4400 Season 1 Episode 11 Review: You Only Meant Well
Mary Littlejohn
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Are you an iguana or a butterfly?
On 4400 Season 1 Episode 11, we had a wedding, a stabbing, and unexpected revelations about Manny and Claudette.
4400 continues to mirror current events -- not always gracefully, but with poignance and sincerity.
Manny is quite the stabby individual. Who could have guessed that when he stabbed Claudette to test her pain threshold, it was actually foreshadowing for him stabbing the Rev? It was honestly shocking.
Jharrel had me believing in Manny’s inherent goodness, but with the blinders so firmly on, he missed the warnings from Soraya and Claudette. Mind you, they were pretty vague about it all, but then how much do they really know about him? How much does anyone know about Manny?
What is he up to, and how much does he know? Is he even a 4400? Or is ZMT the substance that gives 4400 their powers? (And how closely will this plot point track with the original series?) Here’s hoping Claudette tells Jharrel the truth about his brother -- or at least what she knows, namely, that he hasn’t been truthful with him at all.
Revolutions of the past started in church basements and closed quarters.
Manny
Only when the Rev got stabbed did I realize how attached I was to him as a character!
It’s not an uncommon trope for the “spell” (for lack of a better term) to end with the death of the person who cast it, but the Reverend isn’t actually dead yet, is he? If he heals, will the powers he initially took be removed again?
Something tells me that Andre will be involved in this some way -- with his healing powers, perhaps there’s a way to make everything right again.
Is anyone else intensely curious about Harold’s deal? Was he just waiting for Ji-Yeun for thirty years? How did he go on? What has his life been like? Imagine getting her back, and she hasn’t aged, and she still wants to be with you. That is some wildest dreams magic right there.
I know Ji-Yeun is not a significant character, but that’s a love story that deserves some fleshing out. It had to be rough on Shanice, too. Harold waited for his beloved all that time, whereas Logan remarried after seven years. Even though she’s moved on romantically with Andre, that’s got to gnaw a bit at her feelings of self-worth.
It’s lovely to have LaDonna (Khailah Johnson) back -- her dynamic energy is always welcome.
I'm still your little butterfly.
LaDonna
Her scenes with her father were just heartbreaking. If you don’t have someone in your life who has gone off the deep end in terms of conspiracies and indoctrination, you should count yourself very lucky. These days, many people have lost loved ones not just to disease but to poison rhetoric pitting them against their fellow humans.
LaDonna thought she had a safe place with her father, but he was already brainwashed. It was an interesting choice that the show didn’t paint him as a bad person, just a misguided one.
This show is so relevant sometimes it hurts. LaDonna’s impassioned speech about hatred and inciting of violence against minorities rings so true. Unfortunately, it’s not new, but there are new ways it is happening -- it’s more insidious with online forums creating cesspools of misinformation for vulnerable minds.
They will believe anything that excuses their irrational hatred of us.
LaDonna
It’s impossible to divorce this 4400 from the times in which it was written and produced. How will it be interpreted when it is watched ten years in the future? For a show about time travel, it’s such a time capsule in and of itself.
In a change of structure, we got flashbacks from both LaDonna and Claudette. At this point, with two episodes left, it feels like a decent way to move the plot along and get us the information we need.
Here’s hoping we get some Mildred flashbacks. Why does she think her sister is at Ypsi Med? Could Millicent be a 4400 as well, taken at a different point in her life?
It just so happens that I have some hot tea to sip.
Dr. Andre
Andre continues to be the best of all men, followed closely by Logan, of all people. Seriously, these guys! The look on Shanice’s face when Logan and Andre were all friendly with each other was priceless. It’s beautiful that Andre trusts Shanice so implicitly.
It's clear Logan and Shanice will always be part of each other's lives. You can tell it means a lot to Shanice to have his support in all the important work she's doing.
Also, how perfect is “We Belong Together” as Shanice and Logan’s wedding song? “When you left, I lost a part of me...”
Shanice: I just don't know who I am anymore.
Logan: You're still you.
The father/son vibes from Hayden and Logan are sweet, but sometimes it can feel a little forced. It’s great that Hayden finally got himself a real chess set, at last, though.
The Millie and Hayden reunion was a little awkward. She was obviously so happy to see him, and he just looked absolutely terrified. Also, who did Logan think was getting married in that moment before Mildred told them? He looked so worried!
All the BHN information is still annoyingly vague. It does pose the question of whether this will be leading to a big reveal that ties it all together somehow. Who’s really behind all this money and care for the 4400?
Side note -- it's perfect that Soraya is an expert bowler and that her team name is the "Lesbi-pins." That is all.
There are only two more episodes left of Season 1! How will it all shake out?
Do you think the Reverend will make it? Do you think Jharrel will find out the truth about Manny? And if, so, how?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
You can watch 4400 online right here at TV Fanatic!
Mary Littlejohn Mary Littlejohn was a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic.
