New characters waiting in the wings

If you haven’t already caught on to it, FlashForward is getting into a habit of playing its hand slowly, especially as far as cast goes. As opposed to many other serialized shows, where most of the main characters were introduced in the first episodes, FlashForward means to add to its main cast gradually. We’ve already seen this in the introduction of characters like Gabrielle Union’s Zoey and Dominic Monaghan’s Simon, and we should be seeing it in the future, according to showrunner David Goyer.

“We’re introducing quite a few new characters down the line,” Goyer told MTV. Among those characters is the Japanesse woman from Bryce’s vision. “…her name is Keiko,” Goyer revealed, though he was deliberately tight-lipped about any more details, instead simply telling that she’ll be popping up in the ninth episode of the season, which will prominently focus on Bryce Varley.

And the Somalian boy from the end of “137 Sekunden”? Expect to see an adult version of him too. While this isn’t shocking (he did, after all, have a distinctive facial scar that would make him easy to identify for television audiences in the future), what’s interesting is who’s playing him. While it hasn’t been cemented on who will play the character, it’s been speculated that he will be played by Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire).

There’s also the character of Miles Fogel, who Goyer describes as “very important.” Portrayed by Sleeper Cell actor Michael Ealy, this character has been described by TV Guide as a “new thorn in Detective Benford’s side.” Am I the only one thinking that Miles is one of those responsible for the blackout, along with Simcoe and Simon?

As for the newly introduced Blue Hand man Jeff Slingerland (Callum Keith Rennie), who we first saw in this week’s “The Gift,” we should expect to see him at least “two or three more times this season and potentially for the second season.”

Now, while the cast will be continually growing, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be losing a few people too. The suicide of Agent Gough in “The Gift,” is most likely the first of many character deaths, and we should look to seeing a mostly amorphous cast, a la Lost and Heroes.