On September 24, 2008, everyone in the world simultaneously experienced a blackout that lasted exactly two minutes and 17 seconds. During this time, everyone’s respective consciousnesses jumped half a year into the future. Some called what they saw a “nightmare,” others, “a memory that hasn’t happened yet.” Some saw joy and happiness, and others saw nothing at all.

What did you see?

What I saw, on September 24, 2009, was a show that blends a healthy mix of drama and action, shrouded in a cloud of the unknown and fueled by adrenaline and excitement. What I saw was a show that immediately focused on a man’s call to action to sort through an unnerving chaotic phenoemon in order to not only save lives, but to establish some sort of sensible plan to resolve immediate conflicts as well as maintain the status quo among those closest to him. What I saw was a show that centers around the temporal displacement of consciousness and using that as a vehicle for characters to debate on the issue of fate vs. free will. What I saw was LOST..wait, what? Why does my cable say FlashForward in the info box? That can’t be right.

Okay so to be fair this show isn’t as similar to LOST as I made it seem, but still, those are sound plot and character points that, when all is said and done, do resemble LOST. Like, a lot. It’s just that there are other elements of this show that are very LOST-esque as well, and whether these particular elements are going to be a regular part of the show or were just merely thrown in as nods to the fine ABC program that is LOST is something to be determined. So for now, let’s just take a look at the similarities FlashForward‘s pilot episode shared with LOST. Let’s even measure them on the Whack Scale, where 0 isn’t that whack, and 5 is just THE whackest.

The title of the show is FlashForward. Where have we seen “flashforward” before? Hmmmm.

Oh, right, that’s where. HOFFS/DRAWLAR is an anagram for FLASHFORWARD. (I know that the flashforward in FlashForward isn’t the same kind of flashforward in LOST but it’s still a flashforward nonetheless. Confused yet? You shouldn’t be. That sentence was very elementary in construction.) Whack Scale reading: 1.5

Both shows open with dude waking up suddenly in the middle of some real serious shit going down.

Whack Scale reading: 3.0

Both shows do the extremely close eyeball thing.

Whack Scale reading: 2.5

In FlashForward, present day Mark rekindles his alcoholic past. In Lost, we are witness to Jack’s alcoholism in his flashforward.

Whack Scale reading: 3.5 (You feeling the whack yet?)

Both shows go out of their way to highlight animals that exist outside of their natural habitats.

Whack Scale reading: Really? 4.0ish

IS THAT AN OCEANIC AIRLINES BILLBOARD IN THE BACKGROUND?

Whack Scale reading: COME ON

There are a few other similarities too that don’t need visual proof, like John Cho’s character’s wedding song being “Islands In The Stream,” instances of birds hitting windows, and the sole fact that Joseph Fiennes and Nestor Carbonell look EXACTLY THE SAME.

I will say, though, that the cliffhanger ending made the previous 54 minutes of show pretty tolerable. It also helps me maintain my belief that the media has a (not so secret) vendetta against men in dusters.

Since when has a crowd going unconscious at a Detroit Tigers game ever been something out of the ordinary? Motor City zing!