# FlashForward - s1e6 - 10/29 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717 "2009-10-30T14:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717/41 "2009-11-04T09:19:14Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Well, you don’t have to do it for that day. Write down the winning numbers for January 10th, and then remember to look at them at Flashforward time. You could easily explain that, though – just have some throwaway line about how immediately after the flash, a couple of hundred thousand people won the lottery, each getting fuck all in the process, with the lotteries shutting down afterwards. If this actually will get addressed is an entirely different matter, though. > [@Promethea](#): > > I’m less bothered by the lack of lottery winners than I am by the fact that the skies were full of crashing planes that day in a world where everyone knew the blackouts were scheduled to happen. But the planes only crashed in the present, where people blacked out, which nobody knew in advance would happen – in the future, presumably whoever flew a plane then saw themselves flying a plane, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717/42 "2009-11-04T09:31:21Z")
> [@kurilla](#): > > I didn’t catch that dialog, but even so we don’t know how drunk she was or whether she was just in a party/good time mood. We didn’t see her flashforward as confirmation, after all, though we did see Dominic Monaghan’s. In addition to her flashforward being at the Times Square party, she said she went on Mosaic and 500 thousand people had reported the same flashforward. > [@Kaio](#): > > Also, the lack of awareness of “hey! it’s Flash-Forward Time!” in the FFs hasn’t bothered me. Even if you’ve got something marked in your calendar, it’s easy enough to get caught up in what’s happening in the moment so that a precise 2-minute-17-second window might slip by before you realize it. (Who has never been 2 minutes late for an office meeting?) 2:17 is not that long, and I know I’ve been preoccupied for longer periods of time than that. > > So some people, with nothing better to do, mark down the precise moment of the FF and have a party in Times Square. A few other people, who are up to their necks in responsibilities and worries (and Benford was also _drunk_), happen to have their focus elsewhere at the time. I’m not overly bothered by the “untainted flashforwards” (not impacted by foreknowledge they were happening,) but I do think it’s a plot hole that isn’t adequately waved away by it being a short window of time. New Year’s is only 1 second but it’s damn hard to miss. The impending flashforward would have more market penetration than New Year’s Eve, opening ceremonies at the Olympics, the World Cup final and the Superbowl all combined, and by a decent margin. The key difference is that the flashforward isn’t just a much bigger event than all of those things combined, but it’s personal to you as an individual as opposed to watching other people do stuff. > [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > You could easily explain that, though – just have some throwaway line about how immediately after the flash, a couple of hundred thousand people won the lottery, each getting fuck all in the process, with the lotteries shutting down afterwards. If this actually will get addressed is an entirely different matter, though. Lotteries aren’t directly hurt by having lots of winners; as you say, they simply cut up the pie by however many winners there are and pay them whatever. Same prize money regardless, so even if there are a million different winners, the lottery itself isn’t impacted. I suppose the lottery could be indirectly hurt if a thousand people won every single drawing, preventing a big prize accumulation. After a while of all jackpot winners getting twenty bucks each people might stop playing until after the flashforward, but then again a $20 payout on a $1 ticket is still a nice ROI. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717/43 "2009-11-04T09:36:51Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Loving this show so far, the actress that plays Olivia has bugged me all the way back to the HBO show _The Mind of the Married Man_ and she continues to do so here. Heh. I hated her intensely when she played the desperately baby crazy woman on Tell Me You Love Me, though the nudity helped a lot. I rather liked her as Penny on Lost, though, and she hasn’t bothered me too much here. Actually, I liked her as Sarah Connors’ ex-fiance’s new fiance on the Sarah Connor Chronicles too. So I guess I’ve become a fan despite the first role I saw her in being one I hated. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717/44 "2009-11-04T09:40:24Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > But the planes only crashed in the present, where people blacked out, which nobody knew in advance would happen – in the future, presumably whoever flew a plane then saw themselves flying a plane, nothing more. Yeah, I’m being dense, aren’t I? It’s the wrong way round!:smack: Still, the notion of a big party to celebrate an event that saw 20 Million+ people killed seems kind of tasteless. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717/45 "2009-11-04T16:26:07Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > You could easily explain that, though – just have some throwaway line about how immediately after the flash, a couple of hundred thousand people won the lottery, each getting fuck all in the process, with the lotteries shutting down afterwards. If this actually will get addressed is an entirely different matter, though. I wish they would have a throwaway line though. After the first episode, I was the first one to say its not a plot hole and we just need to give them some time. But I think It’s gone on long enough without mention. They don’t even have to explain it, just make a comment about how they can’t explain it. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717/46 "2009-11-04T17:38:29Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I wish they would have a throwaway line though. After the first episode, I was the first one to say its not a plot hole and we just need to give them some time. But I think It’s gone on long enough without mention. They don’t even have to explain it, just make a comment about how they can’t explain it. There is nothing to explain because there is nothing about the lottery that would be harmed by these flashforward cheaters, and since millions of people would absolutely try it nobody would win anything of substance. Maybe a grand each, tops. What is the lottery plot hole, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717/47 "2009-11-04T18:09:43Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > There is nothing to explain because there is nothing about the lottery that would be harmed by these flashforward cheaters, and since millions of people would absolutely try it nobody would win anything of substance. Maybe a grand each, tops. What is the lottery plot hole, exactly? Okay, not necessarily lottery but it doesn’t sound like anyone tried to send a message to the past. It would be a five second conversation to address it. “Hey, if you knew that six months ago you would see this moment exactly, wouldn’t you try to send a message to yourself? Like ‘Go to this place’?” “Yeah, I would.” “So how come nobody did that in their flashforward?” “I don’t know.” “Hmm.. Ok, lets go track down those Blue Hand guys.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashforward-s1e6-10-29/515717.md?page=2)