The 4400 - "The Truth and Nothing But the Truth"

Another week and another “extra crispy” story. At least this time it revolves around a character that we have at least a small amount of invested interest in. I, for one, have gotten mighty tired of the coming attractions that USA is cutting together for this show, highlighting interesting moments that never have anything to do with the relatively subpar main storylines that the writers are cranking out. Any one else notice how many characters have been completely absent since the season premiere? Does the absence of these characters really mean that the storylines that involve have to drop off the face of the earth as well? Hell, they spent four episodes talking about the mysterious chapter in code in the Book of Collier, only to have it decrypted by Kyle and Isabelle in about an hour flat. Why set it up if you're not going to build real tension with it? On the other hand, Collier has supposedly set the country afire with Promicin shots, but we're never shown that situation or that tension outside of Shawn and Kyle sniping at each other. I know this is a basic cable show producing content on the cheap in Canada, but if your writers and Production Designer aren't going to figure out a way to show some scope, what's the point of telling us that the end times are coming? We never see it nor feel it.

We start up with Diana's sister, April looking a bit glam, or a bit hooker, in a hotel bar. Apparently, her 4400 ability is to have Wonder Woman's truth-telling lasso, only without the rope. In an overused bit of comedy, the people around her all make like Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar and blurt out the truth to any question she asks. She and her new beau have been using it to their advantage, blackmailing people all across this great land of ours. She chats up a guy that is about to bribe a military contractor with a few hundred thousand dollars. He gets freaked out by how much information he's leaked to her and bolts out the door.

Elsewhere, Kyle has gone camping with Isabelle on the run from the law. The whole world is looking for the Wonder Baby, but of course we're supposed to see and feel that from one newspaper headline. Does anyone else feel like its improper for Kyle to be hiding out with Shawn's ex-fiancee? I mean, she did put him in a coma, but still. She reiterates to Kyle that she's Promicin-intolerant and has to stick to soy from now on. Except I don't believe that for a minute, mostly because the show keeps telling me that it's true, instead of showing me that it's true. The writers have pulled a full one-eighty on Isabelle's character, which I appreciate. It was always implied that she was a messiah Christ-figure right from the beginning, long before Collier's random resurrection from the dead. She feels bad for trying to kill Collier, but Kyle knows how she feels. He did kill him. But now he's a follower and it looks like Isabelle is about to follow in his footsteps.

Back in the hotel, April comes home to find to find Diana waiting in her room. And on that note (which is lame for the end of the teaser)...

Cue obsolete credits.

We rejoin Diana and April mid-conversation with Diana feeling bad about leading April to taking the shot, but April feels fine about it. The shot changed her life and gave her a neato ability. April pulls the Liar, Liar on Diana, asking her about her sex life. I understand that they needed a way to denote that her ability was being used and that the true truth was being spoken (although Liar, Liar did it just through performance), but I found the first person perspective combined with the silly sound effect extremely irritating by this point in the proceedings. Has anyone within the show considered on any level that the abilities that people receive from the Promicin are some sort of extension of the individual's personality? Or is the show just written ham-handedly? April is a liar and can make people tell the truth. Our old lady last week got the ability to leave behind her wrinkled body. The autistic kid that was afraid of everything produced fear in others. The high school kid that was never noticed gained the ability to create true followers. Hell, Kyle was looking for purpose in life and gained the ability to... be told prophecies by some red head. Alright, that one's a bit of a stretch.

Back at NTAC, New Boss's dad is doing great, yet wants to be a bitch about the possibility of Tom's kid waking up Shawn. At the 4400 Center, Shawn is visited by a senator who has a whole anti-4400 platform. He's falling behind in the popular opinion, so he's willing to change his war to back Shawn against Jordan Collier. He asks Shawn to run for the Seattle City Council to create a valid alternative to Jordan Collier for middle America.

On the Vancouver waterfront, Diana talks with her chemistry-challenged boyfriend, who is eager to go back to Spain. Diana hems and haws, which is all wasted dialogue, because we know that Diana is going to stay on the show and where the action is and that they're more likely to ditch the awkward boyfriend that adds nothing to the show. Elsewhere, April feels bad that she was mean to Diana, seeing as that she did come all the way from Spain to check on her. The new beau heads off to collect blackmail money from their most recent mark and April sings awkwardly to herself.

At home, Tom finds Kyle and tries to question him about the Promicin in Shawn's system. Do people really care at this point? I mean, Shawn was fixed, right? Doesn't that make the actual injecting of the Promicin completely moot? Tom gives Kyle one last chance to come completely clean, but he reveals absolutely nothing. Is this going to become an allegory for Islamic radicalism? Because at this point, both sides seem completely right and completely wrong at any given moment. Tom goes upstairs to steal Kyle's hair as if he was suspecting that he was using drugs, not that he gained an ability.

At the hotel, April waits, but her beau never shows at the bar. That's because he's dead upstairs. April of course goes straight to Diana rather than do anything else. She tells Diana the whole spiel and Diana takes it upon herself to investigate and keep April completely out of the situation. It looks like the blackmailer did it, but she wants to look into it more.

Kyle goes to Shawn to make sure that he won't spill the beans to Tom on the whole Promicin issue. Shawn tells him all about the plan to run for City Council and Kyle is gung-ho. He wants Shawn on that council. Do you ever get the impression that Kyle is simply playing catch-up? Living vicariously through Shawn because he was the one that was supposed to have been scooped up in that beam of light? At NTAC, Tom has Kyle tested for Promicin. Again, wasted dialogue because we know exactly what the results are. The story of Tom finding out could have been told in about a half a beat instead of dragged out this long. Diana wants to keep April out of the situation and Tom agrees to back her for the time being. At the hotel, April is almost abducted by a hitman type, but he's very scared of the housekeeper nearby, so he runs instead of killing them all. When hiding government secrets, don't skimp on the hitman budget.

Tom and Diana rush to the scene and figure out that April is being targeted because of the information about the bribe money, not the money itself. Tom tries to leave April behind, but she convinces him that she can be of use after she makes him spill his guts about his sexual fantasies about Diana. They catch up to the government guy and he reveals that he had to inform about the situation up the corporate ladder. There was a design flaw in some body armor and the pay off was to get the government to look the other way. It's out of his hands and the CEO is now involved.

At the Center, Shawn and the senator watch an old war buddy Swift Boat him on the evening news. The senator swears that the guy was paid off. He warns that the same or worse will be coming at Shawn. Shawn throws his hat in the ring and the senator tells him that the first thing he has to do is declare Collier the enemy.

At the old cabin, Kyle and Isabelle work on the coded chapter of the Book of Collier. She has no ability, but Isabelle did read the whole encyclopedia, so she takes a crack at it. Diana, Tom and April go after the CEO of the body armor stuff, but he reveals that it wasn't bribe money, but a down payment on a hit on the official. They're all in the Brazilian jungle and there's no way to call off the hit. Diana is going to work on the situation, but she needs April to come into NTAC to force a confession out the CEO on the record. Would that even hold up in court?

On “the television”, as the senator ineptly put, Shawn speaks the truth to the American people, telling the public that he doesn't agree with Collier, while the interviewer practices the worst form of journalism and sticks words like “mass murderer” in Shawn's mouth. This sounds more interesting written here than it actually was. Shawn's not against the shot, but is furious that Collier put so many people at risk.

Diana continues to try to berate April into risking her freedom to put the body armor CEO behind bars. April may have an ability that changed her situation, but it didn't change her. She's still not brave and she still wants to run away. Diana convinces April to come in because she has to stand up for her beau that she loved.

Kyle confronts Shawn about his attacks on Collier. Shawn stands strong, but Kyle is a Collier-ite, even though he shot him once. He calls Shawn a traitor to the cause... but if he believes his own prophecy, it'll work itself out, right? At NTAC, Diana and Tom wait for the interrogation of the CEO to end, but when it does they snatch up April into custody as well. Then in the worst transition ever, the commercial ends and its the next day. Diana is pissed about April, but finds out the government has hired her instead of throwing the book at her. Why did this scene play out the next day? Odd. Diana walks with April and listens to her talk about how she finally feels purpose in life and is being well paid by the government to simply go and ask the questions that the government wants her to. At least this “extra crispy” may be useful in the future, so the A storyline wasn't completely wasted. April steals one last truth and finds that Diana isn't planning on leaving Seattle. At dinner, Diana informs her supposedly destined true-love what we all already knew. But Maia's never wrong.

At NTAC, Tom finally leans that Kyle is Promicin positive. Now how long do they drag it out until he confronts him about it. At the cabin, Isabelle and Kyle manage to translate the secret chapter of the Book of Collier. There's references to Promicin and Collier and “the father”. There's a list of two hundred names of people who are “chosen” that are destined to take the shot and lead everyone else to follow. At that point God is supposed to show up. The names of the people in the encoded chapter are names of people actually living today. The last name on the list is Tom Baldwin. Kyle knows that his dad “has” to take the shot in order to fulfill the prophecy. But if it's a prophecy, doesn't that just mean that Tom is going to take the shot at some point, not that Kyle has to force him? And why are they so amazed that the book was written so long ago. We know that “The Future” can play around with the past, snatching up people and even sending them back, like Tom's girl, Alana. So big deal, there's a book from the past that knows what is going to happen in the future. Hell, Maia knows what's going to happen in the future. It's just not that impressive.

NEXT WEEK: Billy Campbell grants us an audience.