Overall Rating: 8.9
We finally get a nice coherent one-plot (with a minor side-plot) story that won't take me a thousand years to document in the synopsis portion of this review! In all seriousness, this is a very nice story and very nicely written, but perhaps a bit off course from my preferred message.
Cut for spoilers
Plot Synopsis:
Much needed depth has been added to Bryce's character. We explore the month leading up to the blackout and reveal that Bryce was suicidal for a very good reason - he has end-stage small-cell renal carcinoma and a terminal diagnosis. With this stunning revelation in toe, we follow Bryce as he quests after the mysterious Japanese beauty in his FlashForward. He studies Japanese each day, working with Nicole on his dialect at lunch. His drawings of his vision get more and more detailed, eventually leading to a strong clue - a specific restaurant outside of Tokyo that serves sushi. Against the wishes of Olivia - who has gotten him into a clinical trial to treat his cancer after he is forced to admit his condition to her - he flies to Japan to seek out his mystery woman, learning eventually that her name is Keiko and that she lives in a run down house nearby. But when he tracks down the address, her mother, angry about the implications of his arrival (and I'll explain why momentarily), slams the door in his face after denying her existence. Dejected, he returns home at Nicole's urging, not even noticing that the woman he seeks is on the same plane and arriving in Los Angeles to start a new life!
Meanwhile, we see Keiko in the month prior to the blackout interviewing for a job at a robotics company. We see her very unhappily get the job and we see her meddling mother try to arrange a marriage for her at the party celebrating her success. She is miserable at her job as the very accurate portrayal of Japanese custom leaves her serving tea and being treated with no respect at all. Finally, visions of her FlashForward compel her to quit her new job and get a tattoo with the Japanese symbol for the word "Believe" on her arm. Not only that, but she point blank refuses her mother's marriage arrangements, infuriating her. She is thrown out of the house and left to fend for herself.
In the first of two minor side plots, Mark discovers the text message Olivia got about his being drunk during his FlashForward and interrogates the two people he told - his sponsor Aaron and his boss Stan. Someone must have told Olivia, after all. They both angrily deny it, and Aaron, who is dealing with the fact that his daughter is now an alcoholic (for which he erroneously blames himself), is devastated by the accusation. He smashes some chairs into kindling and tells Mark he needs to find a new sponsor. When Mark returns to apologize and make amends, Aaron says that they've crossed a line and he can't be his sponsor anymore, but he still wants to be friends.
We also learn that the NSA has a recording of the phone call agent Noh received informing him of his murder. They're not going to give him the evidence at first but when Noh rather angrily insists, the NSA field rep makes a phone call and they show him what they've got. It turns out the background noise in the call points to Hong Kong Harbor in China as her probable location when she made the call. Mark and Demitri are told not to pursue the matter personally as it might make diplomatic relations harder than they already are given the idiotic finger-pointing that went on in previous episodes regarding who was responsible for the blackout. Mark promptly tells Demitri to disregard those orders. They're going to Hong Kong.
Writing: 9.2
High marks here for (a) being brave enough to give an accurate portrayal of Japanese culture (there are a couple of GREAT quotes that you'll find in the highlights) (b) not letting Bryce find his girl too quickly - that just wouldn't be any fun! and (c) finally giving Aaron a script that improves his acting performance. They've got a HUGE ensemble cast to service (granted, minus one now that Al Gough is dead) and they're doing a great job finding script time for everyone without making each episode seem too ambitious or hard to follow.
Acting: 9.5
O'Byrne kicked BOOTY this week! It's about time he did something to earn his paychecks. :) Very nice interactions between Nicole and Bryce, Olivia and Bryce and Keiko and her family. I was actually very impressed with Keiko (I cannot for the life of me find the name of the poor woman who played her anywhere in any of the reference sites...not even IMDB!) in particular. One of the bes guest actors the show has featured. The mainstays (Mark, Olivia, Stan, Demitri) were a little less imposing, but this wasn't a show to feature them and they did a fine job anyway.
Message: 8.0
I am a romantic at heart. I cannot bring myself to be too hard on this episode for having a very romantic (and unrealistic) message about true love - and I think the reason why I enjoyed this episode so thoroughly despite the trouble I have believing that love can be real and permanently affecting like what is portrayed here without having ever met the person in question is that it doesn't feel like it's about love per say...it feels more like it's about hope. The title "Believe" is well placed. Each plot is imbued with a sense of optimism even when things get a little dark (for Mark, Aaron and his daughter Tracy). Nicole tells Bryce that his craziness is a good kind of crazy - the madness of love - which is both sweet and, I think, 90 degrees off point. I think he's so willing to go as far as he does for this girl not because he's in love with HER...but because he's in love with what she represents...hope. I fear these two would meet a rather disappointing end to their mutual pursuit, but on the bright side, the hope their FlashForward has given them is leading them to make good choices that positively affect the outcome of their lives. Bryce was ready to embrace death and now he's doing what he has to do to keep living. Keiko was miserable under the thumb of her family and her uninspiring job and now she's taking her life into her own hands and starting over. The power of hope to make us reach for what we want in life...something that should never be overlooked.
Highlights:
NICOLE: It's so cool that you're learning a whole new language for someone you've never even met.
BRYCE: But I'm going to meet her. I know it. And listen to myself! I sound completely crazy.
NICOLE: That's a good kind of crazy - it's the love kind.
BRYCE: Do you really think so? (I don't, but it's still cute)
DEMITRI: Wait...are you saying the NSA has a recording of my phone call? Well let's hear it!
NSA REP: I'm sorry, Agent Noh, but that information is classified sig-int - signal intelligence - and I'm not authorized to...
DEMITRI: COME ON! I'm running out of time here, ma'am. That call revealed that someone is going to kill me, so you make whatever call you have to make and give me a fighting chance!
KEIKO: I want a tattoo.
TATTOO GUY: Yeah, right. Get lost, little girl.
KEIKO: I'm serious!
TATTOO GUY: You look like an office girl. What are they gonna think if you get a tattoo?
KEIKO: I don't care.
TATTOO: The nail that stands up must be hammered down. (and there it is!)
KEIKO: I'm not doing this for them or for my family. (good for you!)
OLIVIA: This might be none of my business, but I had to do something. I've been reading up on your condition and the latest in research and there really are some great options for you.
BRYCE: Look, Dr. Benford, you don't have to...
OLIVIA: There's a trial for a new drug treatment called Pentagene...I made a few calls and you're in.
BRYCE: What? Thank you...
OLIVIA: Oh don't thank me...just get better.
BRYCE: I've read about Pentagene...some of the side affects are...
OLIVIA: Bryce...this is your life we're talking about. Now's not the time to be conservative.
BRYCE: I'm sorry...but in six months I'm going to be alive - I saw in my FlashForward - I can't risk taking a drug that could kill me or cripple me and ruin everything.
OLIVIA: OK, Bryce, you'll only hear me say this once. Maybe the reason you are alive in your FlashForward is because you're going to take this drug and get better. Go to Houston...take the drug. If you need a couple of days, take a couple of days. (YES! Thank you Olivia! Unfortunately, he took a couple of days to fly to Japan instead...but, it was a good effort and he may still get into the trial...LOL)
KEIKO'S MOM: What do you mean you quit?!
KEIKO: I quit, what else is there to say?
KEIKO'S MOM: Why?
KEIKO: Because that place was becoming a tomb for my soul.
KEIKO'S MOM: We worked for twenty years at that restaurant so you could get a good education and get a job like this! You can't quit!
KEIKO: This is my life, not yours. I'm twenty four years old and I can make my own decisions. And if I can choose what I want to do with my life, then I don't have to marry Takahasi Ito.
KEIKO'S MOM: You would be lucky to marry Mr. Ito's boy. What's wrong with him?
KEIKO: He's a salaryman with no imagination.
KEIKO'S MOM: Who needs imagination?
KEIKO: I do!
KEIKO'S MOM: Well, if you can't respect your mother and father...then perhaps you shuold not live here. (ouch!)
BRYCE: I am looking for a girl.
RESTAURANT GUY: For sex? (LOL, oops)
BRYCE: No, not for sex, no! Look...have you see this girl? (holds up one of his intricate drawings)
RESTAURANT GUY: No...yo Takashi! Get over here! (a second Japanese restaurant guy walks over) I don't know what this guy wants.
BRYCE: This woman...have you seen her?
RESTAURANT GUY: He's looking for a virgin. (ROTFL!)
TAKASHI: Hey, isn't that Keiko?
RESTAURANT GUY: No, I don't think so.
TAKASHI: Yeah! It's her! The hair is different, but it's her...
BRYCE: Keiko?
RESTAURANT GUY: I don't understand you...
BRYCE: Heart...(makes a motion like his heartbeat)...dum-dum, dum-dum! (struggles to find words but what he comes up with isn't quite right) I love you! I love you! (LOL! The looks on the faces of the two restaurant workers are hilarious)
AARON: Are you trying to say something to me, Mark?
MARK: I don't know...like I said...I only told two people.
AARON: And you think I told her?
MARK: Don't you think I have the right to ask if you've been communicating with my wife?
AARON: You son of a bitch! After all we've been through together, you really believe I could do something like that?
MARK: I don't know what to believe anymore.
AARON: You don't know. (he sashes some chairs around the room and then stalks angrily toward Mark - for a moment I thought he was going to punch him out) Twelve years, Mark! Here's some food for thought. You should go get yourself another sponsor. Someone you can really trust. (he pats him on the side of the face very aggressively and storms out...definitely an OUCH worthy scene)
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