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by R.J. Carter Published: May 26, 2006
All at once they were returned, with no memory of where they've been. They haven't aged a day. And some have returned with new abilities. All are trying to reconnect... ...with a life interrupted. This is the premise of the hit science fiction thriller that's part X-Files, part X-Men, and wholly X-ceptional. The show focuses on the 4400 abductees -- seemingly abducted not by aliens, but by humans from the future -- from two different perspectives. On one side is the National Threat Assessment Command, which is where our protagonists Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch, "Taken") and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie, "When Billie Beat Bobby") work. They're a government agency whose sole focus is on monitoring the 4400, checking in with then regularly to see if any of the non-powered ones begin to develop a power. On the other side is the 4400 Center, a foundation created by one of the 4400, Jordan Collier (Bill Campbell, The O.C.), a secretive organization that comes across as a semi-shrouded parody of Scientology. Collier's protege is Shawn Farrell (Patrick Flueger, "The World's Fastest Indian"), another 4400 who has a messianic healing ability. That's the overview. But it's the subtextual threads that carry this series -- the "away from work" bits. Diana has adopted a 4400 child, Maia (Conchita Campbell, "Scary Movie 4"), who has precognitive abilities. Tom's son, Kyle (Chad Faust, "Descent"), is recently out of a coma and has been suffering blackouts, during which he commits violent acts. And there's a family connection between NTAC and the 4400 Center as well: Shawn is Tom's nephew. This second season finds Diana discovering that Maia's precog flashes have not disappeared as the little girl had previously let on -- and Diana is torn about whether she needs to let NTAC know about Maia's diary, where she hides her glimpses of the future. Meanwhile, Diana's younger sister moves in, the Skouris family black sheep.
In a third long-running plot, the viewers follow the path of the 4401st, a baby named Isabelle, born to two 4400s on the run, Richard (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Crossing Jordan) and Lily (Laura Allen, All My Children). Isabelle's abilities rival those of "The Omen"'s Damien, protecting herself with deadly intent if necessary. Peppered throughout the plots are independent episodes of new 4400 abilities, starting off with the two-hour season premiere, in which a young female 4400 -- a paranoid schizophrenic in an asylum -- influences the patients, doctors and NTAC agents who come into contact with her to build a giant transmitter device, the impact of which may be the largest past-to-future ripple-effect that NTAC has recorded. Other 4400s exhibit powers of telepathy, in utero healing of genetic birth defects, and plague delivery.
Three of the episodes include optional commentary tracks, featuring actors Jacqueline McKenzie and Joel Gretsch with writer Craig Sweny and executive producer Ira Steven Behr. In addition, there are three special featurettes on the fourth disc. Series creator Scott Peters, Ira Steven Behr, Perry Simon and Maira Suro talk about getting The 4400 off the ground, both at Fox and at USA Network. They are later joined by the writers to talk about how the second series came about, having to essentially pick itself up from an ending from the original mini-series -- we also find out some behind-the-scenes info on the assassination of Jordan Collier. The stars give their perspective on the series and on their characters, before some actual scientists come in to provide some of the scientific background behind the more fantastic aspects of the show: wormholes, space-time, and time-travel. Previews on this disc include The Brady Bunch Seasons 1 thru 3, Charmed - The Complete Third Season, and MacGyver - The Complete Fourth Season. Audio options are English 5.1 Surround or English Dolby Surround.
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