In This Section
|
« Jericho
February 21, 2007: 36 Hours Before the Bombs
Going back in time was not only helpful, but refreshing, even though we knew what was about to happen. It taught us a little more about Jake, showed us the calm (well, sort of) before the storm and introduced new characters that were an important part of the past — even if we never see them again.
Jake's old friend Freddy (Mark Adair-Rios), who he felt closer to than his own brother, was a key piece of Jake's past and a more detailed look into the workings of Ravenwood. The cargo runs were exactly what I suspected, and I'm glad Jake had some hesitation about carting missiles around — missiles that will fly right back around and hurt their own men. But I want to know what happened in Iraq that caused Jake to owe his life to Freddy. I'm assuming this incident was the same one brought up in Jake's flight interview, in which we learned that the state department has him flagged as a "person of interest." But Ravenwood got to Freddy before they could help the Feds, and at least that helped us see the beginning of Jake's journey back to Jericho, with nowhere else to turn and in need of his grandfather's money.
I had been watching clips on CBS.com, so I knew Hawkins' family kidnapping was coming, but I'm curious about that 500-foot restraining order Darcy has against him. I'm not sure we'll find out about that anytime soon, though. (See my interview with Lennie James for what he had to say about that and other upcoming Jericho details.) But at least we know about that bomb he's been holding onto — the bomb Columbus, Ohio, never saw. The bomb he never delivered. This introduced us to another new person: Sarah (Siena Goines). A fellow recruit, it looked like her and Robert didn't expect to fall into a relationship, but now he thinks she's in danger and that bomb is the only thing that's going to save her.
Other tidbits we learned:
Johnston asked Eric to run for office so he could take care of himself and still have some influence on the town's issues. But now that Gray is the new mayor, I wonder if that will separate Eric from his family even more, since holding office is no longer an option. He didn't exactly seem thrilled with the idea of it anyway, and his new life with Mary Bailey has already built a hefty wall.
Stanley and Mimi were like oil and water when they met. She was really stuck-up... even her hair looked stiff. But Stanley was his good old lighthearted self: "Who doesn't like corn? Cornsicles?" I have a soft spot for him, and part of me feels like he has the possibility of coming through in a clutch.
Emily and Roger were supposed to go to Chicago together, but his sneaky idea wanted to pull her away from "everything she knows and loves" for a business opportunity. And even though he came back around, they parted on bad terms and the next time they saw each other was eight weeks after the bombs, with Roger clearly in shock and Emily inches from kissing Jake just moments before the refugees walked into Jericho. I had a feeling Roger wasn’t dead since we heard a while ago that his plane had landed safely, so they couldn't have Jake and Emily get back together just yet. I'm not ruling that out, though. But my question is, where is Heather? It's like she disappeared. I guess I shouldn't expect her to be in this episode, because she's not a story line that we needed to see tonight, but she's really been missing since before the show's fall finale.
And surprisingly among those refugees was Sarah, clearly ready to find Hawkins. It looked like she was holding onto a lot of anger and I know that won't go over smoothly with Darcy, who's been keeping her mouth shut for the sake of the kids and holding onto any patience she has left.
Hawkins is one of the "faces of the men that will change the world." But I think Jake might be up for that task, in a different way. Hopefully the two will butt heads later on and face off when they learn more about each other. There are a lot of pieces to this story, and the bombs being set off during the president's speech made a strong statement and only confirms that the government is being "reorganized" (as James put it in our interview) by a mission that seems to have gone awry in some places. Remember Victor and his trek from Denver? And now Sarah's in town and I'm ready to learn what she knows. What anybody knows, really.
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Feb 21, 2007 10:02 PM
|
|
the Morse Code message was "bloodshed"
|
|
Feb 21, 2007 10:05 PM
|
Okay, now, would it have been so impossible or difficult to have made this or something similar to it as the first episode last Fall? It would have saved us from the ridiculousness we got then and in the following weeks.
THIS is much more like it, and much more to my liking. Not because it "sort of" answered questions, but because it made a hell of a lot more sense.
|
|
Feb 21, 2007 10:09 PM
|
|
I'm so happy this show is back! Great episode with plenty of answers. Loved it and next week looks like the best episode yet as they go to the trading post and get a lot of answers about the newly set up government.
|
|
Feb 21, 2007 11:53 PM
|
A solid episode to give us some background and set the stage for the rest of the season.
I hope enough of us showed up to give CBS the backbone to run the rest of the episodes without interruption.
I am worried about Idol, maybe a move to another night or over to The CW could be wise to keep this great show around??
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:16 AM
|
I am so glad that this show is back.
Its on at 7pm where I live, so I don't have to worry about Idol anyhow.
Hawkins is kind of a scary guy now that they show he was one of the men with the bomb. Is Sarah going to stir up trouble now that she is in Jericho? Should be interesting!
And I too am wondering where Heather disappeared to? I thought Jake had chemistry with her. Why is he falling back into hold habits with Emily?
Can't wait until next week!
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 4:29 AM
|
I don't like the Jake & Emily storyline and/or relationship. She clearly moved on after Jake originally left Jericho (based on the "pre-story" with Roger) and just a couple weeks after she thinks that Roger is dead, she's cuddling up to Jake. I, personally, would have liked to have seen the Emily character move forward as a strong, single woman for awhile. Why are the writers bumping her back and forth between two men? Clearly she is stronger and better than that.
I loved the rest of the episode. One question though. We don't really know for sure that Hawkins works for the government, right? Hasn't that kind of been implied all along and not outright said?
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 7:17 AM
|
|
Thanks, Husker, for the deciphering the morse code message at the beginning of the show. I always look for your posts the next day!
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 8:25 AM
|
|
Wow! An interesting episode of Jericho! I never thought I'd see the day, maybe the writers of Jericho realized what they were doing wrong before and took the three months off to correct things. Hopefully this episode is a mark of things to come on the show.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 10:22 AM
|
Pinkie - you took the words right out of my mouth.
Husker - thanks for keeping us up to date on the Morse Code messages.
I will be in a conundrum in March when Bones is back. I usually watch Bones, record Friday Night Lights and watch it after Bones. I anxiously awaited Jerico's return, only to find it on the same time as two of my favorite shows. My cable company only supports one dvr per household. What's a tv addict to do? And why do the tv ptb do this to us?
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 11:10 AM
|
kbw--if you live in the US and have high-speed internet you can watch it at cbs.com the day after it airs.
Or another option, especially if living outside the US, is just to find a really good friend who could tape it for you.
Or...if you have another TV a cheapie VCR hooked up to it might be just the ticket. I have a dual tuner DVR but, because of overscheduling particular hours, I still have to resort to my old-school VCR.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:09 PM
|
I liked Emily in this episode more than in any of the previous episodes. I loved seeing more of her relationship with Roger.
However, I miss Heather! I loved the possibility of her and Jake getting together, and I hope the writers haven't abandoned her. I think I saw her a bit in a preview for next week, but I'm not really sure...
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:15 PM
|
|
I'd be interested in a response to Sue's question. I'm still not 100% sure what Hawkins deal is. Does he absolutely work for the Govt? Does he work for a faction that works outside the Govt? Is there a chance that he was infiltrating this group (undercover), then when they moved the strike date up, did not have enough time to stop the attack so he saved his family? He came across as one of the black hats last night, but I wonder what more there is to his story.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:31 PM
|
|
Thanx Cruciatus - I'm in VA, but my computer won't let me watch tv shows. (Guess it's time to call that company that rhymes with bell.) My husband reminded me we have an old vcr in the attic. Guess I'll try that route for now.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:37 PM
|
Well this episode just left me wanting to know more about Hawkins. I kind of wish this episode would have been two hours or a two-parter. Seems like they jammed a lot into an hour, and I have a ton of questions yet! Can't wait to see what happens when he sees Sarah.
I think Emily went back to Jake so easily 'cuz she thought Roger was dead. Also, with the world under such turmoil I think it makes sense that she would fall back with her old boyfriend, especially when it was obvious from their first sighting of each other that they had quite a love story that didn't end the way either of them wanted.
Next week should be good. Nice to see them expanding to beyond the town. Let's hope the writers fixed up the problems, and the next 10 weeks will be great.
I would like to know the ratings too. And right now we are up against Idol since it's two hours.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:51 PM
|
|
|
