15 years after it came to a sudden and unexpected end, this series, starring Joseph Fiennes as an FBI agent with a peculiar mission, is still celebrated as one of the best one-season-long sci-fi shows in TV history. Over the years, some of the most popular and iconic TV shows have used elements of science-fiction to push their stories to new heights. However, not every sci-fi show has been as successful as the likes of Doctor Who, Star Trek, The Leftovers, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and more, as many have been cancelled after just one season, despite having huge potential.
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Some of the most memorable sci-fi TV shows only have one season, including the likes of Firefly, Station Eleven, Watchmen, Almost Human, and more. Whether they failed to capture audience imagination or underwhelmed at their networks, these shows all deserved more time on our screens, but one has them all trumped. Based on a 1999 novel of the same name and adapted for ABC by Brannon Braga (24, Star Trek Generations) and David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Foundation), this series had the chance to become “the new Lost,” but came to a close after its intriguing first chapter.
FlashForward’s Mind-Bending Concept Makes It One of the Best Sci-Fi Shows Ever
Braga and Goyer’s TV adaptation made some major changes to Robert J. Sawyer’s 1999 novel when developing FlashForward for the screen, but these changes made the series far more intense and entertaining. The ABC show, released between September 2009 and May 2010, followed characters unravelling a series of mysteries after almost everyone on Earth experiences a simultaneous loss of consciousness for 137 seconds. During this blackout, everyone has visions of their own lives six months in the future — a global “flashforward” — and this high-concept narrative and race-against-the-clock adventure is exactly what we want from a sci-fi series.
SAG Award winner Joseph Fiennes led the cast as FBI Special Agent Mark Benford, who saw the product of a six-months’ long investigation into the blackout during his flashforward. FlashForward detailed this investigation, featuring unexpected twists including “Suspect Zero,” who didn’t black-out with everyone else, the enigmatic D. Gibbons, a similar blackout event contained in Somalia in 1991, and the concept of a “Garden of Forking Paths.” High-octane, action-packed, and fully-formed, with complex and relatable characters, emotionally-deep revelations, and thought-provoking questions, FlashForward is among the best sci-fi shows ever — but it only got one season.
FlashForward Season 1’s Ending Perfectly Set Up Future Instalments
FlashForward’s final episode, “Future Shock,” marked the culmination of Mark Benford’s investigation and the other characters making attempts to either change the circumstances of their visions or, indeed, make them happen. Benford realizes that another flashforward event is imminent, allowing the FBI to disperse a warning to the general population. In this blackout, however, everyone experiences flashforwards to a wide variety of future dates, rather than one set date, and that is where FlashForward ends. This finale perfectly set up future seasons, but ABC decided not to renew the show.
Low viewership numbers prompted the network not to renew FlashForward, even though the season 1 finale ended with the perfect set-up for future instalments. We’ll never know where Lita, wearing a QED ring which allows her to avoid the impact of the blackout, took the unconscious Janis, we’ll never know who the teenage Charlie Benford found in her vision, and we’ll never know why the second global blackout was so different to the first. FlashForward presented some huge questions that deserved to be answered, but ABC’s cancellation of the series 15 years ago makes this unlikely.
FlashForward Included Important Themes As Well As Brilliant Sci-Fi Twists
Unlike many other sci-fi shows, which can often be surface-level and predictable, FlashForward used its sci-fi twists to make the very human stories at its core even more poignant and relevant. The show examined some crucial themes and questions, including those relating to free will and determinism, how knowledge of the future impacts a person’s present actions, the depth of platonic and romantic relationships — including the idea of soulmates and destinies, and much more. FlashForward’s narrative was incredibly complex and intricate, and needed more than one season to be properly explored.
Boasting an impressive cast including the likes of Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger, John Cho, Courtney B. Vance, Christine Woods, Dominic Monaghan, and more, FlashForward was truly something incredible. The show’s ensemble cast could have easily made it the new Lost — something many series have tried to become over the last 15 years. Unfortunately, it seems FlashForward will only ever have one season, but it’s still one of the most intriguing, entertaining, exhilarating, thought-provoking, and important sci-fi shows of all time, and everyone should give it a watch.
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