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Over the last century thousands of people have gone missing
and were presumed dead. When a meteor impacts over Earth,
suddenly and inexplicably all 4400 people are returned at
once as they were on the day they vanished; however a chain-reaction
of events is set in a motion that will alter the destiny of
mankind forever...
The
first season of The 4400 establishes the premise that
the abductees of varying age's and backgrounds, have been
away from anything between a week and 60 years. Their return
prompts a government investigation to piece together where
they've been and why they've been returned. It becomes apparent
that the individuals have not aged or been harmed in any way
and it is gradually revealed that each of them has acquired
unique paranormal skills that they did not have before disappearing.
Parallels
are bound to be drawn between this series, The
X-Files, Taken
and The
X-Men - with a hint of Close Encounters
of the Third Kind. There are plenty of well used clichés
here, including a bearded member of the 4400 who may be evil
(the beard is always a give-away - but at least he's not a
smoker); an unborn child who may be half alien (V);
an intelligent and cute young girl (Taken); and a monster
of the week - each episode the government agency track down
another member of the 4400 who has gone berserk (The X-Files).
However,
unlike The X-Files, The 4400 starts off with
a bang and never lets up. The characters are believable and
the viewer instantly warms to them (especially the relationship
between a United States Air Force fighter pilot who fought
in the Korean War (Richard Tyler - played by Mahershalalhashbaz
Ali) and the granddaughter of his lover, who is now the same
age as him (Lily Moore - played by Laura Allen).
There
are also some terribly contrived plot twists. In one episode
our heroes have to find one of the rogue members of the 4400.
They do this by examining his recently dead wife's possessions
and discovering an old photo of the couple in front of a log
cabin in a forest. From this they use satellite tracking to
pin point the exact house and then drive over there to see
if the missing man is hiding out there - a little too far
fetched.
As
I mentioned previously, the first couple of episodes, after
the pilot, take an X-Files slant as they introduce
a new member of the 4400 who uses their power, either intentionally
or accidentally for good or bad purposes, but there is an
ongoing number of storylines which ensures everything moves
along at a decent pace.
The
DVD release of the first season of The 4400 contains
just four 45 minute episodes and the 90 minute pilot. But,
while this is a very short first season, a second has been
commissioned and will be aired in the US starting in the summer
of 2005.
Sadly
this collection has no extras at all - which is crime. The
second disc only includes three episodes, so there is ample
room for a few behind the scenes featurettes, some audio commentaries
or interviews. If this was available for £19.99, instead
of £24.99, then this lack of extras could be forgiven.
This
is still a very entertaining collection which will leave you
itching for more.
Darren
Rea
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