GregHowley.com

The 4400 Season Finale

August 29, 2005 - -

Marco and DianaWell, they fit twice as many episodes into season 2 of The 4400 as there were in season one. But the finale to season two was so well done, I almost wish there could be three finales per season. If you plan to watch the show, do not read the rest of this. I'm about to drop a boatload of huge spoilers.

The shock value of seeing everything we did during the last 60 seconds of the show was really something - these guys really know how to put together a finale and keep you aching for the next season.

So Diana and Marco finally got together. He's a cool guy and a computer geek. How can she go wrong? Gotta love those thick black frames on the glasses.

We finally see mommy's bosses pay for their betrayal. But although they're going to jail, "the war" is just beginning. Sounds like the X-men.

Richard, who's probably my favorite 4400, finally gets a little 4400 power. About time.

Kevin BurkhardtThe insane doctor Burkhardt, who's my overall favorite character in the show, injects himself with Promicin. Here's an angle that only briefly passed through my mind since the introduction of the Promicin angle. Who knows where this one will go? What implications will this have for the cult-like 4400 center? "Unlocking the 4400 within yourself" now only requires a shot?

Shawn seems to have exorcised Kyle of his spooky alternate persona. The explosion seems a bit much, but what will this mean for Kyle now that he's turning himself in for Collier's murder?

And Collier isn't dead!! It took me a minute to recognise him with that beard, but I'd all but forgotten about the disappearing body. Who knows what screwed up stuff that bastard has in mind. And what was the future's motivation for essentially faking his murder? To put Shawn in charge? And does Collier have some sort of ability to come back from the dead?

Lastly, Isabelle. Man, she scared me when she was a baby. Now she seems to have used her power to age herself about 20 years. WTF???

Comments on The 4400 Season Finale
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 1:37 PM by tagger
Marco wears those glasses because they are 100% covered by insurance - same frames the military gives you for "free." Also, it's easy to take up the nosepiece when the Big, Dumb Agency Bully breaks your glasses on the playground. :-)

Mommy's bosses, or boss-like people, will be back, I fear. That's how The System works.

Where did the spooky persona come from? Were the future people trying to undo a mistake? Did Collier come back from the dead, or was he brought back?

That Isabelle thing is the sort of stunt TV writers pull when they find they have painted themselves into a corner. A 21st Century version of Deus ex machina, in my opinion. Time will tell, however.
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 2:05 PM by Greg
Interesting observation from TVGasm:
Suddenly, Jordan Collier doesn't look like such a loon for wanting to buy a small country and ship his people there.
I'm still not sure I trust the guy.
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 2:21 PM by tagger
I think that's the point. Collier is not - never was - to be trusted. He has Too Much Money, and he is used to manipulating people to get what he wants. And, after all he's done to date, what _does_ he want? I certainly don't know. Together with that slime-ball lobbiest, they bear watching.

Questions in my mind are: Who is responsible for Collier's return, and why? Will Collier retain his memory of everything that has happened since the first Return? Is this even the same man?

Rising from the dead - Good way to start a religion, if that's the objective.

 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 3:16 PM by Chaim
It's nice to see some 4400 talk in the blog circuit. I loved this show last year, it was really amazing, and the season premiere this season was also very good. But after that the writing this season really took a hit, I don't know why, but stories just seemed implausible. For one, maybe I remember this wrong, but when they caught the guy who was taking the fall for murdering Jordan, did they say he had committed other murders as well as this one?

So then why would kyle be so upset that he was taking the fall for one more murder?

Anyway, back to my point, while the season stretched out, with some really bad writing, it really did an amazing 180 and had their best episode ever. The questions they opened up in the last 60 seconds were awesome, and if only they would have done THOSE storylines, maybe the season would have been better. Let's hope whoever wrote season 1 and season finale writes next seasons shows (will there be?)
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 3:24 PM by Man
Reading your and Tagger's thoughts I just thought of something is it possible that Collier's ability is like Lazarus. That he can't die, the personality and their powers are linked.
The crazy women spread diseases, the hero who was kind hearted, Shawn wants to help and he's a healer.

 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 3:42 PM by Chaim
Or how about this, maybe jordan was always able to come from the dead and is fighting the people in the future, because he is still around then. (like ra gul from batman)
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 4:31 PM by Greg
I don't think the guy who's taking the fall for Collier's murder actually ever killed anyone. He was a criminal, but it was mostly theft I think.

And I don't think Collier is fighting people from the future. Firstly, because I don't think he'd have a way to know much more about the future than anyone else. He doesn't have the hidden knowledge that the personality that posessed Kyle had or that I believe Isabelle probably has. Collier is not Connor MacCloud.
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 4:37 PM by tagger
RE: "Man's" comment:

My point - Lazarus did not bring _himself_ back from the dead. Lazarus was _brought_ back from the dead. Lazarus could absolutely die - after all, he did die. Dead and buried. The way the story goes, Jesus liked the guy so much he brought him back.

John 11:43 - "And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.'"

Remember?

So, my question stands - did Collier come back, or was he brought back? Or, as Greg has suggested, was he ever dead in the first place?
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 5:12 PM by Greg
Now that we're quoting scripture, I suppose there's no need for me to point out Jordan Collier's initials?

And a biggie I neglected to mention above: now, supposedly EVERY 4400 is going to gain abilities.
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 5:52 PM by tagger
Believe it or not, that got by me. old age makes idiots of us all, I guess. As for the scripture quoting, _I_ didn't start it - someone mentioned Lazarus. All I wanted to do was get the story straight.

Just because I am not a "true believer" doesn't mean I haven't read it. That is like a kid (or some adults, even) saying they "hate" a food they have never tried or a "rightous" person burning a book they never read.

As for all 4400s having powers, but for the interference of the Gov't they would have had them all along, as I understand what was said during the finale.
 
Comment Mon, August 29 - 7:36 PM by Man
I like the direction this post went. The "J.C." name, the beard then once dead.
But I only used Lazarus because I didn't know any other famous immortals.

I like the theory that Collier survives in the future and may have a hand in choosing the 4400.
 
Comment Thu, September 1 - 2:10 AM by Candy
I don't know about anyone else but I'm a bit upset that Isabelle is NOT a baby anymore! I thought it was cool when she was this wierd baby and now she's a grownup?? It's like something on a soap opera where the baby is a baby for one season and suddenly 8 years old the next season but this time the baby turned into a grownup!
 
Comment Thu, September 1 - 2:07 PM by JinnROE
holy crap that bastard is alive. what the hell is the "plan" the future people have in store. i know... a really hot isabelle. i am not a pedo or anything but if a naked girl in her 20's comes into my place, that to me (no matter the subject) is an invite for sex. And please dont tell me otherwise. ahh ha i see it now, this show will fizzle out like smallville, by trying to keep it running as long as possible. i pray to god that those bastard writers tell the damn story without trying to drag it out. so long and thanks for all the fish!
 
Comment Wed, September 21 - 2:37 AM by GrayShoes
How about those gray shoes!

The guy who is taking the fall for Kyle had these shoes that were mysteriously gray. The camera even momentarily paused on a shot of them! Plus, in an earlier episode, the girl in the psychiatric hospital, who was the only one who remembered what the people in the future looked like, mentioned that the folks in the future were all wearing gray.

So the future sent somebody back to take the fall for Kyle. Mark my words, this will be revealed in the third season!
 
Comment Fri, October 7 - 1:02 AM by Cole Randall
GUYS i cant for the life of me figure out what that song was that was playing at the end of the Season 2 Finale, when Kyle was turning himself in. Im like stressing over this for some odd reason... I know its stupid. I NEED some insight here, i cant find it anywhere.

Thanks,

Cole
cole_randall@msn.com
 
Comment Sun, October 9 - 9:09 PM by Tom Anthony
The track is "This is your life" by Switchfoot (iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=15239966&s=143441&i=15239957).

Collier has been dead 3 months, but it would take more than 3 months to grow all that hair nad he seems older. Did he spend time in the future? Is that where Isabelle has been to get older?

Is the "war" now or one that is taking place in the future? Maybe an opposing faction (against changing the timeline) in the future programmed Kyle to kill Collier? He was healed after being shot on the beach, maybe he was reprogrammed then? Maybe the others grabbed Collier, brought him back to life with future tech and sent him back again?

The Dr. is giving himself Promycin, an obvious thing to do - it is the source of the 4400 abilities. But the government has known about it for ages - are they too running tests? Did they already know about Promycin (hence finding it so quickly - they found it and identified it in 3 weeks), and the 4400 have been sent back as defenders from the future?

Lots of thoughts, but one thing that is hard to avoid is there seems to be some sort of opposition in the future (given a war starting now, maybe it is the same war still raging).

Lots of thoughts. I cannot wait. :)