"The 4400" Discussion/Appreciation

[MarshAngel]

I'm watching right now. I love this show. and yes Maya is adorable and creepy all at once. I'm so excited that it's back. Summer TV won't suck entirely.

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

Well now I'm really into what's going on with Maia (noticed the sp tonight).

p.s.Seastallion, check out Princess Mononoke. They're called kodamas and they're the coolest thing about that movie.

[TechnoBoY]

Meh. Season 1 wasnt too good and I'm not impressed with the premiere or season 2. It was dragged out and kind of boring and slow. They could've fit all that into one hour if they wanted to. I will watch because I want to know what happens and its interesting. They need to figure out how to change the pacing and how the story is told.

[Seastallion]

***Beware of Spoilers***
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Well, I watched the show, and it was good. For some reason, the pace of the show doesn't bother me too much. It is just so dang interesting, I'm willing to let it run its course. I think it is a very intriuging show, and I really want to see how it plays out. Here are my thoughts on the show and characters so far...

I think Shawn is just really misguided, and needs to go back to his family. As much as I feel bad for him, he could've dealt with his brother a bit better than he did. He should have been up front, instead of going behind his back. It would seem that the smart thing to do, would be to tell his family how scared he is about what is going on with him. Instead, he keeps shutting everyone out. Bad news...

I think Kyle has his head on straight for the most part. He's decided life is too short, and to learn to enjoy it as much as possible. That golf lesson at the end of the show was nice. Nice to see Tom back in action too.

Poor Maia..! I think she might become the voice of the show in some ways... a narrator. Being a kid is rough enough, but having been kidnapped from her home, altered against her will, and then sent to a time and place where she doesn't know anyone... Ouch! I really thought it was a bad move on the part of Diana, her adopted mother to go through her diary. I understand why she did it... but honestly, the kid can see the future. Does she really think Maia won't find out, assuming she doesn't already know?? Hopefully, Maia will realize that her abilities are crucial to the work of NTAC, and the 4400. Then perhaps she'd stop living in a fantasy (pretending her powers are gone).

Jordan seems to be a bad guy... but does he really believe in his 'religious centers' that he's building?? Maybe he sincerely wants to save mankind, but his tactics leave somewhat to be desired.

As to Richard, Lily, and the baby... I can't see that Richard or Lily have any powers to speak of (I haven't seen any yet, that I recall) but their baby is freaky-powerful... Easily the most powerful of the 4400, as well as the youngest. It would seem the kids power is growing with age. She has already demonstrated an ability to control 'life-force' (like Shawn), telekinesis, psychic ability, and goodness knows what else. Like Maia, she is cute but creepy... More so actually... Maia hasn't hurt anyone... that baby caused someone to murder his own son, then killed the guy (looked like a heart-attack), and then forced the other son to commit suicide. Freaky. I agree with what Shawn told Jordan Collier, "If I were you, I wouldn't want to even be in the same time-zone as that kid; next time it could finish you off".

This show is very cool. It is also very unusual, which is what makes it cool.

[yaaayoubetcha]

Thought it was a great ep really. A good job done to explain the movement of some characters and the layoff for so long tween s1 and s2.

was cool seeing River on the show. Glau apparently has a penchant for semi-crazy characters.

was her friend in the hospital from STS9? I know the voice but just couldn't place the face without makeup...lol....it reminds me of either Dukat or Wayoun. Anybody?

Lookin forward to next week's ep.

[MarshAngel]

That baby is very creepy. Her eyes are so big and dark, which would be cute if she weren't already

Spoiler:

killing people

at six months.

I think the pacing of the show is great. I actually like the way it flows and this episode was great.

[Seastallion]

Thought it was a great ep really. A good job done to explain the movement of some characters and the layoff for so long tween s1 and s2.

was cool seeing River on the show. Glau apparently has a penchant for semi-crazy characters.

was her friend in the hospital from STS9? I know the voice but just couldn't place the face without makeup...lol....it reminds me of either Dukat or Wayoun. Anybody?

Lookin forward to next week's ep.

Yes, the actor your referring to is Jeffery Combs. On Star Trek: DS9 he played Weyoun, and Liquidator Brunt. On ST: Enterprise he played that Andorian. I've seen him in a few more roles, as aliens on ST I just can't recall any others. He's also starring in a show that is coming up on Sci-Fi, about this hyprid human/shark thing, with Combs as a mad scientist.

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

That baby is very creepy. Her eyes are so big and dark, which would be cute if she weren't already

Spoiler:

killing people

at six months.

I think the pacing of the show is great. I actually like the way it flows and this episode was great.

LOL, I thought the baby was very cute. (What does that say about me?? )
I think the pacing of the show is fine, it kinda syncs with the whole ripple effect concept (which I think is brilliant). Hopefully they'll give us some more info on just what Jordan has up his sleeve.

[fair_nymph]

I like the sometimes-languid pace of the show. I thought the miniseries last summer was wonderful, extremely well cast, and with the perfect amount of mystery. I really like how the producers/writers give us enough information to be satisfying but leave enough unexplained to keep us hooked and provide some suspense. It's such a well done show all around.

I am *so* glad they kept all of the original cast -- I was really afraid that the cast was going to change as it wasn't known from the begining whether the miniseries would get a full series this year. I just love all the characters and they work so well together.

Now about the first episode:

Spoiler:

I was really excited to see that the baby was a girl. In fact I really like overall that this show has some good female characters -- Isabel the baby, Lily, Diana, and even Nina (director of NTAC). Obviously the baby is very powerful, if not a tad morbid (not that those righteous rednecks didn't deserve it) -- my favourite part was when she made the berries ripen in front of Lily's eyes...VERY cool visual effect, and it shows the baby can do good things as well as bad things. I wonder what exactly she did to Jordan (again, he deserved it, and he's a fool for trying to go after her). Oh, and the music box music during the killing of the RRs was really eerie.

The RR (righteous rednecks) trying to kill Lily and Richard and Isabel made me really angry. When the old guy/dad said to Lily 'abomination begets abomination' I wanted to hit him (and nearly threw my slipper at the screen). Based on the earlier scene in the book store/gift shop it was clear (to me) that one part of his hatred for the baby and parents was becuase the baby was biracial. Bigots! Grrr...

I wonder why the baby didn't help Richard when he was being kicked/beaten by one of the RR sons? Does the baby only protect herself and Lily, but not necessarily Richard? Or did the baby have to SEE Richard in danger to protect him? Certainly the baby seems more connected to Lily...I wonder if in a weird way that is Lily's special power? That she can understand Isabel and be protected by her? Can't wait to see what Richard's power is though.

The twist with Kevin (the former neuroscientist who went insane) was very cool and unexpected. I can't wait to see where they go with that (esp as I am a biologist working in neuroscience). I think it is a very promising storyline.

I too wonder what Jordan has up his sleeve. What is *his* power? I'm not buying the whole 'unlock the 4400 in everyone' scheme. In fact his whole '4400' centers and living complexes etc sounds VERY cultish to me, rather like Scientology..hmmm... I feel bad for Shawn, he's obviously in a tough position, and I feel that a big part of why he doesn't want to leave is because he is able to help heal alot of people. You can tell he is a great guy from his interaction with the kid he cured of leukemia.

I love Diana's character. It's great how she has become a mom to Maia, even though she had doubts at first. She's so spontaneous and fun. Plus, she's a beautiful woman.

The only character who isn't really doing it for me is Kyle. He seems agressive and angry. I understand it sucks to be locked up in a room getting tested for months, but still. He appears very mentally unstable. Was he like that before? I hope he matures...

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

Was anyone else playing Find the Stargate person? Nina was the Tok'ra from Hathor's fake SGC, and the guy who played a sheriff was the Asrak and in the ep where a whole city had there minds altered, and in the very very first ep, the "target eliminated" guy from Absolute Power was...well, basically in the same role. I need to get out more.....

[fair_nymph]

Ooohhhhh I KNEW I recognized Nina...thank you for identifying why!

[MarshAngel]

I don't think they all have special powers,they're all different but not necessarily in obvious ways. If they're being placed back in the timeline to create a specific effect in the distant future, they probably all don't need powers to do what needs to be done. Just being there can create a huge effect.
Does make you feel kind of good. No matter how unimportant you seem to be, your ripple effect on the world can be huge.

[KatG]

Finally finished watching this last night. Very, very good scifi. The pace didn't bother me, but more importantly didn't bother hubs, who gets bored rather easily. He, I and his son, were all completely captivated for the whole 2 hours.

I liked that they allowed for the time between S1 and S2, so that people aging or looking different wasn't such a stretch.

I kept looking at Nina (the director) trying to figure out who she was. Finally had to do imdb.com, saw the Stargate reference and knew immediately who she was. Nice to see her get a regular series.

Took me awhile to place Jeffrey Coombs also, but that was quicker. He had a lot of the same facial expressions as Scran on ST:ENT if you watched closely.

Maia is interesting. I do wish Diana hadn't read her diary though. Couldn't she just have asked her what was in it?

Lily, Isable and Richard are an interesting group too. I know that what Isabel did to the RR's (like that "righteous redneck" abbreviation) was bad, but they deserved it. They were completely intent on killing her, her mom and her dad. So it was kill or be killed imo. It is rather freaky that she has that power. Just wouldn't want to be on her bad side.

Shawn is getting drawn in deeper and deeper into Collier's dogma. Wonder if he'll be able to get out.

Loved that Tom and Kyle are coming to terms.

Anyway, high hopes for this. And next week it's followed up by the Dead Zone. Sunday nights just got a whole lot more interesting.

[Seastallion]

The premiere episode for this season got me thinking about the larger story line plot. If they ARE in fact changing the future, then it means that these humans from the future would have these sorts of powers whether the 4400 had been sent back or not. Considering what the premiere episode was about, it got me to thinking... what if they are trying to accelerate human evolution. The guy they called "the father of the 4400 technology" would have stayed in the institution except for the fact that one of the 4400 was placed there after the fact. If, in the original timeline, he never actually left the place, then it suggest that the technology would have been invented eventually, with or without him.

Not unlike the Terminator... they couldn't change the future either, it was inevitable. I figured that out after, immediately after watching the Terminator 2 for the first time, which was why the ending never made any sense to me. I had said then, that they only post-poned Judgement day, not averted it. The Terminator 3 comes out and said the EXACT same thing I did years before. The only difference was, that in T2, the tech from the future accelerated the technologies development, it didn't stop it. I think something similiar is going on here in the 4400.

So, the ripple effect was (in this particular case) to accelerate human evolution by accelerating the advent of the 4400 technology. The presence of that formerly-insane doctor would simply bring it about sooner rather than later. Either way, it is inevitable. (In terms of the show, anyways.) Theoretically, If your going to try and change the future, there are literally a near infinite number of factors to consider. So it makes since that there would be thousands, as opposed to a few dozen of returnees. Of course, even the number of returnees is itself a factor to consider, because it effects the events proceeding from there. If there had only been a dozen people, it wouldn't have had as much an impact on world opinion as it did having 4400 people return. Consider... if on 9/11, only a dozen people had died, it wouldn't have made as big an impact. Instead, nearly 3,000 people died and events since then have altered the world in ways a lesser number of people dying never could have.

We've seen the 'religion' factor being played out, and of course there is a political factor to contend with. The humans from the future, would have had to try and anticipate all of that and more. How will this person effect the timeline? What might there actions produce? Where would that person do the most good? Why might this person be the best for the assignment? Why might they not? For each and every member of the 4400, you would have to imagine literally thousands of hours asking such questions would have to be spent by the future-humans. It would have to be an undertaking of grand proportions (as of course, saving the world would be... ). The planning for it would rival pretty much anything I can even think of. There are also so many unknown factors as to make it seem daunting from the outset. One could only imagine that the 'super-humans'-from-the-future used their superior powers and intellect to divine all they needed to know, in chooseing the 4400 and then giving them their abilities.

Just a thought... what if there were more than 4400 people taken? What if many of the people taken turned out not to be sufficient for the needs of the future-humans, so they were simply returned to their own time and place. Sort of like a massive interviewing program. Only no one knew they were being interviewed. In the end, after potentially millions of potential candidates, the very small percentage of the 4400 were finally selected. Some being sent back with super-human powers, others simply being placed for the effect that only their presence would have. It makes you wonder, if Orson Bailey were simply a mistake, or if they had planned for what happened to him to happen. It is possible he set off a chain of events not fully understood at this point. On the other hand, if it was an unanticipated mistake, then it threw off the plans of the future-humans. However, as intelligent as one would assume that they are... they had to have had contingency plans in case some of the 4400 failed to fulfill their task.

In the end, I was wondering, will somehow accelerating the 4400 technology development sooner rather than later be needed to save the world in some way? I guess we'll find out.

[TechnoBoY]

Ooohhhhh I KNEW I recognized Nina...thank you for identifying why!

Same here! Hah! Now I know, whee!