ABC’s Forgotten 22-Episode Lost Replacement Is The Better Sci-Fi Mystery

Back in 2009, viewers at home and TV executives knew that Lost was going to end after six seasons, and were scrambling to find the next mindbending mystery box show to occupy online forums and workplace water cooler conversations. For a brief moment, ABC thought they’d found what everyone was looking for in FlashForward.

This high-concept sci-fi mystery series concerns a single event in which everyone in the world loses consciousness and sees a vision of their own futures. It’s a premise that’s remarkably similar to some of the most groundbreaking movies and TV shows of the past decade, from Arrival to The Leftovers, and one that surely placed FlashForward in pole position to become the next Lost.

However, despite a stellar cast and some of the best creative minds working in sci-fi television today, the series never attracted the audience it was expected to. As a result its central mystery remains unsolved. Unlike Lost’s unanswered questions, though, FlashForward was never meant to leave an open-ended conclusion for viewers to try and unpick.

ABC’s FlashForward Is A Sci-Fi Thriller Worth Rediscovering

This sci-fi thriller is based on Robert J. Sawyer’s groundbreaking 1999 novel of the same name, which does have a definitive ending that explains the mysterious event driving its story. Sadly, the TV adaptation of FlashForward was canceled after one season by ABC due to a huge drop in ratings across the first four episodes, which meant the network couldn’t justify its high-end budget.

Nevertheless, all 22 episodes of the series remain a fitting testament both to Sawyer’s inventive storytelling and its dazzling pilot. On merit alone, FlashForward deserved at least one more season to see if it could gain a foothold near the top of the ratings charts.

Visually breathtaking and effortlessly engrossing, it manages to pack a winning mix of high-octane thrills and relatable characters with emotional depth to them into a quantum-based plot that’s surprisingly straightforward to grasp. FlashForward is the kind of show that Apple TV would lap up today.

It must be said that there is a certain unevenness to its solitary season, in large part because of a lengthy mid-season break, and the exit of multiple showrunners between episodes, including co-creator David S. Goyer. Given that Goyer’s résumé now features the stunning small-screen adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, among other sci-fi masterpieces, it’s hard to imagine him being forced off a show he created in the same circumstances today.

In any case, FlashForward is well worth revisiting on its own terms. The series is far from perfect, and ends on a devastating cliffhanger, but has all the ingredients for a thrilling yet thought-provoking sci-fi binge. What’s more, Lost fans will recognize some familiar faces in FlashForward: Penny actor Sonya Walger, Dominic Monaghan, who played Charlie Pace, and Kim Dickens, who portrayed Sawyer’s ex Cassidy.

FlashForward’s Central Premise Works Better Than Lost’s Biggest Mysteries

As frustrating as FlashForward can be to rewatch, given its lack of a definitive conclusion, the show still offers us a more tangible and coherent central mystery than whatever’s going on Lost’s legendary desert island. From the Man in Black to the Dharma Initiative, the increasingly chaotic and convoluted mystery-box storytelling in ABC’s flagship sci-fi drama ultimately sells its audience short.

By contrast, FlashForward sticks to its core premise, despite some muddled and tangential subplots, and gives its character arcs a definitive target to aim for. It isn’t the fault of the show’s writers that it didn’t get to have a proper ending, as it was cancelled after the season 1 finale had been produced.

Although FlashForward ultimately can’t compare with the sprawling grandeur and labyrinthine multidimensional narrative of Lost, this ABC sci-fi thriller is a forgotten gem just waiting to be rediscovered. It’s currently bingeable in full on Prime Video in the United States, for anyone who wants a long weekend of cerebral thrills to look forward to.