Sep 12
Review: The 4400 3.09
“The Ballad of Kevin and Tess”
While still fumbling around for a storyline to follow through on, this episode at least takes a stab at something.
Burdened by 4400er of the week for a bit now with very little throughline, at least they tried this time.
Burdened by 4400er of the week for a bit now with very little throughline, at least they tried this time.
We begin with Dr. Burkhoff whose experiment with promicin has scarred him and left him sickly. He is being sought by an unknown agency. Burkhoff is shot, but due to his regenerative ability, he is able to free himself and escape.
This of course is of interest to Diana who had been helping him along in his experimentation which she finally tells
Tom about and we have the repeated scene of one partner being slightly miffed that the other partner held back information.
Tom about and we have the repeated scene of one partner being slightly miffed that the other partner held back information.
That’s at least 4 times in 3 seasons.
After getting over each other the manhunt for Burkhoff begins, noting his disfigurment they figure he can’t be missed. The search leads our two leads to revisit his old pal River..er…Cameron…er…Tess. Tess has recoverd from her mental illness though she retains the ability to control minds.
She denies having seen Kevin but agreed to let them know if she does. Of course, she’s lying or else there wouldn’t be an episode.
We quickly learn that Tess is completely swayed by Kevin as other people are to her. She’s been forcing Diana to wake up in the middle of the night to have her come over to her house and receive her own promicin shots which explains why she has not been feeling well. Tess likewise makes her forget everything about the incidents each time.
Pretty useful power.
Kevin seems to think that his body is not the perfect test subject due to his illness, and therapies chosen.
NTAC is able to track down the twosome, but Tess uses her powers to let them escape. Diana is hospitalized and getting worse as lesions begin appearing on her skin as they did for Kevin. Tess and Kevin up the ante by setting up a distraction to NTAC to allow Tess to use her powers on a hospital doctor to kidnap Diana for them.
In a pretty clever trick, Diana is able to slip her hospital bracelet into the pocket of a man that Tess convinced to let her use a theater he had access to.
NTAC arrives and knockes out Tess with a tranquilizer but Kevin quickly shoots her up with adrenaline and she wakens long enough to let them escape.
Soon after we discover that somehow Kevin has healed himself from his sickness, leaving us to believe that there has been a breakthrough involving giving non-4400ers abilities.
At the end the show does a good job presenting us a little bit of a twist, albeit a predictable twist. The group that was after Kevin is led by Ryland and it seems that he’s stockpiling promicin.
There were two subplot stories within the episode. Richard meets with the teacher of the 4400 to try to get a grasp on his newfound telekenisis gifts and more importantly gain human contact again. Wow,
he might get over his wife very quickly at this rate. It was amusing though and nice to see him on his own again.
he might get over his wife very quickly at this rate. It was amusing though and nice to see him on his own again.
The other subplot involved Sean becoming a personal healer of a junkie rock star. Tempted to join the rock and roll life and all its debaucheries, Sean eventually stands up and declines to join the tour. It was
rather forgettable except to show how someone less motivated than Sean might use their gifts.
rather forgettable except to show how someone less motivated than Sean might use their gifts.
Overall it was not a phenomenal episode by any stretch, nor even a very good one. But it was a step above the past few in that at least it tries to set some things straight.
B-
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