(S02E07) "Yeah, I know." - A Texan diplomat after being shown the bomb.
Since Mayor Douchebag has been gone for so long, I was finally able to be glad to see him. I have been curious what's been going on in the "capital." and seeing those buildings told me more than I wanted to know.
I can't believe the Rangers were still in hiding. I understand that they all have targets on their backs but it should be clear to anyone that their only choice is to fight back. If the military is going to make a big push to take over the town, I don't see how they have an option.
I really liked seeing Eric wrestle with the decision to work with Constantino. He really had no other choice but seeing how difficult it was for him to accept working with the man responsible for his father's death was very powerful. In the end, it wasn't much of a surprise that he made the right decision. The important part was hearing him explain why it was a decision he could never make.
I can't help thinking back to the beginning of this series when characters like Gray and Eric seemed to only exist to make the other characters look good. That has certainly changed this season. Eric has gone from the guy who is cheating on his wife and living in his brother's shadow to a competent and respected leader. It's nice to see that kind of character development on a show with such a large cast.
I don't know how he does it, but Esai Morales is a master at invoking sympathy while still being tough. Every time he gets an order he doesn't agree with, you can see the pain in his face. I thought he was going to break out in tears when he was talking to Heather. The question now isn't whether or not Beck is going to help the town fight back but when.
You'd think that since Hawkins is such a bad ass the writers would have him getting in a tussle every episode. That is why this show is so good. He only kicks ass when he needs to and in tonight's episode, not only was the action a sight to behold but the man on the phone dropped in quite unexpectedly. I haven't seen Xander Berkeley for a while. He is great at playing characters who are good and bad at the same time. I don't know if I'm down with the blond hair, though.
I could swear I heard a faint "Yee Ha" when Jake and Hawkins made it to the Texas embassy. Something about the idea of the state of Texas being the last bastion of freedom in what used to be America makes me dizzy. I'm no historian but I know enough to anticipate that Texas will not join the Cheyenne government until they're sure it's the right thing to do. Lucky for them and the rest of the country, Jake and Hawkins have something to show them.
For the first time in the entire run of this series, I actually felt sorry for Mayor Gray. Watching him walk through what used to be his happy little town reminded me of something Johnston said early on in the series, "Don't break my heart again." It's amazing how this show continues to find new examples of what you actually lose when you lose your freedom.
I know it happens but it really bugged me to see Jamie Hector appear out of nowhere. Seeing an actor from another one of my favorite shows that is now gone seemed like some kind of Ted McGinley-esque joke.
The ending of this episode and the series all happened way too fast. However, any ending for a series this good would come too soon. I don't really have it in me to eulogize the show and I'm sure plenty of you will be more than happy to share your thoughts on its passing, so let me just say it was a great show and I'm grateful that I got to see it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-26-2008 @ 8:33AM
VP said...
As you said things were wrapped up way too fast. Listen up corporate america: TNT, USA, TBS, SCIFI, we don't care who it is somebody please pick this show up. In this era of who is the bigger whore & my dad is an idiot, we have some programming for the thinking viewers. Please don't take it away from us. A civil war between Cheyenne & Columbus would make awesome TV programming. I can only hope somebody is listening.
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3-26-2008 @ 8:43AM
Debbie said...
I can't believe it's over....I think they did a pretty decent job of giving us a conclusion considering the time they had, but it could have been so much better. best new show in years (along with Journeyman) - but of course, because you need a BRAIN to watch it, it goes away.....
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3-26-2008 @ 5:05PM
Cyantre said...
I agree with you on both points, Jericho and Journeyman were two amazing shows. However, and luckily, they both had good conclusions which gave the viewing audience some sort-of closure. It just took 40,000 lbs. of nuts for Jericho to get that, and it was well worth it.
3-26-2008 @ 9:23AM
RT said...
Tell you what... the producers being forced to "cram" the storyline into seven episodes made for riveting television. Perhaps what might come to be known as the "Jericho effect" will spill over to other shows that drag out their storylines. This year Jericho moved faster than 24.
Thanks to the people who put this show together...your love for the product was obvious. Jericho was the first piece of "appointment television" we've had in years.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:26AM
alan said...
so sick of shows, if you can call them that, like wife swap, bachelor, you get the drift, something like jericho comes along, the networks don't realize what they have. c'mon cbs, get with it
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3-26-2008 @ 9:29AM
Wintermute said...
Please, networks, someone pick this show up. Remember when CBS picked up a little show from NBC after its second season? That show had 8 additional seasons before it ended its run. And its spin-off has 5 so far. If CBS can pick up JAG (which begot NCIS) and have a successful run, then surely one of the other networks can do it with a much better show. Please? Anyone???
'mute
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3-26-2008 @ 11:55AM
Ian said...
These series has morphed into great drama and I note the directing style has changed for the better. Much more camera work on the fly.
his is simply too good a series to be allowed to die. It certainly seems that networks have no soul these days as keeping high standard dramas isn't on their "to do" list.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:54AM
pa4gbodine said...
I LOVED THIS SHOW - It can still continue if someone picked it up it had alot of open ended statements that could be answered in a follow up show - even in a miniseries! Please bring back Jericho probably one of my fav shows of all.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:54AM
tom said...
i thought they did a good job of wrapping up the 10+ missing episodes into a single installment -- but i would have loved to see them play out over a normal season -- it was rushed, but it had to be.
has anyone out there on the internets found the "other" episode where they don't give us everything in a nice bow-tied package?
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3-26-2008 @ 3:54PM
iamhoff said...
They're probably going to wait either until the DVD set is released, or they're going to wait to see if someone like FX, TNT, Sci Fi, etc. picks the series up.
3-26-2008 @ 9:54AM
mj said...
First, I must say I cried all through the episode. Because of the sadness of losing it, Bonnie being buried, watching Beck struggle, Erik vs Constantino, Hawkins almost dying...the ending left an opening, but I think we all know it is over. I did feel sorry for Gray. He was frustrated at what was happening, but when he saw Jericho, without words, you knew how he felt. I felt the same way. Jericho is MY town. I know that sounds silly. Just a tv show, and all that. But Jericho became my town, and the citizens my friends and family. They took down MY flag, and put up that horrible one. They took away MY rights. I will miss this show. I will miss my town. Go TEXAS. Save us!
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3-26-2008 @ 10:02AM
Darren said...
Well yesterday I didn't think they would be able to make a decent ending, I will now eat my words - it was a great ending for the time period they had to do it in. I'm with the rest of you - I hope someone will pick up the series and show the civil war that is coming.
This was an excellent show and I obviously CBS doesn't know what they had!
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3-26-2008 @ 10:10AM
jessie said...
Personally, I think we got the same ending whether the show was picked up or not. They just cut out things that would have lead to Season 3. Considering how the fans fought to get a Season 2, I think we got the shaft. We could have at least been given one of those endings that included text as to what happened next, like the 2nd Civil War went for x years and Texas blah blah blah won, the Original Constitution was re-enacted, Mimi and Stanley had 7 kids and lived happily ever after, etc. Something like that would have been nice.
I am going to miss this show and all the characters/actors. It was nice to see mostly fresh faces with acting chops to boot on the TV. I am sick of the teen TV, reality TV, CSI-esque TV - I want something with guts like Jericho. I am so happy BSG is coming back. I realized this year that I don't have one sitcom series being recorded. I don't know what it is, but TV bites lately and what there that is good, gets cancelled.
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3-26-2008 @ 10:31AM
wattsm36 said...
I hope some other network picks up this show. It's a great series and very refreshing compared to most of the crap reality shows that are on the major networks now.
This series has the potential to be another "Lost", "JAG" or "NCIS".
Maybe we need to send 100,000 pounds of peanuts this time. I'll contribute!
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4-01-2008 @ 10:49AM
Nancy said...
I couldn"t agree more with this statement. How many more reality shows can we handle.
3-26-2008 @ 10:46AM
Adam said...
Oh, it was sad to see that show go. Like most Jericho fans, it was seriously my favorite TV show on the air. I do hope some network decides to pick it up, as the ending was hardly complete. Yes, there was no cliffhanger, but there's definitely room to expand to a third season. However, I only want a third season if the writers and actors keep the "feel" of the show to the caliber of the first two seasons.
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=38207
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3-26-2008 @ 11:04AM
Bash said...
I just wanted to add that I don't like Jericho and dropped it around Episode 8 of Season 1. The sets felt cheap and I simply didn't like that they sat down to have a friggin BBQ and that all the bad thing happened outside of their perfect little town. Even the radiation cloud went by without harming anyone.
I know there is a following and I most certainly understand that it is possible to like the show I just wanted to mention that I don't need Jericho on the air anymore and that's why I find it strange that there's no option in the vote to just say "I don't care" because it seems as if there are only people who like this show allowed to read this blog entry :-)
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3-26-2008 @ 12:11PM
Peanut said...
They had a BBQ because they didn't have any power and the meat would have gone bad otherwise. Maybe you don't have the attention span necessary for this show.
3-26-2008 @ 3:56PM
iamhoff said...
And maybe there was no "I don't care" button because by the time you get to season 2, those people still reading the episode reviews are logically those who DO care.
3-26-2008 @ 6:51PM
Bash said...
Hm I don't think so. It's the series finale. I for one skipped all the other reviews and just read this one because I wanted to know what happened in the end and if they managed to come to a good conclusion.