When a pilot grabs the audience’s attention and makes them wonder, how did we get here, or how will we get here, the audience is likely to take the time to find the answers in the subsequent episode(s). These questions often arise when dealing with a narrative that does not use a traditional causality pattern such as non-linear storytelling. Put simply; non-linear storytelling is telling a story out of chronological order.

Pure non-linear storytelling is rare in television because it is common practice to use an ellipsis, omit narrative time, or to condense the time of a sequence of events through a montage. Another frequently used tool of non-linear storytelling is a flashback and its opposite a flash-forward in which present action is interrupted to show a past event or future event respectively. When done right television pilots utilize non-linear storytelling to efficiently pique audience interest in the series to come.

The pilot of Romance is a Bonus Book, “Volume 1,” (2019-) begins with a Cold Open in the past, based on the reflective narration of the main character, before we transition into the first act with a significant time jump of over a decade. Subsequently, viewers experience interesting montages, numerous ellipses, and flashbacks, as the story stylistically jumps from narrative present to narrative past multiple times. All of the non-linear storytelling within Romance is a Bonus Book serves the common theme of the main character reflecting on her past, while trying to change her present, to give herself a better future.

“Episode 1” of Memories of the Alhambra (2018-2019) does not only use flashbacks, flash-forwards, montages and ellipses throughout its duration; the bulk of the pilot is a flashback. There is a significant train ride that occurs within the first episode that has a set beginning and ending; the train sets off from one location and eventually reaches its destination. However, the bulk of “Episode 1” flashes back to events that occurred elsewhere, during that ellipsed train ride.

Memories of the Alhambra uses flashbacks, not to rehash information, but to show us something we didn’t already know, by choosing to continuously switch between and follow different characters’ storylines. Some flashbacks are clear and distinct, while others are only noticeable with analysis or a keen eye. All of which is in-line with the theme of the show that blurs the lines between reality and augmented reality in gaming.

Hymn of Death (2018-) clearly begins in 1926 with an opening sequence before jumping approximately five years into the past. From then on the episode moves forward in momentum with ellipses and montages towards the future. With the story set in the past, there is a theme of hopelessness regarding the future, which is already set. The use of time, through non-linear storytelling, is efficient, but the pace is not hurried. Instead, it is about experiencing and appreciating the journey.

Non-linear storytelling can also lend itself to the genre or the genre elements that a story is trying to bring forth. In the pilot for Good Girls (2018-) the non-linear storytelling is used at times for comedic effect and other times to heighten a dramatic or action-filled scene or sequence. The Good Girls pilot initially begins out of chronological order. So much information is delivered in the teaser, and after the title, we jump back and forth between where we left off in the teaser and the weeks leading up to the opening event.

Later the pilot eliminates the heavier manipulation of chronology to focus on the efficiency of ellipses only. The first episode of Good Girls continues to reveal twist after twist and heighten suspense with non-linear storytelling, which would have been nearly impossible with linear telling. Through cause and effect, a savvy viewer will see where the story leads early on.

Both the practicality and creativity that goes into non-linear storytelling is something to appreciate. I enjoy readily juxtaposing and immediately forming parallels between events and gaining greater insight that may have taken longer through a more traditional telling. Non-linear storytelling is an efficient way to deliver information to an audience while grasping and maintaining their attention and interest. These recent pilots, among countless others, utilize tools of non-linear storytelling (i.e., flashback, flash-forward, montage, ellipsis, etc.) to better serve the episode’s and series’ overall tone, theme(s) and style.

About the Author

Angela M. Thomas is a Writer and lifetime student of the classics and media arts as well as a Co-Founder & Administrator of The WODC.