“The Home Front” is episode seven of season three of The 4400.
Tom and Diana are heading to a house where they got a tip Gary Navarro is hiding out. Gary is inside when the phone rings. By the time NTAC storms the place, he’s gone. He must have been tipped off.
Shawn is trying to break up with Isabelle. She doesn’t see why; Nova is gone – a lot of them killed by Isabelle in the previous episode, “Graduation Day” – and her father knows about them. There’s nothing to stop them being together. Shawn asks about Ross. Isabelle asks if he thinks she killed Ross and the others. Shawn says he wasn’t in his right mind; he doesn’t know what to think. Isabelle tells him Ross had a stroke, a bunch of terrorists died and Shawn got better. What’s to question? Shawn thinks they got too intense, too fast. Devon opens the door; there’s someone here to see Shawn. A friend. It’s Nikki; her father has cancer and there’s nothing they can do. Isabelle comes out of the office too.
Alana is talking to Amy when some NSA agents come in. She’s a person of interest related to the Nova Group. Evidence suggests she’s a member.
Alana is locked up and Tom is talking to her. She explains she lent some money, $165, to another 4400, Ryan. Tom says that the other was picked up three days ago; Daniel Armand gave them his name. Alana is being held for providing financial support for terrorists. She asks how long she will be kept. 36 hours without charge, but it won’t come to that. He’ll speak to Ryan and get him to admit the loan was a casual thing.
Tom speaks to Jarvis, but there’s not much she can do. The Pentagon went around her back and hired the Haspel Corporation to do the study. The NSA loaned them agents to do the fieldwork. There’s not much oversight and it’s being run at the discretion of the executive in charge.
Who is Ryland. Tom doesn’t think Alana being taken in is a coincidence. Ryland asks if Tom really thinks he would use Tom’s girlfriend to pursue a personal vendetta. Yes, he does. As they leave, Tom is annoyed and Diana says they always knew Ryland had a lot of support for what he did. Afterwards, Ryland checks on how the studies of Isabelle are going.
Shawn has healed Nikki’s father. She thanks him and asks why he never called. He was trying to put everything behind him. But he thought about Nikki a lot.
At NTAC, Diana tells Tom they have Gary’s phone records. He got a call from The 4400 Centre just before NTAC arrived.
The call came from Heather Tobey’s office. She says she didn’t make it and, as it happens, she was teaching 12 students at the time. The only other person who has access is the janitor. Tom warns Heather that others will look at the phone records and they will be less friendly. If there’s anything she isn’t saying, they need to know.
Isabelle lies to Richard about being at Haspel, then tells him to talk to Shawn to tell him it’s a mistake to break up with her. Richard can’t. For one thing, he doesn’t think it is a mistake. Isabelle tells him there are things she has to do. Dangerous things. If Shawn isn’t with her, it will make things worse. For everyone else.
Heather turns up on Tom’s doorstep at night. There was someone else who had a key to her office. Alana.
Richard sees Shawn and tells him about Isabelle. Shawn asks if it’s his job to keep her human. Richard won’t tell Shawn what to do. But they know Isabelle won’t give up without a fight and they’ve both seen what happens when she decides to fight.
Alana is released and Tom picks her up. He wants her to say who she lent the key to Heather’s office to. No-one. She warned Gary. She’s not a member of the Nova Group, but she did it for Tom and all the times he said he felt responsible for what happened to Gary. Gary had left the Nova Group after TJ was murdered.
Alana is now on the hook for helping Gary, and this will be more than likely be traced back to her. Tom tells Diana but this leaves them in an awkward position. Especially when Heather is arrested. Meanwhile, Isabelle doesn’t seem happy that Nikki is speaking to Shawn, and an unhappy Isabelle is a scary Isabelle.