“Believe” does not take us any closer to solving the great mystery at the heart of FlashForward. Nor can it claim to be action-packed or particularly surprising. In spite of this it is the best episode of the series to date and the first sign in some weeks that this series might just reach its potential and become more than a cop procedural show.
Freed of the need to work in significant revelations and of the irritating repeats of flashforward sequences we have seen repeatedly already, “Believe” concentrates on delivering an intimate romantic storyline. It does so superbly, elevating the character of Bryce and introducing us to a new character in the form of his romantic interest Keiko.
At the start of the episode we learn about the series of events that led to Bryce attempting to commit suicide on the pier in Santa Monica right before the blackout happened. We discover that he had been diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer which is expected to be fatal and that he had seen suicide as a way of avoiding becoming a burden to his family.
This story is intercut with that of Keiko, the young Japanese woman he saw in his vision, who begins the episode applying for a job at a prestigious engineering company in Tokyo. She gets the job but discovers that it is not what she had hoped it might be. Meanwhile she dreams of becoming a guitarist and of meeting Bryce, who she remembers from her own vision.
Other characters’ stories have hinted that very intimate, intense connections were forged during the blackout. Here though we get to see one play out between adults, see the way it changes their lives and the hopes and frustrations that they can bring. For Bryce, it is something for him to live for. For Keiko, it empowers her to reject the life her parents have mapped out for her.
The series has previously explored the idea of how individuals and couples have been affected by the FlashForward but rarely have their stories been told so effectively. On those occasions where the show has attempted to tell an individual’s story the contents of a flashforward have been repeated ad nauseum, drummed into our heads so we understand their significance. Fortunately the storytelling here is much more natural and straightforward.
Up until this point I had not really thought much about Bryce. For the most part his story has been kept in the background, quietly bubbling away. It therefore comes as something of a surprise to realize just how good Zachary Knighton is in the part. Called upon to channel despair and hope at different points in this episode, he handles his character’s arc superbly and makes his character very easy to root for. By extension, when he reaches a dead end in his search for Keiko, it is hard not to feel heartbroken with him.
Making her first appearance in the series as Keiko, Yuko Takeuchi is similarly excellent. While her character’s story is one of the least original in the series, her performance makes her an instantly loveable character. Something the series has badly needed.
The scene in which she enters the boardroom, believing herself to be called in to make a contribution only to discover they have quite different motives is heartbreaking and tough to watch. In just one scene though we do understand why she is unsatisfied with what her life in the Japanese corporate world will offer her and why she is willing to abandon a path she has spent her life working towards. I look forward to seeing her character again in future episodes.
Where I am less convinced is in the amount of coincidence that has been involved in their stories to date. I will accept that Bryce has the sort of resources that he can hop on a plane to Japan at very short notice. However, the recognition of the logo on Keiko’s shirt by the elderly Japanese patient of his as belonging to a particular independent restaurant in Tokyo seems like lazy, convenient plotting at best.
Elsewhere, Mark discovers that Olivia had received an anonymous text message about him drinking in his flashforward and, predictably, was not happy about this. The episode has him confront both of the people he had told about it, and each denied their involvement.
The question of who sent the text is one of the less engaging questions the show has left unresolved so far. Whether it was Wedeck, Aaron or someone else who saw Mark in their own flashforward seems largely unimportant at this moment. Smartly however the episode uses it to redefine Mark’s relationships with those other two characters. By the episode’s end his feelings towards each have shifted somewhat and he has embarked on a path that could seriously damage his relationship with Wedeck.
Aaron however has his own problems to deal with in this episode. It turns out that as joyful as the discovery was that his daughter is still alive, he is finding it painful to see that she has developed her own problems with alcohol dependency.
While the sequences do not move their story on significantly, the decision to include Aaron’s disillusionment alongside the more hopeful Bryce/Keiko storyline is an intriguing one. In previous episodes we have seen Aaron hopeful, much like Bryce is in this episode, and excited about his future. Now that he is confronted with reality however he finds it much less satisfying than he had hoped. We might wonder as a result whether Bryce will have a similar experience later.
Finally, Demetri learns that the NSA possesses an audio recording of the phone call he received about his death. The episode does not contain any major revelations for the character beyond this but it does clearly signpost where we are off to next: Hong Kong.
Rather than Somalia.
Clearly the FBI must have a lot of free time on its hands right now. It is fortunate that there are not any major mysteries that they ought to be looking into just sitting around unsolved. At least this trip will not be Bureau-sanctioned as Wedeck has refused their request to go, even though Mark intends to go with or without his permission.
It is a continued annoyance that Mark’s sense of priorities is so badly off, yet in this instance it feels less frustrating than it has in other episodes. This is partly because the investigation is thankfully pushed to the background for most of this episode, allowing us to explore characters a little more, but also because so far Demetri’s story has been one of the most interesting in the series. However, if this development means we will get back to that story a little sooner then all the better.
For now I enjoyed this simple, character-focused episode that concerned itself more with showing us two characters’ journeys than trying to shock us with more cryptic revelations. I am not ready to say on the back of one episode that I “Believe” in FlashForward again, but this episode is definitely a step back in the right direction.
– Aidan Brack
