(S04E11) This season continues to deliver more and more great performances. It was a terrific surprise to find Lily again in the very beginning moments of this episode, even though I was expecting to see her, based on the scenes previewing this week's story. I was so sorry when she died because I like the actress so much. She nailed the character with ease, and her chemistry with Mahershalalhashbaz Ali was wonderful all over again. But the best part of this episode (besides the guest appearance from Penny Johnson Jerald, who invented evil on 24 as David Palmer's ex-wife) was the opportunity given to Joel Gretsch as an actor.If there were any question about whether or not Tom was one of the Marked before this episode, it's pretty determined now that he is definitely one of them. A host has taken over Tom's body, and that leads me to wonder where on earth Tom is? His psyche has to be trapped somewhere in his own head, and mad as hell.
But it makes sense that they would send Parrish either to activate him, or to realize that he was starting to become activated, and to act as a guide to make sure he would make the transition smoothly. The new Tom is more exuberant and more confident and more arrogant than Tom Baldwin is. And Joel Getsch captures this magnificently. He has to play someone inhabiting his character, and the very subtle nature of the change in him, even when he is interacting with Diana is really an acting marvel to watch. I could tell just be the slightest shifts in voice pattern or eye shifts that he was faking, but he also did a pretty find job of faking being Tom, without managing to be him entirely.
Diana has known him a lot longer than Meghan has, and even though she is not sleeping with him, she knows that something's up. Jacqueline McKenzie isn't as subtle as Gretsch, but neither does her character call for her to be. Do you think Alter Ego Tom was really establishing mind control over Marco? I think he was-- it would have been easy for him to control Marco laughing the whole thing off. Diana wasn't kidding that it wasn't funny-- and I don't think it was a joke. And this is confusing, because even though it wasn't funny for Diana, it was, actually, pretty funny.
Okay, raise your hand if you no longer think that Kyle actually has an ability of any kind? Who else thinks Cassie is just someone from the future who pretends to be his ability but actually just manipulates the hell out of him? They got him and got him good: They chose an attractive redhead and played into his great desire to have an ability. It's pretty clear now, though, why the future people who are on Jordan's side want Tom Baldwin to take the shot: It will either expel the person inhabiting him, kill Tom, or make that person be on Jordan's side. Or something else that will help Jordan's movement.
Someone commented last week that Kevin's research was going to be a very bad thing, and they were absolutely right. Kevin's research is going to divide the whole world. And it is now clear that Jordan has a vision of a supreme race and he doesn't even have to genetically engineer it: The people who are the so-called "weak" will die after they take promicin. So, there is already a tacit assumption that people who don't have special ability capabilities don't deserve to live, hidden in the guise of the good of the gifted over the good of the non.
Shawn Ferrell, it might be up to you to save us all.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-20-2007 @ 9:29AM
Chris said...
I guess its a great day to be left handed. Great episode.
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8-20-2007 @ 9:58AM
JDog said...
Great episode. I too agree that Kyle's ability is a sham and Cassie is definately a voice from the future. You should probably have mentioned two very impotant points - the persona;ity that is inhabiting Tom is the same "person" who inhabited Mathew Ross - Shawn's former advisor at the 4400 Center who was after Isabelle to be evil and whom she killed. And speaking of Isabelle, she is - conveniently - back to her former/older self. As soon as I we knew she was gogin tobe older again, I realized this might have all been a plot device to enable her to shed her promyacin resistence adn let her regain her abilities.
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8-20-2007 @ 10:05AM
Jen Creer said...
Good point-- I did forget to mention Ross, but I didn't mention Isabelle because we largely know that from Tom telling her to take her abilities back, and we don't know quite how that will happen yet, but I agree with your assessment.
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8-20-2007 @ 10:23AM
Vito The TiVo said...
Wait... so Cassie helping the "evil" future? So, Kyle took the Promicin and didn't die and didn't get an ability? Or the "evil" future can affect the "extra crispies" that have never even been to the future? And if Cassie is evil, why does she need to help the Marked get Isabelle to get to Jordan? She already has Kyle. Who has already killed Jordan once! And why would the future implant Isabelle, presumably to stop Jordan and encourage Jordan to keep up the fight through Cassie? What?
Read more of the illogicalness here:
http://www.recapist.com/2007/08/20/the-4400-one-of-us-the-illogical-count
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8-20-2007 @ 11:15AM
Niino said...
Not sure if it has been mentioned already, but has anyone else thought that Promise City is the beginning of the great walled city of the future? And that maybe Jordan's return wasn't as clandestine as he's led us to believe?
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8-20-2007 @ 11:42AM
Oreo said...
Of course it is Niino, that should have been clear all along. I think that's why Jordon thinks that 3 billion people need to die. If there is a test to make sure you can safely take the drug than half the population won't and will live outside The Promised City, Jordon wants one world of 3 billion people not 2 different ones fighting.
And Kyle is special, he was supposed to be taken in the first place and has ahd the future people mess with him. So maybe he has an ability and doesn't nkow what it is and thinks the future woman is it. Or maybe she is right and people need to die.
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8-20-2007 @ 11:47AM
Jon88 said...
Terminology tweak: Tom isn't inhabited by the host, he *is* the host.
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8-20-2007 @ 1:33PM
ladyangst said...
Thank you, Jon88. I was going to point that out.
Does anyone else think they missed out on cleverness by calling it Promise City rather than Promicity?
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8-20-2007 @ 1:33PM
John said...
ability:
power or capacity to do or act physically, mentally, legally, morally, financially, etc.
I'd say since Kyle hasn't learned to control or summon 'Cassie' then it's not an ability. Seems more like a liability or disability.
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8-20-2007 @ 2:15PM
Jimmy said...
OK, this episode was starting to annoy me and then everything started falling into place. A lot of what I had suspected all season was confirmed with this episode and I am anxiously waiting to see what happens next. I haven't quite figured out if Jordan is a bad guy or not. Certainly he has a Messiah complex, thanks in no small part to Kyle's stupidity and desperate need to be special, but I'm not so sure he's a bad guy in the sense that we now know the Marked are the bad guys from the future. By the way, Joel Gretch was damn good in this episode; in fact, he has been damn good since the early days of the mini-series. He was rather wasted last season, but the writers seem to have realized their mistake.
My next question is: what will happen with Maia? She's already decided Collier is the good guy; will she get a vision about what's coming next? If she does, what will "Tom" do?
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8-20-2007 @ 3:47PM
RSL said...
Ahem. Remember when I told you kittens back near the first of the season that Cassie wasn't Kyle's power but some kind of evil missive from the future? Cool. Yay.
Oh, you remember me saying something about Meghan being in on the global conspiracy as well? Oh, nevermind.
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8-20-2007 @ 9:12PM
Stacy said...
Add me to the list of people who think Cassie is not really Kyle's ability but an evil future person. And I really hope she went to far in asking Kyle to "take care" of Shawn. I know Kyle's being manipulated but he can't kill his cousin and friend.
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8-21-2007 @ 7:10PM
fred said...
Of course that scene was a joke, really a joke and nothing more, are you serious?? Not only would it not make sense for "NewTom" to do that otherwise, but aren't the marked people supposed not to have abilities?
I was pretty Cassie wasn't an ability (she has her own will), but I'm wondering who she's working for/with now? bad future, good future, or yet another future? don't seem to make sense (yet)...
http://88.191.26.34/i_watch_tv/2007/08/21/the-4400-one-of-us/
By the way, the whole plot with Lilly wasn't only useless, it was painful to watch!! "- who are you, - i am me! - but you're dead - no, i feel real, i must be real!"
Worst. Dialog. Ever.
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8-22-2007 @ 11:29AM
Niino said...
I agree that Cassie is mostly likely not Kyle's ability and some sort of being from the future manipulating him. But if that's true, -and- Kyle really did take Promicin, then a) why isn't he dead or b) what's his actual ability?
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8-25-2007 @ 7:51PM
1967Dan said...
The barrier surounding the perimeter of Promise City won't let you enter unless you have a 4400 ability, right?
That means if Kyle has not had an ability all along, then
a) Person(s) within Promise City have detected and allowed every one of Kyle's etrances or exists (just one or maybe two more 4400 abilities). Same would have been true for Isabelle until she got her ability back.
b) Kyle comes and goes by virtue of Cassie. Maybe he connection to her confers two-for-one passage.
b) is the easier, more convenient answer
a) is interesting, but it means Jordan doing a ton of planning just for Kyle's sake. Why? It also means Jordan is even more of a snake - or maybe serpent would be a better term.
When the supreme being appears (the prophecy said this would happen), maybe he's going to throw everyone out of the garden - again.
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