The Racialicious Roundtable For Flash Forward 1.5
Hosted by Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
Two weeks without Heroes and yours truly still feels great. But as the Roundtable will explain, watching “Gimme Some Truth,” it’s becoming more apparent that Flash Forward is beating Heroes at some of its’ own strengths – even if Mark Bedford there looks like a bit of a weenie in the pic above. Still, in a show made of WIN, as the kidz say, one moment shone above the rest:
John Cho doing Karaoke: Awesome or REALLY Awesome?
Diana: REALLY AWESOME. I forget what ’80s song he was singing, but it was tugging at my nostalgia heartstrings. I’m even more in love. [sigh]
Andrea: Neither. John Cho sings harmonizes better than the angels; he shoots like a gunslinger; he shut down some kyriarchal shenanigans with a single snap; he helped counter the balderdash regarding Black women’s hair; he gives good glow. Naw, Cho’s not Awesome or REALLY Awesome—he’s Ultimate. So Ultimate there’s a mini-movement to make Cho the patron hottie of Racialicious, right?
jen*: Barry Henley and John Cho together on Sister Christian? Who says that’s not gold? And he’s right – with 5 months to live – karaoke has got to be part of it.
Building on that a little bit, it hit me: this is the first time in awhile I’ve seen a sci-fi program show a bunch of boys – POC men, even – being … well, Boys. Not in that Spike TV Lowest Common Denominator sense of the word, either. There was a real camaraderie shown here in the karaoke scene, and especially in the gunfight in the parking structure; Stan’s nod to Mark – a moment of “Dude, we’re in this together” – was a really nice touch.
Diana: Definitely there was a big bromance going on, especially in the karaoke bar. And I wasn’t hatin’. It’s much like anytime you go out of town with a bunch of colleagues. I wasn’t feeling the gun battle quite so much, but that was because it was a bit out of nowhere for me. But it was nice seeing dudes willing to go into the trenches for each other. Very Machismo.
Andrea: Maybe I’m clueless to the inner workings of male relationships, but I didn’t get “bromance”—when I think of “bromances,” I think David and Jonathan-levels of friendship, not some Judd Apatow/Paul Rudd smirky-snark bullshit. I just saw co-workers who got along well enough to josh and hang together. What I gleaned is the unit got along for a while before we entered the story; the Flashforward/Mosiac project—because it’s so supernatural—fortified the working relationships. The gun scene just showed how well they functioned as an FBI unit, especially after watching one of them twist in the wind at the Senate hearing.
jen*: Feel you on David and Jonathan, Andrea – these guys are just a good team. But I still see myself here for the story – not so much for the characters, yet.
Speaking of Stan, the revelations of his past were really welcome from a storytelling standpoint. Funny thing: this show is already drubbing Heroes in its ensemble work; now it looks like they’ve created their own Gray Man.
Diana: I’m ecstatic to see Stan getting some depth. He’s a political power broker, playing with the big boys and girls. This is what Heroes lost ignoring and doing away with their strong POC characters. I hope it continues.
Andrea: Couldn’t agree more, Diana.
jen*:I loved the reveal that Stan’s tight with the Prez. I want to see more of his background story – maybe I’ll get into his character. And I wouldn’t mind seeing Gina Torres again, either…
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