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From SCIFIPEDIA
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Audrey Parker's Come and Gone is the third episode of The 4400's fourth season. Constance Towers and Laura Mennell guest star as Audrey Parker.
Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.
Plot
The blog of an elderly woman attracts the attention of NTAC when she advocates using promicin as it has helped free her and may do the same for others. Tom and Diana are ordered to track her down and hopefully put an end to her brilliant but provocative writing. Diana believes stopping benign people should not be their goal but Megan disagrees as the blog may inspire more dangerous people to take the drug and they, in turn, may develop more dangerous abilities.
The blog's author, Audrey Parker, now a volunteer librarian, was once a beautiful and daring woman but is now stricken with arthritis and given daily injections of morphine by her visiting nurse to ease the pain. Audrey took promicin as a means of ending the tedium of her days and developed powers of astral projection that allow her to look and feel young again in her incorporeal and invisible state. She travels throughout the city and takes under her watch, a young artist, Vanessa Martin, with a scam artist, Philip Delacroix, who acts as her agent.
After witnessing Philip manipulating another artist while astral projecting, she returns to her body and the next day seeks him out and confronts him with the knowledge she has about his real identity as Philip Wilson and the scams he has run on the elderly and other artists. She encourages him to leave town threatening to go to the police.
After visiting the library with Tom earlier in the day hoping to track down the blog's author, Diana returns home and is surprised to discover Ben and Maia have come from Spain to stay. Though she is happy to see him she was hoping he'd stay in Spain as motivation for her to find April and go back. At work the next day she reads the latest blog entry from Audrey and discovers a Ben Franklin quote that reminds her of the librarian they met. Now certain of the author's identity they go to find her.
While astral projecting, Audrey feels a strange sensation and returns to her home to find police officers and NTAC agents surrounding her body. She appears to have died of an overdose. Audrey's mind however is still very much alive and she believes she has been murdered and that Philip is responsible. Her pleas to the agents to realize her death wasn't accidental or suicide, causes a disruption in the electronic equipment in the room.
Audrey returns to the gallery where Vanessa's art is on display and discovers Philip and Vanessa talking. Philip is in a rush to leave and asks to borrow money from Vanessa because of some unspecified event that occurred the previous night.
Diana's investigations of Audrey's life causes her to admire her for living her life without compromise. She wishes she could have done the same. Tom believes the investigation is over despite no evidence that Audrey wanted to commit suicide. He believes the case should be in the hands of the Seatttle Police. Audrey overhears their conversation and again, pleads with them to realize she was murdered. Another disruption in the electronic equipment occurs and Diana's comments lead Audrey to realize she may be able to communicate. Later, at Diana's home, the radio blinks out into static and Diana comments on the disruption. Ben reveals that the voice message she left on his phone had the same kind of garbled static. Diana takes the message to Marcus who discovers underneath everything else, Audrey's voice comes clear saying "murdered" repeatedly. The theory room believes the signal caused by Audrey's ability is still out there and trying to communicate.
Shawn is determined to get his healing foundation going again and seeks out Heather Tobey for help. Though it is illegal to use his abilities he is determined to show the world that the 4400 are not bad and not all have joined Jordan Collier's cause. He arranges a press conference in which he announces that anyone who visits the next day will be healed. He is visited by Megan and Tom in his office who warn him against his plan. Shawn is, however, determined to go through with his plan despite the potential for his arrest.
Another run-through of Audrey's journals leads them to Vanessa at the gallery. They inform her about Philip's true identity and she in turn, relates their recent conversation. Philip is found and arrested but has an unshakable alibi for the time of Audrey's death. Audrey begins to fade away. Marcus believes her attempts to communicate are causing the signal to weaken. Diana, feeling deeply connected to Audrey, is determined to find justice for her.
The next day Shawn visits the site of the former 4400 Center and finds hundreds of people as well as riot police. He is not allowed inside but decides to work with the people outside. He attempts to heal a girl with cerebral palsy but is stopped before he can begin. An uproar begins as the police attempt to arrest him and the crowd presses in to stop them. Before things get too out of hand, Tom arrives and requests the officer in charge stand down and remember that he is there to protect people. Shawn then returns to his task, healing all those present and requiring his help.
Audrey visits her former nurse at her home where she continues to grieve. Though she can't hear her, Audrey tells her that she left her money and tries to tell her son, Lucas, to be nicer. She hears him talking on the phone to someone about a piece of jewelry and discovers he's in possession of her prized necklace which he is trying to sell. She has discovered her killer. She manages to send one last message to Diana on her answering machine leading to Lucas' arrest. In interrogation, Lucas claims Audrey's death was accidental. He gave her a dose of morphine to keep her asleep so he could take her jewelry. Later, while listening to Audrey's favorite song, Diana and Ben hear the static and Diana realizes she is saying goodbye.
Cassie convinces Kyle to return to the house on Berkeley Court and get the book he previously examined. She wants him to study the contents to ensure he comes to believe it. Kyle returns and steals the book, leaving behind a donation. Cassie believes the book is a blueprint for Jordan's future success and that Collier will lead the human race to salvation and Kyle will help him. To prove it to him, she asks him to meet her at the intersection of Forbes and Shady at 2am. Early the next morning, at 2 am, Shawn arrives at the location and witnesses a car accident. The back of a crashed transport vehicle opens up and Kyle rushes to help and finds Isabelle Tyler.
Later, despite potential fallout from the decision, Megan brings her father to Shawn asking him to heal him of his Huntington's Disease. Shawn obliges.
Guest Stars
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