“Trial By Fire”

“Trial by Fire” continues a good trend of the freak of the week not overwhelming the overall arc. In fact the storyline is definitely moved forward in this only the fifth episode. One of the only negative comments I have about the show overall and including this episode is the pacing is not what it could be. I couldn’t tell you exactly how I would do it differently, but it feels slow to develop at times.

Kyle Baldwin has now woken up and is brought home by Tom and Linda. The only problem is that he doesn’t recognize his room or anything really. Tom and Linda are told that this kind of thing happens to those who wake up from a coma, but it seems like something more.

Tom goes to see Shawn, hoping to learn more about Shawn’s gifts but Shawn doesn’t want any more testing, so Tom is out of luck.

As Richard and Lily make it to their new home the unborn baby reacts as they begin to go in and just as suddenly Richard hears a tripwire. He throws them both to the ground as the apartment blows sky hight. We learn that this is the third bombing targeting a member of the 4400. Ryland is not happy and says he believes that Barbara Yates is behind the leak that allowed the names out and he will take care of her.

Meanwhile Jordan Collier has reached out to Richard and Lily offering them a house in the Arcadia Estates, a gated community specifically built for the 4400. Richard will also work on the security team. They are stunned by his generosity, but they are suspicious of his intentions. Again Collier appears to be the most interesting character of the bunch.

To continue the As the 4400 turns portion of the show, Nikki confesses to Shawn that she wants to break up wtih Danny.

As Tom comes home, he finds Kyle tearing up photographs of acquaintances, screaming that he knows these people but that he has no emotional connection to any of them. Tom promises to try to help as best he can. It is a nice scene as Joel Gretsch (Tom) seems to be really beginning to slip into his role a bit more comfortably.

Soon after Ryland meets with Barbara Yates and hands her an envelope detailing information about a hit and run she committed and covered up. Yates tries to deal, but Ryland in a particularly cold hearted way tells her it’s too late.

It’s harsh and something audiences will cheer for. Unfortunately it is tempered by Warren Lytell, by the DC office to “clean up Ryland’s mess”. It does add a good intrigue to the story though, which is all that’s important.

We discover more into the Ripple effect (first mentioned in 1.03 by Marco) as what effects the 4400 have on their community. We discover one negative effect is that the brother of one of the Friday Harbour Killer victims wants to take revenge on the 4400 as a whole. They’ve been behind the bombings and have one more big bomb to detonate.

Tom and Diana go to Arcadia Estates to warn them about how a large grouping of 4400ers is a good target for the recent attacks. They refuse to leave, and they tighten up on security.

Likewise, the principal of the school that Maia has been attending informs Diana that she’s too much of a security risk to allow her to continue attending school. Diana and Maia are not happy, but they vow to make the best and Maia makes the mysterious prediction that “someone is coming who will make it all better.” Maia is suitably cute yet creepy. It’s a tough line to straddle, but she manages to pull it off.

Tom and Diana also realize that the negative ripple in turn has a positive ripple effect. The 4400ers who had been seeming like predators have been turned into helpless victims in the press and much of that is due to the bombings.

They eventually track down the brothers as they are about to bomb Arcadia Estates. Richard stands his ground with his guards as they shoot it down and they get help from Tom in a helicoptor, but once it explodes, it just doesn’t seem like it would have done much overall…but that’s an amateur bombing.

The episode ends at it’s most intriguing. Kyle sitting naked in the backyard under sprinklers. He tells Tom that he figured out what the problem is. The problem is that he’s not Kyle Baldwin. He’s the stranger, not them.

It’s a very weird ending, but one that makes you want to see what happens next. Overall it’s a solid effort and good enough to make me want to watch more.

B-

Previous - 1.04

Next - 1.06