Jericho

The past two episodes of CBS' Jericho have not been easy to watch for fans of the post-apocalyptic drama.  First came the surprising death of Bonnie Richmond (Shoshannah Stern), who was shot and killed by Goetz while trying to defend her family's farm.  Then, in Tuesday night's episode, Bonnie's brother Stanley pointed a pistol at Goetz's head and pulled the trigger.  It was an extremely dark and morally questionable moment for a man who is usually looked at as one of the more upstanding characters on the show.

BuddyTV readers haven't been able to stop talking about the shocking events of this week's episode.  Will Stanley's decision to deliver an eye for an eye bring even more trouble to the beleaguered townspeople, or was it ultimately the right thing to do?

While most people cheered Stanley (Brad Beyer) for getting some revenge, TheEditor pointed out the moral complexity of the situation.  "Stanley pulling the trigger was, in theory, satisfying, but it was done so beautifully because it really wasn't the good or honorable thing to do," he noted.  "That scene was just so daring and terrifying, because half of me wanted him to kill Goetz, and the other half didn't want Stanley to give in to that monstrosity."

However, some people didn't care about the morality of the situation and were just happy to see Goetz get what he deserved.  LegendKiller23 wrote, "Great episode!  I'm so happy Stanley killed Goetz.  He got what was coming to him."  AlexMack agreed, stating, "Can't tell you how happy I was when Goetz was killed.  I honestly thought it would be someone else to shoot him though.  I wanted it to be Stanley but thought that Mimi would have done it."

There are a few fans who are wondering how Stanley managed to get past Jake (Skeet Ulrich) and the other men with a pistol in his hand.  Was it just a fluke in the continuity, or is there some other explanation? "No one NOTICED him pulling up and MARCHING toward Goetz with a gun?" gartism asks.  "He actually went through people...and no one thought 'oh yeah - Stanley's got a gun and this guy killed his sister'.  I mean, I'm thrilled they did it the way they did ... but Jake hasn't missed a CLUE for 1 season and 4 episodes and then Stanley sneaks past him?  I'm not buying it."

Whatever you may think of Stanley taking the life of the man who ripped his family apart, there's no denying that his actions will have deep ramifications over the remaining two episodes of the season.  As RangerBagley succinctly put it, "Nothing good is gonna come from Stanley killing Goetz."


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)