4400 season 1 episode 9 recap: Did Soraya commit the ultimate betrayal?

This week on 4400 season 1, Jharrel continues trying to figure out what Manny is telling him. Meanwhile, Shanice and Isaiah attempt to stop the conservatorships from being triggered, and Soraya makes a shocking betrayal.

Read on to discover what happened in 4400 season 1 episode 9, “Great Expectations.”

4400 season 1 episode 9 recap: Are Jharrel and Keisha gone for good?

The news is extensively covering the hunt for Mildred, and with the revelation of the 4400’s powers, the public is quick to turn on them. Though the government doesn’t have the legal justification to detain them yet, it seems the conservatorships are going to be triggered. Though Jharrel thinks this was the government’s plan all along, Keisha is now worrying about the dangers the group might pose to the world.

Jessica gets wind of Jharrel’s doubts and fires him — bad timing considering he’s just found a clock he thinks Manny has drawn on the wall at the hotel. Although the clock is wrong, he thinks Manny is trying to tell him something. Soraya suggests that maybe the clock is a cipher of some kind. This sparks the idea to look through Manny’s old books in Claudette’s apartment, and Jharrel sees that there is a clock on the Wrinkle in Time book. Before he can get too far in investigating it, however, he gets arrested. Someone is setting him up.

When talking to Jessica, Keisha realizes Jharrel was right — the government did want the 4400’s powers exposed. She’s disgusted. When Jessica tells Keisha she’s surprised she feels that way considering her sister died because of a dangerous person, Keisha quits her job, not being able to work for a person like Jessica anymore.

4400 season 1 episode 9 recap: Did Soraya commit the ultimate betrayal?

Andre reaches out to Soraya because he knows she helped LaDonna build the computer. He wants her to help him access the Ypsi Med files to figure out what the government is aiming to do. They manage to find the files and see that there are required blood draws on the 4400 looking for ZMT, and though they don’t exactly know what it means, Soraya promises they’ll keep looking into it.

Andre goes to the park, where he sees Steve — a security guard at the hotel — fall and badly hurt his leg. Andre goes over and uses his powers to heal him, and a bystander sees this and calls the tip line set up about the 4400.

This puts a target on Steve’s back, as they believe he’s a 4400 due to how quickly he healed. Steve is angry at Andre for putting this target on his back, demanding that he stay away. Soraya tells Andre to try and have compassion — Steve is likely just scared due to all the anti-Asian hate he faced during COVID. Even if he doesn’t agree with the public’s views about the 4400, needs to try to fit in with his coworkers to feel safe and welcomed.

It seems like Soraya may be going down a similar path. Soraya’s family judges her for continuing to work with people who think she’s a terrorist just because of how she looks. Later that night, Soraya meets with Jessica, giving her all the files she and Andre found and effectively betraying the 4400. Jessica welcomes her into the inner circle.

4400 season 1 episode 9 recap: Will the government’s trap work?

Isaiah feels terrible about convincing everyone to sign the conservatorship papers, and Shanice makes it her mission to help him fix things. She realizes they can still try for the loophole if they make the hotel a religious sanctuary. However, Isaiah is unsure he can lead anymore. He’s shaken by the fact he figured out he can negate people’s powers — how can he lead them if he can take the very thing that makes them special away?

Shanice, however, sees this as a potential blessing, asking him to take her powers away. Every time she sees people’s memories, she feels like she’s invading, and she’s upset she never got the choice to refuse this power.

Though Jessica assures them their plan is hopeless, they submit the papers anyway, and lo and behold, they’re actually successful. The government leaves the hotel, meaning the 4400 are on their own. But they’re not providing sanctuary for altruistic reasons. Instead, they think the 4400 will have a false sense of security. The public will then turn against them, and they’ll round themselves up eventually.

What did you think of the episode? Comment your thoughts below!