By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
Once again, the main plot thread of the episode focuses on one of the “extra crispies”, the newly-powered users of promicin, but this introductory phase of the season arc comes to a close by focusing on an established character: April Skouris. Her ability to force others into telling the truth is the basis for her current troubles, and the results put more pressure on Diana.
Diana promised Ben, her current paramour, that she would return to Europe with him and Maia once she found April and brought things to resolution. Now that she’s back in the midst of the NTAC whirlwind, however, her desire to get away from the danger and insanity has been overcome by her sense of duty. Both Maia and April, as members of her family, give her reason to stay on the front lines of the battle between the mundanes and the powered.
Not that Tom gets off easy. He discovers, much to his horror, that Kyle has taken the promicin shot and is now, in essence, a fugitive from the law. Kyle has embraced his role as Jordan’s future shaman, and has found an ally in Isabelle. Isabelle’s role is still not clear, but her unusual intelligence is already a key factor in the plot. She’s able to decode the encryption in the “White Light” journal, and the predictions therein put Tom right in Jordan’s path to Messiahville.
Once again, we see how Tom and Diana are compromised by their personal connections to the 4400 and the newly-powered. It’s hard to imagine that they’re still considered to be viable agents for NTAC. More to the point, one would expect them to overcompensate for any suspicion or conflict of interest by hunting down the powered more fervently than anyone else. The almost-casual nature of their investigative method remains one item difficult to reconcile.
April’s role, however, could force Diana to consider her loyalties as well. In essence, April could (and probably will) be used to question detained prisoners with abilities to find out where others are hiding, or more importantly, where Jordan’s followers might be (if he begins building a wider cult following). If April began to balk at this role, Diana might be forced to convince her otherwise, even if the methods being used are questionable.
Similarly, Tom will probably find himself caught between support for Shawn’s anti-Collier stance as a rising political figure and his relationship with Kyle, which is already falling apart at the seams. If Tom is forced into taking promicin (and assuming, as one must, that he survives), how would he react to that new reality? This would put him in an interesting position, especially when one considers Diana’s current situation.
Whatever the case, Shawn’s victory with his healing foundation (and, it seems, the 4400 Center as a whole) has successfully shifted the large-scale conflict into three factions. The first faction is rabidly anti-promicin, regardless of how abilities are used. Shawn’s faction is, in a sense, the “Charles Xavier” side of the conflict, seeking peaceful and beneficial co-existence. Jordan’s side is, in relation, the “Magneto” side, more at odds with the mundane world. It’s a tried-and-true formula that, so far, looks very promising. |
