The CW's 4400 Mixes Earnest Ideas with Corny Execution | TV/Streaming

Shanice is one of 4,400 Americans who were considered missing from their different periods, and landed in 2021, now quarantined. They range from different eras, like Claudette (Jaye Ladymore), a civil rights protestor from Mississippi in the 1960s; Isaiah Johnson (Derrick A. King), a smooth-talking reverend from the ‘90s; a mid-2000s reality star named LaDonna (Khailah Johnson); a hippie girl named Mildred (Autumn Best). The most out-of-their-element person is a WWI surgeon named Andre (TL Thompson), whose properness is bracing among this group. 

At least with the pilot episode, these characters are as curious as the mystery that has brought them together. But the storytelling is all about keeping them in the same room or so, sitting and talking to each other. It’s a dull visual approach, and brings out the corniness of the premise that needs to be distanced from for this to work. It also takes far too long for everyone to realize they're in a different time period, a goofy beat that could have been more impactful if the show had more faith in its characters. 

This strange phenomenon inspires crises across the board, and the tensions that don’t have to do with the actual time-zapping premise prove to be its most compelling. Shanice’s yearning to be back with the family she suddenly disappeared from is a unique way to focus on regret, and the types of things we can’t change. I'm also curious to see how the series will play out its work tension between social worker Jharrel (Joseph David Jones) and the lead agent Keisha (Ireon Roach), as the set-up does try question about who is better serving these people and their needs, regardless of how extreme the scenario is. 

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