Sorry, folks, I watched the episode live on Wednesday night rather than on tape as I normally do, and it spoiled me so much that I forgot that I hadn’t actually written it up!
So this was the last episode before the hiatus, and, as predicted, Dale came back into the proceedings in a big way, thanks to him being the one to discover Gracie’s body. It wasn’t terribly surprising to find out that he’d been left the store in Gracie’s will – she certainly seemed like someone who wouldn’t let a little thing like nuclear war keep her from making adjustments to her last will and testament – but it was (at least to me) legitimately shocking that he snapped and killed Mitchell before episode’s end. Not that I didn’t expect him to attempt some sort of retribution, but that was certainly an abrupt manuever. Effective, though…
I swear, the general population of Jericho is apparently stupid. Why on earth would they, in the midst of a post-nuclear world, get rid of their mayor of 20 years in favor of a new regime with a raving warmonger like Gray Anderson. While I’ll buy that the townsfolk figured Jonah to be Gracie’s killer, I still think it’s pretty damned amazing that these people entered into the mob mentality as quickly as they did. But then…and I’m getting ready to perform a huge generalization, so brace yourself…small towns do tend to harbor an inordinate number of dumb hicks who prefer violence to intelligent discourse.
The whole thing with Hawkins needs more resolution, as far as I’m concerned. We really just haven’t learned enough about what his deal is, and the total mystery about the people he’s talking with is more annoying than it is suspenseful. Nice to see Dr. Dhuwalia again, though, even it was only briefly. Great line from Jake when Dhuwalia makes a comment about how Jake needs a real doctor, and Jake replies, “A real doctor wouldn’t do what I’m going to ask.”
So now we’ve got to wait ’til February for resolution of these storylines. I gotta say, while I’m interested in seeing how things progress, I’m in no way as excited about the return of “Jericho” as I am the return of, say, “Heroes.” Or even “Lost.”
