How to Get Away With Murder

There is an old saying that says hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and if you’ve been watching The 4400 the last few weeks, you know that this is true. I’ve finally caught up with the episodes so the recaps won’t be coming a week and a half later anymore, which is awesome because the season just gets better and better. Last week, Tom Baldwin was given the task of killing Isabelle Tyler, who the future-humans have said is the reason humanity is in such dire straights in the years ahead. Isabelle might be powerful, and we know she has a temper, but destroying humanity? Do we really believe that she is capable of that? Naive? Yes. Genocidal maniac? We hope not.Tom’s first opportunity to kill Isabelle comes relatively quickly, as it turns out she has already been captured by the time he gets to work. When he gets there, Diana asks if he is ready to get started, and we cut to a shot of Isabelle in an interrogation room with the needle right next to her. Ahhh, obviously this is just a dream sequence. When Tom wakes up, he’s in bed. Isabelle at the office might be a dream, but when he checks his safe and sees that the needle is still there, he knows that he still has a job to do.

Now I know that it was a big deal with Tom discovering that a bunch of people he doesn’t know want him to kill perhaps the most power being on earth, there was still the problem of Shawn and the razorblades he was using to cut himself open looking for a bug that he says somebody placed on him. He finally stops, and starts to wander around the center. I would think that there would be plenty of surveillance all around the center, and somebody would have noticed the leader of the movement walking around in his bathrobe with blood dripping down his arms, but I would be wrong. Instead, Shawn bumps into Maia, who was playing tag. Maia skins her knee, and Shawn is eager to help, but something is wrong. Shawn isn’t healing her, but is instead killing her.

Security pulls Shawn off Maia in time, but obviously there is something wrong. Diana goes to visit Maia, but Tom goes with her, so maybe Richard called NTAC. Shawn’s prognosis is not so good; he’s having delusions and hearing voices. The doctor says that all the signs point to some sort of schizophrenia, but he’s never seen such a rapid onset of symptoms and can’t figure out what the cause could be. But just because the doctor might be a little behind the times when it comes to the 4400 doesn’t every other person in the room is as naive. Tom, Richard, and Diana know that with such symptoms showing up so rapidly, there is a good chance that one of the 4400 is involved.

Richard tells Diana and Tom about Daniel Armand, and how he threatened Shawn, but there is no way that Diana is just letting Shawn go; she’s even talking about assault charges. Complicating the situation is the fact that Isabelle has now found out about Shawn, and seeing how she almost killed her own father when he said she couldn’t see Shawn, what is going to stop her from splitting Tom and Diana in two? Luckily, Richard still has at least a little bit of control of his daughter and tells her to calm down, and then tells Tom and Diana that they will send Shawn to a private hospital until things will clear up, and they can find out what is going on.

Another development from last week was Alana’s new job at the 4400 center. I was wondering exactly how she was going to use her ability, but when they explained what her job was, it all made a lot of sense. One of the most difficult things about being a 4400 is the people that you leave behind. Young kids may come back to find that their parents aren’t alive, and the adults might come back and find out that their husbands or wives are remarried and quite happy. Some come back and have new brothers and sister and stepparents they might have never met. Building those relationships takes time, but time is one thing Alana can give. She is able to take children who may have had a hard time adjusting, and create their fantasy world where they can learn to bond with people they never me.

While Alana might have envisioned helping many people out, she never thought that one of the children she is helping might have a power that she would love to use. Take the case of Todd Barstow. Alana explains what she is there to do, but it is Todd that tells her something is wrong. As Alana is trying to help him, he says that maybe she should help herself. Normally, one doesn’t talk to a teacher that way, and Alana, thinking that he might have read her mind, says that those thoughts are private, and it’s not something that he should do, but Todd says that he just gets a sense when people feel something strongly. What’s interesting though, is that he can see the events that are in that person’s head, even if it didn’t happen them.

So, what was it that was giving Alana feelings of “sadness and rage”? Well, it was the car accident that killed her first husband and their son. It was a hit and run, so Alana never had a chance to confront the person that took so much of her life away, or even see him with his day in court. Todd was able to see that accident, and he happened to know the name of the man who was responsible for what happened. His name was Keane Driscoll.

While Alana was trying to figure out what she was going to do with her new information, everybody else was trying to figure out what happened to Shawn. Tom was convinced that it was Daniel Armand that did this to him, and so Daniel Armand’s power must be the ability to induce insanity. Ironically, the person that agreed with Tom the most was Isabelle, who wasn’t waiting for NTAC or her father to get to the bottom of this mystery.

First, Isabelle follows her father when he goes to meet Zachary Gidlund. Zachary tells Richard about a friend of his from quarantine who asked him out to dinner, but when they got together spent most of her time trying to recruit him for the NOVA group. After her father left, Isabelle got her hands on Zachary, and I thought at first that perhaps she was going to hurt him. Richard said that Matthew Ross set up the meeting, and we know how evil he is, but Isabelle just wanted to the same information Zachary gave her father, and she gets it. The name is Jane Nance, and I’m guessing she’s not going to know what hits her.

As this episode rolled along, we started to unravel more and more of the mysteries that we had been wondering about for so long. Although I am not sure what Isabelle would do for a Klondike bar, I now know what it is that Matthew told her. Isabelle decided to break Shawn out of the hospital, but needed some of his clothes. Security, which I guess is now working ever since Shawn managed to escape his room covered in so much blood you thought he went to the prom with Carrie, noticed Isabelle in Shawn’s room, and Matthew decided that he was going to ask what was going on.

Matthew Ross is super creepy, and we have all believed that he knew more about the 4400s than he was letting on. He took a keen interest in Isabelle and everything that she did. We know that he had this long talk with her about what her purpose was, and now he seemed to think that rescuing Shawn would was not in her best interest. This had to be confusing to Isabelle because only a few weeks ago Matt was talking about how Shawn and Isabelle would be on two separate sides of an epic battle, and getting close to him was part of her mandate. What was that mandate?

Eliminate the 4400!

That means that maybe Tom’s job to kill Isabelle was really important. It may not mean the people who Tom is helping were right, because Matthew seems to think that the 4400 are actually what destroyed humanity. I am still inclined to distrust Matthew, but until you know, you can’t be sure. The point of this being that if the 4400 were the catastrophe, anything that hurts the 4400 is a good thing, and the Nova group killing their own is like a perfect solution. Only problem is that Isabelle really loves Shawn, and she doesn’t care about any other purpose than helping him. When Matthew tries to protest, Isabelle said that she had enough, and began the slow and painful process that was so very painful that Matthew’s eyes even began to bleed. His last words were to Isabelle, pleading with her that she still needs guidance.

As he slumped on the floor, the only guidance he was going to dish out would be from his will. And now we know to what lengths Isabelle will go to get what she wants. Having dealt with Matthew Ross, Isabelle decides to get Shawn out of the hospital, and he’s not doing so well. He was pretty crazy when we left, but now he is convinced that his molars are melting and will drip down his throat. Needless to say, he needs a bit of help, but Isabelle is more than willing to help him along.

NTAC was still busy on helping Shawn as well, and they also came up with the name Jane Nance. She is known for talking to animals, not making people crazy, but it is a start. They race to Jane’s place, but unfortunately she has already met up with Isabelle. When they get there, all of her pets are picking away at her dead body. NTAC knows that Shawn was sprung from the hospital, and know that she really wanted to get back at NOVA for what happened to him. Add to this the recent death of Matthew Ross, and everybody is started to get worried. As much as the 4400 might scare them, at least the government knows how they get their power. Nobody knows what drives Isabelle, but they know they have to do something about her. Richard keeps saying his daughter is not a killer, but at this point, he’s really just fooling himself.

So, what’s the next stop on the Isabelle painful death tour? That would be Jorge Molina. He runs a gas station, and just like with Jane Nance, NTAC comes to interview him a little too late. When they arrive, there is nothing left but a burned out building where Jorge’s service station used to be, and some burned out remains where Jorge used to be. Now, if I was NTAC, I don’t know if I would be chasing Isabelle so fast. The bad news is that she is on a murderous rampage. The good news is that she has limited her murderous rampage to members of the NOVA group, and considering NTAC hasn’t found a way to do anything about the NOVA group, why not let Isabelle take care of her. I would even throw Isabelle a party. Then when she’s about to cut her “Thank you for killing off the NOVA group cake”, Tom could come up from behind and stab her in the back with the syringe. My friend Sarah L says this is also a good way to get back at the guy who broke up with you for a girl named Janine.

I am sure by now you have figured out where all of this is going. Jane gave Isabelle the way to get to Jorge, and Jorge gave Isabelle the way to get to….that’s right, Daniel Armand. When we catch up to her, Daniel Armand is strapped in a chair, but it’s Shawn that looks like he is in pain. I’m not sure how I could describe how much Shawn was shaking, but it was like Margaret Thatcher and Muhammad Ali had started a break dancing contest. OK, even I admit that was in bad taste, but you know what I mean. It turns out all of that convulsing was just a part of the de-crazy process that Shawn had to go through.

When Shawn was back to being sane, Armand knew that he was finished, but tried to warn Shawn anyway. As much as Shawn cares about Isabelle, he would never want to her to hurt people to save him. OK, maybe he wouldn’t mind a broken arm or two, but he wouldn’t want them to be killed. The thing is that Isabelle didn’t kill anybody, she simply used their 4400 powers against them, meaning Daniel Armand is going to be hearing voices of his own in just a few minutes.

Once again, NTAC manages to get to the scene of the crime just a little too late to save anybody, although at least there is a chance that they might get Isabelle this time. The SWAT team is ready to go, and they are authorized to use deadly force. The only problem with this plan is that Isabelle can’t really die, and when they don’t kill her, she’ll be out for revenge. Luckily, Richard makes it upon the scene just in time. He convinces Diana and Tom to let him in to talk to his daughter, and hey, if he doesn’t come out in time, they can all look forward to horrible deaths anyway. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Isabelle goes quietly.

That might have been the most surprising thing to happen in the episode if only Alana hadn’t killed somebody herself. OK, so she really didn’t kill anybody, but she might have been partly responsible for somebody’s suicide attempt. After learning that this Keane Driscoll might have killed her family, she decides to visit him, and wouldn’t you know, he has kind of turned his life around. Instead of drinking, he has tried to dedicate his life to getting other people not to drink. When Alana first comes to see him, she doesn’t mention the car accident, but Driscoll does, but he only remembers it as the time when he hit rock bottom. He remembers the accident, but doesn’t remember if anybody was killed.

Although Alana was torn about what to do, she sees him again and mentions her family, and how it destroyed her life. She says that while he may think he has become a better person, there is not a day that goes by without her thinking about them. A few days later, she opens the paper and sees that Driscoll was in a one-car accident and was hurt critically. Confronted with his past, it looks like he might have tried to kill himself. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t entirely convinced by this storyline. They are trying to make Alana look cruel and vindictive, but it just doesn’t work. She would have done most people in her position would have tried to do, and probably a lot less than many others would have tried. Verdict? One little mistake like this isn’t going to rid me of my infatuation.

I was really looking forward to next week when Isabelle would have to be interrogated or go on trial or something for all of those deaths, but they never got that far. Apparently, NTAC wasn’t able to get any of the charges to stick. Although the events with Isabelle all happened in a logical order, there was no actual evidence that she had killed anybody, or was even at the locations of the death. Richard picks Isabelle up and takes her home.

As much as Richard wants to protect his daughter from going to jail, he knows that they are soon going to have to talk about Matthew Ross. He is also smart enough to give Isabelle a little time alone. She not only killed a bunch of people today, but also might have lost the person she had done all of that sacrificing for. While I am sure there are a lot of people who would be happy to hear “I killed three people to save you from mental illness”, Shawn was not one of them. I wouldn’t say he and Isabelle are no longer an item, because I’m sure he doesn’t want a “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” situation on his hands, but they may need a little bit of a break.

Isabelle is ready for her alone time, but when she walks into her room, Tom Baldwin is waiting for her. Wha? Seriously, what is up with the security over there? Doesn’t anybody lock their doors? Anyway, Isabelle is not that scared, but she sees that Tom has the same type of needle that Matthew said would kill her. If Tom was there to kill her, I have to say that this is an interesting strategy. I would have tried to surprise the most powerful mammal on the planet if I wanted to kill her, but Tom’s not ready. He saw how dangerous Isabelle is, and he saw that the people who took the 4400 think that she is dangerous, but he doesn’t want to do their dirty work just yet.

Tom asks Isabelle why he shouldn’t destroy her, and Isabelle doesn’t really care one way or the other. In fact, she sticks her arm out and dares Tom to inject her, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Isabelle may be a murder and might soon be responsible for the end of all humanity, but he is not a murderer. But hey, at least Isabelle knows that there are people out there gunning for her.

To tell you the truth, I thought this episode was ending in a lackluster way until the last few minutes when Isabelle walks into Haspell Corporation for a meeting….with Dennis Ryland. Suddenly, a lot of things are getting a little bit clearer. This whole time we were thinking that Matthew Ross was the only person that was working against the 4400 and thought they would be the end of humanity, but what about Dennis Ryland? Matthew always talked about how he was “lobbying” for the 4400. What if his lobbying was nothing more than an excuse to head to Washington to exchange notes with Ryland? Ryland always looked like he knew more than he was letting on, I wonder what Isabelle would have to say to him.

We now know what Matthew told Isabelle, and we know that there is a lot of debate about how beneficial the 4400 are going to be. I really wish I could get a look at Maia’s journal to see what was going to happen. Oh, that’s right! Maia has a journal online.

Overall, I think this season has been good. The big conspiracy is still more interesting than the individual episodes, however. What did you think of this episode?