The 4400 The Complete First Season
February 2005 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

This interesting TV show debuted last July, in the heat of summer. It ran for five episodes in a time slot usually reserved for fill shows that aren’t expected to last very long. There was enough cult reaction to this one, however, that a second season of 13 episodes is now on the books. It will begin shooting this month and will air beginning in June. Again, The 4400 must hold its own during a difficult ratings period.

As the pilot opens, we are shown various people going about their daily schedules, some recently, some decades ago, who disappear into bright light. These abductees are from all walks of life and chosen equally between men and women, with no consideration to race. As the story moves to the present, a giant comet seems to be on a collision course with Earth. As the sphere gets closer, it is seen to be not a comet, but a giant marble-like ball that parks over a lake, discharging 4400 abductees on its shore, among them the ones we saw vanish in the first part of the prologue.

The returnees are changed. Each has been given a special gift. A little girl can read the future. A teen can heal by touch. The public becomes fearful of the altered humans, and when a reporter leaks all of the names and addresses, they suffer persecution. The government becomes their enemy. Each story follows the history of a different returnee. The stories are not sensational. There are no dazzling special effects. Rather, they are told from a psychological viewpoint; one can draw parallels with military who return from war. Or with anyone who has been away a long time and must reintegrate into his or her community.

The cast throws itself into the script with earnest ability, with the ever-reliable Peter Coyote making an especially good impression as the leader of the government agency that must handle the comings and goings of the 4400. The first five episodes, contained on two discs in this set, actually make a neat miniseries with just enough questions answered at the end of part five to satisfy everyone’s curiosity, yet with enough dangling issues to provide fuel for the upcoming season.

The show was presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and the transfer to DVD is outstanding. Detail is excellent. Colors seem a bit muted, but this appears to be a result of choice rather than accident. The sound is robust and has excellent frequency response. Bass is focused and solid; dialogue is very intelligible. Unfortunately, there are no extras at all. But the show itself has whetted my appetite, and I am certainly looking forward to finding out what happens to the characters when the show returns next summer.

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