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RSSPremierewatch: 'Jericho'
Jericho hits the ground running in its second season, and boy, am I glad it's back. We've got blood feuds, military occupation, secret plots, corrupt government, cults of personality, soldiers trying to do the right thing, and government contractors screwing over the people they're meant to serve. Gee, do you think this might be an allegory for something else that's going on at the moment?
I'm waiting for them to explain what happened to the spoilers...
The Battle of New Bern, which was kicking off in earnest when the season (and series) ended last year, is brought to a quick halt by the arrival of the Allied States of America's military. But that hardly means things are hunky dory. Nope, the real work is just beginning.
Major Beck, the man in charge of the reconstruction, finds this out immediately when he gets Jake Green and Phil Constantino, the New Bern leader, in the same room, and Jake lunges for Constantino's throat. It's hard to let bygones be bygones when said bygones are written in blood. Beck promises he'll get to the bottom of things, hold some tribunals, and punish the guilty.
Four weeks later, Beck is touting the military's prowess at restoring power and getting the town back up and running. But tribunals? Not going to happen, despite the fact that he's determined New Bern was the aggressor. Now that we're rebuilding, we were hoping the spirit of reconciliation would take over, Beck says. "There isn't going to be any reconciliation until [Constatino's] dead," Jake replies. Beck gets serious -- "There will be no vigilantism in my district. There will be more revenge killings, period." Good luck with that. Jake immediately starts planning a strike against New Bern, and New Bern sends its own gun-toting men into Jericho.
Jake is all about killing Constantino until Emily reminds him that his dad would have preferred his death to end one war, not start another one. Then Beck shows him a couple of New Bern thugs in body bags -- guys he'd caught trying to make an armed incursion into Jericho. He's serious about no revenge killings. Too bad Eric has already rounded up a posse to go after Constantino. Jake stops them before they get too far, and, when the military finds them, lies that they're out there trying to stop a band of armed men from Jericho out for blood. Beck knows he's lying, but he lets Jake defuse the situation, because he know Jake is "the guy" -- the one all the townspeople follow, the one who can regain control. Later, Jake accepts his offer to become the new sheriff of Jericho.
That's not all that's going on. The TV keeps showing laudatory propaganda about the new president of the Allied States, a junior Wyoming senator who took control after the attacks and rallied the states west of the Mississippi. The reports say that Iran and North Korea launched the attacks on America (and were apparently nuked in retaliation), but Hawkins knows the truth. That means he's in big trouble, right?
Maybe not: Darcy is working at Beck's office, and she sees him distribute a wanted poster for Sarah. Since Hawkins sent in a false message that she'd killed him and taken the bomb, she's the one everyone is looking for.
Except one guy, a soldier who seems awfully interested in Darcy. He follows her to Hawkin's safe house, and holds a gun on Hawkins. Turns out he's Chavez, another agent involved with the plot, like Hawkins. He joined the military in Nebraska, and is now trying to expose the truth about the Cheyenne government. Since Hawkins has a radioactive smoking gun buried near Jericho, they might just have a chance.
Finally, J&R, the government contractors who have swept in to administer the reconstruction, seem to be doing fabulous work...until you look at the fine print. Stanley signs an agreement with them to get his farm out of debt with the IRS. Now that he's free and clear, he can ask Mimi to marry him! Unfortunately, she beats him to the punch, which leaves him nonplussed. Also, it turns out to be a ruinous contract that may never end, and the Cheyenne government has already written off all non-violent crimes. Stanley just gave up a portion of his crops for nothing.
Enter Mimi, the avenging IRS angel, who puts the most righteous smackdown on the J&R stooges. She pretty much uses her bureaucratic knowhow to make make J&R cry, then offer her a job -- "which I think was part self defense." Stanley calls her terrifying, but in the best way possible. Then he proposes, with a ring, and Mimi accepts.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- I was never much of a Stanley/Mimi 'shipper, but I adored the last proposal scene. Alicia Coppola nails the scene -- shock, joy, tears running down her face. It was great.
- What do you think of Major Beck? I like him, and think he's a good guyin a bad situation. Do you think he can be trusted, or is he part of the conspiracy Valente is running?
- So, the key to keeping America free is Texas. I don't even know how to respond to that.
- The scene where Emily was trying to bake Gail her favorite cake was heartbreaking. It wasn't her favorite, you see -- it was Johnson's. They had a whole bit about it, Jake says sorrowfully. Well done.
- Eric looks like he's going to be one hell of a loose canon. He's feeling the loss of his father and feeling like Jake usurped him. That can't end well.
- Interesting how Beck offered Heather the Jericho/New Bern liaison position. She turns it down because she just spent a lot of time in a town where men in military uniforms were pretty damn scary. "And you can't tell the difference between me and Phil Constantino?" Beck asks. We don't see her answer.
- We end the episode with Jake taking the sheriff job -- and finding out the new President wants to add Jericho to his travel plans. This is going to be interesting.
What did you think? Was it worth all the peanuts? Did you see the parallels between Jericho and Iraq/Afghanistan/insert your occupied country here? Did you think that aspect was delightfully ballsy or ridiculously heavy-handed? Do you really want Jake to shave?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
After a good start to season one into an amazing finish- I think season two started out great... even better than I expected! The writing is really tight as well as the editing, and I think this could be the start of a fantastic season-- hopefully leading into a third. Happy to have JERICHO BACK!!!! Way to listen CBS!!!!
Love the show tonight. The begininig was Excellent. The crew shold all be comended for what they did to resurect this show and all the fans with the peanuts also. Let engage as many as we can to join us and watch these 7 eposodes so that Jerico gets a well deserved renual for the fall season. This show and cast deserve to be on network tv. Again thanks to all that had a hand in bringing this show back on the air.
Totally agree about Stanley and Mimi, never a huge fan, but the proposal scene was fantastic. Major Beck, what a great addition the character and Esai Morales bring to Jericho (great casting). Fantastic presence, good or bad? I don't know, but I'm looking forward to seeing where his character goes. Chavez/Chris Kramer, another interesting addition. I found the character recaps in the beginning were a great tool to help catch up new viewers. All in all, Season 2, Episode 1, was worth the wait and left me wanting more.
It was absolutely pitch perfect! Flawless!
From the cameo of the nuts in the opening moments, to the incredible Esai Morales, and everything in between, it was just so right in so many ways. There's too much to point out, but I loved the Heather and Jake reunion scene, everything with Stimi was awesome, the emotional moments between Jake and Eric about Johnston were gut wrentching, the ASA propaganda video wasn't a tease, but was really fulfilling to watch, Darci and Hawkins...(what a team!) and Chavez is an excellent character who I'm looking forward to getting to know.
There's not a second of this episode I'd change. Kudos to everyone involved in bringing us season 2.
-Rubberpoultry
Great start to th season. Too bad its only 7 episodes, but hopefully the ratings will be good enough to warrant a third. They really have done a good job moving the story along and I really like where they are going with it. They obviously de-emphasized a lot of the characters, but i think it just allows them to focus on the main plot and not get distracted by the more soap opera elements. I hope enough people watch it, but i wish they had put it on at another time because it has to compete with new shows of Boston Legal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed anyway. Along with Moonlight, CBS is taking steps to get out of the CSI glut.
I was blown away! The cast & crew of Jericho did an amazing job of determining what was needed and what could be let go. The balance between emotional character developing scenes and action packed story development scenes was spot on! I loved the scene with the Stimi proposal! I also was very touched by the emotional scenes between Jake and Eric, Jake and Heather and Jake and Emily. If this is just the beginning...I can't even begin to imagine the rest! Thank you Jericho Cast & Crew and Thank You CBS!!!!!
Awesome return. Definitely worth the wait. It sucks they only have 7 episodes to tell the story they want to tell, but at least we'll get 7 great episodes without the filler.
As mentioned, Major Beck seems like he is a good guy in a bad situation. I believe he is just a military guy doing what he is told. I'm sure we'll get a better judge of character later this season, when I'm sure he'll be asked to do something that he knows he shouldn't do.
Interesting that Texas is the only independent state left. Should be interesting to see how that plays out.
I'm not sure about Chavez. It seems everyone that Hawkins was ***ociated with in the past has double-crossed him some way. Only time will tell if this works out for the best.
Great Show. Great start to the season. I really hope it gets renewed for a 3rd Season.
If you like the show you need to tell everyone you know to watch it. CBS is re-airing the Season Premiere Sa****ay at 8pm. This show deserves to live on.
Last night's Jericho was perfection. Well worth the wait. The writing, acting and editing on this show is the best on tv. Thanks CBS.
Worth the effort and the eight month wait..... Oh Yeah!!! Darker and more finely tuned than the second half of Season 1. Really missed Gale Green, you could see they are having to do more with less and I honestly believed they pulled it off. Jake is back on the right path ALMOST. Sprague Greyden as Heather is just delightful and Mimi - Alicia Coppala (Mimi for president!!) was both hard line burocratic hilarious and sweetly touching gir in love. Good to see the women be a REAL part of an action show.
I was pleasantly surprised by the premiere-- it was better than expected! However, I did notice the reduced cast, which I'm sure was due to CBS demanding a smaller budget for bringing back the show. I missed seeing Bonnie and Mama Green this week, hopefully they will be back in the future.
Highlights for me: 1)Stanley and Mimi's engagement and 2)Darcy and Robert joining forces to spy on the new government. Hawkins is still one of the coolest characters on TV. :-)
Lowlights: The continuing uselessness of Emily and Mary. I know that these women are supposed to be the love interests of the Brothers Green, but they are annoying and boring (just my opinion). I would rather have the focus on more interesting female characters like Heather, Mimi, Darcy and Allison Hawkins. By the way, they didn't mention anything about Dale and Skylar yet?
After wathcing six seasons of 24, I'm naturally su****ious of all the new characters. I like the additions of Beck and Chavez, but I'm not sure if they can be trusted completely. I would rather see Jake working with Hawkins, rather than being too trusting with Beck.
On a shallow note, all of the women on the show look too perfectly groomed for a post-war, no electricity society. I noticed that Heather had beautiful new highlights in her hair, and Emily had used a curling iron. Also, the lady from the J&R company looked like she had just stpped out of a salon. Meanwhile, most of the men need a shave and a decent haircut. Oh well, maybe there can only be so much 'realism' when you're an actress on network TV.