“Rebirth”

“Rebirth” is an episode which performs the seemingly uneasy task of mixing the overall story arc with a 4400er of the week without either story taking too much away from the other. We open with Kyle trying to deal with the ramifications of what he discovered last week — that he was the one who assassinated Jordan Collier. His father doesn’t notice what’s wrong and instead berates him on not getting a message from Alana who is in Barcelona.

While in the 4400 center, Richard gets a visit from an old military buddy from the time Richard was abducted. He tells him of the upcoming funeral of a man that was the first to treat Richard like an equal, so he plans to go pay his respects.

We learn quickly that the 4400er of the week is a male nurse named Edwin originally from Rwanda, whose ability allows him to fix problems of infants in utero. He has attracted the attention of his superiors but doesn’t want publicity. A visit from Tom and Diana is enough to get him to admit to testing, but he still wants to remain free from publicity.

Meanwhile Matthew Ross wants a meet and greet with Edwin as well but he also wants Shawn to reestablish a relationship with his mother to help ward off the press that want to label the 4400 a cult. Shawn is a little hesitant but he is receptive.

Back at Diana’s April admits to that she pawned off their mother’s engagement ring trying to use Maia to gamble. Diana is shocked and orders April to leave her apartment.

Edwin’s ability goes public despite NTAC’s best attempts. It is quickly revealed that Matthew Ross’ assistant was the one who anonymously revealed the truth.

Richard meanwhile makes it to the funeral and the after-party where he drinks down with his comrades. Richard notes that one of them is missing, but the rest kind of stutter and look away, merely saying that Lee is not doing well. Lee, the one that attacked Richard before he was abducted, has become old and friendless. When Richard makes it a point to visit him anyways, he realizes how bitter he has become. Richard leaves Lee as he follows him.

Shawn makes it home to the surprise of his mother and Danny. The two brothers are silent at first but eventually Shawn reaches out and offers to let Danny hit him. It is enough for the two to let bygones be bygones.

Back at NTAC we learn the reason Edwin wanted to keep to himself. It turns out he his hiding under an alias and that in truth he is wanted by the Rwandan government for crimes against humanity. He didn’t kill anyone in his clinic, but he sat by and allowed it to happen. Tom is vehement against letting him help anyone.

In a great argument on morality, it comes down to what he did, to what he could do. Tom doesn’t think it’s worth it, while Diana focuses on how much Edwin could help. Unfortunately, we learn that Edwin’s gift comes with a price. He dies a bit more everytime he heals.

Meanwhile Shawn and Danny visit Kyle in hopes of getting Kyle to open up to him. Danny has learned that Kyle has remembered what happened during the black outs, but won’t tell anyone. Shawn offers Kyle a place at the 4400 center to think things through and Kyle accepts telling him he’ll go soon, but he has to take care of a few things first.

After Maia tells Diana that forgiveness is the way of families, Diana seeks April out and forgives her, giving her back the diamond ring she had pawned. They make up and promise to see each other again in the future.

Tom goes home and finds a note from Kyle saying he’s left. But it’s not to the 4400 center.

Overall it’s a great episode. The subplot 4400er of the week is a worthy story to tell. It does what great stories are supposed to do. It challenges us to think. Nothing is black and white, just shades of grey. Is there a right response? Is Tom right? Is Diana? The show finds a middle grounds of sorts, but it allows the viewers to make that final determination.

Although it was a quick reconciliation between the brothers, the storyline moving along that way also was a good idea. The show is starting to re-establish a journey, one I want to travel on.

B+

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