Overall Rating: 6.4
You bastardly writers you...toying with our emotions re: Janis like that. How dare you!
Details below the cut.
Plot Synopsis:
The official recap can be found here. I had concerns after they paid off the whole Demitri murder plot that this episode would lose momentum. It did a number of things, but losing momentum was not one of them.
Writing: 7.5
The writers go down any one path for about 13 nanoseconds before they fork it and mindf*** the audience one more time. LOL THey set up Janis as a kick-ass, likable heroine...then they make it clear she's a double agent working for the wrong side (my brain hurts! OW!)...then they turn around and make it clear that she's double-agenting at the REQUEST OF THE CIA?? (Please stop...my mental whiplash is getting very serious!) That is pure awesomeness. :) Either...Janis is now a tragic moron playing right into the hands of the enemy and Vogel is the evil bastard (most probable, IMHO) or...Janis is about to be a spectacular hero and for once, a TV show won't cast the CIA as unquestionably evil. We shall see. I also enjoy the experiments done on savants (from a writing standpoint, not from a humanistic one, obviously), and the shadowy men involved in all of this take on a weird twist with the introduction of the wholesome looking pet shop broad who is pure evil...LOL FlashForward is cracktacularly crackish and I LOOOORRRRVE it. :D
I'd give the episode a higher writing score if not for the fact that I was getting a bit weary trying to follow the eleventy-billion action-rich plot threads and were it not for the absence of deeply memorable dialog. 45 minutes of fast past action where people say a bunch of stuff and I can't remember anything particularly noteworthy that was said...I just remember plot elements and moments of me going "What the flying f***?! You have GOT to be KIDDING me!" for the thousandth time this year. Very entertaining episode, but it's pure action lacking artistry for the moment.
Acting: 7.8
I would very much like to have Christine Woods' love child. Too bad she's playing a lesbian. Oh and in case you're keeping score...I am make-believe-attracted to her not because of her appearance, but because she is a phenomenal actress...LOL (there we go...I got my "damn, she's hot!" comment into this review while making it relevant to something...:D) I haven't been bowled over by Sonya Walger lately, and I thought this was a bit of a weak episode for her once again...she started off gangbusters but has since gone into a slump. I am glad we haven't seen much of Lloyd lately, because not only is his character a friggin' tool...but Jack Davenport is probably the weakest cast member. O'Byrne puts in another solid effort - he's really grown on me lately.
Message: 4.0
I feel like this show is twisting off toward the Hollywood cliche of "if it's a secret government agency or a private contractor...it's the root of all evil...it has nothing to do with the politicians we see every day or our corrupt moralities." It sure feels like all of the evil in this show is being perpetrated by Vogel and the CIA splinter cell to which he belongs and the military contractor they hired (Jericho). I am not impressed with this predictably shallow message. Nor am I impressed with the writers' desperate attempt to make adultery legit by suggesting that Olivia is "supposed to" be with the skuzzball and former deadbeat dad Lloyd and that if she DOESN'T ignore her wedding vows, the fate of humanity will be doomed! Seriously, guys? You couldn't come up with a better story to make us understand Olivia's motivations for blowing off her marriage to the show's leading hero (and unquestionably a very noble man doing whatever he can to save the world and look out for his family and friends)? Pardon me for having a great desire to puke.
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