Ripple Effect

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Terrorists driving a truck to the 4400 buildings

A ripple effect is effect that action has on people who were not the intended targets of that action [1]. In the 4400, Marco Pacella first used the term to describe the effect Carl Morrissey had on his neighbors. In The New & Improved Carl Morrissey, Morrissey believed it was his purpose to become a vigilante and battle the gangs and other thugs in his neighborhood. He is killed, but his death motivates his neighbors to take action to clean up their neighborhood. Marco calls this the ripple effect. It is the first hint of the possible reason why the 4400 were abducted and returned back to our time. Marco also believed that building of the tower in Wake Up Call had the ripple effect of freeing Kevin Burkhoff from his mental illness. Ripple effects were last mentioned in Suffer the Children.

The neighborhood cleans up Bradley Park

The ripple effect is similar to the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect deals with chaos theory and the relationship of seemingly unrelated events [2]. The ripple effect, however, does not attempt to study the relationship between unrelated events as it does attempting to determine the effects that the 4400 actions have on their surroundings.