Skip to main content

Tabula Rasa: Richard and Isabelle Share Some Family Time on "The 4400"

Richard Tyler is a bad-ass.

That's really all I wanted to say about this week's episode of The 4400 ("Daddy's Little Girl"), which finally brought the much-missed Richard Tyler back into the fold. I've missed Richard and Lily (she, obviously, for much longer) and I'm glad to see that the series' producers have decided not to drop last season's dangling plotline, in which Richard took off on his own after depowering his duplicitous daughter Isabelle.

So what does Papa Richard do as soon as he turns up in Seattle? Why, track down the errant Isabelle, kidnap her, and force her to drink a solution that begins to turn her back into an infant. Sure, Isabelle, er, grew up way too fast (literally overnight) but I couldn't believe that Richard would do something so devious as to rob his only child of her free will and trick her into starting over as a child.

Tabula rasa. Isn't it something we all wish we could have? Some might say that Isabelle is lucky and gets to start her life all over again, freed from the memory of the truly awful things she once committed (i.e., last season) and able to begin anew. Others might argue that none of us deserve the right to forget, especially not former mass-murderers. To remember is to suffer and that is Isabelle's just punishment for her crimes.

My jaw hit the floor when I saw Kyle pinned to the ceiling, thanks to Richard's 4400 ability. Meanwhile, I can't help but wonder is Richard Tyler now a friend or foe? Looks like we'll have to wait until next week to find out.

Next week on The 4400 ("One of Us"), Tom is forced to confront his nightmares about the future, Richard is visited by his dead wife Lily (!??!), and Kevin Burkhoff makes a discovery that could change that dreaded 50/50 proposition that is the promicin shot.

Comments

Carrie said…
I would like to request an official moratorium on people being pinned to the ceiling on television shows. Supernatural, Heroes, and now The 4400 too? We need a new go-to trick for our TV baddies.
Unknown said…
How about pinned to the wall? Heh.

What a great show! Richard kicks some serious butt. He may have the strongest active power of anyone, and he's fine-tuned it so he can cut off the blood to someone's brain. Wow.

P.S. Yes, I know it's fiction. :)
Such a good episode! I was so happy to see Richard again but can't believe that he turned Isabelle into an infant...and just when I was starting to like her!

It may have taken Richard awhile to activate his ability but man was it worth the wait. His powers are massive and he is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

I don't know how but I'm pretty sure that what he's done to Isabelle will be reversed. I just think she has to big of a role in what's happening to stay a toddler. But I guess we'll have to wait and see!
Anonymous said…
Carrie, that's exactly what I thought too! No more characters pinned on the ceiling. I'll sign up with your cause.
Jon88 said…
Okay, am I the only person wondering if turning Isabelle's metabolism back also undoes the anti-Promicin dosage?

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns