FlashForward – Recap & Review – The Garden of Forking Paths

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FlashForward
The Garden of Forking Paths

Original Air Date: Apr 22, 2010

Caitlin- Senior Reviewer
caitlin@thetwocentscorp.com

Tonight – finally – is the night we’ll get an answer to one of the biggest questions of the series – will Demetri live or die?

The resolution has major implications for the show as a whole, and also for all the fans who would be devastated not to see John Cho every week, so this is a big deal.

Demetri sits in a strange facility, trapped in a char with a red dot on his chest. As part of attempts to save his life, Charlie is being interviewed about the man who approached her at the carnival. He told her he worked with Mark and gave her a picture to take to him- a painting of a man with a spear, with directions to find him and Demetri on the back. She’s adorable and Sanford is great with her, but Mark and Olivia argue over the best way to approach the situation.

Zoey goes in to see Alda, the woman with terrorist ties she’s representing, to see if she can get information on Demetri’s death. But Alda, locked up but not charged, wants a hearing today. The agents get ready to go save Demetri. The painting, by the way, is called “Oedipus and the Sphinx” and they discuss potentially sealing their own fates in way that make my Ancient Greek lit professor proud. To raise the tension, Demetri tests the red dot contraption, which will get him shot (by Mark’s gun) if he moves- or, with the countdown clock, even if he doesn’t.

Back six weeks before the blackout, a cleaned up Alda is led to an old warehouse-type building decorated by an elaborate domino set up. She meets the man from the carnival, who is of course Dyson Frost. Frost pulls out a familiar-looking ring, packed with technology. Before they leave, Alda asks about the dominos. Frost says they’re a representation of his escape from his “garden” and sends them falling. In the present, he approaches Demetri, saying that fate will actually go down one of two paths- either he or Demetri will die.

Mark sits in Union Station, where he’s set to meet with Frost, watched on camera by the other agents. At the hospital, Olivia and Bryce talk after a surgery. She mentions that the formula for an old anesthetic was part of Lloyd’s formula. Zoey, miraculously, got Alda her hearing, but it’s not something she’s happy about. Back at the hospital, a man comes to talk to Olivia, revealing the homeless man Dyson shot sent her the message from early on in the series about Mark drinking. She agrees to see if she recognizes him. Using a phone delivered to Mark by a random kid, Dyson gives his instructions to save Demetri. Mark abandons his gun and runs from the rest of the agents in the quest.

Zoey may not like it, but she does argue fiercely that Alda suffered in prison. Though her attempts fail, Alda says Demetri’s body was found in “building seven”, and then makes an escape as the courtroom window explodes. Mark continues following Frost’s instructions, and Olivia goes to look at the homeless man’s body. She doesn’t know him, but apparently must be connected to him. With an hour and a half left to save Demetri, Mark is approached by Frost in the middle of an open plain. He says they have “a second chance to save the world” and raises a gun.

He tells Mark his associates would have had him kill him, but he just wants him to put on handcuffs so they can talk. Mark asks to take a drink first, then spits the water in Frost’s face and grabs his gun. As Zoey rants about Alda’s vague clue, and Sanford tries to calm her, Mark screams at Frost, trying to get him to explain everything. Frost just makes vague statements about the fate of the world and Mark being saved by a woman he “sees every day”. Suddenly, a shot rings out. Frost falls as Alda flees on a motorcycle, and dies before Mark can get his information. His briefcase, however, contains clues.

Mark gets into Frost’s car and looks at his GPS system. A street name matches the name of the painter of the Oedipus painting. He speeds off, and Olivia’s taken to talk to a psychologist with possible connections to the homeless man- because of the man’s own connections to an idiot savant who stole a phone book. But, no offense Olivia, I’m kind of distracted. Mark finds a set of warehouses and is finally able to call the other agents. Zoey is there, and they give him the “building seven” clue. With their help, he finds it and Demetri. They quickly determine he can’t undo the rig. The only option is for Mark to try and move the gun.

As seconds speed away and the tension mounts to a peak, Mark disconnects a red wire, then a blue one, and is able to turn the gun upwards. The shot just misses Demetri. That taken care of, they notice the wall behind them is covered with writings about happenings in the future. But when Mark pulls Demetri loose from his chair, sprinklers go off, melting all the information away, along with all the help it could have provided in agents in understanding the blackout.

At a coffee stand, Olivia is approached by a man named Gabriel. He talks about his friend who sent Olivia a text message and knows he is meant to speak to her. As the agents arrive on the of the warehouse, and Zoey and Demetri are finally reunited, Mark reveals he did see at least one piece of information on the wall- the date December 12, 2016, marked only as “The End”. If this means the show’s looking for a six year run, the ratings had better improve.

So Demetri lives! I always thought he would, but I must admit, I was waiting for them to pull something as soon as we’d let out guards down when Mark saved him. Now all the visions are put into question, but we have a whole new set of things to worry about. Discuss the episode and share your speculations!