The 4400: Season Three

One of the greatest things about Science Fiction is its ability to comment on our current social and political scene without being overly preachy. A series like USA’s ‘The 4400’ is such a piece of sci-fi. While it tackles such things as fear of people who are different, deceptive government officials and covert military activities, it does so in a completely entertaining fashion. The acting is excellent, the storylines pull you in and for once there is some science fiction that relies on talent instead of special effects. This is a human story that employs the sci-fi aspects as a setting more than the centerpiece of the action. Sure, there are people with fantastic super powers but the plots and machinations that drive the action are completely human.

The third season picks up shortly after the events of season two. Now that it has been discovered that the government was secretly administering medication to block the source of the 4400’s abilities, a neurotransmitter called promicin, all of the returnees have begun to manifest powers. The National Threat Assessment Command, NTAC, now has to cope with the growing 4400 abilities as well as increasing fear of these people by the general population. In response to this paranoia a radical splinter group breaks away from the main 4400 population, the Nova Group. They are dedicated to the use of any tactics, including domestic terrorism, to secure their own safety and agenda. The promicin scandal has lead to a general mistrust of the government even though some like NTAC agents Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) and his partner Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie) are not only protectors of the 4400 they have family among them.

Even among the more mainstream 4400s things are not going very well. With the founder of the 4400 Foundation, Jordan Collier (Bill Campbell) still missing Tom’s nephew Shawn Farrell (Patrick Flueger) is nominally in charge. Actually, behind the scenes is the ever duplicitous and Machiavellian assistant, Matthew Ross (Garret Dillahunt). Things get complicated when one of the 4400 Richard Tyler (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) notices that both his wife Lilly (Laura Allen) and their baby Isabelle (Megalyn Echikunwoke) are aging at an accelerated pace. Lilly quickly dies of old age but Isabelle morphs into a beautiful young woman with almost limitless power including indestructibility. She begins a romantic relationship with Shawn that makes Glenn Close in ‘Fatal Attraction’ look like a grade school crush. The plot becomes even more complicated when neuroscientist Kevin Burkhoff (Jeffrey Combs) begins to mutate after experimenting with promicin on himself; trying to induce 4400 powers. The military is also in the promicin game attempting to create a race of super soldiers.

Not only is a war brewing in the present between the 4400s and the government but in the futures two factions appear to be clashing over control of the past. Tom learns that a group opposed to the creators of the 4400 has planted someone in our timeline to derail the purpose of the 4400. Isabelle is pivotal to this plot and must be stopped although she is the most powerful human alive. With all this going on we can’t forget religious zealots. When Jordan comes back just about literally from the dead he becomes the nucleus of a new 4400 based religion. Unlike the pseudo religious overtones of the 4400 foundation now Jordan is a new age messiah for the disenfranchised of the world. The lamentable Tom just wants to have a life with his 4400 wife, Alana Mareva (Karina Lombard) and Diana desires little more than to provide a normal life for adopted daughter Maia (Conchita Campbell), a young 4400 who can see the future. But since they are all deep in all the plots that abound that doesn’t seem very likely at all.

When you sit down to write out the numerous plots in this series it may seem overly complicated. The success of the series lies in the fact that all the pieces fit together perfectly. This is a wonderfully constructed series that pulls you in. There are aspects of the story that are ‘ripped from the headlines’ like domestic terrorism and religious fervor but they are not so heavy handed as to be too overt in their presentation. One of the best things about this season is the moral ambiguity of many of the characters and factions. There are no real lines of demarcation between right and wrong; it is more a matter of perspective. For example take the Nova Group. Their government has implemented a plot to suppress their abilities but the covert administration of a drug. This goes right to the heart of the controversy of whether is alright to protect the population from people that just happen to be different even if no crime has been committed. The former head of NTAC, Dennis Ryland (Peter Coyote) is no working for a large, multination corporation as well as the U.S. military; nothing like the good old military-industrial complex for a good story line. At the foundation of the story is something that the audience can readily identify with, family. Characters like Tom, Diana and Richard are just parents wanting to keep their children safe. Although they circumstances are incredibly out of the range of the normal their motivations are something that can create an emotional bond with the audience. The one downside is the producers make us wait about ten months between seasons so it is great that we get the DVD of the last season to get back into the mindset of the series. Instead of dolling out the mysterious in a painfully slow manner the 13 episodes here are paced to keep the interest growing. Sure, there is a slight touch of the soap opera motif here but like any good representative of that genre it draws you in.

Prior to this series most of the cast may have been largely unknown but they represent an incredible pool of talent. Joel Gretsch is just right as the ‘every man’, a husband and father that the audience can identify with but also capable of being the good old fashion action hero when he has to. I have been a fan of Jacqueline McKenzie for years, every since I saw her in the Australian independent film, ‘Under the Lighthouse Dancing’. She gives her character a quite strength that sells the role. There is something similar with the performance of Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as Richard. He plays his character as an unassuming man who is trapped by circumstances. He gets to play one of the most interesting archetypes in fiction, the reasonable man pushed by unreasonable conditions. As the adult Isabelle actress Megalyn Echikunwoke gets one of the more layered roles in the series. She starts out naïve, an infant in a young woman’s body. She takes Isabelle on a character arc that transforms her into one of the most interesting villains in television history. There are two actors that do not have the amount of screen time as the others but still give excellent performances. Jeffrey Combs is a sci-fi staple who knows how to play his characters to the hilt. If you notice the promicin he works with glows green, a little nod to his breakthrough role in the re-animator flicks. Peter Coyote also brings his considerable talent to the series. He is simply put perfect as the government man who feels civil liberties just don’t matter in an emergency.

Paramount brings this season to DVD with a box set with just about the same style as the pervious two seasons. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is excellent with a better than average color palette and contrast. The Dolby 5.1 audio is well done with very good channel separation. This is a series that will entertain the family and create a lot of discussion after viewing each episode. When you consider the poor excuses for television that abounds now it is great that you can pop this series into your DVD player and watch something that is actually interesting.

Posted 04/28/07