FLASHFORWARD: Episodes 1.11 & 1.12: 'Revelation Zero'

Episode Title: "Revelation Zero: Part 1 & 2"

Written By: Seth Hoffman & Marc Guggenheim (Part 1), Quinton Peeples (Part 2)

Story: The blackout on October 6, 2009 is revisited through a series of narrations delivered by a window washer turned man of god (Gil Bellows). In the present, Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) is suspended from the FBI due to his actions in Hong Kong, but that doesn't stop him from making a breakthrough in the abduction of Lloyd Simcoe (Jack Davenport) and one of his closest colleagues.

After a traumatic event, Simon Campos (Dominic Monaghan) attempts to flee the United States for his family's home in Toronto, but he's not alone as Agent Janis Hawk (Christine Woods) comes along for the ride. While in Canada, several secrets are revealed about Simon's involvement in the blackout, leading to a surprising death.

Welcome Back: After several months away from the airwaves, "FlashForward" made a surprisingly strong comeback with two hours of intriguing television thanks to a great balance of action, character development, plot reveals and further mysteries. It's too early to tell whether or not the show returned to a ready-and-waiting audience, but I'm certainly excited enough by the latest two-part installment to keep me going for the remainder of season one.

Working Off The Clock: Benford has been a bit of a downer throughout "FlashForward," to say the least. While his days of depression are far from over, I definitely enjoyed his newfound unemployment and rogue operating procedure — getting him off the grid added some danger and unpredictability to the character. It's a shame that he seems to be back in the FBI fold already, but at least he and Simcoe are going to have a lot to do together going forward. Fiennes and Davenport are both excellent actors, so keeping them on an inevitable collision course is definitely something I'm happy about.

Put A Little Love In Your Heart: I was less thrilled by Nicole Kirby's (Peyton List) subplot. Nothing against List as an actress, but her character hasn't had a thing to do since the series began. Putting her in the middle of this religious debate of fate and free will, while an interesting concept, feels forced — she's just not a character that we've come to care about. In order for "FlashForward" to succeed going forward, I think Nicole and some other peripheral characters are going to need to fall by the wayside to make room for the more compelling players, such as Agent Vogel (Michael Ealy) and the increasingly wonderful Simon.

Lord of the Rings: Speaking of Simon, hour two was entirely his to own. The longstanding prediction that Simon was the man at the baseball stadium was confirmed, as Simon's "Uncle Teddy" (Ricky Jay) gave him a special ring that allowed him to stay awake during the catastrophic event. Speaking of Ricky Jay, it was pretty gutsy to kill his character off so quickly and mercilessly after introducing him. I love Simon's willingness to call people's bluffs — he's not one to be pushed around, even when his sister's life is in danger. Truthfully, I was skeptical of Monaghan's ability to break the Charlie Pace mold on "FlashForward," but he's proving me wrong with every episode.

Best Quote: "I'm cutting out the middleman." — Simon as he choked the life out of Uncle Teddy.

The Future: The FBI realizes that there's a mole within their midst. Zoey (Gabrielle Union) rolls up her sleeves to investigate the future death of her fiance Demetri (John Cho). It also looks as though we'll be revisiting the blackout in Somalia — any chance that we'll get to see Michael K. Williams there?

Tell us what you thought of the "FlashForward" return in the comments section and on Twitter!

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