'FlashForward' - Believe

Finally, the answer to why Bryce wanted to commit suicide and why he changed his mind

By KATIE SAWYER Nov-24-2009

This review may contain spoilers.

This week we got to meet Keiko (Yuko Takeuchi), “FlashForward’s” newest character. She’s the woman in Bryce’s (Zachary Knighton) flash forward and she’s a mechanical genius that plays the guitar on the side. Sounds pretty perfect right? She brings hope to Bryce, even while he’s in stage four cancer, and he brings hope to her when her family has disowned her.

Tired of being exploited by her family and boss in Tokyo, she heads to Los Angeles to follow her dream. Bryce, tired of waiting, heads to Tokyo to try and find her before April 29th, when they see each other in their flash forwards. He doesn’t find her, but, little does he know, she’s on the plane home with him starting her new life in a new land.

We also learned that Aaron’s (Brian F. O'Byrne) daughter, Tracy (Geneveive Cortese) has developed a drinking problem as a result of her time in the service, just like he did; a strange family legacy to carry on and one that he is determined to squash.

Aaron adds the fact that Mark (Joseph Fiennes) doesn’t trust him to his list of things to worry about this week as well. Someone sent a text to Olivia (Sonya Walger) telling her that Mark is drinking in his flash forward. Mark also blames his boss, Stanford (Courtney B. Vance) for it, and both of them angrily kick him out. In the end, he swallows his pride and apologizes to his friends and coworkers.

Mark took a back seat this week, and we got to focus on some other characters. A nice change and the previews make the next episode (after Thanksgiving) look like it’s going to be a great one.

What Worked

This episode was much better than last week’s lame attempt at a gambling game. This one delved into Bryce, and explained his suicide attempt finally. He doesn’t want to die of cancer, but apparently dying on a pier, surrounded by people and children who would likely never forget seeing a man shot himself, was a better alternative to him. It’s certainly not the most graceful way to go out, and thankfully he didn’t go through with it.

Demetri (John Cho) and Mark are taking off to Hong Kong, in an attempt to find the woman that warned Demetri of his impending murder. They’ve got a bunch of questions for her, so the next episode is sure to be good!

What Didn't Work

I’m sure Keiko is a beautiful and traditional name, but it just makes me think of the killer whale from “Free Willy”. It’s not exactly something I want coming to mind while I’m watching “FlashForward”, especially when it’s used in such a sweet and beautiful love story. But if that's the worst thing about this episode, it wasn't so bad at all!

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“FlashForward” stars Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Dominic Monaghan, Sonya Walger, Courtney B. Vance, Zachary Knighton, Brian F. O'Byrne, and Christine Woods. “Believe” was directed by Michael Nankin and written by David S. Goyer and Brannon Braga.

"FlashForward" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

About the Author: Katie Sawyer is a writer for the BlipNetwork who has a degree in English literature from Arizona State University, and is currently pursuing her master's degree in education. Her love of sci-fi started as a young girl, when she bought her first Star Wars novel. Since then her many obsessions have grown to include the Whedonverse, "Battlestar Galactica" and "World of Warcraft." She lives in Phoenix.
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