The 4400The 4400 is a science fiction program on the USA Network, Space: The Imagination Station and Sky One. It began as a miniseries of five episodes, which aired weekly from July 11 to August 8, 2004; a second season of twelve episodes began airing on June 5, 2005 and concluded on August 28, 2005. Production on thirteen new episodes for a third season has begun for a summer 2006 premiere. It was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria. It stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie. The theme song of the show is "A Place in Time" written by Robert Phillips & Tim Paruskewitz, performed by Amanda Abizaid. The 4400 is produced by Paramount Network Television in Association with Sky Television for Sky One, Renegade 83 and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The series is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.In the pilot episode, what is originally thought to be a comet deposits a group of exactly four thousand, four hundred people in the Seattle, Washington region. All of the 4,400 had disappeared at various points starting from 1941 in a beam of white light. After their return, none have aged, all are disoriented, and they remember nothing between the time of their disappearance and their return. National Threat Assessment CommandNTAC (National Threat Assessment Command), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is formed in response to the return of the 4400. There are a multitude of agents assigned to the case. The series mainly follows two of them, as well as their immediate superior:
(A real-life NTAC now exists as well; however, it is specifically part of the Secret Service division of the Department of Homeland Security, and the "C" stands for "Center" instead of "Command".) The Returnees (The 4400)Most have trouble trying to get their lives back on track after being separated from their world for years. More significantly, a small number of the returnees begin to manifest paranormal abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy, precognition, and much stranger ones. In addition, one of the 4400 had become pregnant between her disapperance and return. At the end of the first season, we learn that the 4400 were abducted, not by aliens, but by someone in Earth's future, and that they were returned in order to prevent some sort of catastrophe. At the end of the second season, it was revealed that all 4400 had a new neurotransmitter called "promicin" in their brains; it was this which gave some of them their powers. The government, afraid of what this large group would do with such power, secretly dosed all 4400 with a promicin inhibitor. (It worked on the majority of the group, but not those who were later seen with powers.) The inhibitor caused a potentially fatal immune system condition in the returnees, forcing the government to inject all surviving returnees with replacement promicin; it is hinted that all of them will now exhibit powers. The series follows the lives and stories of a select few of the 4400. The main characters are:
Several other members of the 4400 feature in specific storylines:
PromicinThe abilities of the 4400 derive from activating dormant neural pathways. Apparently the body produces four main neurotransmitters that control and regulate everything. Every 4400 produces a fifth neurotransmitter called Promicin that enables him or her to use parts of the cerebellum no human has ever had access to. Promicin's behavior and effect are unpredictable, potentially giving any ability. This plot element uses the "Ten Percent Myth", which modern science has disproven. The promicin-inhibitor would piggyback on glucose. It entered the brain through facilitated diffusion. It's a binding protein. A serum was created that contained pure promicin. This serum neutralized the charge so the inhibitor isn't able to cross membranes and can be flushed out of the body. Episode ListSeason OneSeason TwoSeason ThreeProduction of a third season is scheduled to begin in Vancouver in early 2006, and will be premiering in the summer. Allusions to ScientologyThe 4400 Center run by Jordan Collier seems intended to resemble the real-world Church of Scientology. The 4400 Center promises supernatural abilities to those who follow its training through for-pay courses, much as the Church of Scientology promises, though Scientology is not as forthcoming about its promises of supernatural powers. At least one 4400 Center attendee has had his psychological medication confiscated, much as the Church of Scientology is opposed to psychology and its medications. The 4400 Center includes technological devices strapped onto its members during courses, similar to Scientology's E-Meters. The 4400 Center targets celebrities for inclusion and promotes them through the program faster than non-celebrity members; the Church of Scientology definitely intentionally draws celebrities with its "Celebrity Centers". One former member of the 4400 Center accused it of making him take endless for-pay classes until he was bankrupted, at which point he was ejected from the program; Scientology has had similar accusations pointed at it. Allusions to Judaeo-Christian TextsThe name of the show itself might be an allusion to the belief held by Jehovah's Witnesses that only 144,000 people will be allowed into heaven. The 4400 people who disappear do so in a rapture like fashion. The show's content has subtle Christian undertones, although not in a way that one would take it to be proselytizing. The baby Isabelle, believed by some to be the future savior of mankind, has no qualms about violently killing people who get in her way. While Isabelle might sometimes seem like a Christ-like figure, she is certainly not. In the same vein, Jordan Collier (note his initials JC), whose intentions and methods are also grey, is killed by a sniper, and after his funeral, his body miraculously disappears. He is then reborn (albeit in a currently unknown fashion). Trivia
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He is then reborn (albeit in a currently unknown fashion). There is also a hotel and casino in Las Vegas named Aladdin. In the same vein, Jordan Collier (note his initials JC), whose intentions and methods are also grey, is killed by a sniper, and after his funeral, his body miraculously disappears. This tale has been adapted to film a number of times, including Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp, the 1939 Popeye the Sailor cartoon, and Aladdin, the 1992 animated feature by Walt Disney Feature Animation. While Isabelle might sometimes seem like a Christ-like figure, she is certainly not. Note that although it is listed as an Arabic tale either because of its source, or because it was included in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, the characters in the story are neither Arabs nor Persians, but rather are from China and Africa. The baby Isabelle, believed by some to be the future savior of mankind, has no qualms about violently killing people who get in her way. The traditional Aladdin pantomime (which is set in China, unlike many adaptations of the story) is the source of the well-known pantomime character Widow Twankey. The show's content has subtle Christian undertones, although not in a way that one would take it to be proselytizing. In the United Kingdom, the story of Aladdin is a popular subject for pantomimes. The 4400 people who disappear do so in a rapture like fashion. It was purchased by the Bibliothèque Nationale at the end of the 19th century. The name of the show itself might be an allusion to the belief held by Jehovah's Witnesses that only 144,000 people will be allowed into heaven. Caussin de Perceval, is a copy of a manuscript made in Baghdad in 1703. One former member of the 4400 Center accused it of making him take endless for-pay classes until he was bankrupted, at which point he was ejected from the program; Scientology has had similar accusations pointed at it. The more interesting one, in a manuscript that belonged to the scholar M. The 4400 Center targets celebrities for inclusion and promotes them through the program faster than non-celebrity members; the Church of Scientology definitely intentionally draws celebrities with its "Celebrity Centers". One is a jumbled late 18th century Syrian version. The 4400 Center includes technological devices strapped onto its members during courses, similar to Scientology's E-Meters. John Payne, Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp and Other Stories, (London 1901) gives details of Galland's encounter with the man he referred to as "Hanna" and the discovery in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris of two Arabic manuscripts containing Aladdin (with two more of the "interpolated" tales). At least one 4400 Center attendee has had his psychological medication confiscated, much as the Church of Scientology is opposed to psychology and its medications. It was included in his volumes ix and x of the Nights, published in 1710. The 4400 Center promises supernatural abilities to those who follow its training through for-pay courses, much as the Church of Scientology promises, though Scientology is not as forthcoming about its promises of supernatural powers. Galland's diary also tells that his translation of "Aladdin" was made in the winter of 1709–10. The 4400 Center run by Jordan Collier seems intended to resemble the real-world Church of Scientology. Galland's diary (March 25, 1709) records that he met the Maronite scholar, by name Youhenna Diab ("Hanna"), who had been brought from Aleppo to Paris, France by Paul Lucas, a celebrated French traveller. Production of a third season is scheduled to begin in Vancouver in early 2006, and will be premiering in the summer. No medieval Arabic source has been traced for the tale, which was incorporated into The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by its French translator, Antoine Galland, who heard it from a Syrian Christian storyteller from Aleppo. This serum neutralized the charge so the inhibitor isn't able to cross membranes and can be flushed out of the body. It's a binding protein. One of the reasons for the enduring interest of the Aladdin story lies in our often unconscious recognition of the importance of its underlying meaning. It entered the brain through facilitated diffusion. The wholeness he finally achieves is symbolised by the re-establishment of the relationship with the princess. The promicin-inhibitor would piggyback on glucose. Aladdin's first success came too easily and was not based on his own efforts, but the genie's who helped him; his despair at losing the princess and the palace to the evil sorcerer takes him to a spiritual place at which he needs to arrive before he can develop true strength and wholeness by making his own efforts to succeed. This plot element uses the "Ten Percent Myth", which modern science has disproven.. This final success is only possible because the hero has learned a degree of inner maturity by going through the crisis. Promicin's behavior and effect are unpredictable, potentially giving any ability. This type of story presents in three parts: from lowly beginnings, a protagonist achieves an initial success in life, traverses a major crisis in which all seems lost, and finally triumphs over adversity to achieve more stable and enduring success. Every 4400 produces a fifth neurotransmitter called Promicin that enables him or her to use parts of the cerebellum no human has ever had access to. an example of the "rags-to-riches" story. Apparently the body produces four main neurotransmitters that control and regulate everything. The story of Aladdin is a classic example of one of the seven basic plots in story-telling i.e. The abilities of the 4400 derive from activating dormant neural pathways. The theme of the wily trickster of lowly birth who outfoxes the trickster himself is a widespread motif in fables. Several other members of the 4400 feature in specific storylines:. Assisted by the lesser djinn, Aladdin recovers his wife and the lamp. The main characters are:. Aladdin discovers a lesser, polite djinn is summoned by a ring loaned to him by the sorcerer but forgotten during the double-cross. The series follows the lives and stories of a select few of the 4400. The sorcerer returns and is able to get his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdin's wife, who is unaware of the lamp's importance. (It worked on the majority of the group, but not those who were later seen with powers.) The inhibitor caused a potentially fatal immune system condition in the returnees, forcing the government to inject all surviving returnees with replacement promicin; it is hinted that all of them will now exhibit powers. With the aid of the djinn, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries princess Badroulbadour. The government, afraid of what this large group would do with such power, secretly dosed all 4400 with a promicin inhibitor. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him, Aladdin keeps the lamp for himself, and discovers that it summons a surly djinn that is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp. At the end of the second season, it was revealed that all 4400 had a new neurotransmitter called "promicin" in their brains; it was this which gave some of them their powers. The story concerns an impoverished young man named Aladdin living in Arabia, who is recruited by a sorcerer to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp from a booby trapped magic cave. At the end of the first season, we learn that the 4400 were abducted, not by aliens, but by someone in Earth's future, and that they were returned in order to prevent some sort of catastrophe. Aladdin (a corruption of the Arabic name Alauddin/ʿAlāʾu d-Dīn, Arabic: علاء الدين, Chinese: 阿拉丁) is one of the tales with a Syrian origin in the collection 1001 Nights and one of the most famous in Western culture. In addition, one of the 4400 had become pregnant between her disapperance and return. More significantly, a small number of the returnees begin to manifest paranormal abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy, precognition, and much stranger ones. Most have trouble trying to get their lives back on track after being separated from their world for years. (A real-life NTAC now exists as well; however, it is specifically part of the Secret Service division of the Department of Homeland Security, and the "C" stands for "Center" instead of "Command".). The series mainly follows two of them, as well as their immediate superior:. There are a multitude of agents assigned to the case. NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is formed in response to the return of the 4400. . After their return, none have aged, all are disoriented, and they remember nothing between the time of their disappearance and their return. All of the 4,400 had disappeared at various points starting from 1941 in a beam of white light. In the pilot episode, what is originally thought to be a comet deposits a group of exactly four thousand, four hundred people in the Seattle, Washington region. The series is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The 4400 is produced by Paramount Network Television in Association with Sky Television for Sky One, Renegade 83 and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The theme song of the show is "A Place in Time" written by Robert Phillips & Tim Paruskewitz, performed by Amanda Abizaid. It stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie. It was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria. Production on thirteen new episodes for a third season has begun for a summer 2006 premiere. It began as a miniseries of five episodes, which aired weekly from July 11 to August 8, 2004; a second season of twelve episodes began airing on June 5, 2005 and concluded on August 28, 2005. The 4400 is a science fiction program on the USA Network, Space: The Imagination Station and Sky One. New Zealand: TV3 (New Zealand). Turkey: CNBC-e. Brazil: NBC's Universal Channel. Norway: TV3. The Netherlands: Talpa. United States: USA Network. United Kingdom: Sky One. Germany: ProSieben. France: M6. Australia: Network Ten. Switzerland: TSR. Canada: Space. [1]. Early marketing for the series included stencilled graffiti in public places across San Francisco, Houston, and Boston raising ire among residents. The second season was aired weekly but taken off air halfway through the season, but continued to air in New Zealand. In Australia and New Zealand the first series was shown as a miniseries of 3 episodes. Vehicles from DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group, such as the Dodge Durango and Chrysler 300, appear frequently in the show being driven by members of NTAC. Nate McCullough, disappeared September 8, 2000. Werner Loecher, disappeared April 19,1973. Matthew Lombard, disappeared May 30,1977. Rose Woodard, disappeared December 1,1991. Paranormal abilities: Increases the levels of adrenaline or other hormones (causing elevated levels of rage) in males within a certain radius through sonic means. Kim, disappeared February 2, 1998. T.J. Laurel Bryce, disappeared January 7, 1982. Sara James, disappeared November 5, 1971. (Deceased). Roger Wolcott, disappeared March 6, 1987. Paranormal abilities: Could heal fetuses in utero (but causes progressive damage to self). Edwin Mayuya, aka Edwin Musinga, doctor, disappeared February 24, 1996. (Deceased) Paranormal abilities: sores on hands released plague-like disease (airborne, disappears in about half an hour, goes through biohazard gear). Jean DeLynn Baker, disappeared October 27, 1999. Paranormal abilities: Unlocked artistic potential in certain students in her classes. Heather Tobey, school teacher, disappeared March 2, 1974. Eric Papequash, disappeared August 5, 1955. (Deceased) Paranormal abilities: Could revive dead plants. Mary Deneville, disappeared August 4, 1999. Given to her by the future so she can develop a relationship with Tom Baldwin to sustain him through the "coming troubles.". Paranormal abilities: Ability to create an alternate reality. Artist (and debatably museum director). Alana Mareva, disappeared September 5, 2001. He was shot during apprehension, but lived. The ability does cause Orson to suffer nosebleeds, and he has shown an inability to control this power. glass, bones). Paranormal abilities: Telekinesis of a magnitude to cause tremors in immediate vicinity and shatter objects (e.g. Insurance Salesman and partner in Kensington & Bailey. Orson Bailey, disappeared June 11, 1979, from Tacoma, WA. Paranormal abilities: Saliva contains an agent that rapidly accelerates the metabolism of others. A telemarketer. Trent Appelbaum, disappeared May 18, 1989. Paranormal abilities: Is able to hear the thoughts of others. A baseball player. Gary Navarro,disappeared January 5, 1973. Paranormal abilities: Ability to compel others to help her build a device, the plans for which have been planted in her head. A mental patient. Tess Doerner, disappeared April 3, 1955. Paranormal abilities: Mind control/suggestion via speech. Captured and imprisoned in soundproof cell. Oliver Knox, disappeared August 22, 1983, from Friday Harbor, WA, a suspected serial killer. Paranormal abilities: Enhanced reflexes and strength. A supermarket employee (Deceased). Carl Morrisey, disappeared February 16, 2003, from Seattle, WA. Note that many of these powers duplicate those from among the 4400. Paranormal abilities: Telepathic communication (with Lily Moore, Richard Tyler, and Jordan Collier), mind control, materialization projection, alteration (Jordan Collier's injury, Lily Moore's first daughter's spleen) and/or acceleration of biological growth (the growth of berries in one episode and herself in the Season 2 finale), precognition (warned Lily of a bomb before it exploded), telekinesis (the bending trees in the final scene of Season 1). At the end of the season finale she ages considerably and shows up in Shawn's office, naked. As the only 4400 not affected by the ability-inhibitor, she provides blood used to heal Shawn Farrell and consequently all 4400s, activating their abilities. Technically not one of "The 4400" returned (she was still in the womb at the time of the count). Isabelle Tyler-Moore, born post-return, daughter of Richard Tyler and Lily Moore. Also, after being assassinated, he disappears and reappears alive at the very end of the second season finale. Possibly enhanced power of suggestion over other people, but this could just be a personality trait. Paranormal abilities: unknown. Jordan Collier, disappeared April 10, 2002, from Seattle, WA area, a former real estate mogul. Paranormal abilities: precognition. Maia Rutledge, disappeared March 3, 1946, at age 8, from Crescent City, CA. Paranormal abilities: Healer and life taker. Shawn Farrell, disappeared April 22, 2001, at age 17, from Highland Beach, WA. Paranormal abilities: None Known. Returned pregnant, but not by Brian, rather by Richard Tyler. At time of abduction, married to Brian Moore, mother to Heidi Moore. Louis, MO. Lily Moore, disappeared in 1993, at age 26, from St. Paranormal abilities: apparent telekinesis. Father of Lily Moore's second daughter, Isabelle. At the time, in a relationship with Lily Moore's grandmother, Lily Bonham. Louis, MO. Originally from St. Richard Tyler, disappeared May 11, 1951, at age 29, while in South Korea during the Korean War. Ryland is succeeded by Nina Jarvis in season two, but he takes his role back as a guest star on the 11th and 12th (season finale) episodes of season two. Dennis Ryland: Baldwin's and Skouris's supervisor and director of the Seattle bureau of NTAC during season one. In the first episode of season 2, Diana adopts Maia Rutledge. The eight-year old pre-cog Maia asks to move in with her at some point in season 1. Diana Skouris: Tom's partner. Kyle was in a coma for three years, and after being awoken is troubled by blackouts. Tom Baldwin: Baldwin's nephew is Shawn Farrell; Shawn was with Baldwin's son Kyle Baldwin during the abduction. |