(Anyone recognize the subject line…? Without Googling the lyrics, I mean…)
Again with a great episode? Wow, you’d think the producers of “Jericho” wanted to come back next season or something…
So, basically, Phil Constantine is a dick. He sends over a lackey (was he actually his son, or did he just use “son” as a generic term?) with a walkie talkie, so that there’s a line of communication between Jericho and New Bern, then says, “Turn over this, this, and this, or we’re kicking the living hell out of your town.” And when Mayor Anderson refuses, it’s Mortar Time! So Mr. Mayor sends Stanley and a bunch of dudes over to New Bern to ambush ’em…and, whoops, Stanley’s basically the only one who makes it back. As if the bombs weren’t bad enough, given that Gail Green was caught in one of the explosions, this was really rough stuff. Suddenly, Grey Anderson begins to have a major emotional freak-out…and, frankly, who can blame him? He’s just sent a bunch of townfolk to their death…! The Mexican stand-off was a great, tense moment; I don’t care how many times you see it done in movies and on TV, you just can’t beat a Mexican stand-off for tension…
So Hawkins reunited with his family and, at last, he’s decided that Jericho is officially his new stomping grounds. That was a great moment when Jake was incredulous that Hawkins hadn’t offered up any of his guns before, and Hawkins said, “I didn’t think I was going to make Jericho my home.” Now that he has, look out! I was a little uncertain about Dale’s move to invite the refugees into co-ownership of his farm – I had visions of Jonestown, for some reason – but it looks like it’s gonna pay off for Jericho as a whole. The disgusted expression on Emily’s face when she watched her dad kill the grounded New Bern guy in cold blood was also a good, if sad, moment.
The use of the acoustic version of the Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These” served as a final way of proving how far “Jericho” has come this season. Remember all of my complaints about their god-awful music selections for the episode-ending montages? (My personal favorite: “The choice of pop songs for the soundtrack sucks ASS.”) Well, this one was an absolutely perfect choice. Watching the entire town arm themselves for the coming battle against New Bern definitely left you wondering: when the new day is rising, who’ll be left standing to greet the dawn?
I have to say, though, that despite the sight of Heather resulting a slight eyebrow raising, the phrasing sure sounded ominous in that voiceover during the preview for next week’s season finale; I have a bad feeling about the chances of that second season…but, by God, I’m not giving up hope. (If you thought I was going to add something cheesy like, “If the people of Jericho aren’t giving up, I’m not, either,” well, I admit, I was sorely tempted…but I’m restraining myself.) With each passing episode, “Jericho” proceeds to get better and better. As I’ve said before, if the show doesn’t get picked up for a second season, it has no-one to blame but itself for the slow start and rocky middle of Season 1…but, damn, you can’t say they haven’t been trying a Hail Mary pass with these last several episodes. I mean, you have to hate the fact that it’s beating “Friday Night Lights” in the ratings, given that that show’s pretty damned good, too, but surely we can all agree that it’s a public embarrassment that both series are being stomped by…”The George Lopez Show”?
Come on, America, give us a break…
