flashforward gets all shook up
In addition to last week’s reveal that Lloyd Simcoe, the man featuring heavily in Olivia’s flashforward, may be in the know about the crisis–and may have even participated in causing the blackout. Last week’s surprise ending (pretty much the only good parts of the show, but more on that later) revealed that Admiral Norrington Lloyd is in cahoots with Charlie Pace the mysterious Simon.
First of all, if these really are the show’s bad guys, they’re about the least sinister-looking baddies in the history of television. And I highly doubt that these guys can pull off Michael Emerson creepitude.
Here’s a nice featurette recently released by ABC that shines a little light on the Lloyd character. (Minor spoilers.)
In other FlashForward news, it was revealed overnight that the co-showrunner, Marc Guggenheim, is leaving the show. The Hollywood Reporter says that this was not a creative decision, that this was always the plan, as Guggenheim, of Eli Stone non-fame, was brought in to show David S. Goyer, the creator with little television experience, the ropes of running a serial. THR says those ropes are learned, and that Guggenheim’s talents are no longer needed going into the back nine.
Others are reporting that this reflects ABC’s displeasure with the way the series is unfolding thus far. I can’t say I don’t agree with their concerns, as these first four episodes have felt a little dragging. In my opinion, this show is surviving on the last ten seconds of their episodes (Somebody was awake during the blackout! D. Gibbons is a bad man! Crows down in Somalia! Charlie and Lloyd did it!), while the rest of the plots struggle to make connections and use the large ensemble effectively.
It’s still too early to say, really, but I wonder if we’ll look back on FlashForward as a show that would’ve made a better miniseries. It would’ve allowed the stories to be told more economically, to avoid digging unnecessary plot holes, and to completely avert the upcoming trap of what happens after April 29, 2010.
