FlashForward 1-21: “Countdown”
Vogel presents Mark with his report on Hellinger. He invested big in dotcoms and then got out right before the bubble burst. Then he went into real estate and got out before the crash. Dude was using the Flashes for investment advice. So wait, the Big Bad is a sci-fi Donald Trump? Because that might actually be kind of awesome, now that I think about it.
Mark isn’t impressed, but Vogel talks about how Hellinger could have manipulated geopolitics. Stanford finds them and says that Hellinger will only talk to Mark. Good call – he needs more on his plate. So Mark heads in to see him. He tells Mark that yes, he caused the Blackout, but there are more pressing things to talk about. In fact, he’s seen this day over and over again, and he always ends up in that room talking to Mark. He sketches a quick flowchart of possibilities, but no matter what, Mark is going to lose control and then he’ll lose everything. Mark is going to attack Hellinger because he’ll realize that he’s never going to get the answer to his question, and then he will be killed in his office.
Marks asks about the next Blackout, but Hellinger says that if Mark keeps him in custody, he will die. Mark is not playing along, though. He picks up Hellinger’s flowchart and leaves. Next, Mark goes to Lloyd’s workstation and tells him he has to leave. But he notices a notation in Lloyd’s notes – it’s a symbol that also appeared in Hellinger’s flow chart. Essentially, it’s a Tachyon Wipe, but Lloyd says that’s both impossible and nonsensical.
Nicole shows up at Bryce’s door for Flash Forward Day with a box of cupcakes. She sees Bryce’s sketchbook – there’s a sketch of her, but just one page earlier is that Keiko picture. She asks him if he’s OK, and he says that he definitely prefers actual Nicole to hypothetical Keiko. Meanwhile, Keiko’s in lockup. She doesn’t have bond money, so she could be detained for up to a year until her case is heard.
Cut to Demetri at LAX. There are armed soldiers scattered around the building. He finds Zoe in the Food Court, and she’s very happy to see him. Demetri decides it’s time for a Big Talk. Specifially about knocking up Janis. You know, with all the talk about how the universe wants him to die, this is not the best time to tell Zoe about that. It turns out that banging a co-worker in Somalia is kind of a deal-breaker. Zoe leaves to go to Hawaii by herself – she doesn’t want to hear from him.
Over in Afghanistan, Tracy’s in bad shape. Aaron tells her that she’s going to be fine – they both had the same Flash, so she’s going to make it.
Mark presents Vogel and Stanford with his findings on Hellinger – he owns “Tachyon Offsite Information Systems”, so that Tachyon Wipe is probably going to involve erasing a whole lot of data. Mark says he’s headed to Tachyon, but Stanford thinks it’s a bad idea. Hellinger isn’t stupid – this is clearly a trap. Vogel says he’s going to send a team and Mark can stay back.
Aaron roughs up their Jericho hostage for some information, the guy admits they were trying to find out why she was awake after a trial Blackout.
Demetri goes to Janis’ place, and Dom pulls a gun on him. Janis says that Dom is making a deal, and everybody should maybe put their guns down, please. She says he can get them the information they need, but Demetri doesn’t trust him not to cause another Blackout. Janis steps between the two of them and tells Demetri to walk away. Then she comes to her senses and turns on Dom, subduing him. Dom says she’ll regret the decision for the rest of her life, and Demetri takes the handcuffed Dom away.
The Tachyon team calls in with the report that it’s just a room full of servers. One of them heads off to investigate a noise, and we hear a firefight. What’s hilarious is that Mark starts yelling “Get out of there” after a good thirty seconds of shooting. I bet they’d already considered that plan, Benford. Hellinger watches through the window of the detainment area, looking smug. Vogel and Stanford physically restrain Mark from going over to beat on him. Then Mark hears a “Daddy” – Charlie and Olivia are there for a visit.
Charlie goes off to play, and Olivia apologizes for coming by, but Charlie really needs her Dad. Marks finds Charlie in his office, staring at the Big Board. She tells Mark she doesn’t want him to die. Marks asks her not to be afraid – she has to tell herself that her daddy loves her, and everything will be OK. It’s a sweet moment, and it’s well-executed.
It’s 3:37 PM on Flashback day as Demetri loads Dom into the van. Janis asks Demetri to tell everybody where he found Dom – she doesn’t want him to lie. He reconsiders, thinking maybe their “breaking into the mainframe” plan is just crazy enough to work, and they are off.
At the Simcoe home, Dylan is digging through Lloyd’s notes. He thinks the infinity symbol is a dead “8”, which is actually pretty funny. Dylan starts rooting through the notes and says “all the ones with numbers have to be together – it all has to be in the right place”. Lloyd remembers something Baltar said, but wouldn’t all of his pages of equations have numbers? He tells Dylan to get his coat, because they’re on the move.
Mark asks Hellinger when the next Blackout is coming, and he just keeps telling Mark that he’s going to die, whether or not he’s ready to hear it. He admires Mark’s faith, and then calls the Big Board “a scrapbook of your failures”, and then he kicks off a list of Mark’s Greatest Misses. Hellinger tells Mark that he’s going to miss him and “Charlie’s going to miss you too”. He says that at least Mark’s daughter is better off when he’s gone, and that’s Mark’s cue for a headbutt. He starts beating on Hellinger until a couple of guys come to stop him. Stanford has security escort Mark out of the building.
Nicole and Bryce are headed out – they’re going out to see the FlashForward fireworks, and Bryce is excited because that’ll be the moment when people decide to make their own futures happen. Nicole asks if he’s disappointed that his future didn’t happen – she’s worried that her vision might have already started. You know, the one where somebody drowns her. She’s not as worried about the drowning as the feeling that she might deserve it. And so, she comes clean to Bryce about Keiko. Bryce wants to know where she is, and he is more upset than he should be. I don’t like where this is going.
Cut to the detention facility, where Keiko has a visitor. I have a really bad feeling, right up until it turns out to be her mom. She’s come to get her and bring her back. Her flight’s at 11, and she tries to explain that she needs to be at the sushi place at 10. Oh, are they just going to piss me off with this?
In Afghanistan, Tracy’s heart has stopped. They try to resuscitate her as Aaron panics.
It’s 6:38 PM, and there’s a party in the street as the moment of the Flash draws closer. Mark wanders throught the revelers and thinks about Dyson Frost and Hellinger and Lloyd and everybody assuring him that he is going to die. Mark runs into a guy who says that, in his vision, he had just quit drinking. To make that happen, he gives Mark his flask. You know, the flask from his Flash. He tries to refuse it, but the guy is already gone. Hey, Mark? Maybe just drop it in the trash and move on? Or I guess you could stare at it for a while and start drinking. One guess what Mark does…
Janis and Demetri talk in the van – they’ve actually been on the road for hours. I was under the impression that it was going to be a quick trip. Demetri talks about how Janis being a double/triple agent hurt him personally and seriously, the clock is ticking. Do we need this filler? Janis feels the baby kick.
In Afghanistan, Aaron is pounding on Tracy’s chest, but another guy says she has no heartbeat and her brain has been without oxygen for too long.
People celebrate April 29th in a bar, while Mark gets his load on. A guy sits next to him and tries to strike up a conversation about Mark’s friendship bracelet. Mark would rather drink than listen.
Lloyd calls Olivia – he’s at her house and she’s nowhere to be seen. She took Charlie to get away from it all, but Lloyd tells her that she has to be in the house with him at 10 PM.
Irritiating guy keeps talking to Mark – he says that in his Flash, they were talking to one another. When Mark doesn’t want to listen, the guy says that Mark is trying to fight hate and losing. Mark punches him, and it turns into a bar fight, with Mark vs. everybody. Cut to a holding cell, where Mark is chilling out. We get a musical montage of nobody being where they’re supposed to be on April 29th. And that’s where it ends.
Next week: Well, for us it’ll be tomorrow, since I’m all kinds of late. It’s what ABC is still calling the “Season Finale”, even though they didn’t pick up the first season. At least they’re bringing things to a satisfactory conclusion, right? Right?
