TV-Reviewed

Last week, we left off with the exciting possible death of Tom Baldwin. Diana had shot him in self-defense. In “The Great Leap Forward,” we pick up right where we left off. Diana and Meghan have Shawn and Marco waiting outside. They give Tom an injection of some radioactive material to kill the nannites inside him. Shawn is then brought in to bring Tom back to life. Their plan works remarkably well given the obvious fragility of Tom’s life.

Shawn’s brother, Danny, who took a shot of promicin, has had to rush his mother to the hospital after she began coughing up blood. Once inside, paramedics, nurses, doctors, and patients begin experiencing the same health problems Danny’s mother did. It becomes apparent that Danny is contagious in some manner and is spreading promicin to everyone near him.

With all of this going on, the city is quarantined by the government. They don’t want promicin being spread any further. The promicin is killing a large number of people. Everyone who became sick is dead now, including Shawn and Danny’s mother.

When Danny contacts Shawn, he tells him about their mother’s death. Although Shawn is very sad about what has happened, he focuses on helping Danny and keeping everyone else as safe as possible. He brings Danny into the 4400 Center and asks Kevin Burkoff to examine him. Dr. Burkoff confirms what we had already known: Danny’s ability seems to be to spread promicin to the masses. Because of the inherent risk to the general public, Danny is put on the inhibitor.

Now that Tom is his old self, he knows that he must get back to the marked and act like a member of the marked again. He needs to get Jordan Collier out of their custody and free him before it’s too late. He is able to get to Jordan, but isn’t able to leave because of the National Security Director, who noticed Tom’s odd reaction when she told him about how Kyle Baldwin is next on their list to kill.

Isabelle drops by Promise City and tries to kill Kyle, but isn’t able to stomach the idea. Instead, Isabelle says “goodbye” and heads back to the house where Tom and Jordan are being held. She and the National Security Director battle it out. Both women end up dying, but Isabelle is able to free Jordan and Tom.

The inhibitor that Danny was given has had a side effect on Danny. The inhibitor may prevent Danny from using his ability, but it’s letting the promicin build up in Danny’s body and it’s slowly killing him. Desperate, Danny begs his brother, Shawn, to end the pain once and for all.

Because the promicin was spread throughout the city, even the NTAC agents were infected. Meghan, for instance, now has an ability. Unfortunately, over nine thousand Seattle citizens have died because of Danny’s ability. The promicin positives have taken over the city with Jordan Collier as their leader.

Holy cow! This was a great season finale. The cast list after this season shrunk a little. I wasn’t surprised that Tom made it. I think killing off Tom would have been a huge mistake.

I’m very interested in seeing what the writers have in mind for the city now that the promicin positives are in control of the city. We also got a glimpse of some of the abilities of the NTAC agents.

My favorite scene in “The Great Leap Forward” was the death scene with Shawn and Danny. I felt terrible for both men. Danny had had enough and Shawn didn’t want to let go. It was absolutely heart-wrenching.

The 4400 - The Great Leap Forward
Original Air Date: September 16, 2007

Rating: 9.1