Episode Title: "White to Play"
Written by: David S. Goyer & Marc Guggenheim
The Story: Agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) continues to investigate the mysterious blackout and subsequent flash-forward experienced by nearly all of humanity, making strides towards discovering the identity of the enigmatic D. Gibbons. Meanwhile, Mark's wife Olivia (Sonya Walger) meets Lloyd Simcoe (Jack Davenport), literally the man of her dreams as her flash-forward implies. Finally, poor Agent Demetri Noh (John Cho) gets startling information regarding his lack of a flash-forward.
Character Counts: I enjoyed the second episode of "FlashForward" much more than last week's premiere, largely because the characterization has really improved. Mark and Olivia's troubled relationship is particularly interesting, and it's further complicated by the introduction of Simcoe, one of the show's only characters that also exists in the "Flashforward" novel -- who, by the way, is played by Jack Davenport, better known as Commodore Norrington from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. And yes, that is awesome.
They Called Me Mr. Gibbons: The pilot introduced us to Suspect Zero, an enigmatic figure that was awake during the blackout, but this episode focused on D. Gibbons, an equally shadowed somebody whose name is on Mark's radar in the future. The closing line from Mark's daughter -- "D. Gibbons is a bad man" -- should indicate that this isn't a guy our characters should look forward to meeting... but as a thankfully safe audience member, I'm excited to make his acquaintance.
You Lost Me: "FlashForward's" similarities with "Lost" aren't over, and others have made that case better than I ever could. I'm definitely worried that the impending arrival of "Lost" vet Dominic Monaghan, not to mention the current participation of the erstwhile Penelope Widmore, is going to prove too distracting for fans of ABC's other cult series, myself included.
I Cho-Cho-Chose You: More important than confusions with "Lost" is the potential loss of Cho. Sure, the mystery surrounding Demetri Noh's upcoming murder (happening on March 15, 2010, in case you weren't paying attention) is fascinating, but Cho is proving himself a big draw as an actor. Of the show's cast, Noh's plight is the most intriguing as one of the few peopl who didn't have a future vision. If the show can't find equally compelling characters, his eventual departure is going to be a big problem.
Verdict: A major improvement on last week, "White to Play" introduced plenty of new mysteries while addressing one of its biggest difficulties -- developing the characters. As the weeks continue, I'm sure we'll find ourselves more and more attached to Mark, Olivia and the rest of the cast. If we don't? Well, it's only a few more months until "Lost" kicks in, I suppose.
The Future: Next week, some old dude in prison seems to know how the flash-forward happened. But even if he does know, there's no chance that we'll get the answer so quickly. That ain't how TV works, people.
What did you think of tonight's episode of "FlashForward"? Sound off in the comments or on Twitter!
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