I’m watching for the bedroom scenes…
Tonight I watched Flash Forward. It was a pretty decent show, with an interesting concept and I think I could easily be entertained for a season or so (not unlike 24 hooked me for a year). The acting was okay, the characters were alright, and the sub-plots are going to be at least moderately interesting.
However, until toward the end, it was absolutely a coin toss whether this show was going to be able to garner my attention for more than a week or two… and then it happened. One of the best scenes I have seen in years.. When I least expected it, no less.
It was innocent enough, and I think might have flew right on by a lot of people, however if you saw it, I’m referring to the scene in bed where the main character and his wife exchange the stories of their flash forwards (visions into the future, for those who have not seen the show).
Before I go on, if you are interested and want to see it, it is on hulu (hulu.com), or I’m sure the network has it on their web site as well. After this paragraph, there will be some light spoilers, so stop here if you don’t want to see them.
She asks him what he saw, and he, in typical male fashion, tells her all of the parts that are not likely to get him in trouble, omitting the part where he is drinking, which he knows will set her off. He answers promptly, leaving room for her to believe she has the full story.
He then asks her, and she does her best to not answer, saying it is too painful to share. Finally poked and prodded into responding she tells him the whole truth of her vision. Which was her, with another mad. She even goes on to say that in her vision she has very strong feelings and desires for this other man.
It was a fascinating, and candid look into how people typically act in my experience. Often guys seem to be the ones who are putting things out there, but it is always measured, often omitting things that might upset the other person or get them in trouble. Women will try to protect, or fix, but ultimately will be complete and honest in their responses.
It gut wrenching to ME as a member of the audience to think about how difficult it must have been for her to say what she said to him, especially the part about her feelings toward the other man. And yet, she did… women, typically, do.
There are, of course, questions of conditioning. Perhaps men simply lack the courage women have in telling the truth. Perhaps men believe (rightly or wrongly) that women do not have the “forgive and forget†reflex of men and are afraid to say something because they know (feel) that it will be catastrophic.
Perhaps both of these things are true, or perhaps something altogether different is the case. And that is what was great about this scene, it opens up all of the possibilities. I could write for days about this simple interaction (and thats not even getting into the subsequent reactions of the characters.
But instead I’ll leave you with that, and the URL to the show, and you can watch and decide for yourself (or not). As for myself, that scene in and of itself was enough for me to go back and watch at least a few more episodes. After all, its not every day that an action/drama tv show inspires this much thought, especially with a bedroom scene!