December 2009 Archives

Arturo from Racialicious posted another roundtable discussion for FlashForward's "semi-season finale" episode "A561984."

·         Once again Mark is the subject of most complaints in the show, but the disdain for him and his one-dimensionality seems to have escalated as now some of the roundtable members are suggesting he follow in the footsteps of Det. Al Gough--in an attempt to save Dem's life by  "changing the game."

·         Carmen Van Kerckhove responded to last week's comment that Demetri's parents being opposed to his relationship with Zoey was stereotypical: "...I actually found it to be a refreshing dash of reality. In today's fake-ass "post-racial" TV landscape, interracial relationships are often depicted as if racism has ceased to exist. But let's face it: a lot of interracial couples are still dealing with this kind of thing..."  I agree--the post-racial stuff gets on my nerves because it's not my reality, or any other person of color's reality.

·         Will Zoey's parents make a cameo in March?  How do they feel about the relationship?

·         They're feeling Wedeck's image of dominance in this episode and want to see more of him and his story in March.  Roundtable member Andrea summed it up nicely, "I liked that it was played as his rightfully being upset, not a stereotype of an out-of-control Negro

·         Most of the members want Mrs. Noh to encourage Dem and Zoey to get married and work on having kids all before March!  Somebody (jokingly) mentioned Mrs. Noh and the grandbabies having their own spinoff.  Ha!  Andrea: "Zoey and Dem need to have hotel sex again." Diana: "I'm with Andrea. Next episode should be titled "Makin' Babies."

·         They all love Nahdra, her voice mostly, and agree that she brings a lot ("coolness and intrigue") to the series.

Roundtable points to ponder:

·         The "traditional," matching kimono jackets on the extras during Mark and Demetri's trip to Hong Kong.  Quote by Carmen Van Kerckhove of New Demographic:  "I sure hope that Mark and Demetri just happened to wander onto the set of a TVB costume drama or something, cause believe it or not, people in my hometown of Hong Kong don't usually walk around dressed like this."

                                                                                 image from Racialicious.com

·         They too like the idea of Mark killing Demetri and therefore disappearing from the show but understand how slim those chances are on a network (primetime) television show.

·         They didn't care for the Michael Ealy debut...at least his acting anyway.  J  Roundtable member Mashino calls his acting the equivalent of "the poor man's Terrance Howard."  I'm over here wincing and laughing at the same time.

·         One commenter urged the writers to explore in depth the tense relationship between Zoe and Dem's parents, (I agree!) and called this storyline a "parents being against their kids 'marrying out'" stereotype.  (There's a solid argument there).  I too think it's unfair and downright lazy of the writers to make us assume his parent's weren't "comfortable" because she's not Korean and even worse, black.  

Tonight's episode definitely made up for last week's break!  I have to start with the Zoey/Noh family ordeal.  We learn that Zoey really didn't see Demetri in her flashforward which lead to the bombshell that the "beautiful beach wedding" was really a memorial for Demetri.

Were you all as frustrated as I was seeing Zoey leave that pitiful message for Noh family?  Why were they avoiding her?  (I bet I could give you one big colorful reason). Why is she once again fighting this battle alone?  I felt that Demetri should have been the one making that phone call...

Toward the end of the episode, Mrs. Saayo Noh (Elizabeth Sung) and Zoey finally sit down and talk.  Zoey hashes out parts of her flashforward and makes an impassioned plea to his mother. My favorite line in this scene from Mrs. Noh: "[We had] difficulties with you marrying our son," that was a really nice way to put it lady!  His mother then says that after the flashforward, they saw everything differently and would be proud to have Zoey a part of their family. Guess they realized she really loves Demetri. Good.  But I don't have good feelings when it comes to Zoey's persistence in changing the future--what good can come of that?

On another note, some eye candy showed up tonight in the form Michael Ealy who played CIA agent Marshall Vogel.  After all these weeks, I still have to give kudos to the producers for giving "minority" actors (especially black men) who aren't always in the limelight a chance to shine.  If you know me, you'll know that I'm all about positive images/representations of black men (that don't rely on stereotypes) for young children of color, especially African American boys.  I hope he stays around.

The whole Benford/Noh/Nhadra Udaya saga was just way too much to handle.  I have to say that I called Benford getting booted early on the episode, I wonder if (and highly doubt) it'll stick though.  What's ironic though is that when Benford took the heat for Demetri so that he wouldn't  be reprimanded by Wedeck, I thought I saw another "cross cultural" big brother relationship in the making...that was until Nhadra (Shorey Aghdashloo) was forced to divulge the disturbing information on Demetri's impending murder.  Blew me away.  We'll see what happens in three months.

As you all know, March 2010 is the next time we'll see FlashForward. I'm sure some people are sad and some are glad, as for me, I'm somewhere in the middle J. In any case, this doesn't mean my blog is going away--keep visiting for some more amazing posts by yours truly.