Flashforward

[sleigh]

I like the basic concept, which is rather nice, BUT... There's this freaking HUGE plot hole.

First, why in the world does everyone seem to immediately jump to the conclusion that this MUST be the future and not just some dream?

But even given that idiocy, why does no one do the obvious experiments to see if it really is the future or something that can be changed? The easiest one requires a despot without a conscience, but I'm sure people like that are out there: find another person who appeared in your vision and kill that person. If you can kill them, then this isn't a vision of the future (or that future is malleable and changeable, so we can safely ignore it); if you can't, then yep, maybe we should all be concerned about what we saw. (And if you can't kill them, suddenly are people out there who know that no matter what they do or how they act, in six months they'll still be alive -- boy, would that change your perception...)

There are a thousand less violent way to test the visions in much the same way -- find (as someone suggested on a listserve to which I belong) an identifiable, large tree that appears in several people's vision, and cut it down. A tree can't be replaced in six months: if you succeed in cutting it down, then this wasn't the future that you saw.

Maybe they'll address this later, but I'll bet not. These are Hollywood characters, and they're all too often required to act stupidly by the script...

Comments

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

Rob Sawyer has talked about it at length on his blog, and from what I can tell, his take on it boils down to, "As long as the checks keep clearing, I'm cool with it." The book had some of those plot holes, too. As a thought experiment, the book worked so-so; as a premise for a series, who knows. It can go lots of ways, which is either a bonus or a curse.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

If I were Rob, I would have exactly the same opinion. :-)

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

In the book, a character who didn't like his future committed suicide. I wonder if they'll do that on the show.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

But that says right there "The vision you saw is not the future." If you can commit suicide, then nothing anyone saw is set in stone -- so you can avoid it if you don't like it.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Some characters ended up exactly where they saw they would, but some didn't. So they saw a *possible* future, or one that would have happened had they not seen ahead.

[guppiecat]

No one just goes out and cuts down a tree because the future is fixed and they are therefore prevented from having thoughts that even lead them to test that theory because it turns out that there's no free will after all.

Of course, that seldom makes a good story.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

:-)

[lauriemann.livejournal.com]

A bunch of people contacted people they'd seen in their flash forward and each shared the same vision. I bet the "thought experiment" you suggest will happen as the series continues. I thought it was a very good pilot, though, structurally, very Lost-like.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

We'll see... You'd think, though, that finding out whether this really *is* the future is of critical importance.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping the series explores whether having [what one assumes is] a vision of the future compels one to actions that bring about that specific future, or to try to change that "future", and what happens in each case.

I hope the actors transcend the Typical Network TV Show Cast. The acting was tolerably good, but the characters seemed more roles than people. I hope there are flashes of humor now and then, because I really don't like unrelenting grim.

I hope Alex Kingston is in every episode, and wasn't just a one-time plot detail.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

The pilot didn't convince me that I want to watch any more episodes, I'm afraid, but then I'm a hard sell when it comes to TV.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I'll try the next episode, but if the characters don't break out of the formula, I'm outathere.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I thought they did a good job of finding people who saw the date, and correlating with other people they met. I didn't expect them to answer all the questions in the first hour of a series. The question for me is: Can they sustain the premise for until the flash forward date in question? I haven't read the book, so don't know any of Sawyer's take. My suspicion is that the tv series will work for a while. I'll watch at least the next one.