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« Jericho
November 1, 2006: Let's Make a Deal
When we last left Jericho, Jake was on to Hawkins, Mitchell came back to town, and acres of corn brought everyone together for a Little House on the Prairie-like moment (one which some of us laughed at and some of us found as relief in the midst of chaos). This week, the episode opens with unfamiliar faces tied to Mitchell, Jericho's new bad boy sitting pretty behind bars.
Surrounded by pumpkins, which almost seem too colorful for this town, we finally have a moment between Emily and Heather. "There are a lot of things about Jake you don't know," Emily warns her. And then fear immediately takes over Emily when she sees Jonah (James Remar) roll in to town, who we later find out is her father. Their broken ties over her brother Chris' death have put up a hefty wall between them, and she can't forgive him. We see her unravel as her past comes swirling back to haunt her. She was just beginning to deal with having Jake back in town, but this addition can only make things worse.
On a more positive note, I'm really beginning to like Stanley and his attitude toward Mimi, who, by the way, has rearranged his kitchen in an intrusive/neurotic kind of way.
Meanwhile, Johnston is messing with his temperature, and Gail is laying down the Green-house law with a ridiculously carved pumpkin in hand.
Just as I was starting to forget about him, Gray has returned without Shepp. He reports that Lawrence was hit, Topeka suffered from the fallout, and New York is fine, much to Hawkins' surprise. As for D.C.? It's gone, and Stanley has to break the news to Mimi that her home is no longer. But she's not the only one who left love and life in that city. Allison asks about her friends in D.C.: "Did they feel it when they died?" And we find out Darcy had a boyfriend there, Doug. She mourns his probable death, and we actually see Hawkins stuck in an awkward conversation. "You hated me, Robert," she says to him. "Why did you come back for me?" She's stuck in a "house of secrets" with nowhere to go and no one to talk to.
When Skylar finds out her parents might be alive in New York, she wants her mom's jewelry box back that she traded in for some diet soda. It's every man for himself now, and deals are going down left and right. Jake meets up with Jonah to get the town more food, but without trading in Mitchell for the goods, Jake is left standing on the open road empty-handed. Back in the store, Dale finds the jewelry box hidden away.
As they do each week, the town conjures up some spirit during hard times and has a little Halloween parade to distract the kids. But in a creepier turn, Jonah's men force the officer who's stuck at the police station to let Mitchell go, and a chase weaves through the trick-or-treaters (who have no candy with which to spoil themselves). And for the first time, we really see a darker side of Jake. "We're going to do this my way now," he tells Gray.
And with that, Jake confronts Jonah for another round of negotiation, but Jonah wants something bigger than a material exchange. He wants to talk to Emily. He wants to set the record straight about Chris. And he gets his wish... not because she wants to hear his side, but because of a frightening moment in the Green house.
The hardest (but, in my opinion, most riveting) scene was seeing April and Gail perform CPR on Johnston, with his sons watching nearby. With the lack of medication in Jericho, he may live 12 hours if he's lucky. So in a desperate attempt to save his life, Jake prepares to search for meds in Rogue River, and Emily pays an unpleasant visit to her father. The only catch is, she's going to have to spend some time with the old man. Trapped with no alternative, Emily is forced back into a two-person family to get the help Johnston needs.
I still haven't warmed up to Skylar and don't think I ever will. But Dale's her new roommate, and I'm sure more teen angst will come along with that. But there is one love story I do want to watch: Heather and Jake's kiss was a much-needed break to slow Jake down for a minute, and, as I said in a previous post, I'm rooting for them. On another promising front, Stanley lets Mimi know in a silent gesture that he's there for her. The music closes the episode and takes us out of town, along with Jake and Eric riding in a questionable truck to face the unknown.
Fourteen new families have settled into Jericho since the attacks. Maybe things will really start heating up on the Hawkins front. Will the town confront him? Will these new additions to Jericho unveil information we don't know?
What I took most from this episode was the anger rising up on all fronts. Dale's fed up after all he's done for the town and the store. Emily's stirred up about the return of her father. Darcy's questions come pouring out as she's hurting more than we've seen. Mimi lashes out at Stanley to mask the pain of losing everything she ever cared about. And Jake's heroic measures are hard to keep in line when he's still fighting whatever happened years ago. We couldn't expect people to stay calm forever, right? At least we got a break in this episode from Mary Bailey and all the duds sitting around her bar. I'm anxious to see what Jake and Eric find on their little journey, how Johnston will hang on without meds, and any truths Jonah can reveal.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:06 PM
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The Morse Code message at the beginning this episode was: "Pray for NYC"
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Nov 1, 2006 10:09 PM
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I thought it was the best episode since the pilot.
Jonah certainly is creepy.
Cant wait to see how the outside world looks.
The series gets stronger and stronger each week!!
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Nov 1, 2006 11:10 PM
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Another note: The producers must be reading this blog...the Morse Code sending this time was exactly right and very easy to read!
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Nov 1, 2006 11:23 PM
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Correction: Jake and Eric rode out of town in Jakes car that Jonah fixed. It was a "gift" that Emily brought back from her meeting.
So, I really don't like this Gray guy. He is all too eager to jump in Johnstons place. I don't think he can be trusted.
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Nov 2, 2006 1:52 AM
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I agree about Gray. I don't trust him, either. When Eric asked Gray if he can keep an eye on things while he's gone, I said out loud "Bad move".
With Johnston sick and Jake and Eric gone, who knows what kind of stupid stuff Gray's gonna pull.
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Nov 2, 2006 8:30 AM
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The most inteeresting thing i found out in this episode was that the cites were destroyed by land based bombs, terrorist. I had alwayes assumed that they were hit by missles from places like N Korea or China. Puts a Whole new slant on the attacks.
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Nov 2, 2006 9:12 AM
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Just one thing to say: Love this show! The CPR scene was amazing. The acting first rate. And unlike other mystery shows I watch, at least they give you answers before giving you more questions.
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Nov 2, 2006 9:19 AM
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I am digging this show because, dad-gummit, we get answers! After watching Jerico-Lost-The Nine last night, Jericho gave me the most satisfaction.
Yes, that Grey fella is bad news and just might lead the town down a rocky road as Johnston recuperates. And the lady with the store is going to be the first one to bite the dust in the coming chaos with her mercenary attitude (it seems that actress always plays bitter women).
Hawkins still fascinates me. Now I can see why his family is so resentful, but still, if my husband/dad was the only one in town who knew the proper protocol after a nuclear attack, no matter how I felt about him, I would immediately be cutting him some slack.
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Nov 2, 2006 9:29 AM
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I really do enjoy this show, and also feel it's doing a better job than other shows <cou LOST gh> in keeping me riveted. I also thought the land based bomb reveal was interesting. Did anyone else catch the tidbit about the NYC terrorist being caught with a rental truck and nuke in a steel gallon drum? Sounds very similiar to what Hawkins was burying in his basement. Considering he knew enough to get his family out of DC beforehand, it makes me wonder if he truly works for the government (and which one).
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Nov 2, 2006 12:17 PM
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Why would the morse code message say "Pray for NYC" if NYC wasn't hit? Very strange and possibly a hint of something to come?
I was amused to see the boys drinking grain alcohol or something and thinking finally the never-ending supply of alcohol has dried up and Mary can go home and not work at the bar every day while the world is ending. Then we see Hawkins wife with a glass of wine.
I also couldn't believe they left only the one officer to guard Mitchell when apparently everyone knows bad-ass Jonah is going to come for him.
Could Gray be lying about how bad it was outside Jericho to keep people there and take control of the place himself? He's wanted to be the leader of the town since the beginning and he looks like he's taking advantage of the new situation, especially w/Johnston currently out of commission. Can't wait til he's on his feet so he can put Gray in his place again.
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Nov 2, 2006 12:39 PM
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Certainly, pray for New York. It's estimated that the typical large city has enough food and other essential consumables to last from 3 days to a week. With the utilities out and the distribution system broken, every big city that missed getting nuked will still turn ugly early.
I also picked up on the metal drum caught in New York and the possible tie in with the drum Hawkins moved during the fallout rain.
The storekeeper really irks me. Dale has busted his butt for her and this is how many times she has accused him of stealing from her? And yet she's selling the food he found and brought to her. Also, her first instinct was to cut a deal for half the corn crop before being shamed into a more neighborly gesture. IMHO, Dale is better off out of there.
James Remar is a busy beaver. Looks like a significant role for him here and he also plays the dead father on the Showtime original, Dexter, where he appears in just about every episode in flashbacks.
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Nov 2, 2006 1:52 PM
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Old Gracie and her store are going to be more of an ongoing problem than Jonah and his thugs. She's clearly got a lot of pent up anger issues toward a lot of people in town, and now she's using her 'place' in the community to get back at them. Frankly, as badly as Skylar and the rest of the teenagers have behaved, I found her 'trading' the jewelry box for a case of diet soda just an outrageous step.
I suppose we should have realized when she went off her nut last week at Mtich that she was going to be a serious problem.
The town is going to start taking sides very soon, now--the selfish, self absorbed 'losers' like Gray and Gracie are going to be doing their dead level best to up their percieved personal status.
As for Jonah...he's clearly a crook, but at least he appears to have some kind of personal code of ethics, stunted as it is. He didn't shoot Jake for showing up without stupid Mitchell, just left; and he did send a way to help Mayor Dad after Emily went to see him.
It will be interesting to see who actually ends up being the bigger problem for Jericho's ongoing stability--Jonah and the thugs or Gracie/Gray.
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Nov 2, 2006 2:35 PM
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Do we really know all the attacks were ground based? What about the missles and the EMP we previously saw. That certainly wasn't ground based attacks.
I think Hawkins is part of the group that caused the attacks. I have no idea for the reason behind them, but I think he's definitly involved. One way or another he knew they were coming. Since it seems unlikely he tried to tell anyone with the ability to prevent the attacks about them I think Hawkins had to be involved.
As for "Pray for NYC" I think that could be taken as meaning that once it's known NYC survived by whoever is behind the attacks they will focus all their efforts to trying again.
I don't think Gray is a bad guy in the villain sense. I see him more as the shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy. He wants to help people, but he just goes about it in a way that is often counter-productive.
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Nov 2, 2006 3:34 PM
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TV Guide should patent this marvelous post duplication system. I think they have it just about perfected.
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Nov 2, 2006 3:34 PM
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