Wondering if FlashForward is lost (or Lost) on Thursdays is meant to have a double-edged resonance.

On one hand, there’s the expectation among cult-TV followers that FlashForward, a provocative and at times spectacular head-trip that conjures up myriad metaphysical and existential mysteries, could be ABC’s next Lost, a mind-bending sensation that breaks all the rules. On the other hand, there’s the fear that ABC is asking too much of this dense, dark drama, thrusting it into the overcrowded lion’s den of Thursday night, already home to such offbeat genre favorites as Supernatural, Fringe and, in the same 8/7c time period, the CW’s new breakout The Vampire Diaries. The real question may be: Will this get lost on Thursdays?

Tonight’s pilot episode certainly pulls out the stops, as the entire planet is plunged into an apocalyptic disaster-movie scenario when the world’s population simultaneously blacks out for 2 minutes, 17 seconds (random much?) and gives them a glimpse into a very specific future: April 10, 2010 (which happens to be on a Thursday, so mark your calendar for a Very Special Episode).

Even as they cope with the instant calamity, with images reminiscent of 9/11—and one, involving a kangaroo on a city street, reminiscent of Lost (the polar bear)—and as they try to figure out what just happened and why, the characters also begin to recover, in flashes, their “memories” of events that have yet to occur—some hopeful, some alarming, some just puzzling. The “big questions” of fate and predestination come soon after. To wit, is this a fixed future? Or, as one observer muses, “Maybe because you saw it, you can change it.” (And what if you didn’t see anything? How spooky is that?)

The comparisons with Lost are only natural, but there’s a big tonal difference. While Lost began with its own cataclysmic disaster, the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, and introduced us to an island of great mystery, the sensational two-hour pilot (still a model of its kind) was also grand entertainment. There was a simplicity and undeniable escapist pull to Lost’s early days, with instantly fascinating and appealing characters revealing themselves slowly through absorbing flashbacks. In short, we loved Lost before it began screwing with our minds (with Dharma, the Others, the time-tripping and so on).

With FlashForward, there’s little time to feel anything for this murkier assortment of characters—including FBI agents, doctors (one who’s suicidal even before the Big Event) and assorted civilians—before we’re confronted with this bizarre conundrum and its psychological, spiritual and emotional fallout.

It’s all very compelling, but obviously, embracing FlashForward will require quite a leap of faith. And therein lies another problem. Even critics and fans who are intrigued (as I am) by the often riveting pilot—which ends on a whopper of a cliffhanger twist—can’t help projecting a bit into our own future, one that’s informed by a past that’s littered with ambitious pilot episodes that ultimately didn’t measure up.

Having been through this before, it’s hard not to wonder if FlashForward is indeed the next Lost or if it’s merely the next The Nine, a short-lived 2006 series that many considered the best pilot of its fall season, but which ultimately felt as if it would have been better off as a movie or miniseries, unable to sustain a series’ long run.

By the end of the FlashForward pilot, all we know is what we don’t know. We have yet to meet characters played by top talent like Lost veteran Dominic Monaghan and recent Emmy winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (24). There’s no way to tell from the pilot what a regular episode, if there is such a thing, will even feel like. As I said, a leap of faith.

Which is what ABC is exhibiting by recklessly throwing it into this ridiculously overstuffed night of TV. Thursdays are home to big hits (CSI, The Mentalist, Grey’s Anatomy), critical hits (30 Rock, The Office and, by most accounts, the new comedy Community) enduring crowd-pleasers (Survivor, Bones) and cult sensations (the previously mentioned Supernatural, Fringe and The Vampire Diaries).

Is there room for one more? We’ll soon find out. I just hope ABC is patient enough so that those who get hooked will at least be able to follow the story through to next April 10, if not beyond. Time, a very important character in this topsy-turvy show, will tell.