#4400 Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Past is Prologue

With the return of the 4400, everything old is new again. 

On 4400 Season 1 Episode 1, thousands of marginalized people show up in flashes of green light, leaving the government bewildered as to what to do with them. 

But wait, you’re not just getting time-travel — you’re also getting superheroes! 

It’s impossible to look at a reboot of The 4400 without comparing it to the first series.

It’s so vastly different in tone. Even the look is different. The first version was bleak, featuring the muted tones of cloudy Seatlle (filmed in Vancouver). This 4400 is vibrant and alive, with music and bright colors popping off the screen. 

It does feel a little strange to start the story of the 4400 over again. The original yarn was well-spun, and the ending was a cliffhanger. It was a casualty of many issues, chiefly the 2007 Writer’s Strike.

But seeing the intention behind the use of the premise, it’s clear this version is its own entity.

This is primarily a story about humans living through extraordinary circumstances. 

In true CW fashion, the cast members are all impossibly beautiful and effortlessly charming. Shanice (Brittany Ademubola) is the central figure — commanding, driven, and full of heart.

Shanice struggles in a way many women can relate to — managing the balance of motherhood and career. Her relationship with Logan and Mariah is suitably tragic — here’s hoping they can all get a proper reunion along with some resolution.

I just want to close my eyes and have everything return to normal
Shanice

The creators have run with this premise and crafted the show to thoughtfully address the issues facing people of color, particularly women of color. Through Claudette, Shanice, LaDonna, and Keisha, the cop, progress is there standing side by side. They still have far to go, and that’s the point.

Claudette remarks that 2021 doesn’t feel that much different — they’re all still being held against their will, just this time there are white people there, too. Hats off to a science fiction series that centers around multiple powerful black women! It doesn’t happen nearly enough.

So far, we have two returnees with apparent paranormal superpowers — Claudette with her rapid healing and Mildred with telekinesis. 

It’s exciting to imagine what will manifest in the others if it does. Will all the returnees develop superpowers or just a select few? What might those powers be? Mind-reading? Precognition? Super-strength? There are so many possibilities! 

Hayden, the primarily silent boy, probably has some sort of paranormal mental capacity as well. He seems almost like a monk, blissful in his Zen-like state. How does he know about Jharrel’s brother? Does he remember something about the time they were gone? Was Manny there with him after all? 

The kid has only one line, and it sets off so many questions!

The dynamic between Keisha (Ireon Roach) and Jharrel (Joseph David-Jones) is great. They don’t get along at first, but by the end, when they bond over their unresolved grief from losing a sibling, they realize they will have to work together to help these people.

You’re a cop who believes in a system over people’s humanity.
Jharrel

None of it is subtle. Characters say what they mean, and there’s not a lot of nuances. But this is all world-establishing, relationship-building stuff. Everyone’s still trying to figure out who they can trust. Secrets are more fun when shared — backstory is what it’s all about.

I have no doubt many future episodes will be character studies — flashbacks to all the different eras where we will learn about the other returnees in the same way this episode focused on Shanice. 

It will be interesting to see how the returnees share their lived experiences from their respective eras in how they relate to each other in 2021.

I’ll admit I think y’all have a real surprising attachment to telephones now.
Claudette

The choice to set it squarely in our present, complete with COVID masks and quarantine protocols, is mostly effective. It’s a world we’re familiar with, and it gives the strange premise a timely poignancy.

It’s a delicate balance, though. Not everyone wants to be reminded of the pandemic — we watch television to escape, after all. But they should at least mention to the returnees that there is a pandemic and that they are being kept for their own safety. 

Not that it would justify the returnees being held against their will. The detention of immigrants before and during COVID has been a point of contention, and it’s clear the show is trying to evoke that, albeit in a sci-fi setting. The masks also give the security guards a much more menacing presence — anonymity is power. 

Even good people justify very bad things in the name of doing their jobs.
Jharrel

It might be necessary for the show to address the pandemic directly, rather than the current halfway approach. We don’t have to linger on it, but it’s worth explaining to the returnees. Lean into it, make it a compounding factor in the madness of it all. Maybe the returnees were brought back at this specific time to end the pandemic somehow?

Okay, that might be a bit much, but you never know!

I’m a sucker for sincere, character-driven time-travel mysteries. If that’s what you came for, you’re in the right place. It feels like this will be a fun ride, with solid characters to root for and hopefully some bad guys we can enjoy hating. 

It will be interesting to see if the plot beats of the original will come into play or if it will go in a completely different direction, altering the cause of the disappearances and repurposing the whole mystery of the disappearances and reappearances. I honestly hope it’s the latter because it would keep it fresh and surprising. 

Let’s throw any more comparisons out the window for now. Now that the tone has been set, we have more of an idea of what to expect.

What do you think so far? Are you a fan of this shinier, prettier version of the original sci-fi series? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Mary Littlejohn is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.