Flashbacks on tv shows- are there any good ones?

SVG

I can't think of any that I've liked! This has been on my mind lately since I've been watching Mad Men and The Americans and the flashbacks are always my least favourite parts. I feel like they pull me out of the show. They tend to annoy me either through ruining the momentum by butting in on present day events, filling in on backstory I don't care about/could have figured out on my own, or just with their distracting efforts to make the actors look younger (my best/worst example of this is backwards cap Matthew Perry from Studio 60).

There must be some good ones! Maybe Lost had some? At least they were integrated into the structure there but I mostly remember island stuff from that show. I think the Friends flashback episodes were ok, I think, maybe? I'm really struggling to think of any brilliant flashbacks and I'd feel bad hating them on principle if I had just been missing out on the great ones. Anyway I'd appreciate if someone could find a non-evil flashback or, failing that, some hilariously bad ones.

QikBax

West Wing had a great one at the start of season 2. Shows how the team came together to elect Bartlett.

The early Simpsons flashbacks (How Lisa and Maggie were born etc.) are classic episodes.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

How I Met Your Mother do great flashbacks...
Dark Angel flashbacks were integral to the plot and were done very well...

They're the two I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's plenty of shows that have good flashbacks...

SVG

Oh The Simpsons and How I Met Your Mother are good examples! I think it helps that the Simpsons don't have to age people backwards and that the flashbacks on HIMYM are really integral to the structure. I haven't seen Dark Angel or The West Wing.

I think it's just the haphazardness of the ones in The Americans and Mad Men that was annoying me. They stick out too much. Do they work for anyone?

Queen-Mise

Some of the flashbacks worked well on True Blood - but then the show probably wouldn't have worked without them.

downonthefarm

ones episode of sopranos when Tony was thinking back to when the FBI flipped pussy.when they found Santa suit

FortuneChip

Firefly - Out Of Gas is one of my favourite episodes of television, and it features a lot of flashback scenes, explaining how the crew came to be on the ship, and most importantly how the ship came to belong to the crew.
It's a fine episode!

Suits - Rewind. Another flashback centric episode that probably was needed in that it really helped to flesh out Daniel Hardman's story. The slight "tint" on the flashback scenes was a little cheesy, and there was a line or two of dialogue that was a little cringe, but at the heart of the episode, it was basically built a character profile on Hardman, and his relationship with Jessica & Harvey. Again, a very good episode

CastorTroy

The Friends one where it showed Joey moving in with Chandler and all was decent.

This reminds me of something that is overdone these days and that's flashbacks within the episode timeline. Like episode starts with a main character standing over a body with a gun in hand then it jumps back to 3 days earlier. Happens so often now that I can always tell when the episode's going to do that

Slow Show

Always thought this was quite good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tQr03FMuvg

Dozen Wicked Words

Start of Psych most weeks had entertaining flashbacks. Dreadful ones in californication.

Dman001

downonthefarm wrote: »

ones episode of sopranos when Tony was thinking back to when the FBI flipped pussy.when they found Santa suit

Season 1 had a good one too, where we see a small bit of Tony growing up and him finding out for the first time his father was a "gangster". Finding out Junior had been wearing the same pair of glasses for 30+ years being another highlight.

SherlockWatson

Arrows flashbacks are very entertaining and vital to telling the story of the main protagonist.

jill_valentine

I enjoyed the Friends ones.

In general, I find them frustrating though. The end point is already defined, we already know where we're going to end up, so we're just spinning our wheels until we can rejoin the present day action. I'm more tolerant of them in comedy shows, because there are gags to be wrung out of the characters' former selves, but in action/dramas etc, I think they're a curse. Particularly if they're in a dramatically different time period, because on TV budgets, the result is almost always ridiculous.

They're indulgent, they don't advance the action, and 99 times out of 100, they just retread ground that wasn't terribly necessary to cover anyway. Brief snippets here and there can shade in a character a little, but often they're flab, and I can't ever get too excited about a flashback episode.

starling

FortuneChip wrote: »

Firefly - Out Of Gas is one of my favourite episodes of television, and it features a lot of flashback scenes, explaining how the crew came to be on the ship, and most importantly how the ship came to belong to the crew.
It's a fine episode!

Probably the best example of flashback on television IMO. If I hadn't been a die hard Joss fangirl before, that episode would have converted me for sure. I remember Joss Whedon saying something about using different lighting / colour filters for each time period and how someone on his crew said "That'll never work"... but then that same guy was so impressed with it he went on to use it in other shows:) Joss is boss.:D

Have a soft spot for that flashback in 5.22 of Supernatural, even if it is a bit cheesy. Actually, speaking of Supernatural, in 6.13 "Unforgiven" there are a few flashbacks that really work in the context of the episode because the memories are coming back to the character in bits and pieces (supernatural amnesia...long story) so it's not just the viewer learning something the character already knows, he's lost too. They're filmed in black and white with some unusual camera angles, I think they work pretty well.

Kiwi_knock

One flashback we did not really need to see was why Jimmy ended up joining the army in Boardwalk Empire.

JP Liz V1

CastorTroy wrote: »

The Friends one where it showed Joey moving in with Chandler and all was decent.

This reminds me of something that is overdone these days and that's flashbacks within the episode timeline. Like episode starts with a main character standing over a body with a gun in hand then it jumps back to 3 days earlier. Happens so often now that I can always tell when the episode's going to do that

Love the fat Monica scenes in Friends

The flashback scenes in New Girl are good especially with fat Schmidt, oh god I see a theme here :P

JohnFalstaff

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Love the fat Monica scenes in Friends

I always felt the Friends flashbacks were ripped off from Seinfeld - the characters playing themselves in OTT period costumes and facial hair... flashbacks to high school etc.

Can'tstandya!

December2012

Love Friends, Lost, Himym but really love the 30 Rock ones!