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Jericho Commentary: Episode Seven, "Patriots and Tyrants" Season Finale

For now, this appears to be the series finale of Jericho.  The SciFi Channel website confirmed, however, that CBS is shopping the show to other networks.  One can presume that SciFi is one of those networks, but who knows what their decision will be.  SciFi has significantly upgraded their series programming in recent years (Battlestar Galactica and Eureka are standouts here, but Stargate Atlantis is also better than the original), and I think it is plausible that they might decide that Jericho is a good risk for them.

Everyone seems to agree the show is good, but underwatched in the format that CBS is ready to convert into revenue.  For SciFi, 7 million viewers is a good base, and they'll have the freedom to spend less time trying to make the show palatable for the mainstream, so I am going to bet that all of this turns out well for Jericho fans.  There is too much value in the show and its viewer base to let it disappear into the ether.

Besides, SciFi posted the following message at the end of their news article about the talks:

"(Fans wishing to write SCI FI Channel about picking Jericho up should NOT use the scifiwire@scifi.com e-mail address, but rather should send snail mail here: SCI FI Channel, 21st Floor, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112.)"

For those of you not in the web business, that translates roughly into "We know a lot of people like this show.  Please do not melt our servers."

Enough optimism.  Let's get back to the End of the World.  At the end of the last episode, Mysterious Caller had stolen the surplus bomb that Hawkins had been holding, admitted that he did the first 23 bombings, and all but admitted he was going to blow up Cheyenne.  At the beginning of the finale, Hawkins and Jake are gearing up to travel to Cheyenne to find the bomb and hopefully the Mysterious Caller.

Even though he has declared Jericho a site of open insurrection, Beck is under intense pressure from his betters to resolve the situation.  Beck is told to move on to "Phase Three," and he objects, saying that Jericho is still "salvageable."  I suspect Phase Three looks like Mad Max, with armor made from football shoulder pads and a significant increase in mohawks as a hairstyle choice.

Suddenly, we're confronted with the witless Gray Davis, who happens to have a nice suit.  He's riding in an elevator with a young man who is complaining about a quick town meeting that resulted in the removal of the Second Amendment (that's the one about guns).  When he arrives in his hotel room, Hawkins and Jake are waiting for him.  Through the window we can see a very tall Jennings & Rall headquarters building.  I've never been to Cheyenne, but I think we're meant to believe it was built after the bombs.  Gray admits that the convention is a charade, and that he thinks when it is all over there will be no limit on the Cheyenne government's power. He should have known that when he saw that Condor appeared to be fifteen years old.

Things are heating up in Jericho.  Beck has essentially declared martial war.  Whole sections of town will be emptied under threat of arms to prevent congregation of people.  Russell, Heather's New Bern Schoolbuddy, suggest that the Jericho folks throw in with the New Bern Resistance, on the notion that Constantino knows how to fight.  Stanley points out the obvious moral problems with Constantino and walks out, saying that he will go bury his sister.  Stanley's character has really come around.  He's the sort of person who would confront Beck and demand the right to bury his sister, and it appears that this is what he will do.

Beck confronts Heather about the stolen aerial photos.  Esai Morales, by the way, is a damn genius.  His delivery of lines in this scene has the perfect mix of anger and hurt over being betrayed by someone he trusted.  There's no way a military man like Beck gets to tears over simple betrayal, or over anger, but the both of them together would confuse him long enough for his control to slip, so the scene works perfectly.  A lesser actor would have just played angry.  Heather and Beck fight about whether Beck actually knows something is wrong with Cheyenne.  It is clear that he does, and the conflict is palpable.  Fundamentally, he's a shepherd, not a jailer.  He'll switch sides before this is all over.  In the meantime, though, he has Heather arrested.

Hawkins, Hip Asian Guy, and Jake figure out where J & R is keeping the bomb.  Because they're clever like that.  I still maintain that a company this predictable and incompetent couldn't take over the kazoo market, much less the Western United States.  But hey, it moves the plot.  The trio goes to the hospital where they believe the bomb is being kept, but Jake us forced to stay in the car since Hip Asian Guy doesn't know him.  Since we haven't really gotten to know Hip Asian Guy, I suspect he's a Red Shirt candidate.

Yep.  He gets whacked.  Hawkins is shot, by none other than Xander Berkeley, our Mysterious Caller.  He's just injured, though, because he's not wearing a Red Shirt.  Jake shows up in the nick of cliche and shoots Mysterious Caller in the arm.  Mysterious Caller runs off while Jake checks on Hawkins.  Jake and Hawkins steal the ambulance with the bomb in it.  It's a good thing, too, since Hawkins needs medical attention.

Hawkins has Jake drive the ambulance, with a nuclear bomb inside it, through the gate of the Texas Embassy.  Strangely, the Marines guarding the gate don't fire a shot.  Jake rolls out of the driver's seat with his hands up.  An ambassador called Sam Travis (a shockingly Texan-sounding name) appears to grant them asylum.

Back in Jericho, Beck is examining the evidence taken from Hawkins' vehicle, including his laptop.  He finds the Continuity of Government report that is essentially the blueprint for the bombing.  Eric Green meets with Constantino at a crossroads of some kind.  In the far background, you can see Robert Johnson fixing to sign a contract.  Constantino is Bin Ladin without headgear.  He gives a speech about sapping the will of the enemy through a war of attrition, which Eric clearly finds distasteful, and turns him down.  Eric decides to seek peace with Beck.

Stanley and the IRS Lady are burying Bonnie.  Soldiers arrive to arrest them.  The Corporal Adams in charge of the small group of soldiers is played by Jamie Hector, the actor responsible for the understated Marlo Stanfield in HBO's The Wire (which is, in my ooinion, the best show ever produced).  Good to see him working.  He gives them thirty minutes to finish the funeral before they are arrested.  Beck arrives at the burial site, crossing himself and expressing condolences.  He explains that he no longer recognizes Cheyenne's right to lead.

Sam Travis has arranged a plane to take Hawkins, Jake, and the bomb to Texas.  Conveniently, they skip the trip to the airport (I hate it when writers dodge the hard part), so we cut to Jake and Hawkins boarding a small jet.  Hawkins wants to stay behind to draw attention away, but Jake drags him onto the plane.  The jet is confronted close to the Texas border by aircraft from the Cheyenne Air Force.  Both Cheyenne aircraft are unceremoniously destroyed by... wait for it... the Texas Air National Guard.  Yep, that's Dubya's old outfit.

IRS Lady and Stanley make out some more.

Beck's officers decide to defect with him after viewing the evidence.  He orders them to tell the men to prepare for a fight.  Gray Anderson, taking perhaps his first intelligent action in the series, flies Johnston Green's "Don't Tread On Me" flag outside Jericho's city hall.  Chavez tells Jake that engineers will inspect the bomb, and after that, things will change.  He says Texas will side with Columbus, and then the "Main Event."  Jake calls this the "next American Civil War."

There is plenty here for a SciFi show to build on.  Mysterious Caller gets away. it looks like fratricide is in the offing, and Jericho will be the center of a military revolt in Cheyenne territory.  This was the first episode of a series I really want to watch.  We'll see.

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