ABC's Flash Forward the next big hit

With all the promotion ABC had for this show, I had no doubt the first few episode would have huge ratings. After watching the pilot, I am convinced this show will have huge success. Is this the next Lost and the network has been promoting it? I hate comparing shows directly, but I think Flash Forward can replicate the ratings and the sense of mystery.

The pilot is paced a little unevenly and the episode is mostly just exposition, but the suspense and cinematography blew me away. The first act in which the whole world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds is simply amazing and looked very expensive to produce. I loved the kangaroo that runs down the street and everyone is too busy to care.

There are many characters, and therefore many flash forwards to explore. Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) is the main character and is an FBI agent. In the future, he has relapsed and is drinking while investigating the event through something called Mosaic. At the end of his vision, people with guns or at least laser scopes enter the room he is in which is located in the FBI office. His wife Olivia (Sonya Walger) has a very disturbing flash forward. In it, she is with another man, someone she has never seen before. We soon learn that he is one of her patient's father, though they are oblivious to the fact by the end of the episode.

I thought it was premature to show who the man was, since they would have to meet in the next episode which could pose several problems. That being said, I can imagine many ways it could work, and I trust that the writers have a good plan.

Aaron Stark (Brían F. O'Byrne) is Mark's sponsor and sees his daughter, who supposedly is dead. This sounds very interesting, since he would want the vision to become true to most. Janis Hawk (Christine Woods) is an FBI agent that sees herself pregnant even though she has no boyfriend. So far, she is ambivalent about it, so we don't really know where this story stands. Demetri Noh (John Cho) is Mark's partner and going to be married, but has no vision of the future. Immediately he suspects it is because he is dead which of course has huge psychological recourse. Bryce Varley (Zachary Knighton) is Olivia's intern and is about to kill himself before the flash forward. After, he wants to live.

And there you have it, all the characters and flash forwards so far. There's going to be more characters and flash forward introduced as the series progresses; there is endless material to work with. At the end of the episode, Janis is going through surveillance camera tapes. Everyone slumps over at exactly the same time, except in one, an awesome looking guy with a black trench-coat strides along. Will this show work? I hope so.

Score: 9.5/10