TV Series: THE 4400 (2004 - 2007)
Recurring role: In The 4400, Summer Glau plays Tess Doerner, one of the 4400 abductees that returned to Earth.Episode Guide (click on the title of the episode for more information):
Season 2, episode 1: Wake-Up Call
Original Air Date: 5 June 2005
Kyle tries to visit his cousin Shawn at The 4400 Center but is thrown out. Richard and Lily are desperate to protect their infant daughter, Isabelle from Collier and other maniacs, and a schizophrenic 4400, Tess Doerner, compells the others at Abendson Psychiatric Hospital to build a tower based on her sketches, which she believed to be her means of returning to the future.
Season 3, episode 8: The Ballad Of Kevin And Tess
Original Air Date: 30 July 2006
Dr. Burkhoff continues his experiments on himself and forces them on another person and Maia has a nightmare where Diana looks like a monster. Kevin Burkhoff is forced to go on the run when his Promicin research makes him a target for elimination. In order to get to Kevin before anyone else does, Tom and Diana look to Tess Doerner for help. A rock star tries to involve Shawn in his health that demands almost all of his time.
Season 3, episode 11: Terrible Swift Sword
Original Air Date: 20 August 2006
The Nova Group escapes from prison, so Hyland decides to develop his troops at the fastest and most ruthless possible. Richard is convinced that it is only a matter of time before his daughter leads a strike against the 4400. Later on, Shawn, Richard, Kevin Burkhoff, and Tess Doerner gather at a warehouse where the stolen promicin is being stored. They ask Jordan what he wants to do with the promicin. Destroy it? No, Jordan wants to give it away. To everybody.
Season 3, episode 12: Fifty-Fifty
Original Air Date: 27 August 2006
Jordan Collier’s strategy is spread out 4400-anilities to everybody who wants them, and Devon is eager to be the first to try. NTAC is closing in on them. Jordan, Richard, Kevin, Tess, and Boyd Gelder meet at the abandoned airplane hanger where the stolen promicin is being stored. Richard uses his telekinesis to try and destroy the vials of promicin, but Tess uses her ability to compel him to stop.
Season 4, episode 1: Wrath Of Graham
Original Air Date: 17 June 2007
A high school kid named Graham develops an ability which makes people worship him to the point of sacrificing their lives for him. Tom visits Isabelle in jail, hoping to get information on the whereabouts of Alana who’s been missing for months. Marco calls Diana to let her know that her sister April has promicin and is nowhere to be found. NTAC gets a new director. Kyle meets a young woman named Cassie who has some advice about how to get Shawn out of his coma. Jordan Collier who’s still hidding with Kevin and Tess gets bothered by his conscience. Meanwhile, NTAC gets a new director.
Season 4, episode 9: Daddy's Little Girl
Original Air Date: 12 August 2007
Richard kidnaps Isabelle from Collier’s Promise City in the hope to start a new life with his daughter. In other events, Kevin Burkoff calls Shawn for help when Tess has a schizophrenic episode and uses her ability to take control of people at a 1950’s diner, thinking that she’s 16 again.
Season 4, episode 11: Ghost In The Machine
Original Air Date: 26 August 2007
A computer virus attacks a large software company owned by a suspected member of The Marked. Maia visits Promise City and receives an unexpected birthday gift. At the 4400 Center, Kyle kidnaps Kevin Burkoff and brings him to Promise City. Collier apologizes to Kevin but can’t allow him to develop a promicin test that would tell someone whether or not they would die if they took the shot.
Summer's character appears in this episode in voice only.
Season 4, episode 12: Tiny Machines
Original Air Date: 9 September 2007
Isabelle works with Tom in order to get close to Jordan. Shawn recruits a small band of promicin positives, including Tess, to break Kevin out of Promise City. Tom and Diana face off in the backroom of a grocery store, and Diana is forced to shoot Tom.
- Summer's character is not credited in episode 4.11 "Ghost in the Machine", she appears in this episode in voice only.