Oh, come on: this is the episode where Jake asks of Hawkins, “Who are you?” Surely you can figure out where the title of this post comes from.
The episode opens by portraying Hawkins as the loneliest son of a bitch in Jericho, sleeping single in a double bed, then waking up to sit by himself in an empty kitchen and eat a bowl of cereal…a single serving, no doubt. As such, it’s no real surprise that when he gets a text message from Sarah’s employers, asking for a meeting, he’s on his way in mere moments, though not before setting a tiny trap so that he can determine if someone’s been in his house. As it happens, it’s a trap that Jake spots, so when Deputy Jim finally comes across as halfway intelligent for a change and tells him of his suspicions about Hawkins, the two of them break into Hawkins’ place, and Jake replaces the trap. Thus, Hawkins is none the wiser and, as a result, walks in to quickly find Jake aiming a gun at him.
So what info does Jake get out of him?
Well, for one thing, Hawkins isn’t FBI. He’s CIA, and he and Sarah were to infiltrate the terrorist cells that we’re, of course, already aware of. We confirm that, yes, he did indeed go deep, deep undercover – to the point of killing a guy to maintain his facade – and lots of blanks are filled in as far as the goings-on within the terrorist organization and how their plans were laid out. Inevitably, Jake is skeptical of Hawkins’ claims, so Hawkins shows off his proof: the nuclear bomb he’s got stored beneath his tool shed. After that, Jake’s sufficiently sure of Hawkins that, when he reports back to Deputy Jim, he assures him, “Yep, he’s FBI.” After last week’s shenanigans, didn’t anyone learn their lesson about what happens when you lie to people?
Although Hawkins’ story is the big one, this proves to be another episode that’s full of of brief visits to various other ongoing subplots within the series:
* Emily tries to re-start the public school in Jericho, but as you’d expect, kids are less interested in learning these days and more interested in, say, trying to keep their family fed. Okay, now, this is a “Little House” moment in all the right ways; I remember an episode of that show where some kid’s dad didn’t care about his son getting no book-learnin’ when there were crops to be tended. The interaction between Emily and Allison (Hawkins’ daughter) is nice, even if it does lead to a too-schmaltzy scene between Allison and her mom.
* We get more Mimi and Bonnie interaction. Proving conclusively that it’s only when Mimi and Stanley are together that their characters are insufferable, Mimi scores a few points back for her heartfelt chat with an underproducing chicken who’s destined for the dinner table (“You’re the one who lays the least eggs, and I distinctly told you that this was going to happen”), while Bonnie scores some sweet lovin’ while her brother’s out of town. By the end, Mimi and Bonnie are friends. Aw, how sweet.
* Gail and Johnston have an emotional battle over Johnston’s refusal to visit April’s grave, instead opting to hunt deer in woods where all the deer have long since been killed. As any old coot worth their salt would do, Johnston stands his ground through the closing credits…and like any good wife would, Gail brings him dinner and leaves him to grieve in his own way.
As the episode ends, we’re handed the bombshell that a member of the Department of Homeland Security may actually have been in on the bombings…and, even better, the member in question, Thomas Valente, is played by Daniel Benzali, who was so awesome in “Murder One” back in the day. Sweeeeeeet.
