Posted by Ryan
Jericho, Season 2, Episode 7, “Patriots and Tyrants”: Jake and Hawkins have one final opportunity to prove to the independent Texas government that they hold the evidence to one of the biggest conspiracies in history … but first they’ll have to get past the Cheyenne government.
What we kind of suspected was officially announced this week by CBS:
The March 25th episode of Jericho will be the series finale. Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high quality second season. We have no regrets bringing the show back for a second try. We listened to our viewers, gave the series an opportunity to grow, and the producers put a great story on the screen. We’re proud of everyone’s efforts.
There will be a small faction of Jericho diehards who will throw a fit and mail more bags of nuts to CBS. But this cancellation was warranted, expected and, quite frankly, an act of mercy. There’s really nowhere left for this story to go. The only thing we really needed to know from Season 1 was who was behind the attacks and why. Season 2 gave us the answer, along with a bunch of random chases, standoffs and gunfights. Unless you’re really engrossed with Stanley and Mimi’s wedding registry, you should be happy to have this series wrapped up.
Anyway, here’s the recap of the series finale — a hastily thrown together episode which sacrificed logic and continuity for some sense of closure. Follow along, if you can.
Major Beck has orders from Cheyenne to do Phase 3 in Jericho. Whole sections of town will be declared insurgents, and Beck’s men are supposed to clean house. Jericho won’t stand for it, and now we’re wondering: Will New Bern and Jericho unite against a common enemy?
Gray Anderson, mayor of Jericho, is in Cheyenne for that constitutional convention, which he realizes is a total farce. But no time for politics — Jake and Hawkins miraculously show up in Cheyenne in the mayor’s hotel room! Apparently, it’s very fast and easy for two guys probably on Cheyenne’s Most Wanted list to pass all the checkpoints and drive from Jericho to Cheyenne. We’ll just assume they had many wonderful and thrilling adventures along the way. Jake tells the mayor to haul ass back to Jericho, because they are in dire need of yet another powerless public official.
Hey, look who also shows up: Chung! He’s here with big news: The last lost nuke is in Cheyenne! But they have no idea where the nuke is going. So they throw a bunch of places into a hat, pick “Hospital,” and go there. And, hey, look! They’re right! What are the odds? The nuke is in a very poorly guarded ambulance at the hospital. Hawkins and Chung take out a bunch of the guards. But watch out, Chung! One of the guards is John Smith! Smith takes out Chung. Poor Chung, we hardly knew ye. Then Smith shoots Hawkins in the side. But before Smith can gloat about his nefarious plans in full detail, stupid Jake shows up and kills Smith. Poor Smith. He only got five seconds of screen time. Now Hawkins and Jake have to take the ambulance with the nuke somewhere to do something fast before more incompetent guards show up. Hawkins calls in a favor to Chavez, another guy who has done squat in this series.
Heather is called into Major Beck’s office. Beck knows that Heather removed the radiation survey data from his office, and he has her arrested. But Heather explains she did it because she knows the Cheyenne government is corrupt and that Beck is being naive. The evidence from Hawkins’ truck is all boxed up and sealed and ready for transport to Cheyenne, but Beck asks that it be brought to him for examination. Once Beck sees the J&R report that John Smith sent to Hawkins, he knows that his superiors are actually superior a-holes.
Eric meets with Constantino on neutral ground to discuss the possibilities of forming an alliance against Cheyenne. But Constantino is using insurgent tactics, killing troops in convoys, and that’s just not Eric Green’s style. So there will be no alliance. Jericho will just say mean stuff about Cheyenne on its MySpace page to fight back against an illegitimate government.
Jake drives the ambulance straight through the gates of the Texas embassy, interrupting their high-school football game/gun club meeting. Hawkins asks for political asylum. Oh, yeah, he’s got a nuke in the ambulance, too. The Texas ambassador doesn’t ask for much proof or explanation from Hawkins, though. Clearly these two strange guys in a nuclear ambulance are who they say they are and could only be here to help and for nothing else. Troops from Cheyenne are outside the embassy, but they can’t enter or it’s an act of war. The ambassador arranges for their safe transport to the airport, and it’s almost as if Cheyenne and J&R don’t really even care anymore. This is why J&R ranked so poorly in the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service surveys. They just want the series to be over, too.
Stanley decides that it’s time to bury Bonnie, and a bunch of the townsfolk get together for a good old-fashioned hole digging. A bunch of troops show up to arrest them, but Mimi appeals to the soldiers’ compassion and they give them a whole half-hour to wrap up this funeral business. In a symbolic move, the last shovel of dirt is thrown on Bonnie. I hope they’ve saved enough dirt to throw on this show.
Beck shows up at the funeral, offers his condolences and tells them they’re all free to go. He’s refusing orders from Cheyenne, and they’ll probably have him arrested and tried for treason. But Beck’s soldiers see Hawkins’ evidence, too, and they tear the Allied States of America badges off their uniforms and salute their commanding officer.
The mayor returns to find that Jericho is a total mess. In a show of Jericho’s resolve and defiance, he flies Johnston Green’s old Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flag from the (first) American Revolution. Major Dad would be proud if he hadn’t been killed off last season.
Jake gets a Cessna jet and takes off for San Antonio. The Cheyenne troops show up just seconds too late. Oh well, they’ll just try to do better next time. Jake is not far from Texas when he’s intercepted by two Cheyenne F-15s that want to force him to land. Jake tells the fighter planes that he’s a consular plane on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. “If this is a consular ship, then where is the ambassador?” retorts a fighter pilot. But before Jake is able to hide the nuke in the escape pod, two F-16s from Texas show up and take out the Cheyenne F-15s.
Jake lands the bomb safely in San Antonio. Now Texas is going to side with the East. There’s going to be another civil war and the good guys will have a fighting chance! And some other people say some stuff, and then there’s this exchange between Hawkins and Jake:
Hawkins: “How does it feel?”
Jake: “What?”
Hawkins: “Making history.”
And this is how Jericho ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Photo: Best Possible Screen Grab/CBS © 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
