The second episode of FlashForward‘s first season picked up where the pilot episode left off. Here are 5 Things I Learned from White To Play.

1. Mark is holding out on Olivia.

And I only see that continuing, at least in the near future. I expected Olivia to be more secretive out of the two, due to the intimate nature of her flash forward with Lloyd Simcoe. Instead, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how open she’s been. Whether she can alter her future (or will want to) is another story, but being honest about it is a good start for her character.

Mark, on the other hand, is already keeping things from Olivia. Perhaps it’s these little things that will cause the division between them? Is Mark playing into the hands of fate?

2. Suspect Zero is not alone

He was on the phone to another suspect – D. Gibbon’s – during the flash forward. This is a major reveal that opens up the show to a much wider (and logical) conspiracy.

Not much else to say at the moment, except..I can’t wait to find out more!

3. Sonya Walger is the heart of the show

So far she’s been the most believable performer. Her portrayal of a loving yet guilt-ridden wife and mother is completely on point. I knew she was good as her performances in LOST have proven, but I admit, I didn’t realise quite how good she was.

4. Simcoe’s son is autistic

This could get a bit cliched, but it was a move that took me by surprised. So far, it’s worked – Dylan’s autism has brought an extra layer to both ‘the children are special’ theme and my investment in the Simcoe story. Lloyd is now a far more sympathetic character, largely due to his son’s condition and the fact that his wife has just died.

Last week I felt a coldness to him – he was the villain in the lives of our new protagonists. An episode later and I feel for him more than I do Mark. There’s also a definite connection/attraction between Simcoe and Olivia that makes for great viewing as Olivia tries (and fails) not to feel a connection with him.

5. It’s going to be fun

The episode had several moments of comic relief littered in and out of the more serious aspects of the investigation and human drama. Again, I didn’t expect to enjoy this episode as much as I did on that level. WTP took itself seriously when it needed to, and let its metaphorical hair down when the time was right for it (the “mouth-to-mouth” was a great continuation of  the toilet saga from last week).

White To Play may not have been as epic as No More Good Days, but it was funny, cool and very, very watchable.

The premiere of FlashForward may not have been as mythology-laden as some where expecting, but it did raise some burning questions. We thought it would be a good idea to compile 7 of our most pressing questions from 1.01 No More Good Days, so that we can track them throughout the rest of the season to see when they get answered.

1. Why didn’t Dimitri see his future?

Does his lack of a flash forward mean that he won’t be alive come April 29th? If so, is there a way to change the future to guarantee personal survival?

How can this be achieved, and at what price for others?

2. Why..or rather, HOW did Dimitri and Mark get split up during the GBO?

They were in the car together before the GBO, and yet they wake up a fair distance away from one another after the GBO.

What caused them to seperate and why didn’t either of them question it?

Is Dimitri in on some kind of conspiracy – was he expecting the GBO?

3. What’s with the kids?

Was it just me, or did the the kids come across as being very mystical? The Benford’s girl gave us our episode title when she warned that there’d be ‘no more good days’ – a childlike interpretation of a bleak future? Whilst Lloyd Simcoe’s kid knew Olivia’s name even though they had never met – an indication that he saw her in his flash forward.

So again, what’s with the kids?

4. Is the GBO man-made or some thing above us all?

What can we read into the flash forward? Was it triggered, rooted in our DNA or could it have been a mistake..a one-off event? Did the flash forward come about to help us, or to serve as a warning?

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5. Why didn’t everyone blackout?

7 Billion people on the earth and yet not everyone lost consciousness during the global blackout, as revealed right at the end of the episode. Who is the man the Internet is calling “suspect zero”? Why did he not blackout? Did he know the GBO was coming? Are there others like him?

Whose flashes of the future are the most important? With 7 billion people on the planet, are some of these people just pawns for a higher order?

6. Who are the sides at play?

We know that Mosaic are the investigative team trying to piece together the flash forwards, but we also have hints at individuals or organizations with vested interests in the GBO. What are their objectives, and are they for working for the greater good or the greater evil?

7. What’s up with the Kangaroo?

The camera held on Skippy for far too long for it to have been a random occurrence. I’m expecting the Kangaroo to be an overarching part of the mythology, but what does it mean?

If you have any possible theories or ideas relating to these questions, or others that we have not covered above, feel free to let us know in the comments.

The season premiere of FlashForward gave us an intriguing platform for the future of the series. Below, I share my initial thoughts of the season opener with the 5 Things I Learned from “No More Good Days”.

1. FlashForward will have overarching clues, lots of them. The season premiere not only gave us a glimpse into the futures of our characters, but also into the mechanics of the series going forward. Clues will be scattered in most, if not all, of the episodes, allowing eagle-eyed viewers the chance to dig deeper into the mythology of the show.

Some of the clues, nods and eastereggs I caught were: “blue hand”, mosaic (the investigation piecing together the global flash forwards), Red Panda Resources, “137 Sekunden” (also the title for episode 3 of season 1), April 29th (the day of the global flash forwards), 3 star tattoo and reference to a D. Gibbons. More on these later.

2. The premiere was very drama-orientated – even the flash forwards seemed rooted in the ‘real-world’ with a greater degree of realism than I had anticipated. But the flash forward ‘swoosh’ and visual effect, underlined the science-fiction element that the show will play with.

3. Some of the characters are afraid that their futures will happen, while others are afraid theirs wont. For me, this begs the question of how far people will go to make sure that their version future comes true and what impact this will have on the rest of the world. This could create a degree of conflict amid the ‘global togetherness’ that was on the surface of “No More Good Days”.

4. Not everyone blacked-out. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the premiere came in those closing seconds when we discover that at least one person (probably more) didn’t black out. From the CCTV footage he appeared to be expecting the blackout. This was a nice hook into conspiracy/mystery underbelly of FlashForward, and I for one hope they run with this.

5. A shadowy organization is behind it all. Sure, the origin of the ‘GBO’ may be spiritual, scientific or nature-based, but the clues dropped in the premiere indicate that a group are responsible in some way – perhaps with a view to “make a better tomorrow”. Just putting that out there.