Monday, July 12, 2004
The 4400
Watched the 4400 last night on USA. The 4400 is a new series that revolves around the dramatic and public return of 4400 alien abductees. None of the abductees remember anything about abduction or the intervening period in which they were away and none of them have aged since being abducted (for instance, an eight year old girl abducted in 1946 is still 8).
Reviewers have said that the 4400 is going to be the next X-Files, and I can see that – the continuing unresolved storylines, the hints of a greater conspiracy storyline while still showing self-contained shows, and the sexual tension between the two lead agents all played a key role in the success of the X-Files and are being set up in the 4400, so if you liked the X-Files for those reasons, the 4400 bears watching (plus if they do one show per abductee – that’s a long run).
Things I like about the 4400:
Two opposing protagonists:
Rather interestingly the story proceeds along two parallel and opposing perspectives – that of the abductees who are trying to find their place in society and that of the Homeland security agents who are rightly suspicious of the 4400. This is an aspect of a show that I haven’t really seen before – two sides are in fundamental opposition, yet are both treated as protagonists (rather than the more typical protagonist-antagonist storyline).
A general attempt to be grounded in reality:
When the 4400 first appeared (all together), I turned to my fiancé and said, “If I were in charge, they would all be immediately locked away and never again see the light of day.” My reasoning being, the 4400 constitute an unknown threat to humanity and an opportunity to indirectly study the capabilities of the (presumably alien) intelligence that abducted and then returned them. So for the safety of humanity, they needed to be permanently quarantined. Further, for their own safety they need to be protected from the public.
Of course leaving the 4400 in permanent detention would not make for a very good series (though it can work as a movie), so there has to be some way of getting the 4400 into the general population. In this show, the ACLU sues for their release and the 9th circuit grants the release. As I don’t think any other organization and any other court would be willing to sacrifice the security of the nation for the liberty of the few, I think this was a very apt storyline decision.
Things I don’t like about the 4400:
Details aren’t so grounded in reality
That court decision would’ve been immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, and there I’m not so certain what the result would’ve been. Judging from recent decisions, Padilla is still locked up, but the Gitmo detainees now get a hearing. However, I figure that the 9th Circuit would’ve been overturned. But, had that happened, there would’ve been no story, so no appeal is even considered.
There’s no one assassinating the 4400. Maybe this will come up in a future episode, and I’ll give the writers their props if they do, but I view this as a big hole in the story. When the show announced the court decision releasing the 4400, I told my fiancé that had this happened I would be going to jail for a long long time. The implication being, I would be out there hunting down and attempting to kill each and every returnee, There I said it, I'm a speciesist. They’re a credible threat to the species, and I would be perfectly willing, in this case, to shoot first and ask questions later. This would also put me on the wrong side of the X-Men as well – a connection that is particularly apt as each returnee in the 4400 seems to have been given a unique preternatural ability. One girl can see the future, one kid can choose to suck the life energy out of animals (including humans) or to give life energy to an animal, and another can create massive vibrations with his mind (with which he kills a man and nearly kills several others). Any doubts I may have had about playing “a most dangerous game” with the 4400 would’ve been settled with the knowledge of there super-human abilities (again, I’m a speciesist, but I figure I’m not alone in that sentiment).
So all that being said, I'm going to watch the show for a while as I like the premise and feel of the show even though some details need to be worked out (Sundays 9 PM, USA).
Comments(0) |
Reviewers have said that the 4400 is going to be the next X-Files, and I can see that – the continuing unresolved storylines, the hints of a greater conspiracy storyline while still showing self-contained shows, and the sexual tension between the two lead agents all played a key role in the success of the X-Files and are being set up in the 4400, so if you liked the X-Files for those reasons, the 4400 bears watching (plus if they do one show per abductee – that’s a long run).
Things I like about the 4400:
Two opposing protagonists:
Rather interestingly the story proceeds along two parallel and opposing perspectives – that of the abductees who are trying to find their place in society and that of the Homeland security agents who are rightly suspicious of the 4400. This is an aspect of a show that I haven’t really seen before – two sides are in fundamental opposition, yet are both treated as protagonists (rather than the more typical protagonist-antagonist storyline).
A general attempt to be grounded in reality:
When the 4400 first appeared (all together), I turned to my fiancé and said, “If I were in charge, they would all be immediately locked away and never again see the light of day.” My reasoning being, the 4400 constitute an unknown threat to humanity and an opportunity to indirectly study the capabilities of the (presumably alien) intelligence that abducted and then returned them. So for the safety of humanity, they needed to be permanently quarantined. Further, for their own safety they need to be protected from the public.
Of course leaving the 4400 in permanent detention would not make for a very good series (though it can work as a movie), so there has to be some way of getting the 4400 into the general population. In this show, the ACLU sues for their release and the 9th circuit grants the release. As I don’t think any other organization and any other court would be willing to sacrifice the security of the nation for the liberty of the few, I think this was a very apt storyline decision.
Things I don’t like about the 4400:
Details aren’t so grounded in reality
That court decision would’ve been immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, and there I’m not so certain what the result would’ve been. Judging from recent decisions, Padilla is still locked up, but the Gitmo detainees now get a hearing. However, I figure that the 9th Circuit would’ve been overturned. But, had that happened, there would’ve been no story, so no appeal is even considered.
There’s no one assassinating the 4400. Maybe this will come up in a future episode, and I’ll give the writers their props if they do, but I view this as a big hole in the story. When the show announced the court decision releasing the 4400, I told my fiancé that had this happened I would be going to jail for a long long time. The implication being, I would be out there hunting down and attempting to kill each and every returnee, There I said it, I'm a speciesist. They’re a credible threat to the species, and I would be perfectly willing, in this case, to shoot first and ask questions later. This would also put me on the wrong side of the X-Men as well – a connection that is particularly apt as each returnee in the 4400 seems to have been given a unique preternatural ability. One girl can see the future, one kid can choose to suck the life energy out of animals (including humans) or to give life energy to an animal, and another can create massive vibrations with his mind (with which he kills a man and nearly kills several others). Any doubts I may have had about playing “a most dangerous game” with the 4400 would’ve been settled with the knowledge of there super-human abilities (again, I’m a speciesist, but I figure I’m not alone in that sentiment).
So all that being said, I'm going to watch the show for a while as I like the premise and feel of the show even though some details need to be worked out (Sundays 9 PM, USA).
Comments(0) |
