The 4400 hooked with its pilot, but the series is just getting started.
And what a jam-packed hour it was!
The episode dug into Doc’s background, while also introducing Project Reintegration.
And basically, Jharrel, Keisha, and Carla realized that the government can’t and shouldn’t be trusted.
But first… Doc!
Doc’s story took us back to the 20s where they — that’s the pronoun I think Doc wants to go by — were on the verge of a medical breakthrough for respiratory illness.
Of course, their work life was also interfering with their romantic life, and things didn’t get any easier when both intersected.
Doc’s romantic partner, Cynthia, was tired of how much they worked. She kept wanting to spend more time with them, but they were too dedicated to the job.
However, their trials — conducted on rats — ended up being beneficial for her when she came down with whooping cough.
Doc managed to get her into Dr. Weaver’s trials, which would have not only saved her life but also changed the medical world as they knew it.
Unfortunately, Cynthia simply wanted a partner to support her and be there for her.
Their last interaction before the green light got him wasn’t pleasant as she packed her things and went to her sister’s place.
While everyone that Doc loved is long gone, they were able to pull some books from the library and found that the trial was a success for all patients, including “patient number 7,” which should’ve been Cynthia.
It’s comforting knowing that while Doc wasn’t able to get credit for all their work because of the color of their skin that they somehow made it to a time period where they are acknowledged not only as a Black individual in the medical field but also as transgender.
In a deeply emotional moment, Doc confided in Shanice that they are trans just like Noah. It explains why Doc was so taken aback by Noah’s confession. They weren’t just shocked that being trans is widely accepted these days — or, at the very least, we’re on the right path about acceptance — but they also understood that there was a name for becoming your true self.
Shanice used her powers to understand Doc on a deeper level, and when they opened up to her, she didn’t get scared or run away — she embraced them.
4400 — “Harlem’s Renaissance Man” — Image Number: FFH104a_0028r — Pictured (L-R): Derrick A. King as Rev. Johnston, Jaye Ladymore as Claudette and Brittany Adebumola as Shanice — Photo: Adrian S. Burrows Sr./The CW — © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Shanice and Doc definitely have chemistry, and honestly, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t embrace it.
One of the only good things to come from this, aside from their superpowers, is that everyone is falling in love and forming real connections.
Shanice is single. It’s going to take her some time to get over Logan since, as she pointed out, it’s only been 2 weeks since she lost him, but it seems like there’s no point in holding onto the past considering 16 years have passed for him.
And, well, Doc has no one holding them down at this point.
They can learn from their mistakes and try their best not to repeat them.
Now… those secret powers which aren’t all that secret anymore.
The leaked video from Ladonna did exactly what it was supposed to do — it exposed the terrible treatment of the 4400 to the public so that the feds and the Mayor’s office decided to pull a PR stunt and introduced project reintegration to speed up the process of letting them out into civilization.
Or, in other words, freedom.
Four people were chosen to make their way out and about for the day, but admittedly, the choices were pretty surprising since they were all the troublemakers.
Of course, it made much more sense when Jessica revealed that the feds were hoping that Claudette, Shanice, Isaiah, and Ladonna would slip up thus proving to the public that the 4400 were dangerous and shouldn’t be freed.
Ugh, doesn’t that infuriate you?
Instead, the foursome mostly played it cool by choosing to do low-key activities like visiting the library and hanging out with Mrs. Grover.
Unfortunately, that’s also where Shanice and Claudette slipped up.
They entrusted Mrs. Grover with the truth about their abilities, which was bold. I don’t care how much you think you know someone — superpowers tend to scare people off.
They should’ve worried about Keisha catching them, however, as she caught Claudette using her healing powers on her body cam.
Thankfully, Keisha is also very much aware that the feds, including her girlfriend Jessica, shouldn’t be trusted.
She knows that there is something special about the 4400, but by spending time with them, she also realizes that they haven’t lied one bit — they did travel through time and they have no idea what’s happening to them.
Will she eventually confide in Jharrel?
We all saw what happened to Soraya the moment the government thought she was behind the video leak.
Jharrel’s ex-girlfriend also informed him that she thinks the feds know a lot more than they are letting on, which piques my curiosity even further. I love a government conspiracy.
Isaiah used the power of the internet to find out what happened to his family’s church and track down his son, who he learned was a part of the LGBTQ community and very happy that he was disowned.
While it stings to hear that, you know he’s going to reach out and attempt to make amends.
After all, his son Quincy now knows that he didn’t abandon the family — he was abducted.
As for Ladonna, she was simply baffled by the quarantine fashion (same, girl!) and also eager to brush up on her coding skills in order to crack Manny’s code.
When did she become my favorite character all of a sudden?
There wasn’t much movement on the Manny situation, go figure, however, Doc did dedicate their time to figuring out what was happening to everyone, which led to a bit of an accident with Mildred, the show’s very own Eleven.
Hayden didn’t react well to Mildred’s accident, but hopefully, she’ll be on the mend soon enough.
Ah, young love.
Do you think the government is responsible for the green light?
And is there a connection between this group of people? Why were they all affected in different time periods?
What are your best theories? Sound off in the comments below!