September 26th, 2009 5:35 am

Flash Forward

‘FlashForward’ will have fans on the edge of their seats, but will probably leave casual viewers feeling disconnected and confused.

‘Lost’ set a new precedent for serialised dramas on network television, spawning dozens of new shows, all hoping to tap into the same addictive style of storytelling.

So with ‘Lost’ wrapping up next year, it’s pretty clear ABC are hoping to keep fans invested in the network with another ambitious project.

Loosely based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer and developed for television by David S. Goyer (co-writer of ‘The Dark Knight’) and Brannon Braga (‘24′), ‘FlashForward’ explores a mysterious global event which causes everyone on the planet to simultaneously blackout for two minutes and seventeen seconds, giving them a glimpse into their future.

FBI agent, Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), is mid car-chase through downtown Los Angeles when he blacks out.

Based on his glimpse into the future and corroboration with fellow FBI agents, he and his team are able to deduct that everyone’s consciousness somehow jumped forward six months during the flash forward, to the date April 29, 2010. With this vital piece of information at hand, Benford and his team begin to put together pieces of the puzzle surrounding this mysterious global event.

Ambitious is definitely a word that comes to mind after watching the pilot. It’s riddled with mystery and intrigue. The characters introduced provide a diverse range of opinions on the situation, ranging from at first what’s thought to be a terrorist attack to divine intervention.

For some, the flash forward brings something to look forward to, for others, dread. Every character’s life is thrown upside down as a result of this strange phenomenon.

Mark’s AA sponsor Aaron Stark (Brian F. O’Byrne) see his believed to be deceased daughter alive, Mark’s wife Olivia Benford (Sonya Walger) see’s herself with another man, FBI agent Janis Hawks (Christine Woods) is pregnant, despite being boyfriend-less in the present and fellow FBI agent Demetri Noh (John Cho) doesn’t see anything at all — predicting he’ll be dead in six months.

This show is definitely targeted at the same type of audience as ‘Lost’ or ‘Heroes’. The kind of fans who love coming up with different theories and drawing various connections.

There are plenty of goodies for television watchers to keep an eye out for, including an “Oceanic Airlines” billboard towards the beginning of the episode, which ‘Lost’ fans will no doubt get a kick out of.

Some may also find familiarity in the show’s score, composed by Ramin Djawadi, who’s best know for his work on ‘Prison Break’.

With such a strong emphasis on finding out answers, you really just hope the writers and producers know exactly where this show is heading. Unlike ‘Lost’, which is similar in its mysterious clue-dropping, ‘FlashForward’ has the disadvantage of its characters also trying to figure out what the hell is going on. This could be potentially problematic if the pieces don’t all fit together. It’s one thing for something to not be fully coherent as a viewer, it’s another for the story not to line up for a character.

That being said, there are plenty of great ideas here, which have potential to become truly mind blowing stuff. It’ll become more clear as the show progresses, whether this show will become the success that ‘Lost’ did.

With so many questions raised, it’s sure to have fans on the edge of their seats begging for more. But like ‘Lost’, viewers disheartened by all the mystery and lack of fast answers will most likely tune out after the initial spectacle has worn off.

‘FlashForward’ definitely has big shoes to fill, but it’s off to a great start.