Source: CBS, On Demand, myself (I watched the show)
I actually missed the Jericho season finale last night on CBS. I forgot about it, remembered it at about 9:30PM and, rather than ruin the entire experience for me by tuning in at mid-stream, opted to catch it a bit later on ON DEMAND. I had been wondering if CBS considered ON DEMAND numbers in their ratings scorecard since it doesn’t include commercials. I caught most of the new season at a place and time of my own choosing thanks to the convenience of ON DEMAND. So nifty.
As far as the show, It was cool seeing Jake and Hawkins team up in the final episode to stop the man behind the mysterious phone calls to Hawkins from blowing up the new capital city of Cheyenne, WY.
But overall it felt like five episodes crammed into one with the hometown “B” story thread just taking up space and the finale being a little convenient with the character placement. Which only added to the timeline confusion, the most glaring example being how the town characters spent the entire episode burying Bonnie while Jake and Hawkins went through one hell of a (single?) day of non-stop action in their efforts to track down and retrieve Hawkins bomb and then subsequently get the darn thing down to the Great State of Texas.
And were we to assume that the mayor flew back to Jericho at the end of the episode? Otherwise what, a four hourish drive back to Jericho from Cheyenne? We spent so much time in the town of Jericho I was never really clear if air travel was back up and running. And I’ve never been entirley clear on Jericho’s fictional location but I have always assumed it was in Northwestern Kansas based on the towns characters being able to see the Denver bomb in episode one and the convenience in location to both Cheyenne, WY and Texas. I’m sure this was noted. I must’ve blinked.
But to give the show some credit where credit is clearly due, it was either the very rushed episode we all saw the other night or leave the season finale as a cliff-hanger with Jake and Hawkins probably just arriving out of breath in Cheyenne as the final credits rolled reminding us we would never know if they had succeeded in their Mission Impossible. Which would then (of course) leave hardcore Jericho fans, in a rather ‘nuts’-ish type mood in living rooms across America feverishly reaching for anything shy of a nuclear retaliation little red button of their own.
It’s a shame really. Between the cancellation and the writer’s strike, Jericho was a troubled show in terms of reality and make believe. Always at the edge of Apocolyptic Doom.
In optimistic Jericho news, I have been informed that there’s been some talk of the show being pitched to some of the cable networks in an effort to keep the show going. There’s so many stories in the world of Jericho that fans of the show would love to see. Here’s hoping the creative forces behind the show don’t have to give up too much to make it happen. Much as Jennings and Rall conspired against the U.S., a new network home for Jericho could always try to influence show content in a way that destroys the original spirit.
So while optimism is golden for fans of Jericho, caution will be required as in the style of the classic Hawkins grimace we all came to know and love over the course of just over a couple dozen episodes.
In a best case scenario I’d like to see the five episodes we were just rushed through in the season finale in flashbacks. Here’s some threads I’d love to see explored:
* a flashback episode that would feature the man behind the mysterious phone calls Hawkins had been dealing with that led to his losing his bomb. It would be cool to go all the way back to the beginning of the conspiracy and key events as it was brought together.
* an episode that would feature Jake and Hawkins journey to Cheyenne and Hawkins relationship with the Asian guy who kind of just showed up to help them. That went by so fast. Some (assumed) off scene events and drama between Cheyenne and Texas as Jake flew the plane to Texas. Those scenes were so skimmed down and they deserved to be able to highlight a more dangerous and intense scenario.
* an episode featuring the mayors time in Cheyenne. What he saw and learned etc. His dealings with different politcians from all over the new U.S. and perhaps the world. Also, more on international reaction to the U.S. situation domestically and abroad with the destruction of Iran and North Korea. How they sold it. How it happened. Who might’ve objected. Any other consequences, etc. Particularly the Chinese, Russian, and UK/Euro reactions.
* More back story on Jennings and Rall, Jake, Hawkins, Beck and even Goetz.
* More back story on happenings in Columbus, OH, the other United States. I think it’s pretty safe to say that not everything there is smooth sailing in terms of the political scene either. There would’ve been allies of Cheyenne in Columbus. Some who knew of the Grand Conspiracy. And some who didn’t.
It’ll certainly be an uphill battle with the dark forces behind the scenes of the network television world but be that as it may, I’d like to wish the creators of Jericho the best of luck. I’m all for a resurrection of Jericho on an alternate network as long as the creative team is intact.
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