The 4400 Blog

Written by Frederick Rappaport
Directed by Morgan Beggs

With only a few episodes left for the season, the writers are doing everything possible to avoid any sense of predictability. Matters are coming to a head, but week to week, the status quo appears to shift. This is a stark contrast to the third season, which succeeded using steady execution of a well-telegraphed plot arc. I have every reason to think that this season was equally well-conceived, but I’m finding it a lot harder to predict where the story will go next.

The title of the episode refers directly to the p-positive behind the attack on Drew Imroth’s software company. But the title pertains equally to Tom’s “marked” personality. The implanted personality drives much of the drama in the episode, enhancing the tension within NTAC more than the situation would otherwise suggest. Diana and Meghan take a little too long to figure out the problem, given their access to medical information, but a confrontation (both personal and professional) is on its way.

Two major plot elements spring to mind. First, the decision regarding Drew Imroth and his “marked” personality. This is an audacious move, to say the least, and one that would change the game even more than Tom’s conversion. There are questions of access, but this could lead to an unusual alliance between Tom and Shawn. Shawn is desperate to force the promicin genie back into its bottle, and he could find himself operating in Jordan’s moral territory if he continues down that road.

Meanwhile, there’s the second major plot element: Isabelle’s restored abilities. Assuming that the “Future Elite” did their job with the “kill switch”, Isabelle is once again a walking timebomb. She has a mission to destroy the powered, and if the restoration process worked, she has the means and opportunity. It’s more a question of motive. I think it’s just as possible that she’ll review her choices and elect to eliminate herself rather than kill Kyle.

All of this will likely converge in Promise City, as one would expect. Collier has abducted Kevin from Shawn’s facility, this halting the research that could prevent the deaths of thousands. Collier expects this to place the odds in his favor. Shawn is ready to bring Tess and his own followers on an assault of Promise City. Isabelle is already there on a mission of destruction, in perfect position to implement Tom’s plans. Even Maia has been drawn into the crucible, thus putting Diana’s personal stake in the situation if things explode (as they must).

More than ever, Shawn’s vision of the future, as seen at the end of the third season (“The Starzl Mutation”), appears to have long-term implications. Much of his vision played into the third season finale, yet elements seem to mesh equally well with the coming confrontation in Promise City and beyond. This is a great example of a talented writing staff. Given that the producers openly admit to adjusting the story each and every season, this kind of continuity is impressive.

I will reiterate what I’ve said before: with so little time left for the season, and no assurance of a fifth season pickup, the writers have left themselves quite a tangle. This episode manages to complicate matters further, or so it appears, so I have to wonder if two episodes will be enough. It would be a shame if this series came to an abrupt or rushed conclusion.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

With only a handful of episodes left for the season, the time had come for the season’s plot elements to pay off dividends. This installment only begins the fun, taking what could have been a predictable plot turn and standing it on its head.

The previous episode hinted at the emergence of Tom’s “marked” personality, and sure enough, that’s exactly what happens. Not only that, but a key member of the US intelligence community reveals herself to be one of the “marked” as well. Had the writers been thinking in more predictable, traditional terms, this revelation would have led to Tom’s apparent conversion and eventual restoration. In fact, that pattern is found so often that I was waiting for the moment when Tom would break the conditioning and come to his senses.

That reversion never happened, which gives the drama another massive boost. After all, Isabelle’s restoration was all but assured, so the writers had to find something unexpected to counter the predictability. Isabelle’s fate was practically a minor consideration compared to Tom’s character turn. It was clear that Isabelle would be “re-aged” from the very beginning, but Tom’s new personality is hard to anticipate.

Unlike this point in the third season, where the resolution of the season arc was relatively easy to predict, Tom’s situation opens up any number of possibilities. This solidifies Tom as Jordan’s opposite number with Shawn still caught in the middle. As one of the “marked”, Tom is actively working to eliminate the powered and maintain the control of the current (and future) Elite. Jordan has now made it clear that he wants to eliminate the “mundanes”, using promicin as a form of artificial selection for humanity’s evolution.

Shawn and Kevin have found a middle path, but Jordan makes the most obvious point. Creating a class system between the powered and the mundane will only serve to foment war. This brings up an interesting possibility. One might assume that the “marked” will be thwarted in the process of restoring Tom (if he is, in fact, restored), and that Jordan’s movement will meet a bloody end. Both philosophies are too extreme to work as a long-term solution to the conflict.

That leaves Shawn’s “middle path”, which could very well devolve into the future scenario that spawned the 4400 (and the “marked”) in the first place. That would be an interesting way to bring the series full circle. It would be a wonderful time travel paradox if the 4400 were created using the last remnants of the promicin left over from the victory of the mundanes over the powered decades earlier!

Kyle’s ability (which more and more seems to be a twist on the “marked”) seems to indicate that Shawn’s “middle path” is a threat to some final solution to the conflict, which lends credence to such speculation. The origins of the White Light cult have yet to be revealed, and even if Kyle was meant to build Jordan up as a messianic figure, there’s no certainty that Jordan’s success is Cassie’s true endgame. With so many balls still in the air, the writers have their work cut out for them.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Written by Ira Steven Behr and Amy Berg
Directed by Nick Copus

This episode begins the turn from the complication phase of the season arc towards resolution, and as one would expect, a number of issues come to the forefront. Richard’s return to the series is a major development, considering the effect on Isabelle, and the developments regarding Kevin and Tom appear to be important.

Richard’s plan to “de-age” Isabelle reveals something of a psychotic break on his part, since he’s acting more out of self-gratification than any concerns for his daughter. Until the end, he has little or no regard for her rights or feelings as an individual, and one could argue that her ability to make a clear decision had already been compromised in the end. Her current status is unlikely to hold, but it does open the door to some interesting changes for her character (quite possibly, the end of her allergy to promicin).

Richard also reveals something unseen to this point: a group of original 4400 independent of Jordan’s crusade and Shawn’s political movement. It makes sense that there would be a segment of the powered population eager to stay out of the limelight in every respect, but Richard’s actions could force that underground out of hiding. They may represent a wild card as events build to an inevitable clash at the end of the season.

Of course, the nature of that clash is still to be seen, and things will definitely change if Kevin’s research holds true. This episode poses the indirect argument that Tess and her mental health has prevented Kevin from making much progress. (Speaking of which, Summer Glau is growing up very well!) Kevin’s research may save thousands of lives, but it will also clearly identify a division within the human race: those who can gain power, those who cannot.

This could give scope to the future conflict at the heart of the series’ mythology. We know that the 4400 were originally developed by an oppressed group in the future, those kept out of power by a select “elite” ruling over the remnants of human civilization. These Future Elite were also the ones who seeded the past with “the marked”, working against the alterations to the timeline introduced by the 4400 and Jordan Collier. Could the Future Elite be those who, in the end, were unable to take promicin and therefore did everything possible to ensure that the powered were kept under control (or eliminated)?

This brings Tom directly into the conflict beyond his interest in Kyle’s situation. Evidence continues to mount that he has been “marked”, and that could place him in violent opposition to Jordan Collier, Shawn, and Kevin. The Future Elite might also see Richard and his current activities as a threat. His fragile relationships are already begging for trouble (especially his affair with Meghan); bring forced to act against his personal and professional interests could rip him apart. That gives the audience someone to identify with through all the changes, which is always an important consideration.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

Written by Adam Levy
Directed by Tony Westman

Every season of every show has a substandard episode, though some productions manage to keep the low points to a minimum (while others can fall into an extended slump). When it comes to “The 4400”, such slip-ups are rare. There’s usually enough story and creativity in hand to keep the momentum flowing. But every so often, there’s an episode that fails to live up to expectation.

In this case, it’s all about predictability. From the very beginning of the episode, it’s not hard to figure out that the “players” are in some kind of dream-world, and that a powered individual brought them into that world. It was obvious that Jordan Collier and Tom Baldwin would end up squaring off against each other, with Kyle in the middle. By the time all the characters in the “game” were revealed, it was obvious which one of them was responsible. It was also predictable that he would end up a “victim” as well, forcing Jordan and Tom to work together towards a solution.

In other words, this was an episode full of familiar tropes, and quite often, an exercise in waiting out the story to see if anything new or unusual would happen. The writers stacked the deck against themselves by making this tired plot device the center of a “bottle show” as well, raising the stakes on character exploration. Bottle shows are designed to keep the budget low, and the inevitable consequence is that the writing must overcome the lack of variety in the locations and plot threads.

By the end of the episode, very little has been advanced. Tom and Megan are getting closer to a relationship, but that had already been waiting in the wings, so this is an incremental step forward. Somewhat more significant is the personal battle of wills that has developed between Jordan and Tom, but this was also just acknowledgement of what “Try the Pie” accomplished. The final conversation was a lot of fun, but it was a bit of a letdown after so much predictable storytelling.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 5/10