Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Staff Journalist)
Two familiar faces are returning to “The 4400” according to TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello.
The parents of Isabelle, Richard and Lily will return this week and next week respectively to the hit USA drama.
Some of you may be wondering how Lily (played by actress Laura Allen) can return since when we last saw her in season three, she had rapidly aged and died to allow Isabelle to grow up quickly and assume her role in changing the world.
Ausiello is tight lipped about how Lily will return.
Richard, as played by Richard Mahershalalhashbaz, will return on this Sunday’s episode and Lily returns August 19. “The 4400” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on USA.
Richard Mahershalalhashbaz? Holy crap is that the guy’s real name or did your keyboard go wonky?
I guess the future could always snatch Lilly from a pre-aged/pre-dead time and zip her to the present.
Also, the keyboard only went half wonky: they typo concerns his first name… his full name is Maharshalalhashbaz Ali. His birth name was Mahershalalhasbaz Gilmore! As a Muslim, he took the surname Ali. (IMDB says Ali is his nickname, too.)
Yes, that’s his real first name. It’s from Isaiah 8:3, is apparently the longest biblical name, and means
“Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.” or
“Swift to plunder and quick to carry away.” or
“They [the Assyrians] hasten to the spoil [of Syria and Israel], they speed to the prey” or…. something like that.
(ooh, it’s fun to see how all the different bible translations are worded online. and really, how often do you get to say “booty” in the bible? oh, excuse me, ‘swift is the BigBooTAY’…)
In the original Hebrew, it’s actually 4 words strung together into one name:
Maher shalal hash baz
מַ×â€Ã–µ×¨ ש×Âָלָל חָשנבַּז
Just so you know, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali is affectionately referred to as “Ali” by his fellow actors on the show, and he’s a very sweet guy from what I hear. At Comic-Con this year, he received a *standing ovation* when The 4400 Panel showed scene snippets of him in their spoilers video. Richard is a juggernaut, and adds so much to the show! Great post, Sam