Flash Forward Season 1 EP 9 “Believe” Review

Favorite line of the episode: “Mamma, there’s a white guy at the door.”

Perhaps it is the romantic in me, the part of me that wants to “believe” (oh dear, she’s getting punny – stick with me a minute) that we can reach beyond the limitations of our exterior realities to something greater for ourselves, something – better. A guitar, a different city, a country, a girl, a boy, a life where we can rest in ourselves and have that just be – enough. Perhaps it’s the part of me that truly believes that that is the only life worth living – but, I liked this episode. For me the heart of this episode expressed a very human and deeply felt desire to rebel. To rebel against what is logical, known, rational and ultimately soul stifling, to rebel against the part of ourselves that wants to live our lives on autopilot.

Bryce’s shell shocked demeanor in the garage did not look terribly dissimilar to the way most commuters on the 405 Fwy look at the beginning and the end of each work day. His rage and rebellion against the vintage convertible, his abandon of car and consequences is something many us have fantasized about in one way or another. Perhaps it was leaving your car and walking away, or perhaps it was getting in your car and driving away to somewhere unknown; but at one point or another each of us has daydreamed about releasing ourselves from the bullshit of life and stepping into who we really are.

Bryce admits to his therapist that he “doesn’t really know why he became a doctor, he just did.” How many of us do things by default. Jobs, living situations, relationships even, the most fundamental aspects of our lives done as an act of sleepwalking. Bryce decides to check out the day of the blackout because he cannot face a long and arduous death, he does not want to put his family through that. But what he really cannot face is what feels to him like the meaninglessness of his life. Because, he still has cancer post flash forward, what has been added, is something to live for. And yes, it is a girl. It is the vision of something fresh, exiting to him, both known and unknown.

Our pop psychology would tell us that this is unacceptable. It is okay to choose to go towards a dream that is tangible, as Keiko goes towards her passion for music, but according to our culture in order for that passion to be valid it must ultimately end in a career. I say it’s great when that happens, beautiful even. Yet ultimately, all things are ephemeral, moving, and impermanent. Careers change, and so do relationships. Ultimately all you can live for is yourself, because that is really all you have to live with. Yourself as whole, in and of itself. However, who is to say what leads us there? For some it may be a career, for some a hobby, for some their artistry, and for a very rare few indeed what leads them home to themselves is their love for another. “Crazy love” as Nicole calls it. What is your crazy love? What is the thing you are willing to jump off the deep end of reason for? Genuinely. Not in an obsessive, controlling, desperate way. But without expectation or demand – what is the thing that you are willing to live for?

Keiko’s story is somewhat generic in its construction. But it was beautifully played by the actress and acted as a perfect parallel for Bryce. She was a woman trapped in a world not of her choosing, one which by all exterior markers is a success, yet which none the less feels unbearably tight and confining to her. The heroes Keiko speaks of in her initial interview for her corporate job are the cultural representations of the life of rebellion that these characters crave. Rebellion against what is rational, reasonable and acceptable at the time and an embrace instead of what was true and real for them – to the ultimate benefit of the world at large: Marie Currie, Jane Goodall, Jimi Hendrix. Keiko and Bryce’s visions gave her courage and him hope – the two magic and necessary ingredients for living just such a life.

Aspects of the episode that did not work for me: Mark and Demetri bullying the NSA for the classified tape of his phone call with the woman who informed him of his impending death. The level of arrogance that this team consistently shows, and gets away with, not only reads as unbelievable to me, but also as just plain obnoxious. Demitri (agent Noh) has been one of my favorite characters to date and his storyline one of the more intriguing, so I hope he does not get pulled into Mark Benford’s cowboy showboating – which I am really not a fan of.  Their decision at the end to toss aside their bosses direct order not to go to Hong Kong and Mark’s ever arrogant  “He’ll get over it” make me wonder if the writers have ever actually had a job. This man would be fired from any given corporation, much less a government organization that relies on a chain of command for order and safety. I was happy to see Mark told off by both Aaron and Wedeck when he confronted them about “the text” to his wife. Ever the drama queen, he needs to be told that the whole world isn’t about him. I also found it too much, much too much, to have the older Japanese patient recognize the symbol on Keiko’s shirt and be able to direct Bryce to that restaurant. There must have been another for the writers to reveal that information. I am a believer in synchronicity, but the show is treading a line, and they went way over it with that somewhat lazy plot device.

I am enjoying Aaron and Tracy’s storyline. The performances are strong, and they offered a good anchor in an episode that was elevated by Bryce and Keiko’s hopeful transformations. Overall I think flash forward is still finding its footing. It came out strong with the pilot episode, lost its way with some repetitive and somewhat generic storytelling and then found it again with a strong Ep 7 “The Gift”. This episode seems somewhere in between. A focus on characters with depth, very strong performances and a step away from an overly contrived storyline served the show well. I will cautiously await the next few episodes to see if the show will truly begin to fulfill its great potential.

That’s what I thought. I’d love to know what you think. Please post your comments below here on thinkhero. You can also follow us on twitter @thinkhero and @jrothc that’s me.

Thanks Guys!

Roth