The 4400 are prisoners of the government once again. Meanwhile, Isaiah has come into his powers but he is far from happy about it until Shanice helps him to see them in a different light.
4400 returned from its midseason break with a different format and a lot of moving parts. When last we saw them Mildred had attacked Bill Green, jeopardising the safety of the other returnees. In this episode titled Great Expectations, it’s been 48 hours since Mildred cut loose and instead of a flashback to one person’s past, we get several flashbacks to before Mildred was caught in 4K, as TV presenter Gladys Keller (Ashley Bryant) asks “Do you remember what you were doing when their powers were revealed?”
Of the flashbacks, the most interesting is where we see that it was Jessica on the other end of Green’s phone call. Bruno the Firestarter is nowhere to be found and Jessica is promising to find out before she hears Green and Mildred’s conversation and watches on her tablet as Green is tossed out the window.
Of course, now the government have the excuse they needed to trigger the conservatorship. The 4400 based at the Bois Blanc hotel who signed the contracts are back in those awful uniforms they were given when they were first rounded up and locked up. They can’t have any contact with the outside world, no phones or internet and they will be subject to medical care and testing which is government-speak for invasive experiments. Alongside that, the government have set up a tip line so the public can report any 4400 caught slipping.
Isaiah coming to terms with his powers
The Rev spends most of the episode in his feelings as he tries to come to terms with his power. When Ji-Eun starts freaking out about being locked up again, he can’t bring himself to say or do anything to help her. Shanice is the one that eventually calms her down.
Isaiah blames himself for what has happened as he was focused on working with Bill Green to help his people and keep them safe, he didn’t even get around to signing the contract himself. When Shanice tells him they should finish what they started and make the hotel a proper religious sanctuary, the Rev’s not sure he can be their leader.
He believes he took away Mildred’s power. That is his power. He’s upset because he champions the thing that makes them special. What kind of leader can he be for them if he can take their powers away?
Where the Rev sees their powers as a gift Shanice sees hers as a burden. When she asks the Rev to remove her power, she shows him that his power gives the returnees a choice they were never given when they came back. The Rev finally comes to terms with his gift and removes Shanice’s power.
I was pretty conflicted about Shanice giving up her power as it felt like a woman giving up what makes her special so that a man can hold his head up high. But let’s not get into that. Also, as invasive as it was, I felt it was a useful power to have. But she’s made her choice now. Let’s hope they never need to retrieve something useful from someone’s memory again.
Steve becomes a tip line casualty
Despite the dangers, Shanice and Andre sneak out to take a walk in the park when Steve the guard sees them. A jogger bumps into him and his knee is damaged. Andre runs to help him but Shanice tries to stop him. Too late, Andre feels it’s his duty to help anyone who needs it. Steve is not grateful for Andre’s help and as his knee heals, he notices that a woman had seen him healing.
Later when Steve sees Andre in the hotel he tells him to leave him alone. Turns out the person in the park assumed Steve was a 4400 and called the tip line. He’s been doxed and people are now harassing his family shop.
Jharrell is fired and arrested
The biggest shocker of the episode was the way Jessica fired Jharrell, telling him he’d always been a pain in her arse. When he threatens to go to the press, she welcomes it. Because he’ll be playing into the hands of the government. When the public gets confirmation about the 4400, they will be begging for protection. She tells him “We shine when we serve and protect.” Ugh. I seriously dislike this woman. Can’t believe Keisha couldn’t see her for what she was. Then again, Keisha was kind of also a dick before she saw the light.
Soraya visits Andre with an excuse of helping him as LaDonna isn’t around to crack Manny’s code. Andre tells her the only thing he’s come up with so far is that the 4400 have a blood identifier called ZMT. Soraya wants to look into it further and asks Andre to trust her as she takes the thumb drive with the code on it.
Later we see her meet Jessica in the park where she hands over the thumb drive to her. It was at this point that I screamed at the TV. Like seriously! I’m so disappointed.
At the end of the episode when Jharrel finally makes the connection between Manny’s puzzles and a book called Wrinkle in Time, he’s arrested at Claudette’s apartment. How did the police know to find him there? Is the place bugged? Obviously, Jessica and Green believe he’s the key to cracking Manny’s code.
4400 granted sanctuary
With Keisha quitting her job the only good news in this episode is the fact that despite Jessica’s best efforts to stop Shanice from filing a request to turn the hotel into a sanctuary, Shanice manages to file the papers and sanctuary was granted. As the guards pack up and leave the hotel a few of them behave very spitefully. Ho-hum. This part of the story is becoming annoying.
If one guard had a grudge against the 4400, I could buy into the conflict but here the guards are just dicks for the sake of it and it doesn’t ring true. I’m gonna need the writers to write them better or leave them out.
Of course, the 4400 haven’t’ won anything. Sanctuary was granted so more 4400 would go to the hotel for safety like sitting ducks. Even as he lay in his hospital bed all bandaged up, Bill Green managed to come out a winner.
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