Kill Isabelle

The third season of The 4400 started out really good, then petered out midway through. And with the season finale, the story made up for lost time.

Spoilers ahead for folks who haven’t watched the episode. Stop reading now.

It wasn’t until Richard used his telekinetic power to jam Isabelle with Tom’s syringe did I actually change my mind about what it was going to do.

I thought it would be some sort of poison that would kill Isabelle, but then I wondered if Megalyn Echikunwoke would really settle for a one-season contract. Then I realized whatever juice was in that syringe would only neutralize her, not kill her.

But I didn’t expect Tom to end up pulling the trigger anyway. Of course, after coming back from commercial, we learn he only wounded her, not killed her.

The reveals at the end of the episode did a great job of posing additional questions.

The future grabbed Alana again, after yet another creepy premonition from Maya. I really like Alana — her character doesn’t get to do too much, but she’s a grounding presence in the story. Karina Lombard does the exotic thing really well.

Diana’s sister, April, takes a promycin syringe. As Sherrif Carter on Eureka said, "No, that can’t be good." (It’s in the delivery.)

Both Shawn and Isabelle are in the hospital. I don’t think I really care about that.

And it’s really nice seeing Summer Glau play not crazy for once.

Dammit The 4400 — just when I was going to take you off of appointment viewing, you dangle another season in front of me. Just don’t drop the ball like you did halfway through this season.

(Which means Billy Gibson — don’t go sailing around the world again.)