These are references in FlashForward to the television show Lost. Some of these references are a type of Easter egg. Both television shows air on ABC, feature ensemble casts, make frequent use of flashbacks and flashforwards, have an elaborate background mythology, and are serial dramas with a continuing plot. Shared themes include quantum mechanics, the conflict between determinism and free will, and time travel.
Direct references[]
- While Mark Benford and Demetri Noh are waiting for the terrorists Khalid, Omar, and Alda Hertzog to come out of their building, an Oceanic Airlines billboard can be seen outside the car window, in the background. ("No More Good Days")
- When Mark Benford is walking toward Angeles Hospital after the Global Blackout, he comes across a bus with a Lost advertisement painted on its side. ("No More Good Days")
- During the second Global Blackout, two Oceanic Airlines flights are visible on a schedule screen at the Los Angeles airport: flight 2018 at Gate 33 and flight 2040 at Gate 06. Both flights are listed as canceled. ("Future Shock")
Possible references[]
- The first episode of both series feature an animal in an unusual setting: kangaroo in Los Angeles for FlashForward, and polar bear on a South Pacific tropical island for Lost. ("No More Good Days")
- The first episode of both series feature prominent camera shots on the eyes of their respective protagonists as they wake up after disaster. In FlashForward, the camera focuses on Mark Benford's eyes when he wakes up after the first Global Blackout. In Lost, the camera focuses on Jack Shephard's eyes as he wakes up after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
- The Benfords live on Sawyer Road. This is not necessarily a reference to Lost character Sawyer, as it could just be a reference to the author of the Flashforward novel, Robert J. Sawyer.
- Black Swan is an episode from FlashForward. The Swan is a DHARMA station in Lost. Also, Black Swan was a group that could be assigned to participants of Lost's ARG, Dharma Wants You. It was also the name of a character in the ARG.
- Kate Stark and Aaron Stark live together, just like Kate Austen and Aaron Littleton in Lost.
- In Al Gough's flash forward, he and Fiona Banks witness a bird crashing into the window, as does Walt Lloyd in one of his flashbacks. In a similar way, the dead crows depicted in "137 Sekunden" are reminiscent of Lost's mobisode "Room 23" where Juliet shows Ben lots of dead birds underneath the window of Room 23, which had also been caused by Walt.
- Penelope and Olivia, both played by Sonya Walger, both have a child called Charlie.
[]
In the table below, the shared parts of the names are boldfaced.
FlashForward first name | FlashForward last name | Lost first name | Lost last name |
---|---|---|---|
Aaron | Stark | Aaron | Littleton |
Charlie | Benford | Charlie | Pace |
Ian | Rutherford | Shannon | Rutherford |
Kate | Stark | Kate | Austen |
Olivia | Benford | Olivia | Goodspeed |
Simon | Campos | Charlie | Pace |
[]
actor or actress | FlashForward role | Lost role |
---|---|---|
Anthony Azizi | Samad | Omar |
Leslie Ishii | Priest No. 1 | Lara Chang |
Dominic Monaghan | Simon Campos | Charlie Pace |
Kim Dickens | Kate Stark | Cassidy Phillips |
Sonya Walger | Olivia Benford | Penelope Widmore |