Rewatching This 17-Year-Old Sci-Fi Series I Loved Is A Frustrating Experience In 2026

2 weeks ago 18

FlashForward still featuring Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford and John Cho as Demetri Noh in riot gear on a bridge.

Published May 16, 2026, 11:45 AM EDT

Cher Thompson is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, where she covers everything from explosive reality TV moments to cast interviews about the twists and turns of scripted dramas. With a background in creative writing, marketing, and teaching, Cher knows how to spot both the storytelling genius and the guilty pleasures in pop culture. Her work blends wit with insight, making readers feel like they’re chatting with a friend who just happens to know way too much about TV.

Revisiting TV from the 2000s can be a mixed bag, even if the series you're watching is one you enjoyed in the heyday of the oughts, and after rewatching one of my favorites from the decade, I found myself frustrated for a surprising reason. 17 years after its original airing, rewatching FlashForward, an ABC series that only made it through one season before cancellation, still feels exciting and fresh. The series itself, which was based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Robert J. Sawyer, worked well as it moved through its first season, but remains fully incomplete.

While rewatching the series can remind viewers of what it looks like to tell an ambitious story on network TV, where it's now a far more difficult feat to take risks, revisiting FlashForward is also a deeply frustrating experience. Now an example of untapped potential, FlashForward was a major loss.

Flashforward Is A Great One-Season Binge Spoiled By The Lack Of A Follow-Up

FlashForward holds up as a sci-fi series, especially one that came on the heels of Lost, which is still lauded as one of the best network sci-fi mysteries of all time. While the 2009 ABC series wasn't yet comparable to its predecessor, FlashForward is an entertaining show with a fascinating premise. After nearly the entire world blacks out and sees 137 seconds of the world six months into the future, the issues that crop up from character to character mixed with the larger narrative of what exactly happened is an interesting dichotomy.

FlashForward avoids many of the obvious pitfalls of 2000s media, as well. Rather than feeling dated visually or struggling in its mix of episodic and serialized storytelling, the series highly binge-able and often feels like a modern show. Unfortunately, however, the series leaves off on a mysterious note and doesn't have any payoff. While FlashForward wasn't sure of its status going into the 2010 season, the show chose to leave off on more of a cliffhanger than not, and when it was canceled, the story was left entirely unfinished. FlashForward, despite being a fun watch, is disappointing in a way that isn't fixable.

Flashforward Had The Potential To Be TV's 'New Lost'

Although the shows weren't in the same sub-genre of sci-fi, both FlashForward and Lost shared a similar enough premise and the allure of a large weaving mystery, which was enough to find them compared in the media. Throughout Lost's run, the show was able to become a water cooler topic, finding its way into conversation all over the world and establishing itself as appointment TV. While there were moments of Lost that pushed viewers away or left critics scratching their heads, the series had the opportunity to finish its story and establish its lore throughout each season of its run.

FlashForward, unfortunately, didn't find itself with that opportunity despite having the makings of being network TV's new golden sci-fi show. Adopting a similar global perspective and centering on an event that was mysterious, but finite, FlashForward had the tools to blossom into something much larger. While it had a fanbase that enjoyed the story, its first season wasn't enough of a hit for ABC to renew it. The unfinished nature of FlashForward is what makes it frustrating, rather than the show itself. Knowing that the story lives unfinished, FlashForward is an inventive series that I'll forever be frustrated by.