Rewatched the video on Blender art. I really need to get back to those Blender videos. Wouldn’t it be cool to know how to create assets like that? I’ve just been pretty downtrodden these past few days. Hard to get back into the swing of things. But I’ll get there. Eventually. 🙂

So my friend tried to show me Flashpoint and I was legitimately interested in what sounded like an interesting premise for a show. Plus the main character is Nick from Left 4 Dead 2.

[The first episode opens with a hostage situation. A man in a busy street has a woman held hostage, a gun pointed at her temple. Police have roadblocks but are keeping their guns lowered.]
Man: Don’t you come any closer or I’ll shoot!
Police: Don’t do anything rash now etc etc
[Cut to Nick perched on a rooftop. He’s got a sniper rifle and the crazy guy in his sights. But the guy’s waving his arms and making it a difficult shot with the hostage.]
Man: That’s it! I’m gonna shoot her!
Police guy (through radio): Nick, take the shot!
[Nick starts to squeeze the trigger as the music crescendos–]
[Immediate cut to Nick’s happy family eating breakfast with him. Caption: Two days earlier.

Aaand I turned it off. I hate that narrative copout so much, and so many shows use it. I remember first seeing it used in the “Tabula Rasa” episode of Stargate Atlantis when I was 17 and hating it there too. It’s a cheap ploy to start the story with something exciting and then dial it back to the “real” beginning which is boring tripe that would make everyone change the channel were it the actual beginning. In that case, maybe consider writing a decent beginning instead using more creative ways to display the character dynamics and information. Otherwise you’re wasting your audience’s time with the plot equivalent of clickbait “Number 15 will shock you!” titles. They’re riding entirely on the audience sitting through bullcrap thinking “I don’t care what’s happening right now, I just want to see how that forced cliffhanger is resolved!”