The 4400

Surely, there are original and intriguing stories to be told on the topic of alien abduction, but on the basis of the two-hour premiere for USA's summer mini-series, The 4400, it doesn't appear like we'll be viewing any this season. The series is an amalgam of bits from other UFO trip takes:

  • the Scully & Mulder-esque pair (Joel Gretsch & Jacqueline McKenzie) of mismatched investigators (working this time for Homeland Security, which apparently has more serious genre cred these days than the F.B.I.),

  • the broadscope casting and suitably mournful theme song that reappears whenever we need to be reminded how hard it is to be a returning alien abductee in this cold cruel world - which we also got in 2002's The Taken

  • a preternaturally knowing little girl (this 'un given to precognitive pronoucements), which we also saw in The Taken, plus

  • Peter Coyote, the man who abducted E.T.!
The plot revolves around a small town's worth of average Joes & Jills from around the world, who are dumped by a brightly lit UFO in the woods of Washington state. These abductees all return at the same approximate age they were when they were taken, though the earliest 'un we see was snatched away from her parents back when big band was radio fodder, with no memory of their experience and powers-and-abilities-beyond-mortal-men. They're held in quarantine by the government until friends and family file a lawsuit against the government asking for the 4400's release, and - quicker than you can say Jose Padillo - they're allowed to return to their homes to fend for themselves in a much-changed world.

The show follows several of these returnees - little girl Maia Rutledge (Conchita Campbell), who freaks out her foster parents by telling 'em where they'll eventually be buried; Richard Tyler (Mahershalalhazbaz Ali), a black soldier from the early fifties; Lily Moore (Laura Allen), a white housewife who turns out to granddaughter of the black soldier's lover, and sullen high-schooler Shawn Farrell (Patrick Fleuger) - as they attempt to readjust under the watchful eyes of the gummint. Michael Moriarty (who's fun to watch in most anything, though I personally made a point of steering past his telemovie performance as Mayor Giuliani [No wait . . .that was James Woods, wasn’t it? I always get those two confused - which one starred in Q again?]) gets to heavily emote as a pissed-off insurance exec named Orson Bailey (blending the radio War of the Worlds with It's A Wonderful Life?), who returns with the ability to mentally crush the skull of an obnoxious young punk who’s stolen his business from him. When Bailey appears outside his nemesis' gated home and starts throwing a telekinetic tantrum, I was hoping we were gonna see some serious head exploding. (We need more exploding heads on television, I think - especially on the news pundit shows.) While we don't get that, we do see a guy impaled on a pricey modern table leg, which is entertaining in its own right. Would've been cooler to have Bailey go all Scanners on the yuppie scum, but you can't have everything.

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2

Article tags

Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for bill-sherman

Article Author: Bill Sherman

Bill Sherman is the Comics & Graphic Novels review editor for Blogcritics. With his lovely wife Rebecca Fox, he has recently co-authored a sudsy size acceptance novel entitled Measure By Measure.

Visit Bill Sherman's author pageBill Sherman's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own
  • Steven Spielberg Presents Taken Steven Spielberg Presents Taken

    Spanning four generations, the stories of three families' extraterrestrial encounters.Genre: Science FictionRating: UNRelease Date: 10-APR-2007Media Type: DVD

  • The X-Files - The Complete First Season The X-Files - The Complete First Season
  • Scanners Scanners
  • Q - The Winged Serpent Q - The Winged Serpent

Article comments

  • 1 - RJ

    Jul 22, 2004 at 10:39 pm

    "Ricahrd [sic] Tyler (Mahershalalhazbaz Ali), a black soldier from the early fifties"

    IF I remember correctly, he was a fighter pilot during the Korean War, not a soldier. (Were there any black fighter pilots back then?)

  • 2 - RJ

    Jul 22, 2004 at 10:41 pm

    "When Bailey appears outside his nemesis' gated home and starts throwing a telekinetic tantrum, I was hoping we were gonna see some serious head exploding."

    Yeah, like in Scanners! :)

  • 3 - RJ

    Jul 22, 2004 at 10:42 pm

    "Would've been cooler to have Bailey go all Scanners on the yuppie scum, but you can't have everything."

    Oh...sorry. You beat me to the "Scanners" reference! :-P

  • 4 - Bill Sherman

    Jul 26, 2004 at 9:16 am

    You're right about him being a fighter pilot: I missed that specific detail, in part (as you note), because it seemed so historically improbable.

  • 5 - Lupin

    Aug 05, 2004 at 6:10 am

    Why would a black fighter pilot be improbable in the Korean War?

    Ever hear of the Tuskeegee Airmen, a famous black fighter pilot squadron in World War II?

    http://www.kent.wednet.edu/KSD/SJ/TuskegeeAirmen/Tuskegee_HomePage.html

  • 6 - Bill Sherman

    Aug 05, 2004 at 11:19 am

    True. But they were, if memory serves, a unit unto themselves - though the info we receive on 4400 is scant, Tyler appears to be the sole black pilot among a group of racist white pilots. That still seems more of a stretch to me, given the era, though I'm ready to be proven wrong. . .

  • 7 - Lupin

    Aug 06, 2004 at 1:11 am

    We're discussing a fictional tv series about alien abductees who are returned home and you think having a black fighter pilot amongst white pilots during the Korean war is a bit of a stretch? :>

  • 8 - RJ

    Aug 06, 2004 at 1:21 am

    LOL...

    In the future, anything is possible.

    In the past, only certain things are possible.

    A black American fighter pilot during the Korean War is not IMPOSSIBLE, just really friggin' IMPROBABLE...

  • 9 - Lupin

    Aug 06, 2004 at 1:46 pm

    Neither impossible NOR improbable :)

    http://korea50.army.mil/history/factsheets/afroamer.shtml

    "In 1950, the Air Force had 25 black pilots in integrated fighter squadrons..."

  • 10 - Bill Sherman

    Aug 06, 2004 at 5:20 pm

    Good thing I was ready to be proven wrong. . . :)

  • 11 - RJ

    Aug 07, 2004 at 12:51 am

    Thanks for the link. I really didn't know that... :-/

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for Nov 30, 2009

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for October

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs