The 4400 hit the ground running after the winter hiatus.
Jharrel got fired, Keisha quit, and Soraya seemingly betrayed Andre and partnered up with Jess — all in one hour!
4400 Season 1 Episode 9 picked up with the aftermath of Mildred’s outburst that saw Bill plummeting several stories on live television.
The narrative was pretty clear: the 4400 have powers, so that makes them a threat to the public.
We’ve seen this narrative play out countless times throughout history typically with minorities, but now we’re seeing what fuels the fire and ignites the flames.
This is exactly what the government wanted. They wanted to instill fear so that they could justify stripping the 4400 of their rights and keeping tabs on the all in the name of public safety.
And the paranoid public was all for it. In fact, they eagerly called the tip line to report any suspicious behavior.
We saw firsthand the dangers of a tip line as the security guard Steve got mistaken for a 4400 and his whole persona was destroyed online simply by a false report.
And while you would think that Steve, who has experienced discrimination and unjust profiling because he’s asian, would know better, Soraya explained that he was also acting from a place of fear and self-preservation. He didn’t want this situation to harm him or his family, so he chose to side with the security guards who felt as though “round them up” was a sound idea.
It’s honestly a vicious cycle. Hate breeds hate and fear.
It’s incredibly heartbreaking, but it’s wonderful that the 4400 has found a way to put a spotlight on these issues while still sticking to their core plot and providing entertainment.
And just when the 4400 thought they won by gaining refugee status as time travelers, they unearthed a world without the government’s protection.
It’s a lose-lose situation, honestly. With the government poking and prodding, they were nothing more than prisoners, animals, and test subjects, but without the government, they have become exposed to the world’s wrath.
Of course, in the final moments, we find out that this is yet another step in the governments big plan.
The idea here is that the 4400 will experience all the hatred of the world and round themselves up, ergo, doing all of the heavy lifting before the government swoops in once again.
Plus, they already have a handful of the returned that they are running their tests and experiments on.
It’s comical to think that a skinny white woman in a pantsuit and heels is one of television’s biggest villains, but then again, it also kind of tracks.
And she is. Jess is pure evil. I don’t know why Keisha wasted any of her time and energy trying to find the good in Jessica because it was clear that it didn’t exist.
Jess prided herslef on making the 4400 targets; she truly believes they are evil people and that the government is protecting the vulnerable public.
I found myself simultaneously cheering and wondering “what’s next” when Keisha quit. She and Jharrel have been on Team 4400 since the beginning, however, with Jharrel fired, she was the only one on the inside.
Now that they are both gone, they won’t be able to have any inside intel, which seems like a disservice to the people they are trying to protect.
Of course, there was bound to be a breaking point where Keisha was going to have to choose sides rather than straddling the middle line.
4400 — “Great Expectations” — Image Number: FFH109b_0036r — Pictured: TL Thompson as Andre — Photo: Sandy Morris/The CW — © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Jess’ power moves extended beyond Jharrel’s firing as in the final scene, he is arrested for stealing government property.
What?!
Why do Jess and Bill have it out for him? The poor guy is just trying to find his missing brother, Manny.
I’ll be honest, I think Jharrel is onto something with the idea that Manny is trying to send him a message. Manny is the glue in all of this.
Though, I can’t figure out if he’s sending this message from the future or if his power is invisibility.
Either way, I think it’ll be up to Keisha and Claudette (where has she been?!) to solve this mystery as he deals with the government.
With the reality so wacky, why wouldn’t Keisha even consider the possibility that Jharrel is onto something with his Manny theory?
It’s not that far-fetched when you have a bunch of time travelers with super powers surrounding you.
I need Keisha to get on board and help Manny out!
If he is from the future, his information could be crucial as he can help them stop the events from happening and change the course of history.
Could you imagine what a win that could be for the 4400?
Another character whose actions were a complete letdown? Soraya.
Much like Steve, Soraya has felt like a target numerous times, including when she the government suspected her of leaking LaDonna’s video.
It’s not entirely surprising that she would now do anything the government wants in order to protect herslef, however, I can’t see her just betraying them by turning over all the stolen files from Ypsi Med.
Soraya strikes me as someone that’s trustworthy and wants to be on the right side of history, so it’s one thing to say no copies of a flashdrive were made, but it’s another thing to actually follow through on it.
She’s a tex-pert — there’s no way she just turned over crucial information to the government, especially when it contains information about ZMT, the anomaly found in all of their blood.
My guess is that Soraya is keeping her friends close and her enemies closer. And with Jharrel and Keisha on the outs, she’s going to be the one with one foot in at all times. Her intel is definitely going to come in handy.
Otherwise, if I’m wrong about her, that’s the ultimate betrayal and my heart can’t take it.
We got to see a more human side to the Rev finally. It’s easy to be mad at him for having all of the returned sign a contract that basically gave the government conservatorship over them, but it’s another to hear him out as to why he did it.
And the sad truth is that he trusted the wrong people. He thought he was helping his people and doing right by them, but instead, he led them right into the lion’s den.
What’s important is that he truly tried to make up for it by working with Shanice to find a way out for everyone.
He also admitted that he didn’t think he could be the leader anymore because his power was that he could strip the returned of their powers. It didn’t seem right for someone who champions the powers given to them by god.
However, Shanice helped him reframe his thinking by showing him that he’s giving the returned something they never had.
And her choice was that she no longer wanted to be burdened by these invasise powers.
Do you think the Rev really took her powers away? Or was it a temporary fluke?
Is Soraya going to betray Andre? Will we ever see LaDonna again? What’s Jharrel’s next move? What does he know tha the government wants? How is Manny involved? And what is he trying to tell his brother?
Who is patient 48 that Bill is referring to? Is it Soraya? Or Keisha’s sister? And what is Jess’ plan with the Ypsi Med files?
What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments below!