On Target: The Racialicious Roundtable For Flashforward 1.19

Hosted by Special Correspondent Arturo R. García

Not to say “Course Correction” was perfect, but it was definitely pretty good. If this is to be FlashForward’s only season – and there’s still a chance it might not be – then at least the creative team appears headed toward a stronger finish than we could’ve expected. In a very nice touch, we got both callbacks to Al’s suicide and another fresh team-up for Demetri, this time with the returning Fiona (between this ep and her guest stint on Doctor Who, it’s been nice seeing Alex Kingston on a regular basis again). This freed up Mark to finally break thru on one major clue while resolving another. So, fellow Roundtablers, where was this ep in the first half of the year?

Mahsino: Probably with the rest of the straws they were grasping at.

Diana: Couldn’t say it better, Mahsino.

Andrea: Ha! Get it, Mahsino.

jen*: Word.

Interesting to see that the more you pull Mark away from the rest of the ensemble (save Wedeck; Fiennes and Vance have developed some chemistry) the more it benefits everyone. Case in point: Demetri & Fiona just work as a team. And the callbacks to Al really resonated through these two characters. Your thoughts?

Diana: I miss Al. Demetri and Fiona do make a good team. I like Demetri with just about anyone other than Mark.

Andrea: Well, it just goes to show what we’ve been saying all along: Joseph Fiennes and his character really doesn’t –and can’t — serve as the show’s center. As much as I love looking at the man, I know he doesn’t have that leading-man “it-ness.” If anything, Al and his suicide seems to hold the show because it continues to play against the wall of his suicide and if it really changed people’s fates. Now, if the writers can actually get with that, this show just may sweep May.

Mahsino: I agree, Mark doesn’t act as a good lead character, and I don’t think the show needs one main character to constantly save the day. My favorite episodes so far have been the one’s where they mainly focus on one character and let the others act as supporting stories. The better episodes remind me of Heroes: Season 1, the Mark-centered ones are more reminiscent of Heroes Season 2: Benetrelli Boogaloo.

Diana: LOL, Mahsino. Benetrelli Boogaloo = Mark “Meh”-ness

jen*: I definitely prefer episodes that decentralize Mark’s story. I almost feel like the savant is our voice inside the show – “you should be with Lloyd! Not that other guy.”

Also benefitting: Mark himself. He seemed more at ease shutting Simon down and working that case than we’ve seen him all year.

Mahsino: It kind of makes sense. Kidnappings are something an FBI agent would theoretically be trained to deal with as opposed to solving a conspiracy to roofie the whole world.

Diana: Mark definitely came up where Simon was concerned, but still, Simon got away (with the Precious). So I still have to give more props to Simon.

Andrea: He still hasn’t skedaddled back to the Shire? Fuuuuuuuuuck…..

jen*: He seemed more in charge, but I can’t say I was impressed. I still can’t relate to Mark, so I have a hard time caring. Simon practically wore a name tag that said: “Well, hello my name is Simon, and I’m about to go off the grid in order to save my sister and make this show more interesting” but it seems nobody got it until he actually left.

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