After a three and a half month long hiatus, ABC’s “FlashForward” has finally returned to the network’s Thursday night lineup. 

The show continues to follow the FBI, and others, in a search for clues as to why the entire world blacked out for two minutes and 17 seconds, with each person witnessing themselves in the future on April 29. 

The show still has some of the same problems that plagued the first half of the season; however, some of the previous problems have also been fixed, which should give hope to fans of the series.

“Revelation Zero” was a two-hour episode that answered some of the various questions about the show’s mythology. Both the mystery behind Suspect Zero and the reasons why some people were awake during the blackout are revealed. The character of Simon, played by Dominic Monaghan, is fleshed out more as well.

 Overall, the episode was much better than the previous 10 in the first half of the season. But with that being said, this does not mean that the episode was outstanding, as it still dragged multiple times.    

It looks as if the show is still beset by the problems that the first half of the season faced.Whether it is dead crow graphs or cringing character flaws, the show has fallen victim to problems that break up the credibility of the series. Ricky Jay was a great addition to the episode as the devilishly monotone Flosso, but the various places that he ends up throughout the episode are just not believable in any way. 

Flosso being Simon’s “Uncle Teddy” without Simon ever recognizing or saying anything to him while being held captive is a little too far-fetched. 

Fortunately, save for this Ricky Jay mishap, none of the traditional “FlashForward” paradoxes are found in this episode, and the writers should be applauded for trying to fix the wrongs of previous episodes.

However, problems such as showing character’s flash-forwards multiple times throughout the episode take away from the narrative of the story. 

Agent Mark Benford, played by Joseph Fiennes, has a flash-forward that is shown at least five times, if not more. It appears as if the writers feel that the audience is too dimwitted to remember what each character’s flash-forward is. 

This constant beating-over-the-head is a major problem for the series, as too much time is wasted showing the same flash-forward scenes rather than moving the narrative forward.

The show has lost half of its audience since the season premiere, with 12 million viewers to now a measly 6 million, and it is difficult to tell if the show will be renewed for a second season. 

There were fantastic visual effects in this episode that must have been quite expensive, but six millions viewers does not cut it for a show as expensive as “FlashFoward.” 

Two of the show’s creators have left the series during the hiatus, which may also cast some doubt for a second season renewal. 

Nevertheless, April 29, the date on which every character sees themselves in their flash-forward, will take place within the season, so fans should take comfort in at least seeing if the characters’ flash-forwards come true or not.