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The 4400

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The 4400
The 4400
Pilot title screen
Created byRené Echevarria and Scott Peters
StarringJoel Gretsch
Billy Campbell
Jacqueline McKenzie
Mahershalalhashbaz Ali
Laura Allen
Patrick Flueger
Chad Faust
Kaj-Erik Eriksen
Brooke Nevin
Peter Coyote
Conchita Campbell
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes17+
Production
Running time42 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkNBC Universal
ReleaseJuly 11, 2004 –
Present

The 4400 is a science fiction program on the USA Network, Space: The Imagination Station and Sky One. It began as a miniseries of five episodes, which aired weekly from July 11 to August 8, 2004; a second season of twelve episodes began airing on June 5, 2005 and concluded on August 28, 2005. Production on thirteen new episodes for a third season will begin next year for a summer 2006 premiere. It was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria. It stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie. The theme song of the show is "A Place in Time" written by Robert Phillips & Tim Paruskewitz, performed by Amanda Abizaid The 4400 is produced by Paramount Network Television in Association with Sky Television for Sky One, Renegade 83 and American Zoetrope for USA Network.

Template:Spoiler

In the pilot episode, what is originally thought to be a comet deposits a group of exactly four thousand, four hundred people in the Seattle, Washington region. All of the 4,400 had disappeared at various points starting from 1941 in a beam of white light. After their return, none have aged, all are disoriented, and they remember nothing between the time of their disappearance and their return.

National Threat Assessment Command

NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is formed in response to the return of the 4400. There are a multitude of agents assigned to the case. The series mainly follows two of them, as well as their immediate superior:

  • Tom Baldwin: Baldwin's nephew is Shawn Farrell; Shawn was with Baldwin's son Kyle Baldwin during the abduction. Kyle was in a coma for three years, and after being awoken is troubled by blackouts.
  • Diana Skouris: Tom's partner. The eight-year old pre-cog Maia asks to move in with her at some point in season 1. In the first episode of season 2, Diana adopts Maia Rutledge.
  • Dennis Ryland: Baldwin's and Skouris's supervisor and director of the Seattle bureau of NTAC during season one.
  • Ryland is succeeded by Nina Jarvis in season two, but he takes his role back as a guest star on the 11th and 12th (season finale) episodes of season two.

(A real-life NTAC now exists as well; however, it is specifically part of the Secret Service division of the Department of Homeland Security, and the "C" stands for "Center" instead of "Command".)

The Returnees (The 4400)

Most have trouble trying to get their lives back on track after being separated from their world for years. More significantly, a small number of the returnees begin to manifest paranormal abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy, precognition, and much stranger ones. In addition, one of the 4400 had become pregnant between her disapperance and return.

At the end of the first season, we learn that the 4400 were abducted, not by aliens, but by someone in Earth's future, and that they were returned in order to prevent some sort of catastrophe.

At the end of the second season, it was revealed that all 4400 had a new neurotransmitter called "promicin" in their brains; it was this which gave some of them their powers. The government, afraid of what this large group would do with such power, secretly dosed all 4400 with a promicin inhibitor. (It worked on the majority of the group, but not those who were later seen with powers.) The inhibitor caused a potentially fatal immune system condition in the returnees, forcing the government to inject all surviving returnees with replacement promicin; it is hinted that all of them will now exhibit powers.

The series follows the lives and stories of a select few of the 4400. The main characters are:

  1. Richard Tyler, disappeared May 11, 1951, at age 29, while in South Korea during the Korean War. Originally from St. Louis, MO. At the time, in a relationship with Lily Moore's grandmother, Lily Bonham. Father of Lily Moore's second daughter, Isabelle. Paranormal abilities: apparent telekinesis
  2. Lily Moore, disappeared in 1993, at age 26, from St. Louis, MO. At time of abduction, married to Brian Moore, mother to Heidi Moore. Returned pregnant, but not by Brian, rather by Richard Tyler. Paranormal abilities: None Known.
  3. Shawn Farrell, disappeared April 22, 2001, at age 17, from Highland Beach, WA. Paranormal abilities: Healer and life taker.
  4. Maia Rutledge, disappeared March 3, 1946, at age 8, from Crescent City, CA. Paranormal abilities: precognition.
  5. Jordan Collier, disappeared April 10, 2002, from Seattle, WA area, a former real estate mogul. Paranormal abilities: unknown. Possibly enhanced power of suggestion over other people, but this could just be a personality trait. Also, after being assassinated, he disappears and reappears alive at the very end of the second season finale.
  6. Isabelle Tyler-Moore, born post-return, daughter of Richard Tyler and Lily Moore. Technically not one of "The 4400" returned (she was still in the womb at the time of the count). As the only 4400 not affected by the ability-inhibitor, she provides blood used to heal Shawn Farrell and consequently all 4400s, activating their abilities. At the end of the season finale she ages considerably and shows up in Shawn's office, naked. Paranormal abilities: Telepathic communication (with Lily Moore, Richard Tyler, and Jordan Collier), mind control, materialization projection, alteration (Jordan Collier's injury, Lily Moore's first daughter's spleen) and/or acceleration of biological growth (the growth of berries in one episode and herself in the Season 2 finale), precognition (warned Lily of a bomb before it exploded), telekinesis (the bending trees in the final scene of Season 1). Note that many of these powers duplicate those from among the 4400.

Several other members of the 4400 feature in specific storylines:

  1. Carl Morrisey, disappeared February 16, 2003, from Seattle, WA. A supermarket employee (Deceased). Paranormal abilities: Enhanced reflexes and strength.
  2. Oliver Knox, disappeared August 22, 1983, from Friday Harbor, WA, a suspected serial killer. Captured and imprisoned in soundproof cell. Paranormal abilities: Mind control/suggestion via speech.
  3. Tess Doerner, disappeared April 3, 1955. A mental patient. Paranormal abilities: Ability to compel others to help her build a device, the plans for which have been planted in her head.
  4. Gary Navarro,disappeared January 5, 1973. A baseball player. Paranormal abilities: Is able to hear the thoughts of others.
  5. Trent Appelbaum, disappeared May 18, 1989. A telemarketer. Paranormal abilities: Saliva contains an agent that rapidly accelerates the metabolism of others.
  6. Orson Bailey, disappeared June 11, 1979, from Tacoma, WA. Insurance Salesman and partner in Kensington & Bailey. Paranormal abilities: Telekinesis of a magnitude to cause tremors in immediate vicinity and shatter objects (e.g. glass, bones). The ability does cause Orson to suffer nosebleeds, and he has shown an inability to control this power. He was shot during apprehension, but lived.
  7. Alana Mareva, disappeared September 5, 2001. Artist (and debatably museum director). Paranormal abilities: Ability to create an alternate reality. Given to her by the future so she can develop a relationship with Tom Baldwin to sustain him through the "coming troubles."
  8. Mary Deneville, disappeared August 4, 1999. (Deceased) Paranormal abilities: Could revive dead plants.
  9. Eric Papequash, disappeared August 5, 1955.
  10. Heather Tobey, school teacher, disappeared March 2, 1974. Paranormal abilities: Unlocked artistic potential in certain students in her classes.
  11. Jean DeLynn Baker, disappeared October 27, 1999. (Deceased) Paranormal abilities: sores on hands released plague-like disease (airborne, disappears in about half an hour, goes through biohazard gear).
  12. Edwin Mayuya, aka Edwin Musinga, doctor, disappeared February 24, 1996. Paranormal abilities: Could heal fetuses in utero (but causes progressive damage to self).
  13. Roger Wolcott, disappeared March 6, 1987. (Deceased)
  14. Sara James, disappeared November 5, 1971.
  15. Laurel Bryce, disappeared January 7, 1982.
  16. T.J. Kim, disappeared February 2, 1998. Paranormal abilities: Increases the levels of adrenaline or other hormones (causing elevated levels of rage) in males within a certain radius through sonic means.
  17. Rose Woodard, disappeared December 1,1991
  18. Matthew Lombard, disappeared May 30,1977
  19. Werner Loecher, disappeared April 19,1973
  20. Nate McCullough, disappeared September 8, 2000.

Promicin

The abilities of the 4400 derive from activating dormant neural pathways. Apparently the body produces four main neurotransmitters that control and regulate everything. Every 4400 produces a fifth neurotransmitter called Promicin that enables him or her to use parts of the cerebellum no human has ever had access to. Promicin's behavior and effect are unpredictable, potentially giving any ability.

This plot element uses the "Ten Percent Myth", which modern science has actually disproven.

The promicin-inhibitor would piggyback on glucose. It entered the brain through facilitated diffusion. It's a binding protein. A serum was created that contained pure promicin. This serum neutralized the charge so the inhibitor isn't able to cross membranes and can be flushed out of the body.

Episode List

Season One

# Title Original US airdate Episode recap
1, 2 Pilot July 11, 2004 4400 people, assumed to be dead or missing over the past fifty years, reappear in a ball of light.
3 The New and Improved Carl Morrissey July 18, 2004 Tom and Diana investigate a 4400 who has used his ability of enhanced reflexes to become a vigilante.
4 Becoming July 25, 2004 Tom and Diana investigate Oliver Knox, a 4400 suspected of being a serial murderer.
5 Trial By Fire August 1, 2004 NTAC races against the clock to stop a group of fanatics targeting 4400s.
6 White Light August 8, 2004 Diana helps Tom break Kyle out of NTAC quarantine, eventually leading them to discover the truth behind the 4400.

Season Two

# Title Original US airdate Episode recap
1, 2 Wake Up Call June 05, 2005 Tom and Diana investigate a mysterious structure being built at a psychiatric hospital, based on the drawings of one of their patients who's a 4400.
3 Voices Carry June 12, 2005 A returnee exhibiting telepathic abilities seeks help from NTAC, but is instead used as a mole to infiltrate Jordan Collier's 4400 Center.
4 Weight Of The World June 19, 2005 Tom and Diana investigate a 4400 whose ability to increase the human bodies' metabolism just may be this weight-conscious world's answer to the ultimate fat-burner.
5 Suffer The Children June 26, 2005 Tom and Diana investigate a 4400 junior high school teacher accused of child abuse.
6 As Fate Would Have It July 10, 2005 A morbid premonition from Maia threatens the future of the 4400 Center.
7 Life Interrupted July 17, 2005 Tom finds himself in a world where the 4400 never happened.
8 Carrier July 24, 2005 A 4400 whose ability has turned her into a walking plague believes she is the next messiah.
9 Rebirth July 31, 2005 Tom and Diana investigate a 4400 with the ability to repair birth defects in unborn children.
10 Hidden August 7, 2005 NTAC and Tom enter a race against time as they both draw closer to Jordan Collier's assassin.
11 Lockdown August 14, 2005 NTAC goes into an emergency lockdown when a 4400 launches a terrorist attack.
12 The Fifth Page August 21, 2005 4400s across the globe are developing strange, severe illnesses, leading Agents Baldwin and Skouris into the heart of a terrifying conspiracy.
13 Mommy's Bosses August 28, 2005 Tom and Diana find the source of the plague afflicting the 4400, a discovery that will change their lives.

Season Three

Production of a third series is scheduled to begin in Vancouver in early 2006, and will be premiering in the summer.

Allusions to Scientology

The 4400 Center run by Jordan Collier seems intended to resemble the real-world Church of Scientology. The 4400 Center promises supernatural abilities to those who follow its training through for-pay courses, much as the Church of Scientology promises, though Scientology is not as forthcoming about its promises of supernatural powers. At least one 4400 Center attendee has had his psychological medication confiscated, much as the Church of Scientology is opposed to psychology and its medications. The 4400 Center includes technological devices strapped onto its members during courses, similar to Scientology's E-Meters. The 4400 Center targets celebrities for inclusion and promotes them through the program faster than non-celebrity members; the Church of Scientology definitely intentionally draws celebrities with its "Celebrity Centers". One former member of the 4400 Center accused it of making him take endless for-pay classes until he was bankrupted, at which point he was ejected from the program; Scientology has had similar accusations pointed at it.

Allusions to Judaeo-Christian Texts

The name of the show itself might be an allusion to the belief held by Jehovah's Witnesses that only 144,000 people will be allowed into heaven. The 4400 people who disappear do so in a rapture like fashion. The show's content has subtle Christian undertones, although not in a way that one would take it to be proselytizing. The baby Isabelle, believed by some to be the future savior of mankind, has no qualms about violently killing people who get in her way. While Isabelle might sometimes seem like a Christ-like figure, she is certainly not. In the same vein, Jordan Collier (note his initials JC), whose intentions and methods are also grey, is killed by a sniper, and after his funeral, his body miraculously disappears. He is then reborn (albeit in a currently unknown fashion).

Trivia

  • In Australia and New Zealand the first series was shown as a miniseries of 3 episodes. The second season was aired weekly but taken off air halfway through the season, but continued to air in New Zealand.
  • Early marketing for the series included stencilled graffiti in public places across San Francisco, Houston, and Boston raising ire among residents. [1]

Broadcasters

DVD release

Season # Date Notes
1 December 21, 2004
2 ?
3 ? Season scheduled to start filming in Vancouver, in early 2006
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