First, let me apologize for the lateness of this blog; I was in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday, arrived home on Friday morning after haven taken a redeye, and was basically useless all day yesterday as a result. And second, let me apologize for the title of this post, which is referencing a Prefab Sprout lyric that most of you have probably never heard. (It’s from a song on Andromeda Heights, if that helps.)
So on with the show…
Finally, things begin with a feeling as dark as this series really should be, with people either trapped in a mine, waiting in a basement, or out in a thunderstorm. We also get an idea of exactly how much time has passed since the bomb (18 hours), which is something that we never got a feel for last episode. When Stanley Richmond finally makes it back to his house – it’s his basement that Jake, Ashley, and Bonnie are in (actually, it’s Bonnie’s, too; she’s his sister) – there’s considerable concern that his exposure to the possibly radioactive rain has begun to poison him. He seems okay, though, but he takes a dose of iodine for good measure and makes it to the medical clinic without showing any symptoms; they still want to give him a once-over, though, resulting in the funniest line of the episode: “I’m getting tired of being stuck with needles. They’ll be sorry when my spider-powers kick in!” (He also has a post-bomb meet-cute with the accountant who was trying to take his farm away; his flirting results in Madame Accountant getting the second funniest line: “Okay, but you still owe the IRS $130,000.”) It’s somehow apropos that the guy in the mine who starts having a loud and violent attack of claustrophobia is the one who ends up having a heart attack and dying, but you can see that the loss of someone like that would be disconcerting. As a result of his death, Mayor Green and his political rival, Gray Anderson, have a brief and well-warranted angry confrontation; Anderson makes a valid point that the clinic’s shelter should’ve been better maintained, but the mayor’s follow-up – that he’s causing more harm than good by attacking the man who’s trying to keep the town inspired and that he deserves to have his ass kicked for it – wins the argument hands down.
The combination of half a dozen tanks heading toward Denver and the tuning in of an Asian television broadcast that shows how many bombs have been dropped around the US (that’s right, Robert is now no longer the only one who knows) freaks the town out enough that they send people in four different directions, in an attempt to find out how far the damage extends. Jake’s discovery of downed planes and a blocked bridge on the way to Wichita sends him back to Jericho…but with a flight data recorder in tow. It’s as disconcerting as you’d expect to hear what’s contained on the recorder, but the news that Emily’s fiancee is still alive is the kind of news that sounds too good to be true. Eric’s continued affair with the bartender, even in the midst of everything that’s going on, seems downright cruel to his wife…but, then, she’s been nothing but cruel to him, so perhaps it’s warranted. Meanwhile, Robert’s coming off as really paranoid, and I’m looking forward to finding out just how much he knows…and why he feels like he can’t tell the rest of the town.
The ending is uplifting without being schmaltzy, and I’m back to believing that this show has major potential, but I’ll still close with two complaints:
1) I’m already over the teenage characters of the series; anyone who’s still concerned about social status and maintaining their cliques after the bomb drops deserves to die of radiation poisoning.
2) The choice of pop songs for the soundtrack sucks ASS.
