Flashforward
Aflashforward(also spelledflash-forward,and more formally known asprolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes thenarrativeforward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media.[1]Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in thefuture.They may also reveal significant parts of the story that have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail. It is similar toforeshadowing,in which future events are not shown but rather implicitly hinted at. It is also similar to anellipsis,which takes the narrative forward and is intended to skim over boring or uninteresting details, for example the aging of a character. It is primarily apostmodernnarrative device,named by analogy to the more traditionalflashback,which reveals events that occurred in the past.
Literature[edit]
An early example of prolepsis which predates the postmodern period isCharles Dickens' 1843 novellaA Christmas Carol,in which the protagonistEbenezer Scroogeis shown the future following his death. The subsequent events of the story imply that this future will be averted by this foreknowledge.
Terry Brooks'Word & Voidseries features aprotagonistwho, when he sleeps, moves forward and backward through time to before and after a great cataclysm. This is bothanalepsisand prolepsis.
Muriel Sparkmakes extensive use of prolepsis in her 1961 novelThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
InBoruto: Naruto Next Generations,the protagonistBoruto Uzumakifaces an enemy namedKawakiin a ruined Hidden Leaf Village in the opening scene of the anime and manga series. This is prolepsis.
Television[edit]
Every season ofDamagesmakes an extensive use of flashforwards, revealing the outcome of the season to the viewer. The whole season then revolves around discovering the circumstances that led to this outcome. For instance, the first season starts with a flashforward of the protagonist, Ellen Parsons, running in the streets of New York, covered in blood. 6 months earlier, she was only a naive young woman who had just become a lawyer in the firm of a powerful attorney, Patty Hewes. What led Ellen to the situation presented in the flashforwards is revealed little by little throughout the season. The series is known for its misleading use of flashforwards, which are often examples of thered herringdevice.
After making extensive use of flashbacks in the first two seasons, the TV seriesLoststarted using flashforwards as well throughout the remainder of the series. The first instance of this was a major plot twist in thethird season finale:what appeared to be a flashback to before the characters were stranded on the island, was revealed at the end of the two-part episode to be a flashforward of them returned to civilization. A later episode featured what appeared to be flashforwards involving the coupleJinandSun,showing them safely returned home and awaiting the birth of their baby, but it is then revealed that Jin's scenes were flashbacks and only Sun's were flashforwards (reflecting the fact that they are separated in time and space).
The series finale ofStar Trek: Voyager,"Endgame",uses a technique similar to a flashforward. It depicts a future in which the U.S.S.Voyagerhas returned home after decades lost in deep space with various personal tragedies, prompting the ship's captain to usetime travelto return to the timeframe of the series and return the crew home more directly.
The Americansci-fitelevision seriesFlashForwardrevolves around everyone on Earth losing consciousness for 137 seconds, during which each person experiences a glimpse of events 6 months in the future.[2]The series was itself based loosely on the novelFlashforwardbyRobert J. Sawyer.
Flashforwards have been used in British soap operas as well.Hollyoaksflashed forward six months in May 2010 for a special episode.[3]Hollyoaksthen had a flashforward to New Year's Eve 2020 to see the characters in a year's time. The BBC soap operaEastEndersdid a scene which flashforward to Christmas 2023 in an episode airing in the February of that year where charactersLinda Carter,Suki Panesar,Kathy Beale,Stacey Slater,Denise FoxandSharon Wattslook over the body of a deceased man, who is not revealed to the viewer,[4]the body was later revealed to beNish Panesar,however he remained alive and insteadKeanu Taylorwas murdered by Linda shortly after the flashforward took place after attempting to strangle Sharon.
The last episode ofSix Feet Underends with an extensive flashforward depicting the deaths of all the central characters for several decades in the future.
Breaking Baduses flashforwards throughout its second season showing a mystery regarding debris and corpses inWalter White's house and neighborhood, revealed to be the result of two planes crashing overhead. The first half of the fifth season begins with a flashforward one year into the future where Walter is fifty-two years old, and the second half begins with a continuation of the story, where he returns to his abandoned home. The plot of these flashforwards is resumed in theseries finale.
Better Call Saul,aspin-offofBreaking Bad,follows a trend of starting each season with a flashforward scene, set after the events ofBreaking Bad(and thus several years in the future relative to the time frame of the events narrated inBetter Call Saul) and, apart from the flashforward in thefinal season premiere,shot in black and white. These scenes depictSaul Goodman's life afterBreaking Badas a fugitive of the law, working as a manager of aCinnabonunder a new alias. The plot of these flashforwards is resumed in the final four episodes of the series, which are also shot in black and white.
How to Get Away with Murderused in every episode flashforwards of scenes from future episodes until ninth episode of the first season.
Quanticoused flashforwards in order to unravel the future events that have occurred in the first and second season.
TheNetflixseriesEliteused flashforwards to unravel the murder mystery of a future event, in the first season.
The Netflix seriesQuicksandused flashforwards to unravel the circumstances leading to a school shooting, in the first season.
The CWseriesArrowutilizes flashforwards in itsseventh season,having previously employed extensive flashbacks for its first five seasons. There are also flashforwards throughout thefourth seasonforeshadowing the characterLaurel Lance'sdeath.
Film[edit]
Midway through the 1969 filmThey Shoot Horses, Don't They?,there is an abrupt flashforward when Robert, the character played byMichael Sarrazin,is seen being thrust into a jail cell by a police officer, even though he has done nothing to provoke such treatment. The audience is notified, later in the story, that Sarrazin's character would have indeed made choices that warrant his arrest.
The 2016 filmArrivalrelies extensively on prolepsis throughout, disguised as flashbacks (like the aforementioned episode ofLost). The main character gains precognitive ability after learning the language of the aliens, and proceeds to use it to prevent the outbreak of war. She uses information revealed to her 18 months in the future to convince a military leader not to attack the aliens in the present.
Video games[edit]
InUntil Dawn(2015), players may find artifacts left by theNative Americantribe who lived on the mountain that show premonitions of possible future events. Whether they come true is dependent on player actions; for example, one shows another character's death in a scene that can be avoided.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Flash-forward".
- ^"Flashforward".IMDb.
- ^Green, Kris (15 December 2009)."Hollyoaks to air flashforward episode".Digital Spy.Retrieved2009-12-15.
- ^"EastEnders Boss Chris Clenshaw spills epic Christmas flash-forward secrets".Radio Times.Retrieved2023-02-21.
External links[edit]
The dictionary definition offlashforwardat Wiktionary
