The 4400 Blog

Written by Bruce Miller
Directed by Morgan Beggs

Thus far, the season is designed to prove out the claim by the producers that the third season will focus more on the mythology.  The first two episodes were one big story, there was one connected stand-alone episode, and now we’re into another two-episode arc.  That’s a huge chunk of the first half of the season, so they’re not playing games.

It’s notoriously hard to review the first part of any two-episode story without seeing the resolution ahead of time, so I won’t be dwelling on too many items of speculation.  There’s every reason to think that “Gone: Part II” will answer the big questions raised in this episode, especially in terms of the true purpose of Maia’s abduction.

The abduction itself, and the reasons given for the “adjustment” to the plans of the “future humanity”, bring up an interesting point.  As I’ve noted in the past, Dr. Burkhoff’s recent experiments with the modified promycin could begin a progression that leads to the catastrophe requiring the 4400 in the first place.  Just based on the information provided before this episode, one is left to wonder if the “future humanity” missed the obvious.  Could the 4400 themselves be the source of the catastrophe, in some kind of self-fulfilling time paradox?  (As a minor point of speculation, one could wonder if this “adjustment” is, in fact, a trigger point.)

One of the interesting aspects of the episode is the long-range effect of this future technology.  If the “future humanity” chooses to intercede in the complex conflicts of the “present”, it adds a wild card into the mix.  One would imagine that the current crisis will resolve itself by the end of the second half of the story, but is that necessarily the case?  Wouldn’t this be one way to alter the status quo?  The question is whether or not anyone would be aware that the timeline had changed.  It’s bad enough when everyone has to worry about the Nova Group and interpersonal politics; it’s a lot worse when agents from the future can act against all of them without interference.

The internal politics at the 4400 Center are getting painful, but it a good way.  Richard has always been there to help Sean, especially at the end of the second season, so there’s reason to believe that his motives are sincere.  Matthew, on the other hand, clearly has an agenda, even if it’s still not clear.  I got the feeling from “The New World” that he was acting against Jordan Collier’s interests, but he also seems to be working against the Nova Group.  Whatever the case, it’s clear that he has some goal in mind.

If we continue with the “X-Men” analogy, it seems as though Matthew is unleashing a hint of the “Dark Phoenix” within Isabelle.  I like the fact that Isabelle continues to wear green as a signature color; it fits into the idea that she is the “Phoenix”-analogue.  Watch for her to start wearing red and black as her personality shifts into a more violent mode.  I fully expect that Sean and Richard power-sharing will be enormously complicated by Sean’s relationship with Isabelle, and that the relationship will also factor into her turn towards violence, if it does indeed happen.  But the main point is this: Isabelle’s lack of proper maturation leaves her vulnerable to extreme shifts in mood, and also without a clearly defined sense of morality.

It’s always fun to see how Tom and Diana are caught between the demands of their position at NTAC and their relationship to the 4400.  NTAC is always worried about the possibility that they will be compromised by their personal connections and allegiances, and some among the 4400 see them as snakes in the grass.  I continue to think that extreme elements on both sides are losing sight of the utility of such natural diplomats.

(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”.  Recent episodes are related to “The 4400”, so it might be something of interest .  Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com if you want to listen!)

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10

Written by Shintaro Shimosawa and James Morris
Directed by Colin Bucksey

In a sense, this episode is a melding of the “4400 of the Week” format of the first and second seasons and the renewed focus on the series mythology that stands to define the third season.  By connecting the new 4400 in this episode to the Nova Group, the writers manage to keep the overall narrative flowing while exploring the specific difficulties in dealing with a meta-human able to change appearance at will.

I’ll be honest: I think that the execution of this particular idea didn’t go far enough.  It was a solid enough concept, and the episode didn’t necessarily have much wrong with it, but it seemed less involved than I would have anticipated.  For one thing, the manhunt for Tom seemed rather thin, and it was a little too easy for Diana to run around without oversight.  Just the fact that she could help Tom, deal with the boss, and still have time to work with Burkhoff is a bit of a cheat.

The central plot is fairly simple: the Nova Group decides to eliminate a member in custody and implicate one of the more prominent members of the NTAC team in the process.  Oddly, they choose to frame Tom, despite the fact that he is one of the NTAC agents with clear sympathies for the 4400.  Why eliminate a potential resource like that?  But that’s part of what Alana points out in the episode: the Nova Group continues to use methods that undermine their own philosophy.  If they seek to place the needs and purpose of the 4400 over all else, using their own people as expendable soldiers makes little sense.

At the heart of Boyd’s ability is the hint of something more than shape-shifting.  In essence, Boyd projects a mental image that convinces the “victim” that he is who he says he is.  This seems to include a mental connection deep enough to establish something of a telepathic link.  Boyd is able to pull details and information from the “victim”, which speaks to an enormous untapped potential.

Speaking of untapped potential, Isabelle and Dr. Burkhoff are on two different sides of the 4400 coin.  Dr. Burkhoff has been taking serious liberties with the ideals of research science, and frankly, Diana is nuts to be letting this happen on her watch.  She has to know she’s compromised morally, even if Burkhoff is rather insistent.  Burkhoff’s ideas about changing the world aren’t so far removed from Nova Group rhetoric, and that could be a problem if he succeeds.  (Again, hints that this will lead to the catastrophic events that require the 4400 in the first place.)  But the ongoing implication is that the promycin is unlocking the latent abilities within every human being.

If so, Isabelle seems to have the potential to demonstrate all possible 4400 abilities, which is disturbing on many levels.  To continue the “X-Men” analogy, Isabelle is not unlike the Phoenix (right down to the signature sexy green outfit).  She has enormous potential, but emotionally and psychologically, she’s on thin ice.  She’s using her abilities for questionable but trivial things right now, but I can’t help but wonder how quickly that will change.  Matthew seems to think that Isabelle could become the standard-bearer for the Nova Group philosophy, basically putting her at odds with Sean.  By pushing her into Sean’s arms, Matthew may be trying to facilitate that.
I have no doubt that the writers are still working out the process of incorporating the episodic elements into this more serialized format, so it’s easy to forgive some of the stumbling in the plotting of this episode.  While Tom’s decisions are questionable, Diana seems to have far more latitude than the circumstances should allow.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Written by Ira Steven Behr and Frederick Rappaport
Directed by Vincent Misiano

It’s been quite a few months since “The 4400” was airing new episodes, and in the meantime, it feels like the writing staff actually listened to some of the fan response from the second season.  In particular, it’s almost as though they listened to everything I was saying and changed things accordingly.  Granted, the plot threads all pointed in the right direction, but I can still crow a little bit, right?

Perhaps the most obvious and well-timed change is this shift towards a more familiar dynamic.  Those who remember the classic “X-Men” or more recent “Rising Stars” comic books probably recognize and appreciate the current themes at play.  In particular, with nothing to inhibit the natural escalation of their powers, the surviving 4400s are discovering that they are more powerful than humanity ever imagined.  Some of them are using that power to help, but others are going full-out Brotherhood of Evil Mutants on the world.

To some, this may seem simple, but it places the characters into some rather complex conflict scenarios.  From an external point of view, there are four camps, all more or less vying for control of the 4400 and their future.  There’s the division within NTAC, which is representative of the division within the human population: some want to help the 4400 integrate and make their promised impact, while others want to eliminate or control the 4400.  Among the 4400, there’s Jordan Collier’s foundation and Sean’s attempt to keep its ideals afloat, and then there’s the Nova Group, which has taken a more proactive approach to ensuring that the 4400 control their own destinies.  All the characters are caught in this larger chess game, which allows for fascinating character arcs.

Internally, Tom and Diana continue to struggle with the reality that they are, in a certain sense, compromised.  Alana is portrayed as someone helping Tom cope with his emotional stress, but one could easily interpret that as a means of control in and of itself.  Diana cannot deal with the larger issues posed by the 4400 without considering the effect on Maia.  It continues to place them in the center of the storm.

The 4400 themselves struggle with the loss of the promycin inhibitor.  Some find it remarkably liberating, since they now have more power and better control.  Others (like Richard) have discovered that their abilities are a lot harder to control, especially when emotions run high.  It could be interesting for a future episode to explore the ramifications of a powerful 4400 losing control over his or her abilities, thus becoming a potential threat.  Imagine how each faction would choose to respond.  (And that’s right out of the “X-Men” playbook, I admit, but I think it would be fascinating on this more “human” level.)

Sean is in a particularly troublesome place, and his emerging relationship with Isabelle could go in any number of troubling directions.  Isabelle herself is probably going to be fairly unstable, and if she’s as powerful as she seems to be, the growing conflict could center on control over her future.  Isabelle’s development has already been deadly (Lily’s death was a shocking but logical progression of the story), and it could bring up a lot more questions about the methods and choices of the “future humanity” that created the 4400 in the first place.

Similarly, Dr. Burkhoff’s experiments with the modified promycin will no doubt lead to his future success as the father of the 4400 (in the usual temporal paradox fashion), but it may also lead to the circumstances that required the creation of the 4400 in the first place.  What if an early version of the promycin booster turns out to have long-term side effects, but they don’t show up until a significant percent of the human population has already tried to alter their DNA to become one of the special ones?

Despite the two-hour length and the massive amount of plot and character material to cover, this was a strong and well-paced premiere.  It actually felt like it should have been a bit longer, which speaks to the depth of the narrative.  There’s enough happening that the remaining 11 episodes of the summer season could be jam-packed with plot and character arcs.  The producers did indicate that the series mythology was going to be the focus, but time will tell.  If it does center on the rich array of conflicts, it should be more than worth the long wait.

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

Final Rating: 8/10