Jericho

It's finally here, the second season of Jericho. Last season, nuclear bombs destroyed 23 major U.S. cities, and the residents of a small Kansas town banded together. Jake Green led Jericho into war with neighboring New Bern and the vast government conspiracy was closing in on Robert Hawkins.

The episode begins with New Bern's leader Constantino in the Richmond house, surrounded by the military. Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) is brought in and lunges at Constantino, still holding a grudge over his father's death. Major Beck (Esai Morales) sits the two down. He's the new man in charge, and he's trying to end this border dispute that resulted in 136 people dead.

A flashback to the New Bern War has lots of guns, and Robert Hawkins in the tank racing against New Bern's train. Hawkins parks the tank right on the tracks, jumps out, and before it can stop, the train crashes into it. But the explosions aren't over, because the government planes drop some serious firepower resulting in a massive explosion that effectively ends the war.

Back in the Richmond house, Beck is getting both sides of the story. Constantino talks about needing food, but somehow leaves out torturing Eric Green, building a munitions factory, and dropping mortars on Jericho. Major Beck doesn't much care, because he declares the war is officially over. He's there to help rebuild Jericho and to restore order.

A TV news channel provides the necessary exposition. It is six months after the bombs went off and four weeks after the New Bern War. More than 15 million U.S. citizens are dead. A scrolling ticker lets us know that the Hudson River Virus is contained East of the Mississippi. The news channel says Iran and North Korea were behind the attack. While the national government was in crisis, John Tomarchio, the junior senator from Wyoming, stepped up and ordered a retaliatory strike on those countries.

Watching the news are our favorite Jericho cops, Bill and Jimmy. In a nice nod to fans, they're snacking on some nuts. Jake comes in and we get more exposition about the new flag, and how it represents the Western Allied States, and that the new leader, Tomarchio, is making a whistle-stop tour across the new country. While Jimmy is fascinated by this, Jake and Bill are preoccupied with thoughts of vengeance against New Bern.

The town of Jericho looks better than ever. Jake and Emily (Ashley Scott) kiss as she discusses her dealings with Jennings and Rall, the huge company responsible for helping towns get back on their feet. Think Halliburton, though we're not quite sure if J&R is that evil. A random guy walks through holding a gun and Jake tackles him before the military take the guy into custody. Jake and Emily stare at the new flag, with vertical stripes and only 21 stars.

While the guy is being processed, Jake runs into Heather (Sprague Grayden), who hitched a ride with Beck's convoy. Beck tells everyone that 70 percent of Jericho has power, but the bad news is that the government is offering pardons to everyone involved in the New Bern War. Jake is not happy that Constantino gets off free and clear (though he was stripped of his mayoralty and sheriffdom, both real words), but Mayor Gray Anderson (Michael Gaston) tries to talk some sense into him. Jake vows to kill Constantino, but Beck explicitly orders no vigilantism. Beck tries to calm Jake down by offering him the job of sheriff. Jake leaves, and having learned nothing, tells his brother Eric (Kenneth Mitchell) to gather the troops, because they're going to New Bern to kill Constantino.

Beck meets up with Heather at Bailey's to ask about the guy with the gun. Heather knew him, because he was the man tasked with killing her in New Bern. He suggests she be his liaison between the two towns because she knows them both.

Jake and the gang meet up to discuss the attack on New Bern. Eric thinks Jake should sit out. Beck picks up Jake and shows him the New Bern guy, now dead, because he was freed, but came back and was killed when he opened fire on the military. Beck drives home the point that it's best to let this go.

At the Green house, Emily is baking a cake for Gail, and Jake finally agrees to let the vendetta go. Unfortunately, Mary Bailey storms in to say Eric left with a gun. Jake rushes out to stop his brother. They have a huge fight about who loved their dad more, and while Jake is indignant, Eric is correct in saying their dad was everything to him. Beck shows up with the military, and Jake covers for his brother to save everyone. Finally, Jake accepts the position of sheriff, and then is told that President Tomarchio is coming to speak in Jericho.

Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) is still worrying about Valente. Darcy volunteers herself to continue doing administrative work with the military to feed her husband information. Later she comes back with a wanted poster indicating the military is after Sarah Mason. Robert hears a noise and goes out to investigate, when a military guy pulls a gun on him. Then Darcy pulls a gun on that guy, because suddenly she's awesome.

This guy is actually a friend, Chavez, one of the other members of the CIA team undercover with the terrorists. They catch up, and we find out the only other surviving member is Chung, embedded in the Cheyenne government. Robert tells him about Valente being the ring leader. Chavez tells him Tomarchio in Wyoming controls everything west of the Mississippi, while the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the rightful successor to the presidency, controls the East in Columbus, Ohio. The wild card is Texas, which has yet to declare an allegiance, and that vote will sway which government wins control of the new America. The new mission is to get Texas to align with Columbus by exposing Valente and Cheyenne's tie to the bombs.

In romantic news, Stanley Richmond (Brad Beyer) talks to a J&R rep named Trish who is helping him put his finances in order regarding the farm. Mimi (Alicia Coppola) runs up, and when she hears the good news, she asks Stanley to marry her. Ha! He's flustered because of his simple macho beliefs that the man should be the one to ask the woman. He finally accepts, and Mimi is offended that it's a pity acceptance. But they work it out and kiss and it's beautiful.

Later Mimi looks over the contract Stanley signed with J&R, deeming it a terrible deal that screws him over. He claims he's not stupid, which is yet another piece of macho bravado, because he's dating a former IRS agent who is considerably smarter when it comes to government contracts than a Kansas farmer. Mimi marches over to J&R ordering Trish to tear up the papers because she knows the new government declared amnesty for all non-violent crimes, which means Stanley's debt was eliminated and J&R coerced him to sign the contract to pay off a debt he didn't owe. It's fantastic to see Mimi in her element, kicking ass.

She goes back to the house and rips up the contract, saying she got J&R to do everything they wanted, and that Mimi got a job working for J&R as well. Mimi apologizes for proposing first and while she's rambling, Stanley pulls out his mother's wedding ring and she shuts up. He gets down on one knee, gives an extremely moving speech about how important she is. He gets to propose, she says yes, and it's so damn romantic my heart melted.

Next week on Jericho: President Tomarchio arrives in Jericho to a mixed reaction. And he's not the only one.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)