Previously on FlashForward: Lloyd scammed Dom in a game of Texas Hold ‘Em, meaning they have to come forward about their role in the Blackout. Mark thought he eliminated the tattooed assassin, but we learned there’s a whole heap of angry tattooed men. Ricky Jay picked up some rings and shot a dude. Olivia flounced about in underwear. What more do you want, people?

We start four weeks before the Blackout – Bryce is getting a diagnosis of Stage IV Cancer. The doctor tells him that he’s pretty much out of options. He then backs into a classic car in the parking garage. The owner yells at him, and Bryce pulls forward and hits the car again. And again. Finally he gets out of his car and walks away.

Two weeks before the Blackout, we see a young woman wearing a business suit in Tokyo. She’s in an office bathroom, clearly nervous. A man enters and calls her name – Keiko Arahida. Apparently, they’re ready for her. We next see her in a board room, talking about her attempts as a child to build a robotic hand. It appears to be a job interview, and she’s trying very hard to impress a group of stern men.

We jump to the hospital, where Olivia and Bryce are in surgery, and he’s unable to answer any of her questions about the thing that they are currently doing. She tells him to think seriously about whether he’s committed to the medical profession.

Back to Tokyo, where Keiko comes home to a surprise party – she stops to compose herself, and then enters to all her friends and loved ones who are very proud of her. Her mother also brought some nerdy boys to gawk at her, which is weird.

Cut back to Bryce, admitting to his therapist that he’s not a very good doctor. His session is intercut with footage of him preparing for his suicide on Blackout Day. And then we see him walk out on the pier, but the gun to his head, and then the Blackout hits. Then we see Bryce’s Flash, he’s in a Japanese restaurant, which seems to actually be in Japan. Keiko meets him at his table and he says “You’re really here”, and invites her to sit at his table. He looks at the tattoo on her wrist and says “Believe” in Japanese. Then he wakes up.

We return to the present, where Bryce is taking Rosetta Stone lessons in Japanese. He is not very good at it. He takes a break to throw up, and then looks through his sketchbook full of drawings of Keiko. Man, she is so going to think that’s creepy when they finally meet.

Aaron’s cleaning up around the house when his cell rings – Tracy’s sleeping on the couch, so he speaks quietly. It’s Mark, and he’s done some research on Jericho – he knows where they’re based, but any more is above his security clearance. It seems to me like Mark has minimal security clearance. Olivia’s phone rings while he’s talking, and he looks at it to see that the text message “Mark was drinking in his Flash Forward” has popped up. I don’t really get that – does somebody keep sending her the message, or did she save it as part of her phone’s display? I’m sure it makes sense, but I don’t believe in text messages, so I feel left out. I mean, I believe that they exist, I just don’t send them.

Mark confronts her about the text – she admits that she doesn’t know who sent it. He wonders why she didn’t mention it, but they’d already talked about it before she had the chance to bring it up. She doesn’t think the text itself is a big deal.

At the hospital, Olivia tries to send Bryce home – he’s pale and shaky, and then he almost falls over. He finally comes clean that he’s having chemotherapy and that he has renal cell carcinoma. Olivia is shocked – he’s known for a year and hasn’t told anybody. He assures her that he’s going to be fine, because now he has something to live for.

At Aaron’s house, Tracy brings in a big pot of something that she cooked – she says she forgot the cheese, but Aaron doesn’t care. I don’t know what she made, but if the forgot cheese, it’s a failed dish. She’s casually drinking wine right in front of Aaron, which is a dick move, and he calls her on it. She doesn’t think that, as a recovering alcoholic, he should be bothered by booze in the house. Man, Tracy. How would you like it if he just started dancing and talking about how awesome it is to have both his legs?

In the FBI meeting room, an analyst is presenting findings to Mark, Stanford, Demetri, and Vreede. Vreede! I missed that big lug. They blew up the Suspect Zero video as much as they could and managed to get a detail from his ring – it’s the Greek letter Alpha. Mark asks why they can’t enhance his face, and the analyst gives a technical explanation that you don’t want me to bother with. Stanford isn’t thrilled that they don’t have more information. Finally, the NSA analyst admits that one of their group has been red-flagged. It’s Demetri! He received a call from a monitored phone. Specifically, the woman who called him and told him when he would die. Demetri demands more information and gets right up in the poor woman’s face.

And now, it’s back to Tokyo. Keiko is playing with a robotic arm in her cubicle, which officially makes her job one billion times better than mine. She looks up a video of Bob Dylan online, and air guitars along with “Shelter from the Storm”. You know what? I love Bob Dylan. But he’s not the guy I’d pick for a guitar solo. God love him, the odds of ol’ Bob making it into a Guitar Hero game are pretty slim. The nervous guy from the bathroom comes running up and says her boss needs her immediately. That guy’s entire job is to fetch Keiko.

She walks into a board meeting, and it suitably honored. Then the President of the company tells her to serve them tea. She’s the only woman in the department, so of course it’s her job. Now, is this really a thing in Japan, that only a woman can serve tea? Because I can’t tell if I’m supposed to be irritated at their culture, or if I’m supposed to think her boss is a douche. Whichever it is, she serves the tea. Cut to Bryce, drinking coffee and practicing Japanese with Nicole. She talks about how awesome it is that he’s in love with somebody doesn’t know. Or creepy.

Mark comes to see Aaron at an AA meeting. He tells Aaron about the text Olivia got, and says he only told two people that he was drinking in his Flash. Aaron gets the hint, and he lights into Mark for what he’s suggesting. Like, I understand Mark’s point, but Aaron’s his sponsor, and for him, that’s a sacred trust. Mark should know that. Plus, he knows damn well that Aaron’s dealing with some pretty serious stuff with Tracy. He flat out shouldn’t even be bringing it up now. Aaron tells him to get a new sponsor and walks out.

And with that, it’s back to Tokyo. For some reason, Tokyo looks exactly like Blade Runner. Keiko enters a tattoo parlor, where the guy has a tattoo needle that way more complex than it needs to be. She interrupts him to say that she wants a tattoo. He makes fun of her, because he’s apparently terrible at customer service.

Late at night, Mark stops by Stanford’s office to tell him that he got the copy of Demetri’s phone call. And because he doesn’t learn anything, he asks Stanford if maybe he send Olivia that text. Stanford’s the only other guy who knew that Mark was drunk, and Stanford, like Aaron before him, is beyond pissed that Mark would accuse him of tattling to his wife. Stanford kicks him the hell out of his office. Hey, Mark? Did it ever occur to you that somebody who saw you in their flash told Olivia? This is the kind of thing that should occur to you, you know.

Bryce visits the Japanese patient from earlier, and she is proud of how his second language is progressing. He shows the lady his drawing of Keiko, and the lady points out that, on her shirt, is the logo of a Tokyo sushi restaurant. So that’s assuming that Bryce got every detail right in his drawing. Plus, I am at this moment wearing an “Arkham Asylum” t-shirt, and yet you’d be unlikely to find me there. Anyway, Bruce thanks her for the help and walks out beaming. He runs into Olivia, who tried to get him into a clinical test for treatment. Bryce seems sold on the idea that, because he has something to live for, he’ll be OK. I’m not sure that meeting that special someone trumps cancer, Bryce. In fact, I’d say that having something to live for should impel you to take steps to make sure you keep on living. Olivia agrees with me, because she is awesome. There’s a cut, and Bryce is landing at the Tokyo airport.

Bryce visits the sushi restaurant, and his Japanese isn’t good enough to keep up. He shows the waiter his drawing of Keiko, and the waiter thinks he’s looking for a hooker. Hee. Finally, one of the chefs recognizes Keiko. Meanwhile, Keiko’s telling her mother that she quit her job. They are talking ridiculously fast. I think Keiko and her mother are the Japanese Gilmore Girls.

In the conference room, Demetri, Mark, and Vreede listen to the phone call again. Vreede analyzed the background noise and heard the “Symphony of Lights”, a song that plays every night in Hong Kong Harbor. Stanford doesn’t want to send them to China, though. He thinks it’s too politically volatile. Mark decides that they’re going whether or not Stanford authorizes it.

Bryce, and I think he’s going too far, knocks on Keiko’s door. Seriously, he knows that he will have met her by April 29. He’s getting a little bit too stalker for my tastes. Keiko’s mother says she has no idea who this is, which is the reasonable thing to do when a crazy-looking white guy shows up at the door with a pencil sketch of your daughter. Bryce calls Nicole to vent about how crappy he feels. Nicole tells him he needs to be patient, and it’s weird to find myself agreeing with her since I still think of her as Jane Sterling on Mad Men.

Aaron’s sitting at home looking glum. There’s a knock on the door. It’s Mark, and he wants to talk. He leads off with an apology, which is a good move. Aaron’s still pretty mad, and he’s frustrated that Tracy isn’t the person she used to be – she’s broken and he blames himself. Poor Aaron. He doesn’t think he can be Mark’s sponsor anymore, but he really needs a friend. Awww.

Bruce returns to Los Angeles, and unbeknownst to him, Keiko was on the same plane. We see some of her Flash, and we find out that they’re at a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles. Because what kind of person only eats at a place if she has a shirt with the logo? You know, Bryce’s entire story in this episode only works because he is an idiot. That’s very frustrating to me.

Next week: We finally get caught up – just in time for new episodes to start airing. Hey, you know a great way to build up interest in your show? Just knock off for 3 ½ months in the middle of the season!