a child for having a different accent, which never went away.   He filled a lunchbox with rocks and beat the kids over the head with it.  Nice.  And while this story is going on, Simon was able to remove his bracelet and get away.   No fear, Janis has eyes like a "HAWK" (get it?  her last name?)  She'll find him! 

Meet Phil

• Simon flees to this guy Phil's place.  He talks about some rare record which lets him into the house.  Phil is apparently Simon's mentor that helped him develop the tower plans (the ones we saw in Somalia even though they weren't designed by Simon yet).    Simon needs Phil's help. 

• Phil has a war zone set up with model military men.  This inspires the 2 of them to start quoting Shakespeare.  Henry V to be specific.  The grand ol' St. Crispin's Day speech.  And naturally, Janis is right there to finish it up!  "What? I like Shakespeare!" 

• Simon wants to know if there is a way to develop some technology that would prevent a mass blackout from affecting the world's population.   He is convinced that it is possible, probably since he never was affected by wearing that ring.
• Phil doesn't seem to think there is a way.   But Simon clearly wants to help prevent it.  He can't do anything about the people that died on 10/6, but he can do something about it happening again.  And he wants to try.  Looks like Simon is turning into a good guy who will go through any mean's necessary to accomplish the greater good, even if it involves killing.  
• Back at Casa de Campos Janis is helping Simon's mother prepare dinner.  Janis likes it as as a nice change from her take-out regimen.   The mother says it's sad that she has no boyfriend or kids.  Seems like it resonated a bit with Janis.   
• I forgot to mention again the constant flirtation Simon is throwing Janis's way.  I know I mentioned it above the speculation that he might somehow get to be "DADDY" to Janis's mystery pregnancy, but I thought I'd throw it out there again.  There is always the chance that she'll "switch sides" just for a night or something! 
• Anyway, guess who we find out is coming to dinner? 

Uncle Dental Flosso!

• Ohhhhh so they're RELATED!  Or at least he "claims" to be related (distant cousins?).  More bad acting ensues with this guy pretending to be worried about the kidnapping, talking about a fine wine and how there are only 15 bottles on the planet.   Simon is clearly not happy this guy is in town.   And the family and Janis take notice. 
• Apparently Teddy convinced this family to move to Canada because of Simon.  His IQ was off the charts but failing all of his classes.  A bored Einstein it seems.  Dental guy wanted to make sure his "potential" didn't go to waste.  Sounds like they have been using him his whole life.  And he inserted himself into the family by going to school plays, hockey games and birthday parties and what not. 
• Flosso talks about not having kids of his own.  Queue Janis to ask if he regrets it (still wondering if she should follow her vision).  
• We find out that Simon is a child prodigy and was at the University of Toronto at 13 all the way to working for NLAP.  
• Simon has had enough of the charade and then Flosso brings up his father's attitude.  And Simon loses it.  

Cue another Flashback!

• Back at the stadium Flosso is talking about the experiment that will change humanity of all time.  Deep dude, very deep.   And they give Simon the credit for his help in creating this experiment.  Flosso mentions the NLAP experiment that happened 1 minute and 47 seconds ago.   They are aware they were going to kill millions of people and talks about the coincidence of Simon's father dying to act as an alibi for Simon's whereabouts.    Man, this scene would have been so much more meaningful if they got someone more sinister to play this role!  It's okay, we'll be done with him soon!  I mean, the guy can't even act to make a question sound like a question! "some kind of hunting accident wasn't it"  (question mark left off intentionall) 
• A private plane will take Simon back to Toronto and the FAA will have no record of the flight.  They sure went to a lot of trouble to have Simon be in those stands.  He then told Simon to lie when people ask him about the flash forward.  But stick to the story.   Ah ha! This is why his story didn't synch up with Lloyd! 
• But we find out how he got is inspiration for the story.  Ol Limo Driver guy was hanging out with Simon and Dental Floss as well.  It didn't take Simon long to realize this guy killed his father.   And then we see Simon act out is FlashForward but it appears to have happened in the past!  Yep, there was his story.   He strangles the guy exactly as he has described it before.  It seems that he has taken a bit of a liking to killing. 

Back to the Present with Flosso

• So then the phone rings and it's Annabelle.  While she is on the phone with the family, Flosso shows Simon a video feed of her reading a script with a gun to her head.  This is meant to keep Simon in check.   She says she's at New York at the Port Authority with a Bus Ticket.  She wants to come home.  

• Simon is beyond P.O.'d and asks what the deal is.  He has cooperated since he was at NLAP giving him data.   The kidnapping and the killings were never part of the deal.  Flosso pretty much implies that they make up the rules as they go.  They want his cooperation.    
• They go for a walk to the car.  Simon asks about the ring preventing the blackout.  He wants information.  The best thing we ever could have heard was that Flosso is the middle man.  Whew! Simon still wants to know why they caused the blackout in the first place.  Interesting, Simon!  So would we!   Then we have a dramatic unveiling that Simon's professor Phil was killed off too.  I'll withhold the picture on that one as his corpse in the trunk was a bit disturbing!  
• But this was meant to emphasize that they mean business and Flosso threatens to deliver Annabelle back piece by piece if he doesn't cooperate.    Simon calls his bluff. 
• He wacks Flosso to the ground and begins CPR compressions on him.  Flosso is suffering due to his emphysema.  Simon is getting ultimate delight as he slowly causes Flosso's demise (secretly, so are we!).  Simon knows that his cover would be his attempt at CPR.  His poor uncle simply went into Cardiac Arrest.   RIP Dental Floss! 

 

• Simon kicks him and yells "That's for my father you pathetic S.O.B.!  I always get even." 

TO BE CONTINUED!!! 

Well, like I said, a pretty solid 2 hour outing.  Hopefully, more people tuned into this episode and didn't abandon the show completely.  I think this strong episode shows potential that the show is going to start moving at a faster pace and get pretty nuts!  The character-centric episodes seem to be needed to flush these characters out.  It definitely seems like these were originally 2 episodes that were retooled in the editing room to work as 1.  They did a good job with it and I'm looking forward to more.  But please, for the sake of my sanity, stick to 1 hour a week from now on!  

What did everyone else think of the episode?  Feel free to comment below.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

ENDING CREDITS 

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