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.
- 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
Pictures courtesy of ABC and my iMAC!
Follow me on Twitter for blog updates and additional findings:@LOSTAddictsBlog
Check out My Other Blogs too!
Please Click to Support:
- I took a night job to pay some extra bills writing for http://www.gather.com/. If you could, please click to view this Recap on Gather to register me a page view. It will go towards a very small financial contribution for my efforts. Also, feel free to check out my other articles on the site.
.jpg)
Posts
