TVSquad

You failed to mention that it sounds like the nuclear explosions were from terrorists carrying nuclear bombs (contained in steel drums) in vans.

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Yup,
The same kind of drum that Hawkins was quick to hide behind a false wall in his basement, and his moving van had Kansas plates. Anyone thinking that Topeka was Hawkins primary target? Certainly answers the question the townsfolk had about why Lawrence was hit and not Topeka, the larger target. I had a feeling about that steel drum ever since Hawkins hid it away. Looked too much like the nuke that freed Zod in the 1970s superman the movie (terrorists in the eiffel tower). Can't wait to find out more next week.

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It was a terrific episode. Yes, like stated in the article above, it would be nice to get a little more feel of the nuclear war going on in the rest of the world, as we haven't really encountered much since the missiles launched. Although the return of the messenger (pardon my inability to recall his name) did add some eerieness with the bits of information he was able to provide. I guess that is satisfying enough to hold me over until next week, which looks like it could be really good.

Contrary to the article above, I disagree that Jonah's character isn't the perfect bad guy. We don't always need some supervillian in every story to counter the hero's activities. Jonah is more of the intimidating bad guy by his simple mysteriousness--in other words, we don't know what to expect from him. He has a lot of power, but clearly does not use it. Not because he's "turning good", but because it does not impact his interests--which would be expected in a situation such as this. I would expect the writer's to build on Jonah's character bit by bit until he truly becomes the potential antagonist of this series.

Aside from the cheeziness associated with trick-or-treating during a nuclear disaster, I think this episode did a good job at building the story. With the ball rolling into next week, I would expect what they call in the literary world a "local climax"--an exciting episode that will have us restrained to our seats.

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I have a feeling that we are just going to have to accept some cheesy points to this show, it just seems to have them, i try and get past that, because like i've said before i love the idea of this show and the "mythology" Next week looks good, getting outside Jericho alittle to see how desperate the rest of the state/country is getting.

Anyone else maybey think that the Mayor is being poisioned?, like Hawkins realized that the Mayor might be to dangerous? And Hawkins totally has a nuke in his basement. No doubt.

Better episode than last week, deffently one of the better episodes.

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Hawkins is Federal. He was part of a covert anti-terrorist team whose mission was to infiltrate a domestic terrorist organization -- who are the ones responsible for setting off the nukes. The nuke that Hawkins has is what he stole from these terrorists (or which was passed onto him by his fellow operatives). He's hiding it but these terrorists will eventually come to Jericho to get it back in order to detonate it in another U.S. city.

This nuclear material is part of America's own stockpile. In other words, all the bombs that were set off were American nukes, probably loaded onto trucks.

Like it or not, this is looking like what the mythology of the show is. And it could spin off into a second American civil war, if the producers elect to go that route.

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I too think that plastic (?) barrel Hawkins unloaded has a nuke he got from the nukers (Gov or Terrorist?). 20KT? Maybe at best. Either way I think they need to start showing MORE INFO. Don't pull a lost and trickle out info as such a slow pace it leaves us lost in subplots that don't really matter.

Bring forth the fallout mutants!

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Gray coming back and really let the town know that they are by themselves for the most part. How does he really know that NYC survived?? But DC is gone.

Those scenes with Stanley and Mimi were great. How about when her papers were flying all over, a great crane shot.

Hawkins and his wife, we finally get some reason why things seemed so strained with them.

Skyler taking in Dale was a nice scene as well.

Looks like Emily's dad and brother were a bunch of petty thieves and Jake got caught up with them.

I loved the scenes between Gail and Johnston. A deep love on display there.

Hope we see more of Jonah.

Gracie is turning into the Mrs Olson (of Little House fame) of Jericho. While she does care, it does not stop her from doing business.

Very solid episode, and leaving us hanging as Eric and Jake left for Rogue River to try to get the meds to save their father.

A great episode of a great series!!

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Here's my theories on Hawkins

- he's a CIA operative or some other special forces / homeland security goon (sorry, can't avoid saying goon and HS in the same breath), who discovered details of this massive plot, but his idiot bosses (read: politicians) don't take it seriously. Here and his co-goons / spies decide to take matters into their own hands and do something about it.

- He knows DC and NYC and other places are going to be blown up - maybe some Kansas town too. Knows all the places. So he decided to emergency-evac his estranged family to where he figured they would be the safest. Perhaps it was the area he was assigned to "infiltrate" and/or stop the terrorists. So, two birds with one stone - he stops a nuke, and has his family in a safe place.

- had enough time to gather all his spyshit goodies to bring with him, and stole or otherwise grabbed a lot of cash.

- accomplished his mission (ie, preventing one of the bombs). Now it's bricked up in his basement.

Coupla notes though - he sure was surprised when he found out NYC was okay... visible reaction in fact. Wouldn't his psy-ops network know the score?

So, Hawkins: good guy. Worried about anarchy. Lived secrecy for so long, doesn't know how to convert it to this after-nuke society (ie, start trusting some folks in town).

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Yeah, I agree with the others here: Hawkins is a good guy. Gray will suspect him of being a terrorist, of course, but the truth about Hawkins will come out. The REAL bad guys will hit up Jericho to get the bomb that Hawkins stole from them. So the entire town will have to fight against the terrorists when they arrive. That will definitely make for exciting episodes!

Emily's dad's gang will factor in, too -- I predict they will gradually be accepted by the Jericho residents and help in the fight against the terrorists.

An observation: Hawkins and Mimi probably represent in the immediate area of Jericho all that is left of the Federal government.

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"you'd think that getting out of town and/or trying to communicate with the outside world would be the top priority"

Bob, I would think that knowing they were relatively safe there in Jericho, they'd much prefer to stay there rather than venture out into a world where they
no longer had any knowledge of what was in store for them; a world which might still be under attack.

But yeah, I think somebody should be assigned the task of trying to communicate with that outside world. And it seems strange to me that Jake hasn't told the town
about Hawkins' access to the internet.

Did anybody else think Gray looked a little too eager to take charge when asked by Jake's brother? Something seemed to dance about in the back of his eyes to my way of thinking....

Jake C wrote:
"Certainly answers the question the townsfolk had about why Lawrence was hit and not Topeka, the larger target."

From what I remember in "The Day After", isn't Lawrence, Kansas, the place where there are missile silos? Wouldn't the attackers want to neutralize that area to prevent a counterstrike?

I think it's also the location of Fort Baxter, where
Sgt. Bilko "operated". I'm sure they saw him as a big threat to their plans! LOL

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Steel drum comment = red herring I'm betting. That seemed deliberately placed as if to allude to Hawkins basement drum.

I like that none of the characters are 1 dimensional. If Jonah was the BIG BAD guy with no redeeming qualities, then it would be way too predictable. It is more sinister to have a person who is charming yet has the potential to snap. Gray Anderson is another example. We think he is just doing what is best for the citizens of Jericho, but there is an undercurrent of selfishness and self-serving motivation about what he does.

I really like this show. (Though, please do not have a Thanksgiving Day Parade or have the kids put on a Pilgrim Play in the middle of mainstreet. Pleeeeease.)

Oh yeah, Jake and Emily or Jake and Heather?

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I also noticed that Gray seemed to react as if he had some plans while the mayor was incapacitated and the boys were on their way to Rogue River...

I had totally forgotten about the barrel in Hawkins' basement... good thing you reminded me about that. I still wonder if there was any significance to the XM boombox that Hawkins had... (then again, I guess if DC got nuked, no more XM HQ).

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At first, I thought "Great.. a Very Special Jericho Halloween"

Then I tried to push that out of my mind. Kinda hard with the pumpkins and hay bundles. BTW - won't those two things be radioactive from the fallout? "Hey honey, let's get the kids dressed up for Halloween and play on and with some radioactive stuff!"

Gray's campaign poster was well placed on the city street in a window to remind you that he's running for Mayor. You can bet that there's going to be another showdown.

I like the theories about Hawkins. Perhaps he's the "traitor" when he's actually a Fed that infiltrated the group that set off the bombs.

Johnston's illness is one that I never thought of as a poisoning. There's got to be a rebound for his character, as he's too big of a star to get a role that ends quickly.

Whey hasn't Gail started getting sick from giving the contaminated guy mouth to mouth a few eps back?

Glad to see Jake kiss the girl. About damn time. However, I did get a slight feeling that there could be a similar problem for Jake like his brother has (two women, not enough time... which does he love?)

There's Mimi, the IRS lady. Something with her character has to start to develop. I can't see her character written just to bug a farmer and happens to be from DC. On a side note, do you see something of a spark between those two? Opposites attract?

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I have family in Topeka, there is nothing there to blow up.. Lawrence is a much more populated target.

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Each week I watch waiting for the next element that's taken directly from the book "Alas, Babylon" -- this week, it was the highwaymen who beat up Gray. How much you want to bet that a future episode will continue this element from the book: Jake will organize a decoy truck with supplies from Jonah, and use it to capture the highwaymen.
I still haven't finished watching this episode, because frankly it was so BORING. I was especially outraged by the townspeople going nuts decorating for Halloween -- I mean, shouldn't they be canning those pumpkins for future food? WTF?
And the whole idea that the store is bartering for supplies -- what in the world does that woman think she's going to do with everyone's home decorations? Does she think they're worth anything at all? She's not a very good business woman, that's for sure.
Although... again, from "Alas, Babylon" -- we see characters who still think that trinkets have value, until they are surrounded by piles of gold and silver only to discover that they are excellent reservoirs of radiation.

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Yeah it is getting a little cheesy but Im still hangin in...once again can we get someone else to write this summary/op-ed piece? Bob doesnt even mention about the barrell or that it seems like it was a terrorist attack; a huge piece of info!...guess hes too busy writing letters to save Studio 60.

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I was trying to think of what book the series reminds me of--it's Alas, Babylon. Thanks, Gene.

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Actually, the missile complexes were located in the general region around Lawrence Kansas, but are so spread out that a 20kt nuke would not do any damage unless it was a direct silo hit. Targeting the town of Lawrence, Kansas would not have any real effect on the silos or control bunkers. Also, the population of Topeka is about 50k more than Lawrence and it is the seat of state government (adds to the chaos factor). It would be a more inviting target to terrorists both in polital effects and in deaths per kiloton. Jake C could be right in thinking that, good or bad, Hawkins' basement nuke was meant for Topeka.

Toby OB has a good point though. Sgt. Bilko was probably on the top of the terrorists target list. But I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko's scams.

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Gene - Its October/November ... If you farm in Kansas instead of southern California and you own enough canning lids and jars, you filled all your jars during the summer and have none left to spare.

Anyhow, who cans pumpkin? Thats the sort of crop you store in a cool, dark, dry place like a storm cellar. Even pumpkins with painted-on faces can be stored. Why do you think that pumpkin pie originally started as a Thanksgiving dish? Because this was a fruit -- like Acorn and Hubbard squash -- that could be stored for the cold months.

If you want to reference Alas Babylon, recall that canning wasn't a big option there either (even for a guy with advanced notice) AND that the person who traded for a vast collection of worthless items provided a key ingredient in catching the bad guys.

Thats the sort of foil you need for story telling -- someone with a bad survival plan to contrast with your hero's good survival plan ... if your hero has a plan ... oh, never mind ....

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We have to rally around this series. Bones took a chunk of viewers away from Jericho.

Havent we had enough crime shows or CSIs or variations thereof?

Do we want another reality show or game show??

If we want to see this story play out, we must do what we can to get people to watch Jericho or watch it AND DVR it. Or watch live and TIVO Jericho.

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