FlashForward

Considering their similar, science fiction-based storylines - along with their disappointing ratings - FlashForward and V were never both gonna end up on ABC's fall schedule.

Now, just a few days before the network officially announces its full slate of renewals and cancelations, it has made its decision: Goodbye, FlashForward. Hello, V!

Both dramas struggled to find a loyal fan base after going on a multi-month hiatus between December and March. But V has averaged about one million more viewers than FlashForward and, simply put, is a better show.

The former airs its first season finale next week and you can check out a clip from "Red Sky" now:

On next week's episode of FlashForward...

• ... people who thought they had escaped their fates are found dead.
• ... Demetri and Agent Banks track down a killer.
• ... Mark helps Simon search for his sister.
• ... the FBI learns the identity of Suspect Zero.
• ... Nicole struggles with whether or not to tell Bryce about Keiko.

Check out the following promo for "Course Correction."

This week’s episode of FlashForward, "Better Angels," could have been called Better Angles, as it ended with a whole new way of looking at the blackout.

There is tension on the home front when Olivia, not content to let herself be trapped by her vision, tries to coax Mark into moving the family to Denver.

By Olivia’s logic, since all their negative flashes took place in Los Angeles, a move would set them free. When she finally gets Charlie to reveal her flash and learns that she overheard two men (including that shady Vogel!) saying that Mark was dead, Olivia demands that Mark choose between Denver and his family and Los Angeles and his job.

Olivia believes that she is freeing herself of her vision, but by forcing Mark to choose, she may very well be setting herself up to leave him – just as her vision predicted.

Also Stateside, Bryce begins to tell Nicole about his cancer. We hope that this revelation will not push Nicole off her path to med school; we like her newfound purpose. But however tense the situations at home may have been, they pale in comparison to the team’s trip to Somalia.

Traveling off the radar and in disguise, Demetri, Janis, Vogel and Simon are almost immediately captured by Abdi, a warlord who saw the original experiment back when he was a boy, and to whom the blackout had given visions of great power.

Though we can assume he was no choir boy before the blackout, Abdi’s bloodlust shows that he is another person trapped by visions of the future.

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The end of the 2009-10 TV season is fast approaching, and that means that a handful of shows are on the bubble, much like NCAA tournament teams were a few weeks ago.

Here's a look at ABC's possible cut list and why these shows, none of which have received a pickup for next season, might get one yet ... or might fade into the sunset.

Castle

Why it should be saved: Probably the most secure show on this list. It just had its most-watched episode ever (12.2 million viewers) and has been a steady performer.

Why it should be axed: Its ratings in the holy-grail demographic of adults 18-49 are mediocre at best - it draws a measly 2.6 in the demo. Not exactly reassuring for ABC.

FlashForward

Why it should be saved: Great potential Word is that ABC higher-ups believe in the show and really want it to succeed. It's also a relatively heavily DVR'ed show.

Why it should be axed: Its main character is a stiff; Since its big premiere in September, it tailed off, with its March 18 return scoring only 6.5 million viewers.

Will FlashForward receive a Season 2 pickup from ABC?

The Forgotten

Why it should be saved: Um, because of Christian Slater? It doesn't look good.

Why it should be axed: It's a below-average show in the Nielsen ratings at best, averaging 6.75 million viewers and just a 1.9 share in the critical 18-49 demographic.

V

Why it should be saved: Its first four episodes were great, and averaged 12.9 million viewers and a 4.7 in the demo, both of which are in the top 25 for the season.

Why it should be axed: Same-day ratings tailed off considerably from the premiere (14.3 million) to the end of its fall run (9.3). A lot rides on tonight's comeback.

While its fate is still TBA, it can't be good news for ABC's FlashForward that Christine Woods (Janis) has been cast as the female lead in the NBC comedy pilot Perfect Couples.

This makes the third member of the FlashForward cast to land a role on a new pilot for the upcoming season. Ryan Wynott (Dylan) has joined The Cape, a drama pilot for NBC.

Zachary Knighton, meanwhile, will be the male lead in ABC's Happy Endings.

So does all this mean FlashForward is doomed? Maybe not officially, but you have to think so, right? The troubling signs for the freshman drama are certainly adding up.

A FlashForward source says the actors' new roles are "in second position until there's official word of a pickup." Good answer, but that they're seeking roles at all is telling.

ABC has not yet renewed the sci-fi series for a second season, and no announcement is expected to be made until May 18, at which point such decisions have to be made.

Perhaps the network is taking a wait-and-see attitude after a lackluster first half? Maybe it's as good as dead but they won't say it yet for fear people will stop watching?

Our suggestion: Kill off Joseph Fiennes' character and make Woods and John Cho the main characters. That would make for unexpected drama ... and fewer bad accents.

Last night's FlashForward, "Blowback," began with Aaron in a prison, which was fitting.

Whether Aaron’s calm one-man-army approach to getting his daughter back, Janis’s determination to have her baby now regardless of the risk, or Zoey’s mad dash to try and save Demetri, the decisions that the characters made in tonight’s episode revealed just how imprisoned they are by their foreseen futures.

Aaron’s turn to letting the “beast” out tonight was terrific.

His calm demeanor once he realized Tracy had been kidnapped by Jericho made his actions even creepier, from his brutal assault on Mike to his slick confrontation with Erskine to his horrorfying act of leaving the brutalized Mike hanging where Erskine’s young daughter would see him.

His delivery during his call to Mark letting him know that he was dropping off the grid to go find his daughter made us quickly realize that Aaron was not a father to mess with.

That being said, doesn’t Aaron seem to be a little overconfident in his abilities to take down a worldwide security firm like Jericho? I mean, he was naïve enough to fall for Mike’s birthday call trick and wound up revealing that Tracy was still alive (We always knew Mike was bad news. Not too bright, either – rule #1 about kidnapping a man’s daughter: you don’t go get burgers with said man right after!).

But he is following his flash and believes that he’ll safely be reunited with Tracy.

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As previously announced, James Callis is coming to FlashForward in a "big role."

Now, in an interview with Zap2It, Sonya Walger (Olivia Benford) also describes the character Callis plays as a "strange guy." She also goes into detail about a plot development to come:

"[Olivia]'s roped into the FBI, she starts helping them with the investigation," Walger said. "Then she meets a strange guy who knows an awful lot about her future. There's this man who's had multiple flashforwards. So he becomes a big part of unlocking what's happened, both in global terms and in terms of Olivia."

How/why does this man have multiple flashforwards? The actress wouldn't say.

But Walger did dish a bit about the status of her marriage.

"Mark starts really disappearing down the rabbit hole investigating the Mosaic... so their marriage is not in a good way," she said. "There's trouble and strife at home."

FlashForward returns with a new episode on March 18.

On March 18, FlashForward returns with a two-hour episode.

During the installment, titled "Revelation Zero," we'll learn a lot more about Mark's vision of the future. For example: he's talking to someone on the phone. Who? Find out in the following clip.

With the show's second season in danger, look for this drama to ratchet up the answers and the mystery throughout its spring run.

As the clip below depicts, it will take viewers inside the world of a villain only briefly shown in an earlier episode. Check it out now and let us know: Are you excited for the return of FlashForward?

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On March 18, FlashForward returns to ABC.

As one of the drama's stars, Courtney B. Vance knows exactly what viewers who tune in on that date are seeking. The man that plays Stan Wedeck told TV Guide Magazine:

“They want some ‘show me something’ and they’re going to see it."

Does that mean aspects of the future visions will start coming true?

“The writers have kind of carte blanche based on the situation having the flashforwards and us not knowing too much about our lives at this point," he said. "They can go wherever they want to go... but we’re dovetailing toward [April 29]. People want to know what’s going to happen."

Regarding specific spoilers for his character, Vance teased:

“I’m trying to let the president know something is about to go down. He’s my best friend, I’m not going to go against my best friend. And so it’ll be seen whether or not he listens and it just plays out. That’s mostly what I’m excited about."

As someone that has watched FlashForward since day one, here's what I'm excited about: the show actually choosing a direction and sticking with it.

Also, the hopeful, bloody death of Mark Benford.

As Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica, James Callis was an intriguing, mysterious figure.

It now sounds like he'll play a similar role on FlashForward.

Callis has landed a major role on the ABC drama. He'll come aboard for several episodes at this spring, Jessika Borsiczky told SCI FI Wire in a new interview.

"When I watched Battlestar, every time he wasn't in a scene I couldn't wait for him to come back," the producer said. "And I really wanted to have an opportunity to work with him. Since the show was ordered, we've been excited to work with him. And I so just cast him in our show. He's playing a big role in some of the final episodes this season, and it was for that very reason."

Borsiczky describes Callis' character as "really exciting" and "unusual." He'll be involved in "some of Olivia's journey."

FlashForward returns on March 18. Two days prior, ABC will air a clip show and try to catch viewers up on what's happened on the series so far.

After that, the network will air 13 consecutive installments of the drama. You can review the developments that have aired so far in our Flashforward episode guide section.