Photos
Video
RSS'Jericho': The good, the bad and the ugly
This week on Jericho, we start to see who's on the side of the angels, the bad guys get badder, and some old familiar faces return. Plus, I'm left with one overriding impression: Robert Hawkins has balls of steel. If anyone is going to be able to take down a vast government conspiracy that killed millions, he can do it.
Have you heard of the Hudson River Spoiler?
Hey, look, it's Dale! He's been traveling the plains trading supplies for the Jericho store, and he knows a fishy situation when he sees it. In this case, he knows that a mysterious roadblock cordoning off a town isn't because of potholes or a water main break -- it's because the Hudson River Virus, a diseases that is theoretically confined to east of the Mississippi, has jumped far into Missouri and is in striking range of Jericho. (The military guys in Hazmat suits was a tip-off.) He buys a bunch of vaccine on the black market, but it is almost immediately confiscated by the good folks at Ravenwood. Hey, we're just protecting you from potentially faulty vaccines! It's much more likely that Jennings & Rall likes being the sole legal source of the vaccine. Lovely.
Speaking of our favorite government contractors: Goetz is settling into being town administrator, and Jake and the rest of the town aren't happy about it. Goetz prompts Jake to reveal some of his deep dark past to Eric -- he was a transport driver for J&R/Ravenwood, and after his transport team lost a man under fire, they stormed a village and ended up killing both gunmen and civilians. Because of the way the rules work, there were no consequences. Ravenwood can't be prosecuted or held accountable. It's untouchable.
Eric refuses to believe this, so he goes to Trish, the friendly, helpful, perky, blond J&R flunky, to request a new administrator. Not going to happen, says Trish -- officially, Ravenwood needs those protections to be able to do its job. Unofficially, she thinks it's deplorable, and if it's any consolation, they're engaging in a lot less rape and pillage now that things are back under control. Eric doesn't seem to find that comforting.
Jake basically tells Dale how to hijack the meds from Ravenwood transport, and it goes without a hitch -- except that Goetz got suspicious about an order for 3,000 syringes that Dr. Kenchy placed. (Hi, Kenchy! I've missed you!) Kenchy holds out as long as he can under questioning, but he reveals that he knows what Goetz did in Rouge River, so Goetz feels free to get uncivilized on him. Kenchy caves and reveals the whole plan.
The Ravenwood goons storm the warehouse, and there's a bit of a standoff with Jake, when Goetz gets the call -- the folks in Cheyenne said they received and destroyed all the confiscated vaccine. Turns out Trish, who I'd been seeing as a J&R stooge, really does have a soul. She falsified records so the heft of the vaccine went officially unnoticed. Go Trish!
Meanwhile, Jimmy comes back to work and he recognizes the photo of Sarah mason -- and links her to Hawkins. Darcy wants to run, but Hawkins must have icewater in his veins: He walks up to Major Beck, announces that he's an FBI agent loyal to the Eastern government, and tells Beck he's screwing up Hawkins' investigation. Balls. Of. Steel.
There's some back and forth with fingerprints and such, but eventually, beck gets the news that Sarah and the dead John Doe's files have been locked. Hawkins tells him (truthfully) that Sarah and the dead guy were government spies, and the Cheyenne government knows something. Beck resists that, but when Valente denies all knowledge of Sarah being a spy and tells Beck to get on with the killing, he joins team Hawkins. Hooray!
Highlights, thoughts, and still more plot development
- The Hudson River Virus is cutting a swath across the Midwest -- Heather raises a quarantined town in Missouri on the radio, and discovers that more than 200 people have died there, with no help from the government. She confronts Beck, who doesn't seem moved -- but later, we learn he sent a military humvee with a medical officers to the town to help.
- We also learn Beck has a wife who had been in Santa Fe when the bombs went off. He has no idea what happened to her.
- I loved Trish asking the uncomfortable questions of Goetz -- obviously, Hudson River Virus is a problem, since we've all been inoculated -- and was thrilled to see her taking matters into her own hands. Unfortunately, that's probably what prompted Goetz to notice the order for syringes at the medical center.
- Trish asks Bonnie if she wants to come to Cheyenne with her. Bonnie at first demurs, but Stanley convinces her she can do anything she wants. It's kind of sweet.
- Indian River, Missouri, the first town where Dale encountered the quarantine, isn't that far from where my mom's family lives. Freaky.
- Emily seems more and more pointless every episode. Why is she still there?
- When Beck agrees to let Hawkins work with him to find Sarah, he announces that Sarah still has the bomb. Does that mean he's starting to see things fall into place?
- What appears to be a junk fax that comes through to Beck's office is actually some sort of code that Hawkins' team had set up. He looks a little terrified as he calls the number that code reveals. A voice on the phone says "I can't talk now, but I know who you are, I know what you're trying to do, and I want to help."
Post a comment
Zap2it Twitter Talk 
And JERICHO just keeps getting better!!
WOOHOO!!
If Jericho had been this good from the very start (instead of all that clunky, and deadly dull soap opera trash) then they would probably not be struggling in the ratings. Last year I couldn't care less if they brought Jericho back. Now I'm looking forward to the next episode.
Jericho is the best TV show is year. Unfortunately CBS will cancel the series because of low Nielsen ratings. Why? Because it's "smarter than a fifth grader".
CBS is doing everything they can to get viewers. I hardly ever see a CBS show that does not have at least one commercial for the next episode (also a tie-in with Big Brother). You gotta give them credit for sticking with the show through the low ratings. It's not their fault that more people watch "The Moment of Truth" than this show.
How many people think that the Hudson River Virus (HRV) was created by the Cheyenne government and exposed to those on the East Coast intentionally? I think it is too much of a coincidence that the government is split at the Mississippi River AND the virus stopped there. Sure, you can make the argument that Cheyenne is using a naturally occurring virus as a tool for power by keeping it's territory safe, but I don't buy that.
I was sure that Valente was going to be on the other end of the number that Hawkins called but it is good to see that it was a possible ally. Still won't know for sure but looks to be interesting.
They better pick up the pace though. They only have four episodes left to wrap up the series.
I thought it was fascinating that Beck revealed that he thinks Sarah has the bomb. Presumably, the Cheyenne government told him that. But how would they know that there is a missing bomb unless they had penetrated (or perpetrated) the conspiracy?
Great article! Love the What's the point of Emily? Who knows besides really bad acting.
I think CBS did Jericho a favor by cutting their budget - it's made the show tighter and more interesting without sacrificing suspense. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's coming to an end. Maybe Sci Fi will do us all a favor and pick it up as a new show since it's already airing the reruns.
I've always been su****ious of Hawkins and his ultimate goals, but you're right. Balls of Steel.
And finally, is it just me or does J&R remind anyone else rather forcibly of Haliburton? In some ways, Jericho isn't all that fictional...
I think CBS did Jericho a favor by cutting their budget - it's made the show tighter and more interesting without sacrificing suspense. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's coming to an end. Maybe Sci Fi will do us all a favor and pick it up as a new show since it's already airing the reruns.
I've always been su****ious of Hawkins and his ultimate goals, but you're right. Balls of Steel.
And finally, is it just me or does J&R remind anyone else rather forcibly of Haliburton? In some ways, Jericho isn't all that fictional...
The overriding cynic in me read the description of this episode in TV Guide (sorry, but Zap2It doesn't come in digest form, ha-ha) and thought, "Uh-oh, Little House On the Prairie recycled plot episode already!" For those that weren't around when that show was on the air, it seemed that every few months or so, the writers would hit a brick wall and drag out an epidemic plot just to tide them over until their brains got back on track. In truth, LHOTP only had about three epidemic episodes, but they were so overwrought and pathetic that they stuck out and seemed to breed in the memories of those of us who used to watch it. Fortunately, Jericho's version of the same troubles was much better, had actual meaning and didn't seem tacked on just to keep the sharks from circling the ski-jump ramp. Hawkins...is just too awesome for an ensemble cast. CBS needs to kill everyone else off and give him his own show, because he really is one of the few reasons I came back for a second season (it sure as hell wasn't Emily). There are so many things that he is involved in that I know the writers can't possibly get them all in before CBS wags their fingers, says, "See, we told you nobody watches this!" and yanks it off the air. Hopefully, they'll hold true to their word and let the series run its course. With the strike over, new episodes of other shows won't be ready until Jericho's finale, so we're probably safe from early death. And I don't think it's too much of a stretch to compare J&R with Halliburton, although it actually reminds me of the MMORPG Anarchy Online, where the Omni-Tek Corporation has signs everywhere telling you in a Nazi-ish way that they are your friends, and that Omni-Tek is there to protect you. All this while they're secretly sucking all the resources out of the planet and building huge cities and palaces for the higher-ups. Halliburton clones are everywhere, and have been for centuries. Simply put, those who have the money and power aren't about to give it up, even for something as earth-shattering as, say, a nuclear holocaust. No, I'm sure when all is said and done, when the dust clears, whichever side wins in the split United States on this show will eventually bow down to the gods who are actually running things. After all, for companies like J&R (and, coincidentally, Halliburton) lots of deaths are supremely good for business. Oh, and if I've mistakenly spelled Halliburton's name wrong, chalk it up to lack of caring for a company that's too powerful for its own good.
Oh, and thanks to NBC for putting the whine-fest "quarterlife" on opposite Jericho, which killed it in the ratings. Maybe that's a good sign for the renewal, hm? Always hopeful, even if I am a dyed-in-the-wool cynic.