The 4400 - The Complete First Season
by David Straiton, Helen Shaver, Nick Gomez, Tim Hunter, Yves Simoneau
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Actor: Jacqueline McKenzie, Joel Gretsch, Laura Allen, Mahershala Ali, Patrick John FluegerDirector: David Straiton, Helen Shaver, Nick Gomez, Tim Hunter, Yves Simoneau
Brand: Paramount
Writer: Craig Sweeny
Writer: Ira Steven Behr
Writer: René Echevarria
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 256 minutes
Published: 2004-12-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-21
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The 4400 - The Complete First Season
DVD Review: Iffy, but promising
Summary: 3 Stars
While I didn't get into it at first for whatever reason, when a friend of mine loaned me season one of The 4400 on DVD I figured I'd bite, and I must say I wish I had been watching from the beginning. This first season certainly isn't on the level of the debut seasons of, say, The Shield or The Sopranos, but it does present some interesting twists on the sci-fi format it initially appears to belong to. In actuality, The 4400 is sort of a sci-fi/drama/mystery hybrid, and while it suffers a little bit from some hackneyed dialogue and not-so-special effects, The 4400 is still a mostly intelligent show whose steadily unfolding mysteries and shifting character dynamics make it more than worth tuning into. The plot, as the title suggests, goes thusly: 4400 people, randomly abducted without a trace in various times and places, suddenly return in a ball of light in suburban Seattle, uninjured, dressed as they were when they disappeared, and with no memory whatsoever of what happened while they were gone. That's not to say they haven't been profoundly changed during their trip, as several of the returnees start manifesting new and superhuman abilities right after they get back, and one woman finds herself pregnant with no logical explanation. Naturally, the returnees have to face a world where a lot's changed but a lot has stayed the same as well, as the general public is no more rational or tolerant than it was before, and returning to society presents them with all kinds of problems. This first season follows the efforts of some of the 4400, with the government's help, to get integrated back into society even as it becomes clear there's something different about them that won't make it easy.
The show's emphasis on the paranormal definitely gives it an X-Files-like feel, but it never follows a freak-of-the-week format, as its stand-alone plots are always integrated into the master narrative, and its sociological aspects are more comparable to the X-Men movies than anything else. For a mere five episodes (including a two-hour pilot), the show does manage to cram in a lot of plotlines that nicely mix personal drama with social and political intrigue. The pilot episode was a little rough-the direction and production values are similar to those of, well, a TV movie, and the writing produces a few howlers-but it does set the stage for its stories of people returning to a changed world and facing the changes in themselves, and those who are forgiving enough to keep watching will be rewarded with increasing returns on the show's intriguing premise. The pilot makes the first intimations of special powers among the returnees, ranging from telekinesis to clairvoyance, and later episodes start exploring the connections and meaning behind these new gifts as a grand design starts to emerge. It quickly becomes apparent that the 4400 were taken and returned for a reason, with single-episode plots exploring the ripple effects that result from the returnees' actions while the Feds try to connect the dots.
The show's two main characters-Homeland Security agents Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris-are basically variations on Agents Mulder and Scully, but both do eventually manage to emerge as interesting characters. Initially, Tom's the intense, emotional family-man type, while Diana is the perpetually single, married-to-the-job type, but they each evolve over the course of the season as their investigations reveal new details behind the 4400's cases and their deeper implications. They both have also clear emotional attachments to the work they're doing-Tom's nephew was taken and his son left in a three-year coma; Diana takes mildly creepy clairvoyant eight-year-old Maia into her apartment-and as the season goes on the intermingling of their professional and private lives becomes increasingly complicated by events.
Beyond the domestic drama, though, the show works largely because it's plugged into the atmosphere of fear and suspicion that accompanies the unknown. The 4400 have come back as suddenly as they disappeared, under mysterious circumstances and with new powers, and naturally people's curiosity eventually gives way to media-driven fearmongering and anger at governmental secrecy, especially when a returned serial killer picks up his murder spree after a twenty-year absence. Obviously there are some parallels to be made with the events of today as fears of immigration and terrorism have produced all kinds of craziness and overblown rhetoric (some of it justified, some not), but the hatred and prejudice the 4400 create speaks to something that goes beyond any one time, place or issue. Sometimes it's as personal as it is political, as when Tom's nephew Shawn has to face life as a returnee in high school (which sucked enough on its own, as I recall) along with the animosity of his resentful younger brother. Sometimes it's a mixture of both, as when inexplicably pregnant Lily and her black ex-combat pilot boyfriend find themselves welcomed by returned real-estate tycoon Jordan Collier and quickly start to question the motives behind his friendliness.
I've heard season two sort of fulfills the promise of season one, but since I'm pretty sure I have to give this one back before I can get it I probably won't know for a while. Based on what I've seen, though, it's highly plausible that this brief season (really more akin to a miniseries than anything else) could be the setup for something better. Once some of the early kinks (overwritten dialogue, weak production values, occasionally melodramatic acting) were ironed out and the main narrative started picking up steam, I for one found myself intrigued about what would happen next. Fortunately, it appears the story is far from over.
Description of The 4400 - The Complete First Season
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