The 4400: The Weight of the World
In “The Weight of the World,� The 4400 introduces us to Trent Applebaum (Robert Picardo), a unlucky telemarketer who finds himself ‘blessed’ with the gift of a metabolism-accelerating protein. By merely drinking after Applebaum, a mobster and his wife experience life-altering weight loss.
In the other strands of the episode, singer Chloe Granger (Noa Tishby) joins Collier after having read his book. Her entrance into the 4400 Center dismays Shawn and saddens Collier’s former flame and current assistant, Devon (Jody Thompson). Richard and Lilly hole up with a fellow 4400 member Eric (Glen Gould), and encounter David and Tara Kendrick (Colin Lawrence and Lucia Walters). Kyle attends a fraternity party and experiences black outs.
Called into investigate Applebaum, Tom and Diane discover that Applebaum hopes to sell his protein to the highest bidder, in the hopes of putting his daughter, Elise (Rhonda Dent), through college. As the millions begin to roll in, the terrible starvation that kicks in begins to take effect. Unfortunately, Elise wants to look thinner too—she is hardly overweight—and the compliments of others don’t matter.
Devon’s devotion to Collier crushes her, as he throws himself completely into his sexual relationship with Chloe; Richard enrages David Kendrick, who accuses him of having been an Uncle Tom, of having bowed and scraped his way into the cockpit in the 1950s; Kyle agrees to let his father help him but doesn’t reveal how he’s been feeling.
As usual, this episode explores how the returnees use their gifts, some for self-gain and others to benefit their communities. With the metabolism protein, Applebaum quickly turns to helping others superficially improve themselves—other outcomes are available. Wonderfully touching on image in multiple strands of the episode, self-image is relevant to Elise and her desire to look ‘good.’ It also becomes evident in David’s confrontation with Richard—what does it mean to really be black, to be strong, to be a man? Devon finds her self-worth in being desired by Collier and even admits to 'worshipping' him. And finally, the expectations of Shawn for Collier continue to fall: Collier doesn’t care about being altruistic, he’s only in it for himself, but Shawn still thinks he could represent himself better. What is our image? How do we decide what to do, act, or be like? Doesn’t it depend on where we came from, if we were created with design or by accident, with purpose or not?
The best part of this show (besides the constant search for how we’ll use our gifts) are the relationships between Richard and Lilly, Tom and Kyle, Diane and Maia, etc. How do we respond to tragedy, triumph, anger, and pain? What makes us work together and what drives us apart? The 4400 are ‘enhanced’ but they are still us. What would you do with your gift?
In the other strands of the episode, singer Chloe Granger (Noa Tishby) joins Collier after having read his book. Her entrance into the 4400 Center dismays Shawn and saddens Collier’s former flame and current assistant, Devon (Jody Thompson). Richard and Lilly hole up with a fellow 4400 member Eric (Glen Gould), and encounter David and Tara Kendrick (Colin Lawrence and Lucia Walters). Kyle attends a fraternity party and experiences black outs.
Called into investigate Applebaum, Tom and Diane discover that Applebaum hopes to sell his protein to the highest bidder, in the hopes of putting his daughter, Elise (Rhonda Dent), through college. As the millions begin to roll in, the terrible starvation that kicks in begins to take effect. Unfortunately, Elise wants to look thinner too—she is hardly overweight—and the compliments of others don’t matter.
Devon’s devotion to Collier crushes her, as he throws himself completely into his sexual relationship with Chloe; Richard enrages David Kendrick, who accuses him of having been an Uncle Tom, of having bowed and scraped his way into the cockpit in the 1950s; Kyle agrees to let his father help him but doesn’t reveal how he’s been feeling.
As usual, this episode explores how the returnees use their gifts, some for self-gain and others to benefit their communities. With the metabolism protein, Applebaum quickly turns to helping others superficially improve themselves—other outcomes are available. Wonderfully touching on image in multiple strands of the episode, self-image is relevant to Elise and her desire to look ‘good.’ It also becomes evident in David’s confrontation with Richard—what does it mean to really be black, to be strong, to be a man? Devon finds her self-worth in being desired by Collier and even admits to 'worshipping' him. And finally, the expectations of Shawn for Collier continue to fall: Collier doesn’t care about being altruistic, he’s only in it for himself, but Shawn still thinks he could represent himself better. What is our image? How do we decide what to do, act, or be like? Doesn’t it depend on where we came from, if we were created with design or by accident, with purpose or not?
The best part of this show (besides the constant search for how we’ll use our gifts) are the relationships between Richard and Lilly, Tom and Kyle, Diane and Maia, etc. How do we respond to tragedy, triumph, anger, and pain? What makes us work together and what drives us apart? The 4400 are ‘enhanced’ but they are still us. What would you do with your gift?
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)
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