Revelation Zero, Part 1

"Revelation Zero, Part 1"
Episode	Season {{#pad:1|2|0|left}}, Number 11
Air Date	March 18, 2010
Title Image	Burning Bible
Written by	Seth Hoffman and Marc Guggenheim
Directed by	Jon Polson
Guest Stars	Barry Shabaka Henley as Agent Vreede Paula Newsome as Callie Langer Lindsay Crouse as Nicole's mother Gil Bellows as Timothy Ricky Jay as Flosso Neil Jackson as Well-dressed Man John Prosky as Mr. Dunkirk
Co-starring	Omid Abtahi as Bureau Agent Jessica Tuck as Mrs. Levy Marc Menchaca as Wheeler Karl Herlinger as Quarry Ginifer King as Nicole's sister Lennon Wynn as Charlie Benford Patrick J. Adams as Ed
Transcript
Episode Images

"Revelation Zero, Part 1" is the eleventh episode of season 1 of FlashForward. It aired in the United States on Thursday, March 18, 2010 on ABC. In the universe of the show it took place on or about December 10th, 2009.

Summary

Sanctuary

The window-washer falls

An unknown man tells the story of a window-washer in Los Angeles on the day of the Global Blackout. The window-washer tossed one end of his safety line to his co-worker and stepped onto his platform at the top of a tall building. As the Blackout started, the co-worker lost consciousness before anchoring the safety line and the window-washer collapsed against the handle of the motor on his platform. The motor turned on but shorted out, allowing the window-washer to slide off the platform to certain death. Fate intervened and the loose end of the safety line snagged on a fitting on the platform, leaving the window-washer hanging outside an office window when he regained consciousness. As the story continues the narrator of the story is revealed to be addressing a group of people and explaining that he was the window-washer and that in his Flash he saw himself leading a large group of faithful and that what he saw led him to found Sanctuary.

Searching for the Ambulance and Lloyd

Demetri Noh enters a conference room at the Los Angeles Field Office and sees Marshall Vogel seated at the head of the table. Wedeck tells him that the Mosaic Investigation is now a multi-agency effort and to adapt. Also present in the room are Simon Campos, Mrs. Levy of the National Security Agency, Marcie Turoff and Janis Hawk. The team listens to a hoax 911 call used to lure the original ambulance team to their doom. Janis reports that the Los Angeles Police Department has been unable to find the ambulance. Vogel takes exception to "outsourcing" the search. Simon offers to break the encryption on Lloyd's laptop to identify his contacts. Vogel assigns Janis to escort Simon to Lloyd's house. Standing, he announces that he wants to debrief the police officers involved in the search for the ambulance and leaves the room in a dismissive manner.

At Lloyd's house, Janis posts her security team outside and waits with Simon. He requests a beer. Janis agrees and, after finding a beer in the refrigerator, is assaulted by some masked men.

Vogel and Noh get a lead

Vogel and Demetri search the train yard where the ambulance disappeared. Vogel criticizes Demetri's conduct, telling him that his actions in Hong Kong ("A561984") interfered with things he does not understand. When Vogel refers to Zoey in a slightly insulting manner, Demetri attacks. Vogel defends himself by throwing Demetri on the ground, then telling him he needs a better partner than Mark Benford. While on the ground, Demetri notices a large concentration of flies, which lead him and Vogel to a boxcar with two dead bodies. A medical team recovers the bodies of the ambulance attendants. Martin Dewey tells Vogel and Demetri that they were killed by some sort of poison. He gives the agents an empty case for a Palm Pre. They discuss the possibility that the phone might still be in the ambulance and be traceable.

Vogel and Demetri return to the Los Angeles Field Office and ask an agent with technical skills the attempt a trace on the missing phone.

Charlie sees her dad's version of the Mosaic wall he has at home and thinks of it as a puzzle. She encourages Mark to solve his "puzzle" by starting at the corners, as in a jigsaw puzzle. Mark rearranges his Mosaic photos. Mark visits Red Panda and his contact explains that they provide humanitarian aid all around the world, including Somalia. Red Panda was chartered in 1998 and grew out of Demographic and Health Services (DHS), so it had no representatives in Somalia in 1991. Mark suggests he accompany Red Panda staff members on a trip to Somalia, but his contact declines, adding that most of her employees have police records. Mark responds that such things are not a problem to the FBI anymore, but the contact bids him a polite farewell.

Interrogation

Lloyd in the basement

Lloyd is being held in a grungy basement. A well-dressed man informs him that he cannot be heard, provides him with hydration, disconnects his handcuff from a pipe, and tells him he will be free if he answers the man's questions. When Lloyd asks the man his name, the stranger replies that Lloyd does not need to know that. Lloyd tells the man to go to hell; the man responds that Lloyd does not know what hell is but that he is about to find out.

Simon is thrown and kicked down the stairs by Quarry into the basement where Lloyd is being held. Simon and Lloyd discuss the kidnappers' motives and Lloyd's announcement. Flosso, Quarry and Wheeler walk in. Flosso blows a glowing cinder from his cigar into Simon's eye, and describes himself as a villain. He goes on to describe the amazing amount he is being paid to interrogate the scientists as a basket the size of Montana filled with money. He asks Lloyd how many electron volts were generated during their experiment. He reveals that the National Linear Accelerator Project experiment did not cause the blackout, it did just amplify it. Lloyd refuses to answer Flosso's questions and he and his thugs leave for awhile. Simon explains his flash to Lloyd exactly as he described it to Camille on the train. Lloyd explains that he received a text message from Simon during his flash and Simon responds that, since he obviously couldn't have sent a text while he was killing a man, it must have been something he sent earlier. Lloyd explains that the flashes are possible futures. He climbs a chair to reach a high window, and attempts to put a "help" note written on a Crown Cheese Steak flyer on the window, but it blows away. He screams for help but the area is nearly deserted.

Flosso and his two cronies return to the basement with Lloyd's help note. Flosso wants to know if the National Linear Accelerator Project experiment detected anything superluminal.

Therapy

Mark's therapy begins

Stan Wedeck reviews a video of Mark Benford's actions in Hong Kong. Stan asks Mark what he was thinking. Mark says that he wants to see his wife Olivia; when Wedeck persists, Mark says not enough is being done. Stan reveals that he's working on getting access to Somalia, and that he has arranged for D. Gibbons to be on the most-wanted list. He tells Mark that his return to active duty is based on his meeting with a bureau-selected psychiatrist three times a week until she certifies his return. Before leaving the offices, Mark takes photographs of the Mosaic Investigation wall in his office. On his way out of the office, Mark is stopped by Simon, who's studying Lloyd's kidnapping, while assisting the FBI. His monitor has a video of the action, and Mark sees the kidnappers assault Olivia. Olivia sees Mark in the office, calls his name, and embraces him. As they hug, the video shows Olivia and Lloyd hugging. Olivia tries to explain, but Mark says he is just glad she is safe.

Olivia walks in on Mark studying his home version of the Mosaic Wall. Olivia explains her embrace with Lloyd. She suggests moving out of town to avoid the future and save their marriage. Mark moves to her and they embrace and kiss.

Mark visits his therapist, Callie Langer. They talk on a park bench and she tells him he has a God complex; something in his vision that he probably does not remember makes him think he's the center of the universe. She says she will not sign off on his return to duty until she finds out what he saw that makes him feel so important. She points out that his memory of his flash wasn't long enough and he confesses that he was inebriated. She offers a drug therapy to enhance his memory. Mark is reluctant. She responds pleasantly that she is available when he is ready and walks away. As she leaves, Mark notices a disheveled man on the street wearing an updated sign that reads that there are 140 days until D-Day.

Counting the days

Mark decides to undergo the drug therapy because he senses that he is pushing everyone he cares about away. His therapist describes the process as being similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. Mark, under the influence of the drug, sees the evidence board, including Lloyd's help note, much more clearly. He receives a phone call, which concludes, "Go to hell, Lloyd." He abruptly awakes and tells Langer who was on the other end of the call.

Another Blackout

Mark, sitting in front of a bar in his car in the rain, calls Aaron Stark, who had been his AA sponsor and is still his friend. While waiting, Mark thinks about his flash visions. When Aaron arrives, they talk. Mark tells Aaron that his phone conversation with Lloyd included a reference to another blackout.

Mark tells Wedeck about the other blackout. Stan wants to know why Lloyd didn't tell them about that and they agree they need to find Lloyd. Mark asks to be brought back into active service. Stan says he is working on it but instructs Mark to work the new leads he has remembered discreetly from home. Since they don't know the date of the next blackout, Stan reminds Mark that it would be irresponsible to disclose the possibility of another blackout without any detailed information.

Dylan

Olivia comforts Dylan

Dunkirk is trying to assign Dylan to Social Services, showing Olivia the release form she signed. Olivia claims he has complications. She coaxes Dylan out of hiding by singing the Tim-Tim and Squirrelio Show theme song. She gives him a cursory examination and says he may have sepsis. Dunkirk gives in. Later, Olivia checks on Dylan and finds him awake. Dylan wants her to sing to him again, and gives her a cookie he saved for her from his dinner. Olivia sings to Dylan.

Nicole and her Mother

Nicole's mother reads her Bible

Nicole's mother, wearing angel wings, reads from the Bible, and proceeds to set it on fire. Nicole walks in and puts out the fire. Nicole's sister arrives, late, to continue taking care of their mother. Nicole tells her about the fire and says she should search the house for lighters and matches.

Nicole arrives at work at Angeles Hospital. Bryce is happy to see Nicole, but to her disappointment, it is to assign her work. Just as she accepts the patient's chart, she sees the man who she saw drowning her in her Flash. She chases the man, but is unable to catch him. She talks to Olivia and Bryce, who convince her to talk again to the original detective she spoke with. Debbie, who listened to the conversation, suggests Nicole visit Sanctuary.

Trivia

General

• The verse that Nicole's mother reads from the Bible is Genesis 2:17. The global blackout lasted for 2 minutes and 17 seconds.

Production Notes

• Originally, this episode was supposed to air in the United States on March 4. However, ABC chose to push back the date to keep the episode from having to compete with American Idol.
• Shohreh Aghdashloo appears as Nhadra Udaya in security camera footage.
• The conversation between Charlie and Mark in which she urges him to work on the Mosaic wall from the corners was deleted from the on-line version.
• "DHS" is explained to be an acronym for "Demographic and Health Services." In "137 Sekunden", Janis' computer search that revealed activities in Somalia contained a reference to "DHS" that was unexplained.

Music

• "Stay With Me" by Taizee. (During several Sanctuary bits). 

Bloopers and Continuity Errors

• When the camera looks down at traffic before Timothy falls, vehicles are driving on the left side of the street.
• When Nicole pursues the man she recognizes as her assailant, she carries a patient's chart; when she stops the first man, her hands are empty.
• When Timothy is falling the upper end of his line hangs up in a solid ring into which it had not been inserted. Also, when the camera shows the end of the rope it is significantly longer after a cut.
• When Simon is thrown down the stairs into the basement where Lloyd is being held, he kicks over a utility lamp. As the scene progresses, the lamp is seen standing upright in its original position.

Cultural References

• Magical Mystery Tour: Mark comments to his therapist feeling that the "Magical Mystery Tour" (i.e. a drug trip) is not the best route to unlocking the rest of his flashforward.
• Tree of Life: Nicole's mother reads Genesis 2:17 from the Bible, a scripture about the tree of life. "But the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."

Literary Techniques

• Foreshadowing: Mark learns more of his flashforward only to discover that he was speaking of a potential second blackout.
• Juxtaposition: It is revealed that what was first shown as Simon's flashforward is in fact what had occurred in the present on October 6th during the blackout.

Unanswered Questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. Avoid questions that are unlikely to be answered. More details...

Theories for these unanswered questions should go on this article's theory page.

General

• Why doesn't Flosso ask Simon directly about information regarding Simon and Lloyd's particle acceleration experiment instead of making Simon pretend that he doesn't know him? Are there parts of the experiment that only Lloyd has knowledge of?

External links

• Episode's article on IMDB