The 4400: Season One

In the first season of the The 4400 miniseries on USA, a group of 4400 who disappeared or apparently died mysteriously over the last 50 years, suddenly appear as a group. Their appearance causes havoc as the communities in which they re-enter are not completely receptive—Homeland Security also attempts to study the 4400 to determine where they went…and why they are back.

Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) and Diana Skouris (Jaqueline Mckenzie) are the two Homeland Security, specializing in National Threat Assessment Command, who are put on assignment. The catch: Tom’s son Kyle (Chad Faust) has been in a coma since Tom’s nephew, Shawn Ferrell (Patrick Flueger) disappeared, and Shawn has now returned as a member of the 4400.

As the two NTAC agents explore the circumstances, they discover that the 4400 have reappeared with powers beyond those of ‘ordinary’ humans. One man, Carl Morrissey (David Eigenberg) begins a one-man battle against crime in his town; another man returns to his serial killing (with a twist) twenty years after his disappearance; a small girl, Maia Rutledge (Conchita Campbell) shows signs of pre-cognizant behavior, i.e. the ability to predict the future; a twenty-something woman, Lily Moore (Laura Allen) senses danger like “Spidey sense� and is drawn to fellow 4400 member, Richard Tyler (Mahershallhashbaz Ali) igniting a interracial relationship.

Baldwin and Skouris race from conflict-to-conflict around these characters, while dealing with their own battles. Sean has the power to give and take life, estranging him from his brother, Danny (Kaj-Erik Eriksen), and drawing him closer to Danny’s girlfriend. Skouris grows closer to Maia and attempts to protect her from the persecution that the 4400 experience.

The first season accelerated to a climax as the work of Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell), works to unite the 4400 (he seems to make a good amount of money doing this…) and other forces lash out against them. Baldwin breaks Kyle out of containment after Shawn ends his comatose state and they race ahead of the other NTAC officers back to the place that Kyle first became comatose.

((SPOILER ALERT: Kyle is hit by a beam of light and speaks to Tom as the voice of the 4400’s “abductors.� The 4400 were taken by humans to the future for the purpose of saving humanity. Humans had warred and otherwise destroyed themselves and the 4400 were sent back to try to divert the destruction. Tom is told that he is supposed to help the 4400 complete their mission and then the ‘transmission’ is cut short as Kyle is shot by a NTAC officer. He is ‘healed’ but he no longer possesses the ability to speak for the future.))

Is there theological import in this science fiction? Throughout the series, Baldwin and Skouris find that the impacts of the returnees has a ripple effect. While the 4400 are not all positive (one is a serial killer!), but the actions that the 4400 take, using their newfound powers all have a positive effect. By the end of the first season, the answer to who took the 4400 is made clear as well as the why but will the 4400 accept this mission? Tom and Diane are obviously drawn into a compassionate response; Richard and Lily experience good and bad reactions to their mixed racial relationship; Jordan Collier shows himself to be a philanthropist and a jerk; Shawn has the power over life and death. How would you use the power to heal or tell the future? Would you use it for the benefit of the community or for the good of yourself?

REVIEWS
—The 4400: Life, Interrupted (on blog)
— The 4400: As Fate Would Have It (on blog)
—The 4400: Suffer the Children (on blog) ok
—The 4400: The Weight of the World (on blog)
—The 4400: Voices Carry (on blog)
—The 4400: Season 2, Wake Up Call (on blog)
—The 4400: Season One (on blog)