Simon finds a trap door in the floor. He opens it, climbs down the stairs and moves down a long hallway. With the team trailing, he comes upon a nuclear-powered linear accelerator. He figures that
each of the five towers had one as a power source. Further, the accelerators, acting in concert, are what caused the beta field that resulted in the village blackout. Demetri dismisses the idea that only one accelerator would be sufficient to cause a global blackout. Simon warns him that even though Demetri doesn't know them, the rules have changed since this tower was first built. Vogel, in the meantime, has moved down a hallway and found a door. The team rushes after him to assist. They open the door and move onto a balcony overlooking a large room. When they peer down to the floor, the find a room full of skeletons. The villagers were not driven off by war -- they were executed. As the team investigates the skeletons, Abdi finds his mother's necklace. The loss of his mother a second time enrages him, and he wheels on Simon, blaming him for the blackout. He throws Simon to his knees and aims his gun at Simon's head. Two shots ring out, and Abdi falls; Vogel has killed the rebel leader. "'Better angels.' This was not supposed to happen," Janis laments.
Back in California, Mark finds Olivia on the living room couch. He tries to make nice, asking if she wants something to eat, but she only has one thing on her mind: getting away from what they saw in their flashes. "Yes or no, Mark? You can't have it both ways," she warns her husband. Mark explains that both he and Olivia save lives, that is what they do. He can't just walk away when he might be able to stop the second blackout. "This is how it happens," Olivia comments, predicting the reason for the end of their marriage. She repeats resolutely, "Yes or no?" The two are left with everything -- their lives, their marriage -- undecided.
The immediate drama over, Janis and Demetri share a drink given to them by Abdi's men in thanks for killing Abdi and changing their destinies. "To another flash not coming true," Janis ruefully toasts. Janis is sad that she's not going to meet Willow, her unborn (nay, un-conceived) daughter. "She's never going to get here." Janis laughs, saying, "We just saw a mass grave, but all I can think about is my mythical baby." She and Demetri laugh. He notes that the weekend isn't over yet, and that he can take one for the team and get her pregnant. "First off, gross," Janis says, "Second, I'm gay." "And I'll make you gayer," Demetri replies. When Janis asks about how Zoey would take it, Demetri responds that chances are he won't be around in a couple months, but Willow would. "Are you serious?" Janis sincerely asks. "Uh-huh," Demetri responds.
Outside the tower, Simon walks up to Vogel, displaying the new rifle he procured from the rebels. Vogel doesn't think Simon, a scientist, would know how to use such a weapon. Simon warns him that in his flash he was killing someone, and it wasn't with a gun. He asks Vogel what he saw in his flash. Vogel thinks about it: he's in a suit, talking on a cell phone. He walks up to another suited man, and says, "Mark Benford is dead," before seeing a little girl inside the house he's standing near.
Back at the hospital, Nicole is collecting graham crackers for a charity. Bryce sees her and tells her that since she cares so much about other people, she is going to be a great doctor. Not if she can't pass organic chemistry, she notes. Bryce has the remedy: his good luck calculator that got him through every exam he has taken. Nicole is touched, and remarks that after four years of college, four years of med school and four years of a psychiatry residency, they might finally be able to work together. Bryce reflects on this, and admits to Nicole that he lied to her earlier. He's not sure he'll be here in twelve years, due to his cancer.
Demetri, while packing up the evidence found in the tower, is playing the remainder of the video they found. Simon enters and asks Demetri what he's doing up so late, noting the fuzz on the monitor. Demetri begins to respond when an image returns to the video. It's Frost. "Hello there Demetri." Frost is speaking to Demetri from 1991! "Got your attention, didn't I?" ends Frost.
Commentary
OK, now this is more like it. After last week's big step backwards, FlashForward, took two steps forward this week. Although there was no real character focus (like the second hour of the spring premiere's focus on Simon), its lack was compensated for by fast-paced action and some great twisty plot development. Of course, I'm speaking of Frost's Speaking to Demetri from 1991 and Demetri's possible impregnation of Janis. The former opens up a lot of interesting questions, including, how did Frost (this is the third name for Michael Massee's character, but we'll call him Frost instead of Gibbons) know Demetri would watch the video? The Occam's Razor answer is that Frost himself flashed 19 years ahead and saw Demetri in the tower, but there may be a more complicated explanation. For the second time in the series, it has been noted that Simon designed the plans for the towers in 1992, but the towers were built in 1991. Has time travel been introduced into the series? How else can Frost's knowledge be explained? Any ideas out there?
On the second twist, a popular theory may have come to pass: that Demetri is the father of Janis' baby. I thought this was played very well by Christine Woods and John Cho. They didn't play the possible cheap jokes that Demetri would want to have sex with a lesbian, or that Janis thinks male parts are gross (although she did make one joke about it). I truly believed Demetri's desire to have a legacy if he is to die soon. Similarly, I completely bought Janis' sadness that she might not know her daughter; she's so sad that she's willing to sleep with a man, and an engaged man at that! 
Speaking of, when Demetri doesn't get killed (do you really think the series is going to kill of John Cho? I don't think so.), he is going to have a fun time trying to explain this one to Zoey. This is, of course, all assuming they did conceive a child. I'm glad they left this as an unknown for at least this episode.
Finally, I have to draw attention to another great development: the relaxation of Joseph Fiennes. A major criticism that has been laid against the series is that many people have been distracted by Fiennes' performance as Mark. The audience just doesn't buy him as 1) an American, and 2) an FBI agent. Personally, he hasn't really bothered me much, but it is a sign when his (over)reading of "Because I was LOADED, OK?" has become one of the most notable and remembered parts of the series. What I have seen since the series' return, however, is a more comfortable, and natural, Fiennes. I don't know if it is the new showrunner, or just the actor having an opportunity to take a break and analyze his peperformance that has caused the change, but it is a welcome one. As an illustration, look at any Mark/Olivia scene from the fall and compare it to the Mark/Olivia scenes from this episode. Fienne's restraint and subtlety are drastically improved. It is a very positive sign for the series -- a series' lead actor can't be seen as a weak link in the acting department is a show is to survive.
Alright, that's what I have for "Better Angels." What did you think? Were you as jazzed by the plot twists as I was? How did this episode compare to the other episodes since the show's return? Do you notice any improvements? Anything that still doesn't work for you? Do you think, like I am beginning to more and more, think Bryce and Nicole are completely superfluous? Please leave your questions, comments and theories below. Be sure to check out TVOverMind over the next week for photos and promos for next week's episode, "Queen's Sacrifice" (wow, I'm really intrigued by that title!), and for all of your TV needs. Until next week, I'm off to fix the satellite TV.
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I agree that this is a much improved episode. The pace and development is much faster than before (this is the first time I did not flip through channels during the whole time). One of the improvements I really like is the good guys are starting to turn things around a little bit which is a big contrast to the episodes before the break.I almost gave up this show because the guys we are supposed to vote for were having their asses kicked episode after episode. If they can keep up the good writing, perhaps I can have it to replace Lost when it's over? One can always hope.