Abuse of the Flashback Technique

The flashback is a literary plot device that allows the depiction of events that occurred before the beginning of the narrative. Its primary purpose is to clarify a hitherto unexplained part of the plot and its secondary purpose is to add a bit of suspense and mystery to the literary work. Over time, it has been employed for other purposes such as depicting a false account of events as narrated by one of the characters. In the very recent movie, Vantage Point (2008), it was used to depict accurate but different perspectives of the same event thereby creating a sense of mystery. It has also been used in many TV series but of late, I feel the technique is being over-used, abused and excessively relied upon.