FlashForward 1-20 “The Negotiation”
Zoe shows up at the FBI to visit Demetri. She wants the two of them to get away, to go to Hawaii and get married. Demetri says he has too many responsibilities – he can’t abandon everybody in a crisis. Zoe gives him a plane ticket and tells him he’d better be there. You know, I really don’t like Zoe. I get where she’s coming from, but she pisses me off.
Stanford tells Mark that Baltar is going over the Big Board, and Olivia is with him – she helps to keep him calm. Olivia is trying to stop Baltar from rearranging the Board when Mark comes in. The Board doesn’t match the sketches he made of the Board, and he explains that he had been there, with Dyson Frost. So, in a Flash? Did one of his Flashes take him to a time after he rearranged the Board. Olivia tries to leave, and Baltar grabs her arm. Mark puts his hand on Baltar’s shoulder and he freaks out. Olivia does her best to keep the peace.
Janis meets Vogel in a bar, complaining that she can’t do it anymore. They want her to kill Mark, and she doesn’t know how to get out of it. Vogel tells her that she can’t say no – if she does, they’ll find somebody else to kill Mark, and then kill her, too. He reminds her that they’re close, and tells Janis to give them something big. I am never going to trust that guy.
Demetri and Janis are at work, and Demetri says she’s avoiding him, but they need to talk about the plan. Specifically, he wants to be involved with the baby. Oh snap, Demetri is the father! Yeah, that must have been an awkward night. She tells him to walk away and make the most of his second chance at life.
Olivia pours a soda for Baltar, and Mark tells her that the security detail is in place at the house. It’s really awkward. They go to Mark’s office and Baltar is running string all across the Board – he tells Mark “Make it look right”.
In Afghanistan, Aaron’s guide brings him to where Tracy is being held. Aaron takes a lot of pictures from afar, as the guide points out where Tracy is probably being interrogated as they speak.
We cut to a hotel, where Lita and Dom are putting their clothes back on while the TV shows a news report identifying Dom as Suspect Zero. Lita says that “Hellinger” wants to help Dom – he’s been protecting the guy all along. Dom says he wants to meet this Hellinger directly, and then there’s a knock on the door. Yep, it’s Hellinger. He’s very dapper and does not look particularly dangerous.
Mark shows Baltar some pictures of people, and he says they were all at Raven River. The pictures include Nhadra and the dead homeless guy. He says Dr. Frost ran the experiments, and he chose the dates and times of the Blackout. In addition, there was a “Big Guy”, who Gabriel drew in his notebook. The pictures kind of looks like Hellinger. Demetri enters, and Baltar loses it – Demetri’s not supposed to be there – he’s supposed to be dead.
Hellinger passes Dom a drink, while Lita reclines on the bed in a cleavage-baring jacket and a man’s hat. Damn, that is hot. Hellinger says that Dom’s got a life of cash-only motels ahead of him. He sends Lita out for ice and says Dom has the right to be angry. If Dom comes to work for them, he can get his life back. They’ll bring him in – he’ll be able to see his family and everything. Otherwise, they’ll just have to cut their losses. Dom says he’s done and walks out the door.
Mark tells Demetri they’re going to run Baltar’s drawing through facial recognition software, but Demetri’s hardly paying attention – he’s worried that he’s going to die before April 29. Meanwhile, Lloyd stops in to see Baltar and be inappropriate with Olivia in the building where her husband works. Lloyd says he’s struggling without Simon, and Baltar says they’re both part of the equation.
Aaron contacts Stanford, who says that what he’s uncovered confirms Clemente’s suspicions about Jericho. Aaron then says he’s going in to get Tracy but Stanford orders him to stop. Aaron’s not going to listen, though. He hangs up when he sees two guys dragging Tracy our of the interrogation tent.
Janis is at the Laundromat with a secret meeting with the pet store lady. She tells Janis that she’s been letting them down – Mark needs to die tonight. The woman threatens Janis – if she doesn’t give up some intel, that’s it for her. So Janis tells her about Baltar, and the pet shop lady wants to know where they’re moving him.
Marks fills Stanford in on the hunt for leak of the Suspect Zero video. You know, and this might bear a harder look when all is said and done, this series has a real problem with the “Show, Don’t Tell” rule of storytelling. I really do love this show, but it’s also really aggravating to me that we’re not getting a second season. I feel like they were so close to being something people would connect with, but they dropped it at the goal line. (That’s a sports thing, right?) Anyway, Stanford assigns Mark to tell Baltar that they’re moving him. Mark tries to explain it and then asks Baltar why he called her “Olivia Simcoe”. And Baltar says that’s what he saw. Mark asks if she’ll be safe, and Baltar says she will.
At night, Aaron shoots the guys who are taking Tracy out to a big empty patch, presumably to kill her, and rushes to her side.
Stanford calls the President and says he’s sitting on a secret that he doesn’t want to have to keep. President Dave says it doesn’t ring a bell, and Stanford says that it clearly won’t be a problem to turn them over to Clemente. The President hangs up on him, so Stan calls Vice-President Clemente.
Vreede and Mark prep Baltar for transport, and the guy is very excited to have a bulletproof vest. Janis calls her contact with the details. Vreede is driving the transport, with Demetri riding shotgun, and two SWAT guys in the back. A guy in a junky truck cuts them off, then climbs out and starts shooting. Demetri manages to hit the guy while Vreede throws it into reverse. There’s another truck behind them, and the gunmen manage to blow out the tires. They throw open the door, and there’s Baltar who screams “Don’t shoot”, and then pulls out a handgun and kills one of the gunmen. How did that guy get a gun? It’s not Baltar – it’s Mark in disguise! He gets the other gunman in a headlock, and tells him to call his boss and say that the mission was a success.
In Afghanistan, Aaron and his guys managed to get a hostage of their own. His guide tells him they can’t possibly manage to get her back to Kandahar, but that’s what Aaron saw in his flash, so he’s going to go for it.
Back in LA, a black van pulls into a garage. Hellinger is waiting to welcome Baltar. Only, you know, it’s really Mark. Throughout the facility, people scramble. Hellinger starts deleting files just before Mark catches up to him, and Mark only gets a quick look at Dom’s face on the screen before it shorts out. We then see Dom in what appears to be a industrial basement – he finds a box containing a Blackout ring and stares at it.
Mark surprises Janis as she heads to her car. He asks her who she works for. She pauses, and then says it’s the CIA. She’s willing to blow her cover because the alternative is killing Mark. He says that nobody’s going to trust her again. They talk about the sacrifices they’ve made, and Janis asks him not to tell Baby Daddy Demetri.
She does explain it to Demetri and says how happy she is to be out from under it. She says she thought of the baby as a new beginning, but she can’t let Demetri be involved. This really hurts Demetri, even though she’s kind of saving his ass with Zoe.
Baltar is in the safe house watching old Jay Ward Roger Ramjet cartoons. Demetri comes to see him and they bond over their love of the cartoons. Demetri asks Baltar if he was in any of the futures that he saw, and Baltar says “No, you died. People were sad.” He tries to explain that everybody ends up where they’re supposed to be.
In Afghanistan, Aaron and the posse bring Tracy to the building that he saw in his Flash. He got her there!
Janis returns home, only to find Dom waiting for her with a gun. He says he needs her help.
Next week: April 29 begins! “Today’s the day that Daddy’s gonna die.”
