Why FlashForward Was Ahead of Its Time
We take a look back at 2009 sci-fi TV series FlashForward, a show that may have been ahead of its time...

By Andrew Sharp
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September 24, 2019

“On October 6, the whole planet blacked out for two minutes and seventeen seconds. The whole world saw the future.” Or so says 2009 series FlashForward. Whether through ironic coincidence or a twist of schadenfreude-fuelled fate, it seems rather cruel and unfortunate that a show premised on seeing the future lacked the foresight to predict the era it was best suited to: the age of binge-watching.

Based on the 1999 Robert J. Sawyer novel of the same name, ABC series FlashForward was originally developed by HBO but sold because it was seen as a better fit for a broadcast network. It aired in over 100 countries worldwide and got off to a more than promising start, premiering to a large US domestic audience of nearly 13 million and receiving both strong critical acclaim and audience buzz for its alluring pilot and provocative plot.

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Like many canceled shows, FlashForward left on a nail-biting and completely open-ended cliff-hanger at the climax of a poignant final scene accentuated by the only soundtrack choice I can recall across the entire series. In the spirit of not giving too much away, it is probably best to avoid any discussion about the ending altogether, other than to say the final shots explicitly alluded to a second season.

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Our media consumption habits have changed and, with them, our viewpoint. We have a greater propensity to concentrate our attention-span and deal with the increasingly convoluted and often tangential stories the FlashForward universe and its myriad characters has to offer. Bingeing actually enhances FlashForward’s watchability. So often do the episodes end in suspense but the viewer is no longer forced to break the cinematic illusion and wait a week, or in the mid-season case of FlashForward, fifteen weeks, for the next episode – it’s mere seconds away behind the autoplay timer and so the narrative continues to unfold and keep you hooked...

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/why-flashforward-was-ahead-of-its-time/