Chewing over chicken...and TV

I feel like the premier episode of FlashForward is similar to the General Tso's chicken at Ohio University's Jefferson Dining Hall. It looks really great at first, and if you only pay attention to it at a surface level, it seems like it truly is that good. However, under further scrutiny, it’s not that great compared to restaurant-quality chicken. In the case of the chicken, the first few bites are excellent, but then it’s easy to just toss aside. But even though it’s only satisfactory at best, I still get the chicken every time it’s served. Why? I don’t know. It’s just much more appealing than it should be. Such is the case with FlashForward. But we’re discussing food for the eyes right now and not food for the stomach, so it’s time to move on to the critique!

When I first saw the trailer for FlashForward, I thought that the show was going to be very similar to the book. Every thing in the commercials related to the book, and everything made sense. But once the show started, I saw that this was not the case. The initial plotline is the same—the entire world blacks out at the same time and has “visions.” But the differences between the book and the show are many.

For one thing, none of the characters from the book, except for Lloyd Simcoe (whose main role is yet to be revealed), even have the same name in the show. Also, the book revolves around a physicist, rather than an FBI agent.

However, those differences are trivial and negligible when compared to the one thing about the show that irks me the most. In the book, they figure out what causes the blackouts rather quickly, and the book then goes on to focus on other things, such as what the main characters saw when they blacked out. The show has not revealed what caused the blackouts, and appears to be taking on a very different storyline from the book.

Though I am not happy about the direction the show is taking in relation to the book, I do like the show on its own when I don’t compare it to anything. It’s like the chicken. On its own it’s fine. I just can’t compare it to anything, or else I won’t like it.

I also feel like anyone, college student or not, can relate to this show, albeit in an unconventional way. In FlashFoward, everyone on Earth blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds, and sees a glimpse of the future. This causes many people to completely change their outlook on life. And now to you, reader, I pose a question: If you had a glimpse of your future for two minutes and 17 seconds, and the outlook was not what you wanted, would you let it happen, claiming that it’s destiny and can’t be changed? Or would you seize any opportunity you had to make yourself a better future, and completely change it? Chew it over.