The 4400

(S03E01/S03E02) I had so many questions in the weeks leading up to last night's third season premiere of The 4400. Two, however, were keenest: Jordan Collier is alive!?! And, Isabelle went from baby to young woman in the space of a minute? (and, did she do it on purpose? and, is she really evil?)

Surprisingly, we saw absolutely nothing of Jordan Collier (not even a hint, really). Instead, the episode was largely centered on Isabelle's instant aging which was, literally, sapping the lifeblood of her mother, and on the rise of a dark subset of the 4400 who were using their powers for a bloody fight against evil: evil, that is, as personified by the NTAC elite whose fear of those very powers led to so much illness and death at the end of season two.

Chief among their targets is E-vil himself, Dennis Ryland. When he proves to be indestructible (just how many times can one man escape death, anyway? Does he have special powers we don't know about yet?), the Nova Group announces their plans to show the world their true power, on October 19.

It seems like the 2005-06 TV season just started, doesn't it? But in less than two weeks, it will be officially over. As it is, most shows have already shown their season (or series) finales, with only a few left to go over the next week or so. So when Memorial Day hits in a week-and-a-half (jeez... time files), we're going to be facing three-or-so months of reruns and reality dreck like the latest Big Brother.

Or are we?

Thank goodness for the cable channels. What they've realized is that it's better to launch new seasons of their original scripted shows away from the crucible of the regular network season and capture the bored and restless masses over the summer.

According to Broadcasting & Cable, USA Network will announce its big plans for an online video presence called CharacterClique (Hello? Could you choose something easier to spell, please?). The magazine reports that USA will partner with Yahoo! to stream one series online. It will also start offering new episodes on Video on Demand before they even premiere on television.

Best:
5. The Backyardigans A preschoolers' show I'd watch if I didn't have kids. Yes, when you drove past my house the other day, that was me dancing along to "I love being a princess!"
4. Law & Order: Criminal Intent  I thought I couldn't watch the show without Vincent D'Onofrio. But Chris Noth and Annabelle Sciora have the kind of vulnerable-yet-professional chemistry that I never dreamed possible between Chris and Sarah Jessica Parker or Annabelle and James Gandolfini.
3. Grey's Anatomy  It's kooky, it's outlandish, and all the characters, I can't help but love 'em despite their annoying peccadilloes. And who knew I'd fall in love with Dr. Bailey?
2. Medium  I'd watch it just for the family drama. But the mysteries are fantastic, the writing eloquent and witty, the twists always fool me until 52 past the hour.
1. The 4400  Sci fi that transports, characters that draw me in, and it's coming back in 2006. Hurray!

Worst:

5. Saturday Night Live  My husband still gets excited about Saturday nights. Until I remind him, honey, it's just not funny!
4. ER  I'm so sad that I hate Thursdays now. I used to love Thursdays.
3. 7:30 p.m. timeslot  There's nothing good on at 7:30 p.m., not even on the Food Network. I hate 7:30 p.m.
2. Sandra Lee's Semi-homemade Cooking  Make it from scratch or buy it from the store. And either way, aren't we all old enough now to admit whether we can, or cannot, cook?
1. Out of Practice  Stockard Channing, Henry Winkler, what have ye wrought?

"Mommy's bosses will be punished for betraying us." Those words from Maia's diary would reverbrate through the season finale of The 4400. It wasn't until the end of the last episode that we figured out who the "us" was... each and every 4400. We heard about the promicin inhibitor at the end of the last episode, and now we learn that it was manufactured by NTAC to prevent the 4400s from developing their gifts; promicin is a protein that unlocks a portion of the brain (remember "unlock the 4400 in us all"? Promicin does that). As I sat down to watch I nervously wondered, which bosses? Punished how? Would it happen today? And who would die while we waited for the punishment to happen? All my questions were answered. And then, in the last few minutes, a dozen new questions were raised, each one more heart-shaking than the last. The writers of this show proved that it's the most complex, most compelling sci-fi thriller going.

I'm blogging the rerun because somehow...the Sunday viewing just slipped my mind this week. It won't next week! The 4400 is set up for a battle royale. When we last left our friends, they were beginning to get sick, and it was fairly clear that the fever and rash was affecting their abilities. Now they're falling ill worldwide, and it's some kind of immune system disorder that ends up striking about 18%.

The show begins with some important changes at the top of both organizations. As Nina was injured in the attack on NTAC, Ryland comes in to take over, and despite his protestations of peace and love for the 4400, you know he's up to no good. Over at the 4400 Center, Shawn is headed to sick bay, so Richard Tyler takes over, a move that Lily is none too happy with.

As we're watching Smoke do his thing for the embedded journalist, every one of us watching has got to be wincing. How could anyone be so stupid? Smoke goes on saying that he has "a license to kill" and "I'm a [n-word] with a trigger," and you know it's going to come back to bite him. You just don't think it would happen so soon.

But of course... the unit gets in a fire fight in a small town. And as the enemy combatants come out a-shootin', a little boy runs out into the middle of the town, with what appears to be a grenade in his hand. Mom runs after him, and naturally they're gunned down. If you've been watching the headlines, you know what comes next.

This episode's trailer was made up mostly of the images from the opening credits scene, which appeared to be a vision. Was it Maia's vision? Diana's bad dream? Either way, the show opens to Maia, stricken with a fever and an oddly-shaped rash on her arm; think chicken pox in crop circles. She's taken to the infirmary, and at about the same time, an adrenaline-packed "dog whistle," audible only to the men in the building, blares through NTAC. We're shown four 4400s waiting for their quarterly checkups and the signals are unmistakeable (this episode has some of the least subtle foreshadowing of the whole season): the source is the punk-rock girl with the headphones and the 'tude. She's also sending wicked email messages to all NTAC agents, whose theme seems to be one of vengeance for Collier's death.

Finally! The trailer actually delivers. See, I was certain that last week would be all centered on the search for Collier's killer, and Kyle running from NTAC's inevitable discovery of his role in it. Today's episode really was, with very few alternate storylines. Well, there was that thing with Danny and Liv (she's the hottie ex-homeless junkie), in which Liv is demoted for the reprise of her junky-ness. This all made me wonder if Nikki's continued presence on the "Other Key Characters" indicates she'll be back as Shawn's love interest in the future. It's further foreshadowed by Matthew Ross' insistence that he'll let Shawn know when he finds a woman "worthy of the great Shawn Farrell."

As a two-time mama with my fair share of pregnancy mishaps under my (ahem) belt, I'm totally loving the 4400 we meet in this episode: he heals babies with severe chromosomal abnormalities in utero. Six minutes in, I'm already falling for Edwin, and already the tears are welling up. Ye gods, does there have to be a twist? Darn it. And just as I was signing up for his virtual fan club. We soon learn that, firstly, Collier's 4400 Center replacement is just as evil as Jordan ever was, and secondly (ripped from the headlines!), Edwin is a former participant in some serious Rwandan genocide. That's why he wanted anonymity. But you know, the twists just keep on coming in "Rebirth," which should be subtitled, "Don't hold a grudge, man."

Why I love the USA Network: I missed the 9 p.m. showing of this episode due to a family obligation, but here I am, at midnight, watching it anyway. It's like TiVo for people too broke for gadgets. So we started out with Kyle, who is bemused over his dad's new love affair and convinced that he's disappointed Tom with his life choices - far different than the alternate reality surgeon Kyle. Of course, we all know Kyle may not have brain surgery in his future, given his moonlighting as a sniper. But we have more important things to do in this episode than to tiptoe around Kyle's hurt feelings. Like dead people! Today we meet Jean Baker, who kills people. Not on purpose, mind you, but she economically kills everyone in her town - in the blink of an eye. Yikes. And Shawn has to get used to being the 4400's pope. We're sticking with the good vs. evil theme (are the 4400 masterminds some of each?) but this time the show is decidedly biblical in its extremes.

Ten minutes into this episode, I was wondering: what did they do with my nice back-to-the-future sci fi show? They've turned it into a parallel universe thingy! I didn't sign up for Sliders: the series. I nonetheless sat raptly through the show, enjoying the love story developing between Tom and Alana, the mysterious foreign-accented stunner, the only other person in this alternate universe who has heard of the 4400. And who also happens to be his wife of two years.

The new versions of Kyle and Shawn are lovely, and although I couldn't stand Diana's new hairdo (gahh! the future doesn't do bobs well), she and the boss-lady were nice in their crisis-free modes, too. But the references to the 4400 reality kept coming back, and in the end, we realize what's happened. Tom has a bad (premonitory?) dream and the alternate universe begins to wink out, piece by piece.

Ahh, that's better. This episode started off right, giving Maia's vision from the teaser right after the opening credits, and it's Jordan Collier who she is certain is going to die (I thought so!). We get lots of things we hoped for: Lily gets together with Heidi ("are you my mother?"); Maia's diary gets subpoenad; Kyle remembers some things from his blackout this time; and the cute homeless girl confronts Shawn asking him to heal her friends. Things happened in this episode. Sweet.

USA adds punch to the drama by debuting some new "characters wanted" commercials, one in which Maia and a little friend bike hurriedly through the streets to the baseball stadium, where she adjusts his baseball mitt so he can catch one that was hit out-of-the-park. Aww... But, on to the really killer stuff (dunh duh duh dunh):

My two big questions before tonight were: what's going to happen to Kyle? And, is Isabelle out to hurt her own dad? But, lo and behold, the episode turned out to be centered all around a cute homeless girl and her budding romance with Shawn. Uh-oh, but does the cute homeless girl have a scary pimp boyfriend? He should probably not be messing with Shawn.

In the last episode, I was a little disappointed; the action didn't keep me on the edge of my seat like the season opener did. The writers were working on setting up a backdrop for the rest of the season, I suppose, as "Weight of the World" had its share of nailbiters. There's the curious weightloss program (drink from the same cup as washed-up salesman Trent Appelbaum, and the pounds just melt away), with its unknown and deadly effects. There's the affair between Jordan and the Madonna stand-in and its curious and deadly effects. And, of course, there's the usual on-the-road vignettes with Lily and Richard - will they stay one step ahead of the feds? While the episode was a bit busy and formulaic, I loved how the writers are developing Jordan into the quintessential cult figurehead, and how Shawn is working out his disapproval of his boss' many failings. Most curious is what's going on with Kyle (and his hottie professor girlfriend, excellent) - is the future coming back to haunt him? Is he possessed? Is he developing a split personality disorder? Why would the future be so destructive? It doesn't make sense. I'm sure we'll learn more next week...