4400 2.11: "The Fifth Page"
Written by Ira Steven Behr and Craig Sweeney
Directed by Scott Peters
In which more and more of the 4400 fall prey to an unknown illness, leading Tom and Diana to pursue the true source of the problem, while Kyle makes some questionable choices…
This episode really brings back a lot of the tension that was promised by the episodes earlier in the season, and I’m very happy about that. As it turns out, the government was behind the plague afflicting the 4400, and there was a hidden agenda behind it. The search for that agenda is really a subplot, but it speaks more to the future of the series than anything else.
Of course, that wasn’t the only thing working for the story. The line between the 4400 and the rest of humanity has been drawn, and in a sense, Jordan Collier was right. They really were better off working together, because his resource may have saved dozens, if not hundreds, from becoming tools of the government. Above all, regardless of what Lily might think, those tests on Isabel might have been more important than even Matthew believed.
OK, so…the plot against the 4400. It’s actually a rather crude but effective means of controlling a population with powerful abilities, many of which can be used against the controlling authority (as seen in the previous episode). Take the entire population and trick them into getting regular doses of a substance that they become dependent upon for their continued existence. Then take it away. Wait for people to start getting seriously ill, and then come through with the “cure” to the disease…which, of course, will require regular doses of the treatment to prevent the return of the ailment.
What’s not clear is how far the suits in Washington are willing to take this, and what Dennis is going to allow Tom and Diana to do with the information they’ve received. Diana has the scientific expertise to find a way to turn the situation around, perhaps, but Tom has other issues than Alana’s health. While he’s trying to save his “wife”, Kyle is basically handing everything but a confession to the girlfriend of the main suspect in Collier’s shooting. I strongly suspect that Tom’s glimpse of Kyle’s arrest, during his vision with Alana, will come to pass in the season finale.
While our intrepid agents are unlikely to get the job done on their own, a possible solution is waiting in the wings. Isabelle is out there somewhere, and I find it interesting that she wasn’t affected. Two things come to mind: Isabelle has never been given the treatments required by the government, and as a result, the only medical information is in whatever file the 4400 Center happens to hold.
So if there’s a third season (which from what I understand, is less certain than I thought it was, given the ratings slump this summer), I can’t help but think that Isabelle will be the key to saving the 4400. Of course, saving them would only open the door to retaliation. No matter how it falls, attacks like the previous episode are just the beginning.
One thing that does make me wonder, though…NTAC still talks about the 4400 as if there are actually 4400 of them still around. Some have died, haven’t they? And even more of them are dying now. It might be nice for someone to mention, at some point, how many are left. Something like what they do in the opening credits of “Battlestar: Galactica”, where the number of survivors is slowly but surely reduced over time as people are killed in action.
I really enjoyed this episode, because the chaos of the previous episode was never resolved in some artificially clean manner. Things are getting about as messy as one would expect them to get, and interpersonal relationships are tested in the process. That gives scope to the story and personalizes the larger plot concerns, and that brings back a lot of the elements that made this series work so well in the first place.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Directed by Scott Peters
In which more and more of the 4400 fall prey to an unknown illness, leading Tom and Diana to pursue the true source of the problem, while Kyle makes some questionable choices…
This episode really brings back a lot of the tension that was promised by the episodes earlier in the season, and I’m very happy about that. As it turns out, the government was behind the plague afflicting the 4400, and there was a hidden agenda behind it. The search for that agenda is really a subplot, but it speaks more to the future of the series than anything else.
Of course, that wasn’t the only thing working for the story. The line between the 4400 and the rest of humanity has been drawn, and in a sense, Jordan Collier was right. They really were better off working together, because his resource may have saved dozens, if not hundreds, from becoming tools of the government. Above all, regardless of what Lily might think, those tests on Isabel might have been more important than even Matthew believed.
OK, so…the plot against the 4400. It’s actually a rather crude but effective means of controlling a population with powerful abilities, many of which can be used against the controlling authority (as seen in the previous episode). Take the entire population and trick them into getting regular doses of a substance that they become dependent upon for their continued existence. Then take it away. Wait for people to start getting seriously ill, and then come through with the “cure” to the disease…which, of course, will require regular doses of the treatment to prevent the return of the ailment.
What’s not clear is how far the suits in Washington are willing to take this, and what Dennis is going to allow Tom and Diana to do with the information they’ve received. Diana has the scientific expertise to find a way to turn the situation around, perhaps, but Tom has other issues than Alana’s health. While he’s trying to save his “wife”, Kyle is basically handing everything but a confession to the girlfriend of the main suspect in Collier’s shooting. I strongly suspect that Tom’s glimpse of Kyle’s arrest, during his vision with Alana, will come to pass in the season finale.
While our intrepid agents are unlikely to get the job done on their own, a possible solution is waiting in the wings. Isabelle is out there somewhere, and I find it interesting that she wasn’t affected. Two things come to mind: Isabelle has never been given the treatments required by the government, and as a result, the only medical information is in whatever file the 4400 Center happens to hold.
So if there’s a third season (which from what I understand, is less certain than I thought it was, given the ratings slump this summer), I can’t help but think that Isabelle will be the key to saving the 4400. Of course, saving them would only open the door to retaliation. No matter how it falls, attacks like the previous episode are just the beginning.
One thing that does make me wonder, though…NTAC still talks about the 4400 as if there are actually 4400 of them still around. Some have died, haven’t they? And even more of them are dying now. It might be nice for someone to mention, at some point, how many are left. Something like what they do in the opening credits of “Battlestar: Galactica”, where the number of survivors is slowly but surely reduced over time as people are killed in action.
I really enjoyed this episode, because the chaos of the previous episode was never resolved in some artificially clean manner. Things are getting about as messy as one would expect them to get, and interpersonal relationships are tested in the process. That gives scope to the story and personalizes the larger plot concerns, and that brings back a lot of the elements that made this series work so well in the first place.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
posted by John Keegan | 17:03
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