released 16 apr 06 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* At the outset of THE 4400, a USA Network series consisting of a two-hour pilot and five one-hour episodes, a number of people are abducted by cosmic forces over a period ranging from the late 1940s into the 21st century. Suddenly all of the 4400 people abducted appear on the shore of a lake in the Cascades, not having aged a day since their disappearance and with no recollection of what happened to them.
They are dropped into the laps of the Department of Homeland Security in Seattle, where agents Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie) try to deal with the returnees, a matter which is considerably complicated by the fact that they have paranormal abilities, making them pariahs to the public at large.
What THE 4400 ends up being is something like Spielberg's TAKEN mini-series -- Gretsch did a good turn as Owen Crawford in TAKEN -- with a bit of THE X-FILES folded in. The result is not brilliant, with its fair share of telegraphing characters and plot plus some TV scriptwriter hokum, but it is well produced, generally well-acted, rarely drags, and very watchable, which far more than I can say for a lot of TV.
I can't claim that THE 4400 is a really memorable piece of work, nor can I say that I was anxiously looking forward to each installment. I can say that I enjoyed watching it, and went on to pick up the second season -- the third's been released now, and I'll pick it up as well.
One minor comment: THE 4400 was filmed in Vancouver BC but it is supposed to take place in Seattle and thereabouts. I kept having to laugh a bit, thinking: "How could anyone find so many consecutive days in Seattle that were not merely dry but even sunny?!"