Because You Demanded It: The Racialicious Roundtable For Flash Forward
Hosted By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
[Writer's note: What happened to Heroes, you ask? Stay tuned next week, True Believers. Now, let's roll with the new ...]
The most amazing thing about Flash Forward? Not the Blackout. Not the crows falling from the sky. Not the diverse array of visions being assembled in the Mosaic. Not even Joseph Fiennes’ character being dumb enough to trust Rudolph The Nazi. It’s Al.
See, Al is a classic That Guy character: not one of the major players, not even a major supporting character. He just seems to weave in and out, backing people up as needed. And most of the time, That Guy (or Girl) – that neutral, almost inconsequential character – is played by a white person. But here’s Al, just … being.
And catching up to the show late as I am has been eye-opening: POC characters being COMPETENT! Involved in PRIMARY STORYLINES! And not crying every five minutes! But, I’m glad we seem to be moving past the “What did you see?” stuff and start solving the case already. Let’s see what the ‘Table thinks!
How do you feel about the series’ pace so far?
Mahsino: So I may be in the minority here, but this show doesn’t really do much for me either way. I want to like it, and I don’t hate it -except when they tried to slip Nazis by me. I just don’t care about any of these characters. But now that Ugly Betty is on Friday’s it’s not like I watch anything at that timeslot anyway, so I might as well pull out the Snuggie (don’t judge me) and adjust the snark. And I hate the main character’s wife – btw, that’s how invested I’ve been in this show, that I haven’t bothered to learn anyone but Demetri’sname.
jen*: I, on the other hand, really like the show. But I still hate most of the characters. So far, I’m in it for the story. I understand they’ve gotta make it last, but I’m kinda wondering about the pace. I love Cho on GP, but also really like his character. And his story is way better than Fiennes’. Blech – I basically hate everyone except for Cho, Steve/Norrington, and cutie-patootie Lee Thompson Young (he should get more screen time). BUT! That whole Nazi thing sucked. If people were paying more attention instead of running around like headless chickens, I have confidence *someone* could’ve figured out that bird thing.
Diana: Hasn’t completely grown on me yet, but I’m keeping an open mind. One thing I really didn’t like was Courtney Vance’s character having his flash forward on the toilet. He deserves some more dignity than that. I think Joseph Fiennes is a bit of a tool. But Cho is good and good to look at. I like that he’s with a black woman, although I’m generally lukewarm about Gabrielle Union as an actress. But you can’t have everything you want. Mahsino, I want a Snuggie and one for my little dog too.
Andrea: I stand by my initial recommendation. The pace … considering that it’s 1) trying to establish the collective-consciousness underpinnings of the flash-forwards (and that now cliche message of how we’re all interconnected), 2) the slowness of trying to figure out the story of what happened while folks flash-forwarded (because only that stadium camera caught one (of the few?) who was lurking while everyone else passed out), and 3) we’re also watching many, many potential Butterfly Effects, I have patience with it. Though I’m with Mahsino on one point: I can’t stand the main character’s wife, either. Whatever her name is.
And speaking of pleasant surprises, let’s talk about Demetri and Zoey. Commence the Cho/Union … uh, union love here!
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