Rewinding "Flash Forward"

I can see the future. Or at least flashes of it. I know that every Thursday from 8:00-9:00 p.m., I will be curled up on the couch with a cup of tea absorbing every absorbing minute of Flash Forward, ABC's new drama.

The thing is, in Flash Forward every person in the world blacked out at the same time and actually received a glimpse of his or her future six months or so from that moment: two minutes and seventeen seconds of it, to be exact.

Whoah.

So, in a way, everyone knows how this series is going to end. Well, not really.

The characters are still struggling with what these visions mean. As Scrooge puts it in a Christmas Carol are these visions "things that will come to pass" or simply things that "might come to pass?"

Is Agent Mark Benford, the recovering alcoholic, destined to fall again to his addiction (and also solve the mystery of the blackout)?

Is Olivia Benford, Mark's wife, destined to cheat on him with the British Lloyd Simcoe (as in most T.V. shows, Simcoe's accent is a large part of his character on the show)?

Can Agent Dimitri Noh prevent himself being murdered on March 15, 2010?

No one knows.

The show is not overtly religious, unless you count the appearance of the priest who turns out to be %100 unhelpful and unsympathetic to the Benford's babysitter Nicole Kirby, who comes to the church looking for counsel and comfort (thanks for that insightful statement on organized religion, ABC...).

However, this show, while packaging it in a flashier format than usual, is grappling with that age old question of destiny. Is the future constantly shifting or is it pre-determined, or some strange combination of the two? From Oedipus Rex to Star Wars, humanity has been exploring the idea of destiny in art, and, from the great response that ABC has received from Flash Forward, it looks like this theme has yet to get old (and it is well over 2,000 years old).

Actress Sonya Walger (Olivia Benford) says about Flash Forward "You're dealing with very human ripple effects, how people deal with it and how they come to terms with it (FlashForward Fanatic.com)."

The characters in Flashforward are dealing with their glimpses of the "future" in different ways.

"Even if this future stuff is real, maybe it's a blessing in disguise," says Mark's A.A. sponsor and close friend Aaron.

Bryce Varley, a medical intern on the point of suicide before the Blackout, agrees that the flashes were a gift.

Olivia Beford fears the future coming true. However, it seems no matter how much she tries to avoid Mr. Simcoe, he keeps popping up in her life.

This show is also repeatedly brings up the importance of faith, and how sometimes one has to believe in things that one can't prove are true (watch Episode Three for a great conversation about faith and belief between Mark Benford and another Agent Janice Hawk).

There is also a running theme of trust versus secrecy, between many of the characters, and how secrecy (even in order to protect someone you love) puts a strain on the relationship and will come out in the end.

Right now, the characters who seem most content in Flash Forward are the ones who are living in the present, despite their flashes of the Future, and I think this is an important life lesson for all of us.

While we can't know the future, sometimes you would think we do with the amount of worry we put into it. We worry about our jobs (or lack of), our relationships (or lack of) and where we are ultimately headed in life. Those in Flash Forward don't know if their two minutes and seventeen seconds of the future will come to pass or not, and we also cannot say with certainty where any of us will be in the next ten years (let alone the next ten days).

So make today the best today you can make it, and let tomorrow take care of itself.

And on Thursday, watch Flash Forward. Here is a link so you can catch up: http://abc.go.com

P.S. Dominic Monaghan is also a cast member!