The Great Leap Forward (The 4400 episode)

The 4400 episode
Title = The Great Leap Forward
Season = 4
Episode = 13
Airdate = September 16, 2007
Writer =
Director =
Prev = Tiny Machines
Next =
IMDb_id = "The Great Leap Forward" is the thirteenth episode of season four of the science fiction television series "The 4400" and the series finale. The episode aired on September 16, 2007 on the USA Network.cite web| url = http://www.usanetwork.com/schedules/sched.php?search=4400&sdate=7%2F01%2F2007-7%2F30%2F2007&x=0&y=0| title = Results for July 2007| publisher = USA Network]

Synopsis

Seattle falls into chaos and NTAC is forced to look to Promise City for help. Meanwhile, Isabelle is ordered to murder Kyle Baldwin and Jordan attempts to escape from The Marked.

Due to the series' cancellation, this episode serves as the de facto series finale of "The 4400".cite news | title = USA Network cancels "The 4400"
url = http://www.syfyportal.com/news424560.html | publisher = SyFy Portal | date = 2007-12-19]

Plot

Seen from Tom's point of view, Tom is put in a truck where Diana, Meghan, Marco and Shawn are. Marco injects Tom with Polonium, thus burning the nano-machines inside him and getting rid of the body snatcher, although it ultimately kills him. Shawn saves Tom by healing him. Tom still has all his memories from being marked and is upset after realizing he has killed people and done bad things. He tells Diana and Meghan that he has to go back to free Collier and that he is the only one who can do it because they don't know he is no longer marked.

Danny goes with his mom to the hospital and notices that people there begin to show the same symptoms and start dying, as if they had taken a promicin shot. Danny realizes that he has developed an ability to spread promicin like a virus, released in the air. Anyone who is around him is exposed to promicin even if they didn't take the shot. He ends up causing hundreds to die but also allows those who survive to develop abilities. He goes to the 4400 center to ask for Shawn's help and to tell him that he is the one killing people and that their mom has also died. Kevin gives Danny an inhibitor so that he is no longer contagious, however this has dire consequences.

Meanwhile people in Seattle are being infected, the outbreak wasn't contained at the hospital and it has spread through the police force as well as NTAC. People start dying and those that don't will soon develop an ability. NTAC is forced to work with Promise City residents to control the violence and chaos that is taking place throughout the city. Those with abilities try to keep order since the government has seemed to forget about Seattle with the outbreak and the inability to keep it from spreading. However, Diana is the only one at NTAC (who has survived) to not test positive for promicin. Marco attributes this to the fact that she was forced to take an early batch of promicin which has somehow made her immune to it; neither dying nor developing an ability. She decides to go to the 4400 center to have Kevin develop some kind of cure to keep others from dying and from coming into contact with promicin. Kevin determines that an enzyme called ubiquinone is what is allowing her to resist promicin exposure. Fortunately, the enzyme is contained in a common over-the-counter drug and Diana sends an order to have supplies of the drug made available to those in Seattle who have not yet been exposed to the virus.

Isabelle is forced to track down Kyle as he has become the new leader of those at Promise City and the marked are not happy. The effects of Danny's ability are ruining their plans to terminate 4400s and prevent people from gaining abilities. Tom returns to try and free Collier. However, he is unsuccessful because upon hearing that Isabelle was sent to kill Kyle he flinched, revealing he was no longer marked. Isabelle was not able to kill Kyle and instead returns to free Tom and Collier and ends up killing the marked there and in return is killed herself. Tom and Collier are able to escape and see how the city has changed. Back at the 4400 center, Danny is feeling the effects of the inhibitor. The promicin is building up in his body since it is no longer being released via his ability. As a result, it is slowly killing him. He tells Shawn that he does not want to stop taking the inhibitor because others will die and he wants to be the last. He begs Shawn to kill him. Shawn, heartbroken, complies.

Seattle has changed with the many deaths as well as giving birth to many who will now develop abilities of their own. The episode ends with Meghan turning a pen into a flower, Garrity creating a perfect duplicate of himself and Marco unintentionally teleporting himself from NTAC to Promise City. It is also revealed that Seattle is now under control of Collier and his followers and is renamed Promise City. Maia remarks to Diana that it is better this way. Kyle visits his father and tells him that even though he has killed people he must move on and leaves him a shot of promicin.

Significance

Collier and those of Promise City are able to take control of the entire city without doing anything since Danny's ability caused thousands to be exposed to promicin, killing 50% and allowing abilities to develop in the other 50%. At the end of the episode, Meghan remarks to Diana that "at least 9,000 are confirmed dead" from the virus, and that at least as many people in Seattle will now develop new abilities.

This episode marks the deaths of Isabelle Tyler and Danny Farrell.

It is revealed that Diana is resistant to promicin due to a series of shots given to her by Kevin Burkhoff in earlier episodes.

This episode includes the supposed death of 2 of the Marked (the ones inside Tom and Rebecca Parrish). It is uncertain whether or not the Marked inside Jordan Collier will surface, but for the time being, it would appear that Jordan Collier remains as himself.

Due to a large-scale infectious outbreak within the NTAC headquarters almost all of the agents and support personnel should be considered to have either died or developed a 4400 ability.

Cast

* Tom Baldwin — Joel Gretsch
* Diana Skouris — Jacqueline McKenzie
* Shawn Farrell — Patrick Flueger
* Kyle Baldwin — Chad Faust
* Isabelle Tyler — Megalyn Echikunwoke
* Maia Skouris — Conchita Campbell
* Jordan Collier — Billy Campbell
* Meghan Doyle — Jenni Bairdcite web |url=http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=41717|title=Baird Joins The 4400] ; Guest stars
* Agent Garritty — Kavan Smith
* Kevin Burkhoff — Jeffrey Combs
* Danny Farrell — Kaj-Erik Eriksen
* Rebecca Parrish — Penny Johnson Jerald

References

External links

* [http://www.the4400wiki.org/Episode:The_Great_Leap_Forward The Great Leap Forward] at The 4400 wiki.

Trivia

* The song that is playing during the end montage is "Where Is My Mind?" by the Pixies. The song is also featured in the end sequence of the movie "Fight Club".