The 4400: Season 1

 

 

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The last year had a lot of creepy-suspenseful shows, sort of crosses between "X-Files" and "Lost." But before those shows came out, there was the most underrated one: "The 4400," a suspenseful, intelligent show that looks not at mysterious abductions -- but mysterious returns.

1946: A little girl vanishes in the woods. 1951: A black GI vanishes from a tent. 1979: A corporate head vanishes from his car. 2001: A teenager vanishes from a camping trip, leaving his cousin in a coma. In 2004, a comet is on a collision course with Earth, causing widespread panic. But instead of crashing, it hovers over a Seattle lake -- and leaves 4400 bewildered people around the lakeside.

These people all vanished over the past sixty years, and have been returned without any aging, and with no memory of what happened to them in the time they were gone. Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch), whose son is the one in a coma, is desperate to find out what did happen, so he rejoins Homeland Security to keep tabs on the "4400," as they are now known.

Some like his nephew Shawn (Patrick Flueger) return to their old lives, only to find that they are reviled. And some like ex-GI Richard (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) and his girlfriend's granddaughter Lily (Laura Allen) find that they have no lives to return to. Ostracized and threatened, they start to draw together. But the strangest thing is that the 4400 are starting to show signs of X-Men-like powers: super speed, clairvoyance, telekinesis, healing, and mind control.

Tom and his HS partner Diana Skouros (Jacqueline McKenzie) track down both rogue abductees, and try to prevent harm from coming to the innocent 4400s. But when Shawn heals Tom's son Kyle (Chad Faust), Kyle comes back changed -- and his strange behavior holds the key to the 4400's purpose on Earth.

Okay, the complete first season of "4400" is only five episodes long, making it about the length of a miniseries. But unlike most shows on TV, its writers cram a whole season's worth of plot into only six hours. In most movies and shows, people who vanish and then are returned are always welcomed back. This time, they are treated with suspicion and even hatred, and many are completely alone.

There are standalone "4400 of the week" stories, like the one about a 4400 serial killer, or a vigilante who is using his powers. But there are also intertwining plots about how the 4400s try to survive in a new world that fears them. We see Shawn trying to fit back into high school, and Richard and Lily finding that they have no homes left, and building a home together.

And the final episode is absolutely mind-blowing, with sudden shifts in Homeland Security's power, a sinister megamogul, and Tom desperately trying to save his son. While the mystery of the 4400s is partly solved, there are lots of questions left over for the recently released second season. It's satisfying, but will leave you wanting more.

The acting is kind of stiff in the first episode or two, but when the actors settle into their roles they do a solid job. Gretsch and McKenzie have good-cop/bad-cop chemistry, and they do a good job playing off each other's personalities. Flueger soon does a good job as a a tormented teenager, and Ali is nothing short of brilliant with his confused, bittersweet Richard. The one real problem is Conchita Campbell, who spends most of the season playing the Smiling Little Kid Who Makes Creepy Pronouncements.

"The 4400" is one of the more intelligent new shows on TV, with a new spin on the typical "abducted by aliens" plot. Suspenseful, smart and well-written, this is one to keep an eye on.

This show is addictive,after watching I wanted more more more.Great acting and great stories and very a propos..

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