"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Friday, October 30, 2009

Across the Universe in FlashForward 1.6

A softly compelling episode 1.6 of FlashForward tonight, double slits across the universe, or, more precisely, an episode that started with Simon (Dominic Monaghan) talking about Young's double-slit experiment (which showed that light is both waves and particles) and ended with Rufus Wainwright's wonderful rendition of one of my favorite Beatles songs, John Lennon's "Across the Universe".

The wave and particle duality is, in our reality, part of the paradox of quantum mechanics, because, ordinarily in our world, things are either waves or particles but not both. In FlashForward, Simon's reference provides a nice way of summarizing the paradox of seeing the future, and trying to make it not happen - as is the case with Mark and Olivia, for starters. It also provided the occasion for a nice crack, from a woman Simon was starting to seduce, about double-slits being about some kind of sex she tried in college. (The L Word shows up again, but enough double-entendres.)

Back to our main FlashForward story, tonight indeed inexorably brings Simcoe much further into Olivia and Mark's lives. Simcoe's son Dylan wanders out of the hospital on Halloween, and makes his way to the Benford house. He says he belongs there - because that's what Charlie told him in his flashforward. Simcoe comes by to pick up his son, Mark doesn't like it, Mark and Olivia argue ... and, they're starting to fall apart, creating the very future they're struggling to avoid.

Meanwhile, across the universe - which, in this episode, is across town - Janis will (of course) survive due to the fine doctoring of Olivia, who also performs a difficult operation that may, just may, safeguard Janis's reproductive capacities. And, call me crazy, but Wedeck is looking at her asleep in the hospital bed with some strong, real feeling, that makes me wonder if somehow he may turn out to be the father...

And Simon and Lloyd Simcoe meet, and tell us that they're responsible for the flashforward.

Could they possibly have the power to undo the flashforward at this point? Not likely in this universe, but it's something to think upon as you watch and listen to Rufus's fine video, which you can see over here, because, in another plot twist perhaps have nothing to do with FlashForward, embedding has "been diabled by request".


5-min podcast review of FlashForward



See also FlashForward Debuts and Oceanic Airlines as a Portal Between FlashForward and Lost and 1.2: Proofs and Defiance of Inevitability and 1.3: Conficting Visions and Futures and 1.4: FlashForward Meets Shaft and House ... Drunk FlashForwarding in 1.5

Listen to 40-minute interview with Robert J. Sawyer






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1 comment:

dawn said...

I have not watched this religiously like I do other shows. I do like it and plan to catch up on line. I think you should watch the Vampire Diaries not as good as True Blood but good for TV

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