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- TV Series: FlashForward
- Episode: Scary Monsters and Super Creeps
- Starring: Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Dominic Monaghan, Peyton List, Zachary Knighton, Sonya Walger and Courtney B. Vance
- Written By: Seth Hoffman and Quinton Peeples
- Directed By: Bobby Roth
- Network: ABC
- Series:
FlashForward: Scary Monsters and Super Creeps Review
Ghosts of Halloween Future By
Rob Vaux
October 30, 2009
Flash Forward Review
© ABC/Bob Trate
So who the hell were those Asian guys anyway? The latest episode of FlashForward doesn't tell us, but it does forcefully posit the question with another solid and dramatic hour of television. The central thread follows Agent Noh (John Cho) as he pursues a lead found on the body of one of the assailants: a mark shaped like a blue hand, noted in Agent Benford's (Joseph Fiennes) flash forward along with the name "Baltimore." Wagering he'll have plenty of time to sleep when he's dead in six months, Noh pushes forward despite being up for quite a long time. His efforts lead to a nifty trail of crumbs in the Silver Lake district, and a house full of answers that naturally lead only to more questions.
Director Bobby Roth spaces his path evenly throughout the episode, allowing the remaining subplots to arrange themselves neatly around him. For once they stay as intriguing as the central thread rather than fitfully amusing afterthoughts. The Benford/Simcoe love triangle finally gets a breath of life as Lloyd's (Jack Davenport) autistic son finds his way to the Benford home, and both Mark and Olivia (Sonya Walger) have to confront the reality of his father's presence. The dead air it occupied in previous episodes vanishes, replaced by genuine tension, growing mistrust and a Cassandra-like realization than the Benfords' efforts to avoid their own future may inevitably secure it.
Simcoe has more on his plate than cuckoldry, however: he appears to be directly connected to the blackout… and to Dominic Monaghan's freaky Simon, who heads down to Los Angeles for a heart-to-heart. Monaghan carries a little more menace here than he had in his previous brief incarnations, and while I'm still not buying the evil genius routine from a once and former Merry, his presence definitely brings an intriguing new wrinkle to the equation. The connection with Simcoe makes the latter man's link to the Benfords more than just simple infidelity, forcing us to consider how (or whether) he and his mates intend to strike at Mark.
With all that going on, it’s easy to forget poor Agent Hawk (Christine Woods) struggling for life after being shot by those pesky Asian assassins out on the street. Though her subplot definitely brings up the rear in terms of importance, it also quietly asserts her character's endearing qualities (which got a huge shot in the arm last week) while keeping her flash forward pivotal to the show's perennial fate vs. free will argument. Courtney B. Vance delivers a few touching moments of support, keeping the human element at the forefront no less so than the remainder of the episode.
Roth handles the entirety with a good deal of grace, keeping the pace brisk without skipping over the little moments which make shows like this worthwhile. Benford remains supremely bland, and a short red herring involving masked men on Halloween night does little beyond providing some empty action, but FlashForward has absorbed tougher blows than that.
Of course, the question remains whether we'll see any real resolution to the lingering issues on display, or whether the show will continue to spin them out until they lose any semblance of meaning. That threat hasn't diminished, and may yet rise up to gobble the proceedings whole. But as the last two weeks have shown, the risk is worth it provided we're invested in the characters, and their various dilemmas remain more intriguing than ever. "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps" continues to fulfill the promise of the pilot, giving us hope that the second straight reliable week might translate into a third.
I thought this was the best episode of the series besides the Pilot.