Future Shock (FlashForward)
Encyclopedia
"Future Shock" is the 22nd episode and series finale
of the ABC
series FlashForward
, originally aired May 27, 2010. Directed by John Polson and written by Timothy J. Lea and Scott M. Gimple, the episode received mixed, mostly positive reviews.
) and Charlie (Lennon Wynn) are at the beach, deciding to avoid whatever future was in store for them; Lloyd meets her there and urges her to return home. Lloyd (Jack Davenport
) wants to recreate the events of their flashforwards so Lloyd can successfully crack the equation he was working on. She agrees, and Lloyd and Olivia are surprised when it is Dylan (Ryan Wynott) who writes the equation in lipstick on the mirror.
Demetri (John Cho
), Janis (Christine Woods
), and Simon (Dominic Monaghan
) head to NLAP to try and stop the next blackout from occurring, as well as discover who is behind it all. Demetri is worried, as in Janis’ flashforward she had been receiving a sonogram, and Janis does indeed begin to have cramps. Janis refuses to leave, and instead uses her condition to create a diversion for security, allowing Demetri and Simon to enter NLAP undetected. Simon manages to copy the contents of the computer to a flash drive, giving it to Demetri so it can be analyzed later to determine who is behind the blackouts. At the hospital, Janis has her sonogram just as she saw in her flashforward, but this time the baby turns out to be a boy instead of a girl.
In Afghanistan, Aaron (Brían F. O'Byrne
) sobs over Tracy’s (Genevieve Cortese
) death, but Kahmir (Dominic Rains) is able to detect a faint pulse in her. Kahmir is able to revive Tracy, opening her eyes and recreating what Aaron had seen in his flashforward.
Bryce (Zachary Knighton
) finds Keiko (Yūko Takeuchi
) has already left when he arrives at the detention center, and decides to head to the sushi restaurant to wait for her. Bryce apologizes to Nicole (Peyton List), telling her he truly loves Keiko, and Nicole likewise apologizes to him for keeping the truth from him. At the airport, Keiko’s mother has a change of heart and creates a diversion to allow Keiko to leave. She eventually meets Bryce at the sushi restaurant, and the two smile as they see their flashforwards coming true. Meanwhile, Nicole is driving, and gets distracted and veers off the road into a lake. She is eventually rescued by a passerby; Nicole realizes what she had seen in her flashforward was the man trying to save her and not drown her as she had thought. Her rescuer, Ed (Patrick J. Adams
), confirms this with his own flashforward.
Stan (Courtney B. Vance
) has Mark (Joseph Fiennes
) released from jail, and has him talk to Aaron on the phone to calm him down. Mark then discovers the FBI building is being evacuated due to bombs found in the building. Mark wishes to head to his mosaic board as he had seen in his flashforward; Vogel (Michael Ealy
) informs him of his own flashforward, that he had been telling another agent about Mark’s death, but Mark decides to go in anyway. He also tells Vogel to protect Lloyd at his house. After being led outside in custody, Hellinger (Neil Jackson
) nods to some men in bomb squad gear, as they are actually working for him. The men don masks as seen in Mark’s flashforward, and proceed into the building to find Mark and the mosaic board. Mark arrives at his mosaic board, contemplating what to do next, exactly as he had seen himself in his flashforward, albeit without his hip flask. Stan heads inside the building to rescue Mark, ending up hiding inside a bathroom stall to avoid being seen by the masked men, similar to where he had seen himself in his own flashforward. At NLAP, Simon sends Lloyd a text to help him crack the equation. Lloyd contacts Mark, telling him the equation yielded an interval indicating that the next blackout would occur in April 2010, meaning anytime in the next two days.
Mark notices Gabriel’s (James Callis
) drawing of his mosaic board, and quickly changes his own to match it. Mark uses the clues on his board to determine the next blackout is to occur at 10:14 p.m. on April 29th, mere minutes away. At this point, the masked men enter the office. Mark manages to ambush several of them, then contacts Stan to warn the White House. He also calls Olivia, warning her of the imminent blackout and that he loves both her and Charlie. Vogel tells another agent about Mark’s inevitable death outside Olivia’s house, although this time it is Olivia who witnesses this and not Charlie. At NLAP, Simon and Demetri find the system has been taken over by someone from the outside, and realize another blackout is about to occur; Simon offers Demetri his QED ring, but Demetri decides to witness his flashforward this time as he never did before. Mark notices a timer on one of the bombs, and with less than a minute before they go off, he races for his office. He collapses before he gets there, however, as the second global blackout occurs. Due to the slight warning, people are shown to be better prepared (people are shown to have taken comfortable positions such as lying on the ground or sitting down). Lita, wearing a QED ring, wheels an unconscious Janis out of the hospital. A montage of flashforward images are shown, some with dates indicating the flashforward may take place several years in the future (a “New Years Day 2015” sign is shown for example). The montage ends with an older Charlie saying to someone off-screen “They found him!” before the present Charlie awakens, along with Olivia, Lloyd, and Dylan. The FBI building is then shown exploding, possibly with Mark still inside.
directed this episode, his third directing credit for the season. Timothy J. Lea and Scott M. Gimple wrote the episode. This is Timothy's second writing credit for the show. He wrote the episode "Queen Sacrifice" with Byron Balasco.
MTV
stated "looking at it as a season finale made the episode fall short." Zap2it
stated "things could have gone better, but overall not unhappy." IGN
gave the episode an 8.1 rating out of 10, stating "no one can accuse it of going out with a whimper."
The AV Club gave the finale a B- with mixed reviews, calling it "irresistible," but also said "wouldn't miss the show." Zap2it
declared FlashForward the "most missed axed show" after a poll determined 46.3 percent of voters would miss it. The second place show was Ghost Whisperer
.
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
series FlashForward
Flashforward
A flashforward is an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future...
, originally aired May 27, 2010. Directed by John Polson and written by Timothy J. Lea and Scott M. Gimple, the episode received mixed, mostly positive reviews.
Plot
With 10:00 p.m. fast approaching, the world stands ready to see if their flashforwards are to come true. Olivia (Sonya WalgerSonya Walger
Sonya Walger is an English actress known for her roles in the ABC series Lost as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, and as Olivia Benford on ABC's FlashForward.-Education:...
) and Charlie (Lennon Wynn) are at the beach, deciding to avoid whatever future was in store for them; Lloyd meets her there and urges her to return home. Lloyd (Jack Davenport
Jack Davenport
Jack Davenport is an English actor, best known for his roles in the television series This Life, Coupling and as James Norrington in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He has also appeared in many other Hollywood films such as The Talented Mr. Ripley...
) wants to recreate the events of their flashforwards so Lloyd can successfully crack the equation he was working on. She agrees, and Lloyd and Olivia are surprised when it is Dylan (Ryan Wynott) who writes the equation in lipstick on the mirror.
Demetri (John Cho
John Cho
John Yohan Cho is an American actor and musician, best known for his roles in the American Pie films and the Harold & Kumar films . He also starred in the critically acclaimed hit film Better Luck Tomorrow...
), Janis (Christine Woods
Christine Woods
Christine Woods is an American actress who has appeared in numerous television shows. More recently, she could be seen as part of the main cast in ABC's FlashForward, in which she portrayed FBI Special Agent Janis Hawk.-Biography:...
), and Simon (Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
) head to NLAP to try and stop the next blackout from occurring, as well as discover who is behind it all. Demetri is worried, as in Janis’ flashforward she had been receiving a sonogram, and Janis does indeed begin to have cramps. Janis refuses to leave, and instead uses her condition to create a diversion for security, allowing Demetri and Simon to enter NLAP undetected. Simon manages to copy the contents of the computer to a flash drive, giving it to Demetri so it can be analyzed later to determine who is behind the blackouts. At the hospital, Janis has her sonogram just as she saw in her flashforward, but this time the baby turns out to be a boy instead of a girl.
In Afghanistan, Aaron (Brían F. O'Byrne
Brían F. O'Byrne
Brían Francis O'Byrne is an Irish actor who works mostly in the United States. He was born in Mullagh, County Cavan.O'Byrne first attracted notice for his performances in the Martin McDonagh plays The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Pato Dooley and The Lonesome West...
) sobs over Tracy’s (Genevieve Cortese
Genevieve Cortese
Genevieve Padalecki is an American actress known for her breakout role on the television series Wildfire as Kris Furillo. She is also known for her recurring role in Supernatural as Ruby. She married Supernatural star Jared Padalecki in 2010.-Biography:Genevieve is of Italian, French and Flemish...
) death, but Kahmir (Dominic Rains) is able to detect a faint pulse in her. Kahmir is able to revive Tracy, opening her eyes and recreating what Aaron had seen in his flashforward.
Bryce (Zachary Knighton
Zachary Knighton
Zachary Andrew Knighton is an American actor who currently stars as Dave Rose on the ABC comedy series Happy Endings. Prior to that, he co-starred as Dr. Bryce Varley on ABC's science fiction series FlashForward from 2009–2010....
) finds Keiko (Yūko Takeuchi
Yuko Takeuchi
is a Japanese actress. She made her big break with NHK's television series Asuka and JT Green's commercial. She has gone on to star in many TV shows, movies, and commercials....
) has already left when he arrives at the detention center, and decides to head to the sushi restaurant to wait for her. Bryce apologizes to Nicole (Peyton List), telling her he truly loves Keiko, and Nicole likewise apologizes to him for keeping the truth from him. At the airport, Keiko’s mother has a change of heart and creates a diversion to allow Keiko to leave. She eventually meets Bryce at the sushi restaurant, and the two smile as they see their flashforwards coming true. Meanwhile, Nicole is driving, and gets distracted and veers off the road into a lake. She is eventually rescued by a passerby; Nicole realizes what she had seen in her flashforward was the man trying to save her and not drown her as she had thought. Her rescuer, Ed (Patrick J. Adams
Patrick J. Adams
Patrick J. Adams is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Mike Ross in USA Network's series Suits.-Personal life:...
), confirms this with his own flashforward.
Stan (Courtney B. Vance
Courtney B. Vance
Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief...
) has Mark (Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes is an English film and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayals of William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, Sir Robert Dudley in Elizabeth, Commisar Danilov in Enemy at the Gates, Martin Luther in Luther, Merlin in Camelot, and his portrayal of Mark Benford in the...
) released from jail, and has him talk to Aaron on the phone to calm him down. Mark then discovers the FBI building is being evacuated due to bombs found in the building. Mark wishes to head to his mosaic board as he had seen in his flashforward; Vogel (Michael Ealy
Michael Ealy
Michael Brown , professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor.-Personal life:Ealy was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended Springbrook High School and the University of Maryland, College Park.-Career:...
) informs him of his own flashforward, that he had been telling another agent about Mark’s death, but Mark decides to go in anyway. He also tells Vogel to protect Lloyd at his house. After being led outside in custody, Hellinger (Neil Jackson
Neil Jackson
Neil Jackson is an English actor and writer who has appeared in several television series and films, but is probably best known for his role as Marcus on Blade: The Series and Sasha on Make It or Break It. His screenwriting credits include the film The Passage directed by Mark Heller and released...
) nods to some men in bomb squad gear, as they are actually working for him. The men don masks as seen in Mark’s flashforward, and proceed into the building to find Mark and the mosaic board. Mark arrives at his mosaic board, contemplating what to do next, exactly as he had seen himself in his flashforward, albeit without his hip flask. Stan heads inside the building to rescue Mark, ending up hiding inside a bathroom stall to avoid being seen by the masked men, similar to where he had seen himself in his own flashforward. At NLAP, Simon sends Lloyd a text to help him crack the equation. Lloyd contacts Mark, telling him the equation yielded an interval indicating that the next blackout would occur in April 2010, meaning anytime in the next two days.
Mark notices Gabriel’s (James Callis
James Callis
James Callis is a British actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones' best friend in Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason...
) drawing of his mosaic board, and quickly changes his own to match it. Mark uses the clues on his board to determine the next blackout is to occur at 10:14 p.m. on April 29th, mere minutes away. At this point, the masked men enter the office. Mark manages to ambush several of them, then contacts Stan to warn the White House. He also calls Olivia, warning her of the imminent blackout and that he loves both her and Charlie. Vogel tells another agent about Mark’s inevitable death outside Olivia’s house, although this time it is Olivia who witnesses this and not Charlie. At NLAP, Simon and Demetri find the system has been taken over by someone from the outside, and realize another blackout is about to occur; Simon offers Demetri his QED ring, but Demetri decides to witness his flashforward this time as he never did before. Mark notices a timer on one of the bombs, and with less than a minute before they go off, he races for his office. He collapses before he gets there, however, as the second global blackout occurs. Due to the slight warning, people are shown to be better prepared (people are shown to have taken comfortable positions such as lying on the ground or sitting down). Lita, wearing a QED ring, wheels an unconscious Janis out of the hospital. A montage of flashforward images are shown, some with dates indicating the flashforward may take place several years in the future (a “New Years Day 2015” sign is shown for example). The montage ends with an older Charlie saying to someone off-screen “They found him!” before the present Charlie awakens, along with Olivia, Lloyd, and Dylan. The FBI building is then shown exploding, possibly with Mark still inside.
Title sequence image
Charlie Benford's eyes as she wakes up from her flash forward during the second global blackout.Production
The series was cancelled on May 14, 2010. However, the promo that aired on May 20, 2010 stated that this was the season finale. The finale was originally set to be two hours long, consisting of both this episode and "Countdown". After cancellation, they were aired separately. John PolsonJohn Polson
John Polson is an Australian actor, director and founder of Tropfest. In February 2001, Polson attended the 12th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Hokkaidō, Japan where his film Siam Sunset won the Minami Toshiko Award...
directed this episode, his third directing credit for the season. Timothy J. Lea and Scott M. Gimple wrote the episode. This is Timothy's second writing credit for the show. He wrote the episode "Queen Sacrifice" with Byron Balasco.
Reception
4.96 million Americans watched the series finale with a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. 1.5 million British viewers watched the finale.MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
stated "looking at it as a season finale made the episode fall short." Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
stated "things could have gone better, but overall not unhappy." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode an 8.1 rating out of 10, stating "no one can accuse it of going out with a whimper."
The AV Club gave the finale a B- with mixed reviews, calling it "irresistible," but also said "wouldn't miss the show." Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
declared FlashForward the "most missed axed show" after a poll determined 46.3 percent of voters would miss it. The second place show was Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...
.