Flash Forward:

Unlike it's mirror-image, "Double Bill", in "Just Friends" we perceive a genuine threat to a possible union of Tucker and Becca: Christine. Unlike Scott Stuckey or Gooch or Kerry Rogers or Darby, people we know that Becca and Tucker are not going to end up with (for long, anyway), the pairing of Christine and Tucker actually makes sense, and is a real potential long-term threat to Tucker and Becca remaining best friends. (If it did happen, it is easy to imagine Becca falling under the increasing sway of Maxine, while Tucker and Christine drift away from her.) No wonder Becca's head looks like it will explode throughout most of this episode! Still, for the good of her friends, Becca is even willing to sacrifice her own deep feelings for Tucker's and Christine's happiness. Beyond that, this episode also provides greater insight into the character of Horace James, and some amusing interactions between the various characters.

This would actually be my favorite episode of all except for the awkward (and cursory) handling of Tucker's and Christine's reaction to the revelation of their "coupledom". Based on what we've seen previously in the episode, and based on the fact that Tucker and Christine seem to have been spending days together by themselves (and having a lot of fun together), it seems implausible to me that Tucker and Christine would really be so dismissive of the idea of a romance between them. (Especially after Christine says to Becca, "We're kind of in a groove now..."; could any adolescence girl (or boy) says these words without there being at least some romantic subtext?!). Indeed, it seems unlikely to me that the idea would not have occurred to either Christine or Tucker at least once over the course of this episode. After all, Becca is giving both of them the brush-off, and both are discovering that they have much more in common then they ever would have thought. Is dating such a strange concept in light of all this?! Still, this is a relatively small stain on an otherwise excellent episode.

But aside from the humor, this episode is noteworthy for the believable and organic way it handles the eventual union of Tucker and Becca, thus tying up (most of) the loose ends of the series. This is best exemplified by the scene with the critical conversation over the phone, where we discover that Tucker and Becca have both had crushes on each other at various times throughout their lives (just never at the same time before!). This conceit works because this would likely be the case in real life, thus making the final resolution totally believable. (Further evidence of this is provided previously by the awkward final scene between Becca and Tucker when they halfheartedly try and laugh off the idea of the two of them as a "couple" at the end of "Just Friends".) In addition, the way this particular scene, and indeed this whole episode, plays out on screen is also very touching.

All of this leads us directly to the final scene of the episode which wraps up "Flash Forward" in remarkable fashion. Based on the events in this episode (and especially throughout the entire run of the series itself!), the eventual resolution we get at the end of "Curtain Call" is totally logical and incredibly satisfying! Bravo!