TV: Flash Forward... wow... seriously trippy

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havana1

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Everyone in the world loses consciousness for a couple of minutes, sees a glimpse of the future, and then they regain consciousness. Did anyone else see this? It reminds me a LOT of “Heroes” before it jumped the shark. I don’t want to say anymore for fear of spoiling it, suffice to say I wonder if any Catholics helped write the script.

What a seriously trippy show. My jaw dropped at the last two scenes, and it’s not that easy to surprise me. My head is still spinning at possible theories of what happened and who’s behind it and why.
 
Well, I guess this is one of the decidedly “unpopular” threads and there’s not much interest. Noted. Doesn’t hurt to ask.

I wish I knew the formula to what threads are in the daily Top 10’s and which ones die a slow painful death.

I guess I’m just in disbelief nobody’s talking about the show (there was a rerun of it earlier), which is clearly and unmistakably Christian-oriented and touches upon Augustine and other Church fathers. Oh well. Now I know. “Flash Forward”: not a topic that will get that many takers. 🤷
 
Its to soon for word of mouth to get around. It was Thursday night. “The night” of network TV for a generation and all the high profile shows were on. Fringe on Fox, the main CSI on CBS. After the initial buzz the Sci Fi base of fans, as small as it is gets a second chance on Friday.
 
havana1 said:
I guess I’m just in disbelief nobody’s talking about the show (there was a rerun of it earlier), which is clearly and unmistakably Christian-oriented and touches upon Augustine and other Church fathers. Oh well. Now I know. “Flash Forward”: not a topic that will get that many takers. 🤷
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Could you explain what you mean by “touches upon Augustine and other Church Fathers”?

I got the impression the show is leaning towards expressing a time theory that’s predeterministic: that is, the future is already sealed, and no matter what we do, we can’t change it. (A very un-Catholic notion.) Of course that leaves me to wonder the reason of the flash forwards in the first place. An accident of some sort? A desperate act by someone or something to warn of an impending danger? All of this is just speculation on my part. What may appear obvious in the first episode could a diversionary tactic from considering too early what is really going on.

I’m curious to know how the show will progress.
I wonder if any Catholics helped write the script.
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The series is inspired by Robert J. Sawyer’s novel of the same name and written by David Goyer and Brannon Braga. From what I gathered, Goyer is Jewish, Sawyer is agnostic, and Braga is an atheist.
 
Author_Jerry said:
Could you explain what you mean by “touches upon Augustine and other Church Fathers”?

I got the impression the show is leaning towards expressing a time theory that’s predeterministic: that is, the future is already sealed, and no matter what we do, we can’t change it. (A very un-Catholic notion.) Of course that leaves me to wonder the reason of the flash forwards in the first place. An accident of some sort? A desperate act by someone or something to warn of an impending danger? All of this is just speculation on my part. What may appear obvious in the first episode could a diversionary tactic from considering too early what is really going on.

I’m curious to know how the show will progress.

The series is inspired by Robert J. Sawyer’s novel of the same name and written by David Goyer and Brannon Braga. From what I gathered, Goyer is Jewish, Sawyer is agnostic, and Braga is an atheist.
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And I got the impression from upcoming episodes that some of the characters, especially the babysitter who is seeking forgiveness from a Catholic priest, that they believe the “phenomenon” is God punishing them for their sinful ways. She even says that, in so many words.

What part of Augustine? “The Confessions of St. Augustine”, Book X, Chapter 8:
And I enter the fields and roomy chambers of memory, where are the treasures of countless images, imported into it from all manner of things by the senses. There is treasured up whatsoever likewise we think, either by enlarging or diminishing, or by varying in any way whatever those things which the sense has arrived at; yea, and whatever else has been entrusted to it and stored up, which oblivion has not yet engulfed and buried . When I am in this storehouse, I demand that what I wish should be brought forth, and some things immediately appear; others require to be longer sought after, and are dragged, as it were, out of some hidden receptacle; others, again, hurry forth in crowds, and while another thing is sought and inquired for, they leap into view, as if to say, Is it not we, perchance? These I drive away with the hand of my heart from before the face of my remembrance, until what I wish be discovered making its appearance out of its secret cell.

I thought the show was less about “predestination,” Calvinism, etc., which is what you seem to be suggesting, and more about general science-fiction standards like time and space and memory. Is it an overtly Catholic show? No. But I think Catholics will find it a little more edifying than other viewers will, and I’m just surprised interest the topic took off like a lead zeppelin. That’s all I’m saying.
 
Well I just came off of a SF board and the atheist are whinning about the 2 seconds of screen time when characters mentioned was it God and when the FBI Special Agent in Charge asked what the Pope had to say.

It seems that the author of the source material Sawyer belongs to the radical atheist camp.
 
4Squarebaby said:
Well I just came off of a SF board and the atheist are whinning about the 2 seconds of screen time when characters mentioned was it God and when the FBI Special Agent in Charge asked what the Pope had to say.

It seems that the author of the source material Sawyer belongs to the radical atheist camp.
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For those who don’t know this (and I mean no disrespect to anyone), by the time “source” material gets to be finished product, it has been through re-write after re-write after re-write (often without the original writer), test screening after test screening, focus group after focus group. That’s how it works. I find it very, very difficult to believe that whatever “pro-atheist” or “anti-Christian” material may have been there originally was left entirely intact by the time the thing shows up on TV. The fact of the matter is that the executive producers of the television show “Flash Forward” are Brannon Braga (“24,” “Star Trek: Voyager”) and some guy named David Goyer. Those are the people listed on the show’s credits: I don’t know anything about it being an “atheist” show.
 
Well, yes, Havana, one character out of a dozen mentions that she thinks it could be a punishment from God. It’s a possibility that God is allowing this to happen for some people (if God exists on the show). In the grand scheme of things, this just shows a diversity of opinion from the show’s characters. It only sounds realistic to have a person or two in this situation to draw this conclusion (which makes the criticism coming from a few atheists sound silly).
I thought the show was less about “predestination,” Calvinism, etc., which is what you seem to be suggesting, and more about general science-fiction standards like time and space and memory. Is it an overtly Catholic show? No. But I think Catholics will find it a little more edifying than other viewers will
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I was just suggesting a time theory that might be in use for the story. Right now, it seems the most reasonable theory to me, but that can easily change once we gather more information on just what’s behind the flash forwards.
What part of Augustine? “The Confessions of St. Augustine”, Book X, Chapter 8
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I’ve never read this quote before. Augustine seems to be poetically describing what it’s like to call upon memories. It’s quite thoughtful and beautiful. But it seems only very loosely relevant to the subject matter of the show.
 
havana1 said:
Everyone in the world loses consciousness for a couple of minutes, sees a glimpse of the future, and then they regain consciousness. Did anyone else see this? It reminds me a LOT of “Heroes” before it jumped the shark. I don’t want to say anymore for fear of spoiling it, suffice to say I wonder if any Catholics helped write the script.

What a seriously trippy show. My jaw dropped at the last two scenes, and it’s not that easy to surprise me. My head is still spinning at possible theories of what happened and who’s behind it and why.
Click to expand...
I thought the show was interesting, but I noticed that the Afro-American FBI agent made a snotty remark about the Pope—something about why he hadn’t chimed in which was totally unnecessary. Otherwise (I recorded it) I think it was interesting and worth a shot to see what they come up with. Noticed that they still had to throw a little unnecessary sex in it too between Charly’s babysitter and her boyfriend.
 
Even better: Shohreh Aghdashloo (from “24” and “The Stoning of Soraya M”) just joined the cast. Awesome. I am so psyched for next week’s episode to see what happens next. I haven’t been this giddy about a TV show in a long time. :extrahappy:
 
I’ve been watching this show…I like it…now I’m really curious for the explanation and the outcome so I have to keep watching. 👍
 
kentuckyliz said:
I’ve been watching this show…I like it…now I’m really curious for the explanation and the outcome so I have to keep watching. 👍
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Awesome…I was a little worried the thread would be hijacked or derailed into a “This is a Pro-Atheist, Anti-Catholic Show” (what?? where’d that come from??) when the show was created by the same guys who brought us “Lost” and “24.” It’ll be good to see the thread getting back on track for some sensible theories and commentary.
 
I really like this show. I just got done watching both episodes online and I have to say this is one I will be watching on a regular basis.

Now I can’t wait for Thursday night!
 
I’m hooked on this show already after the first two episodes! I’m really curious as to how the at least two people we know of managed to stay conscious (D. Gibbons and the guy at the stadium). Presumably they’re connected to whatever caused the event and already had taken preparations to keep it from happening to them.

So, does anyone else think that D. Gibbons was the guy who blew up the doll factory to destroy some sort of evidence there about what’s behind the flash forwards? Or is he just some guy that, as was suggested, hacked into the system to also try to figure out why it all happened? We know from Charly’s flash forward that D. Gibbons is a bad man and that there are “no more good days”. But I wonder what exactly she saw and how he factored into her dream of the future, because she also saw Dylan, which seemed to be a happy and positive experience for her.

I haven’t read the book that the series is based on yet, but so far the show seems to be generally staying true to the characters described in my library’s online summary of the book. Though in the book, the visions are from 20 years in the future rather than just 6 months. I wonder if the cause is going to be the same. I’ll just leave it at that for those who don’t want to be spoiled, but what’s odd is that the events described in the summary are something that scientists either have done already or are planning to do. And this book was written… 20 years ago.
 
havana1 said:
Awesome…I was a little worried the thread would be hijacked or derailed into a “This is a Pro-Atheist, Anti-Catholic Show” (what?? where’d that come from??) when the show was created by the same guys who brought us “Lost” and “24.” It’ll be good to see the thread getting back on track for some sensible theories and commentary.
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That was me. I mentioned that on a science fiction message board a few radical atheist were screaming bloody murder. How dare they, ABC television, have a baby sitter ask if this was an act of god, they specified little g by the way. Since the source book was filled with scientist, who obiviously must be rational and not believe. And the book was not about FBI agents and those around them, doctors and the baby sitter who had a reborn faith because of the flash forward.
 
Dang it! I was really enjoying this show; I thought it was an interesting premise, decently acted, and full of promise.

I was so disappointed to find, with this last week’s episode, that ABC couldn’t resist rubbing their gay agenda in our faces. I don’t want to see two women dating, sleeping together, kissing, and/or contemplating childbearing via a stranger’s sperm (“it could be ours” said one female character to the female FBI agent about her flash forward. No, it could be hers and a sperm donor’s. Not yours.) on TV or anywhere.

It’s not the lesbian relationship that is so disturbing per se. I just don’t believe, from the bottom of my heart, that same sex marriage and/or parenting is legal, moral, socially acceptable, or good for children…which is clearly the take away message here.

See America…there isn’t any difference between these two lovely ladies and any man and woman that do these things, right? Look into the screen. You are getting verrrry sleeeepy. Repeat after me: “Gay marriage is normal. Gay marriage is normal. Gay marriage is…”.

Gay “marriage” is not marriage just like gay sex is not intercourse. Any program that goes that far out of it’s way to twist the truth is not a program that I can stomach watching. Ah well, it was good while it lasted. Now I hope it tanks.
 
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