(S01E05) FlashForward took us to Washington, DC to see the political ramifications of the blackouts, as well as some of the maneuverings that the city is made of, at least in this reality. Also in this reality, Peter Coyote is President. I've always liked him, and I like how he plays the characters as a very regular and relatable guy.

We were introduced to a new character in Senator Joyce Clemente (Barbara Williams), and she's definitely set up to be a major thorn in the side of the ongoing investigation. There was always something a little wacky about the LA office taking Mark's vision and building an entire investigative force around it just because they felt like it. And now, they have to face the music and justify their very existence.

It made for some pretty intense television. That and the bullets flying at the heads of our intrepid heroes.

It's an old and tired cliche when we open with a dramatic action sequence, in this case a car crash and gunfight, and then cut back to sometime before that. You then spend the rest of the episode working your way back to the moment we opened with. The idea is that the big climactic moment at the beginning will lure you in and keep you riveted until you find out what happened.

I'm such a terrible viewer, I guess, I completely forgot about it. I was so wrapped up in all the political maneuvering going on between Clemente and President Segovia and Wedeck. Not to mention Ben's trainwreck performance at the hearing in front of Clemente. Wedeck said it right, though. She is a complete bitch, but she was absolutely right to question why Mark was able to piece together about 30 seconds of a two minutes thirteen second vision when everybody else recalled theirs with crystal clarity.

So maybe there's something to be said for having an agenda. Her having the agenda probably cost Wedeck a job on Segovia's cabinet, as he had to instead blackmail the President into securing his funding. And the President had to appoint Clemente Vice-President in order to make that happen. That puts her one step closer to her own vision where she saw herself as President. But if that's the case, what happens to Segovia, as he had a vision of his own?

The plot is thickening and the layers weaving tighter and tighter. And if Wedeck had reason to doubt the authenticity of Benford's vision once he found out Mark was hammered in it, perhaps the Asian gunmen could put things back into perspective. There's no reason to doubt that these men tonight were a part of the same organization that's after Mark in his vision.

They're so organized, they coordinated a dual attack in DC and LA, gunning down Agent Janis Hawk in the streets. I loved the reveal that she was gay (I think this is the first we learned of it), as it adds another layer of complexity to her vision of being pregnant. She's gay and has no interest in kids. So how can she get that pregnant so soon? Being gay rules out accidental pregnancies, unless you know something I don't.

Yes, it could be as simple as she and the girl she was on the date with wind up getting very serious very quickly; that would also explain the wedding ring the date saw in her flashforward. But I somehow doubt it's anything quite that simple.

No Dominic Monaghan again, but it looks like he joins the story fully starting next week. And the good news is this episode didn't need him at all to be a fantastically compelling installment of an increasingly great story.

NOTES

• When we first cut to the restaurant scene, it may have looked like they were showing us the wonderful plates of food being presented in front of Janis, but that wasn't the case at all. The food was out of focus. What was in focus? The zoom on her breasts peeking from the top of her dress before they panned up to her face. Subtlety need not apply.
• The CIA thinks China was behind it, because they're crazy! Ever notice how the CIA is always the most amoral and crazy branch of government on TV shows?
• Wedeck's burial of Segovia's indiscretions six years ago is why Sen. Clemente wants to destroy him, or at least that's what I'm assuming. She thinks she would be President had it not happened.

[For flashbacks, you can find clips and full episodes of FlashForward on SlashControl.]