The 4400 Guide - 4400 Spoilers and News

Audio Commentary of The 4400 - Secrets Revealed

by Alexandra on March 24th, 2007

Imagine sitting in your living room, watching one of your favorite 4400 episodes (Fifth Page), and then imagine that you just happen to have right there with you, the writer, co-writer and producer, and the two main actors of said show. Brilliant! This is a synopsis of the season two audio commentary of The 4400.

Secrets Revealed
The audio commentary from Season Two is full of great insight of the characters, the actors, storyline, and of the show in general, not just for the season. There are some extremely funny moments as well. There’s also some very important info about the final season two episode and its relevance in general. This is the type of knowledge that makes seeing the show itself ten times better, because it’s better than spoilers, it’s insight. Read some of the best bits below:

Commentators:
Jacqueline McKenzie, who portrays Diana Skouris
Joel Gretsch, who portrays Tom Baldwin
Craig Sweeny - Writer who co wrote the episode Fifth Page, “with no memories of doing it”.
Ira Steven Behr - Executive producer of The 4400 and co-writer the episode.

Ira was very sad when he wrote the episode and mentions the grief of writing for television. Ira refers to season two as a bitch of a season (he was referring to how tired he and Craig were from working every weekend..he even ended up in the hospital one night..talk about hard work!).

Jacqui admits that she really is double-jointed.

Ira and Craig talk about how great it was having Peter Coyote portray the character, Dennis Ryland. (He was a special guest star of the Fifth Page episode.) Of note, Peter Coyote was cast in another series, and that was why he didn’t come back until the end of Season Two.

They talk about some great casting moments, such as how they were able get Garrett Dillahunt on board as Matthew Ross. (Ira and Craig are both fans of the HBO show, Deadwood.)

The writers wanted to add some mystery to the life of Tom Baldwin by adding the mystery of the character, Alana Mareva.

Jacqui talks about the dynamic of playing the role of having a daughter, and some insight is revealed about Jacqui’s audition process.

The show received hate mail about the character, Bryan, who is Lily’s ex-husband. In this final season two episode, the commentators reveal that for many, the character Bryan became “human”.

They talk about Mahershalalhashbaz Ali’s (or Ali as they refer to him) wonderful way of portraying his character’s 1950’s type of formality in the beginning, and also how wonderful the speech was that his character, Richard Tyler, gave to the press as he urged the 4400s to be cautious about the government quarantine in this episode.

.They all “literally” gave a shout out to Scott Peters for his superb direction of this episode.

There are some very wonderful and extremely funny insights about Jeffrey Combs and his role as Dr. Kevin Burkhoff.

Jacqui brings out a wonderful point, which is that the writers of the show are not afraid to let the characters change their minds.

They bring some insight into the dynamic of Tom and Marco’s relationship

I’ve barely scratched the surface of this audio commentary, and I urge you all to listen to it.

Tags: the 4400, 4400, season two audio commentary, jacqui, jacqueline mckenzie, joel gretsch, jeffrey combs, ira steven behr, craig sweeny, mahershalalhashbaz ali, scott peters

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POSTED IN: Behind the Scenes, Craig Sweeny, Ira Steven Behr, Jacqueline McKenzie, Joel Gretsch, Show News