4400 2.10: "Lockdown"

Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by Douglas Petrie

In which one of the 4400 stages a terrorist attack against NTAC, which sets the male population into a violent frenzy, while Maia becomes the first 4400 to come down with an unknown illness…


As the short season draws towards its conclusion, the major plot threads seem to be coming together. At least, I think they are. Things are still wide open enough that I can see many of these plot threads still awaiting resolution when the summer ends. Unlike “Dead Zone”, where the next season has already been ordered, the fate of “The 4400” is up in the air. (OK, I fully expect a renewal, given the ratings and critical acclaim, but it’s still not a done deal.)

This episode is something of a chaotic mess, but for once, that’s a good thing. Events spiral out of control when NTAC gets a taste of how unprepared they really are for a direct attack by the 4400. Therein lies the biggest challenge: what happens if someone with truly destructive abilities decides to make Jordan Collier a martyr?

Now the leadership of NTAC is in tatters, just in time for the 4400 to come down with a mysterious plague. I’m not sure where the writers are going with that. I was leaning towards some kind of genetically engineered virus, but now? I doubt anyone in the “present” understands the 4400 well enough to create something like that. So now I’m wondering if this is something built into the 4400 themselves by the “future humanity”…a momentary loss of ability, prior to an evolution of their abilities.

Of course, I’m also wondering if Kyle’s blackouts were only related to the shooting of Jordan Collier. There’s Kyle’s new love interest, who seems obsessed with him. Does she know more than she’s letting on? There has to be a reason why that plot thread had such a prominent place in the episode. I may not be making much sense with this speculation, but I just get the feeling that Kyle, the “future humanity”, and the apparent plague are all connected.

The episode is dominated by the situation at NTAC, which gets violent fast and never lets up for the rest of the hour. I was impressed by that. It must have been hard for the male cast to put that much energy into every scene, for days on end. It also didn’t come across as too contrived a plot device, since people acted with just the right level of desperation. I like it when the plot says that people are acting unrestrained, and then it actually looks that way. Too often, the actors hold back.

While NTAC is busy falling apart at the seams, things are getting ever more interesting at the 4400 Center. Sean is continually finding new ways to be compromised, and this plague isn’t going to make things any better. Which brings me to another possibility that I’m toying with. From the very beginning of the season, Isabelle has been shown as doing bad things to people who threaten her well-being. The jury is still out on Jordan, but she certainly seems to have been involved.

So the question is: does Isabelle realize that something is going on with all these secret psychological tests? Just who is ordering them? I have the feeling that Matthew is behind it. Would Isabelle have the power to strike back at the other 4400, if she believes that they were straying from their intended purpose? (And I’ll mention the fact that I’m glad Isabelle and her family has come back into the picture.)

And then there’s Jeffrey Combs, whose character returns to the story in this episode. He’s not at all happy with the 4400, and he’s still a bit unstable. Could he have been the source of the plague? The problem with that character is that he’s something of a paradox; he’s the father of the 4400 in the eyes of many, but the presence of the 4400 must inevitably affect his choices and actions. How that plays out could toss many of the assumptions about the 4400 and many earlier revelations out the window.

All these open questions are actually a good thing at this point. It gives me hope that the writers are looking to expand the series’ premise into new and unexpected directions. A lot of the recent episodes have defied my expectations, branching out from the “4400 of the Week” format that had become predictable. There’s equal potential for the storytelling to become disorganized, contradictory, and muddled, but for now, I like the fact that so many basics were overturned.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10