The 4400

The 4400
USA Network Television
www.usanetwork.com/series/
the4400
a kate west favorite









Now in its fourth season, USA's prominent sci-fi show, "The 4400", is still a cool idea. 4400 people were abducted by aliens and inexplicably returned to earth. They were all frozen in their respective time periods, so as a result did not age until they came back and their eras of origin range from different decades in the 1900's through the present.

The Department of Homeland Security makes an ominous appearance, in the form of The National Threat Assessment Command (NTAC). Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris (Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie, pictured above) are the main NTAC agents who keep track of the displaced 4400. They're supposed to be the bad guys, but are often torn in their compassion towards the returned Earthlings. The main reason they need to be so bureaucratic is due to the uncanny and amazing new abilities every 4400 seems to have developed. And that could well prove a national security risk. Diana actually adopts one of them, Maia (Conchita Campbell), who can foresee the future. Granted, some of the 4400 do go bad and that's why nothing is ever completely black and white, but things are more grey, or rather alien green, much like the Promicin injections that render regular non-abductees into superior beings. Every 4400 produces a fifth neurotransmitter called Promicin that enables him or her to use parts of his/her cerebellum that no human has used before and this has been cleverly distilled into a drug to use on the rest of us.

Adding to the difficulties is the emergence of a 4400 Messiah, Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell). He dies, is resurrected and comes back wanting the whole world to take Promicin so that everyone can experience 4400 abilities. Unfortunately, some civilians have bad reactions and end up dead. Tom and Diana can barely keep up with each new case. That, and Isabel Tyler, (Megalyn Echiunwoke) is a scary new kind of post- 4400 with destructive powers bent on thwarting both sides of the war. It all escalates throughout the seasons until surprising developments come to pass. Shawn Farrell's (Patrick Flueger) gift of healing is cool, as is Richard Tyler's (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) telekinesis.

Season One and Two are the strongest so far, but for sci-fi nerds, it's still an intriguing show. This show works better than the wildly popular "Heroes" in that there is certain logic in the supernatural origins of its characters. We know why they are the way they are - they were made special by aliens.

The show was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria and is set in Seattle (filmed in Vancouver). The opening credits explain the show pefectly and one of the few you might not want to fast forward through. The catchy theme song is "A Place in Time", written by Robert Phillips and Tim Paruskewitz, and performed by Amanda Abizaid. You won't be able to get it out of your head.


Tom Baldwin — Joel Gretsch
Diana Skouris — Jacqueline McKenzie
Richard Tyler — Mahershalalhashbaz Ali
Lily Moore Tyler — Laura Allen
Shawn Farrell — Patrick Flueger
Nikki Hudson — Brooke Nevin
Isabelle Tyler — Megalyn Echikunwoke
Danny Farrell — Kaj-Erik Eriksen
Maia Skouris — Conchita Campbell
Kyle Baldwin — Chad Faust
Nina Jarvis — Samantha Ferris
Alana Mareva — Karina Lombard
Dennis Ryland — Peter Coyote
Jordan Collier — Billy Campbell
Meghan Doyle — Jenni Baird
April Skouris — Natasha Gregson Wagner
Kevin Burkhoff — Jeffrey Combs
Matthew Ross — Garret Dillahunt
Marco Pacella — Richard Kahan
Tess Doerner — Summer Glau
Cassie Dunleavy — Tristen Leffler


The 4400 - The Complete First Season