‘If you saw a glimpse of your future, what would you do?” asks David Goyer, executive producer of ABC’s FlashForward.
Well, if you’re on “Flash Forward,” you might end up dead. What lies ahead is the central question of this tantalizing new series, based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer.
In the first episode, the human race blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds. Chaos reigns as planes, trains and automobiles remain perilously in motion. FBI agents Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) and Demetri Noh (John Cho) wake up from their respective blackouts in the middle of a grim crash scene in downtown Los Angeles. A motorcycle is pinned under an overturned car. A corpse lies face-up on the asphalt.
ABCJoseph Fiennes and John Cho on location in downtown Los Angeles.Benford and Noh immediately go into rescue mode, but they’re still confused about what they’ve seen. During the blackout, everyone sees exactly where they will be in six months. As a result of his vision, Benford realizes he will play a central role in figuring out why the flash forward happened. While Benford initiates his investigation — and wrestles with personal demons — others spend their time trying to avoid the future.
“It’s the kind of thing that could get sci-fi and weird very quickly,” says Sonya Walger, who plays Olivia Benford, Mark’s wife, a surgeon. “But [the producers] are so smart to have this one convulsive electric shock that happens globally. After that, it’s just human responses to that event. It’s like 9/11 to the power of one million.”
The long-married Olivia flashes forward to see herself with another man, whom we meet at the end of the episode.
“Olivia is working hard to not bring about her future, because her future is the end of her marriage,” says Walger. “At the end of the pilot, she tells her husband what she’s seen. I found that fascinating. We’re so used to seeing women lie to their husbands on TV.”
“Flash Forward” has been compared to ABC’s sci-fi hit, “Lost,” on which Walger also stars, but the two shows differ structurally and dramatically.
“What ‘Lost’ does with its flash forwards is something narrative,” says Goyer. “In our world, it’s literal. The people literally flash forward.”
“What’s difficult is for us to make sure that we’re being consistent in the way this world operates,” says Marc Guggenheim, another executive producer on the show. “We have to remember, ‘Oh yeah, that character can’t do that now because we have to put him in China in six months.’ ”
To track their stories, the show producers have what Goyer calls a “massive meta board,” that measures 30 feet long and 10 feet high.
“It charts every series regular and every recurring character across every episode and it charts the theme of every episode. It’s like the war room at the Pentagon,” he says.
“We planted some very bold flags in the pilot,” Goyer explains. “By the end of the first season, we’re going to see whether these specific futures come true. We’ll catch up to that date we’ve flash-forwarded to. We really can’t tread water for that long.”
In fact, Goyer and Guggenheim say they have mapped out not only the entire season, but the entire show.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a network show that’s been this planned out, except maybe ‘Babylon 5,’ ” says Guggenheim. “I was a huge fan of that series. I was always impressed by the level of obvious planning that had been put in. In our show, the proof is in the pudding — you can see it in the elegance of the way the story pans out.
“We’re doing it in a way that people will find unexpected. Unlike a show with a mystery at its core, we’re providing answers a lot sooner than other shows of this kind have done in the past.”
Source: NYPOST
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