FlashForward: The Garden of Forking Paths

Dyson Frost we barely knew you! This one was probably the best episode of the series. It set Frost up as an almost sympathetic scientist whose research accidentally led him down a path that ultimately led to his death. He was the man who discovered the process of flash forwards and more than likely projected himself into the future thousands of times. Each flash brought him to a slightly different vision of the future, "The garden of forking paths".

I wanted to cry foul on Dyson seeing his own murder, because Demetri simply did not flash but then I remembered Nicole's flash. Nicole felt herself drowning because was going to happen at the exact time of the flash. Since Frost could calibrate the time jump, he may have conceivably plotted a flash forward to the exact moment (or moments) of his death.

Demetri survived his predicted death because Dyson Frost did not. I must say, while I like Dem I think it would have been much more useful to the FBI had Demetri bit the big one and Frost lived. I think the Oedipus reference was pitch perfect. Frost attempted to warn Mark with the painting of the Greek who killed his father and married his mother, but he should have taken that warning to heart himself. Speaking of warnings, Frost did seem to infer that either Charlie or Olivia would be the key to saving the world.

Elsa played Zoe like a fiddle. Why else would she need a specific day in court? I find it hard to swallow that one of the many FBI agents escorting Zoe and Elsa did not think it important to get the window washers away from the window. On a separate note, Elsa is important, I really thought she was a red herring.

James Callis (the actor, I didn't catch his characters name) appeared as a crazy savant! He is a wonderful actor and I would not have even recognized him if his name did not appear in the credits at beginning of the episode.

According to FlashForward lore, it would now seem that the world is destined to end in December of 2016. I wonder if this show is going to get to its second season in order to inch closer to realizing that new end date. It is definitely a bold move to call a series finale date in the very first season of a television show. In fact, it is a move I wish more series would attempt.