The 4400 are back with The CW’s reboot of the USA Network sci-fi drama, which finds thousands of missing people stranded in the future.Among the “overlooked, undervalued, or otherwise marginalised” abductees featured in Monday’s series premiere are: Shanice (Grand Army’s Brittany Adebumola), a lawyer who abandons her husband and baby in 2005; Claudette (Chicago P.D. guest star Jaye Ladymore), a civil rights activist from Mississippi; WWI doctor Andre (TL Thompson), fresh from the Harlem Renaissance; Reverend Isaiah (When the 4400 are deposited in Detroit, DHS assigns tough parole officer Keisha (Ireon Roach) and kind-hearted social worker Jharrel (Arrow’s Joseph David-Jones) to conduct interviews and obtain answers. (It’s odd that they wouldn’t delegate that task to higher-level authorities, but that’s fine.) Meanwhile, the returnees are being held in various locations without explanation or cause, which Shanice claims violates their rights. It isn’t until Shanice mentions Ruth Bader Ginsburg that she realises they are all referring to different points in history and finally asks what year it is.
To everyone’s surprise, the police guard responds that it’s 2021.Mildred appears to move the security camera and unlock a door to the outside world with her mind during a bathroom break. Shanice flees to find her family at Mildred’s urging, but when she arrives at their old home, a “Karen” is living there and calls the cops on Shanice. Jharrel arrives before Keisha and notices Shanice fleeing, so he covers for her, allowing her to seek refuge at her former nanny’s house.
Jharrel greets Shanice in the morning and offers her a deal: he’ll take her to see her family, but she must return to the hotel with him afterwards. She agrees to his terms. When Shanice finally sees her husband and child, she is taken aback: their daughter is now a teenager, and Logan (Power Book II: Ghost’s Cory Jeacoma) is remarried and believes Shanice abandoned them. Logan tells Shanice that he found her note when she protests that she didn’t leave. After that, Keisha and the cops arrive and handcuff Shanice.
Back at the hotel, Shanice sobs as she tells Andre that she suffered from postpartum depression, which is why she wrote the note, but she eventually got help and fought for her baby. Jharrel is found at a bar by Keisha, who demands that he explain why he assisted Shanice. Jharrel expresses his dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the situation. “Even good people justify very bad things in the name of doing their jobs,” he says, before revealing that when his brother Manny vanished, he thought he saw a green light, but there’s no sign of him at any of the holding facilities. Keisha promises to make things right with DHS through her contacts (aka her girlfriend, who claims they’re bringing in NASA!).As the episode comes to a close, Keisha is approached by Hayden, who finally speaks to her. “Please inform Jharrel that Manny is fine. “
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Sci-fi | According to Matthew Hayden, “there has never been a more disciplined and humble approach to winning than in Pakistan’s locker room.”
