"Jennings & Rall"
The build-up from the previous episodes culminated in one of the finest hours yet for
Jericho! In last week's
universally praised recap, I questioned whether the abbreviated season left
Jericho ample time for their characters to progressively develop. These same concerns must have been going through the writers' minds as well, because both of the Jake/Hawkins storylines encompassed the majority of the screen time. (The chronicles of Stanley, Mimi, and Bonnie only ate up a small portion of "Jennings & Rall." I really hope something catastrophic happens to one of these characters, because I have grown increasingly bored with their story.)
In Season One, Jake rallied the leaders of Jericho to rush its people to safe enclosed locations to avoid radiation poisoning from the fallout in Denver. As the season progressed, civilization devolved to a point where it became somewhat akin to the Wild West. Dale turned his grocery store into a trading post, and hired actual muscle to prevent his assets from being threatened. Whenever the townsfolk have to overcome the consequences of the nuclear explosion, the most exciting and fascinating aspects of
Jericho become more noticeably apparent. In the current installment, Dale is traveling outside of town for supplies and comes across a quarantined area. He discovers that the deadly Hudson River Virus is moving closer to Jericho. Dale obtains a sufficient supply of the vaccination, but the manipulative and sadistic Goetz confiscates his bounty. Up until this point, Jericho's survival and the government conspiracy had a more tangential connection. But this episode brings about a profound narrative leap, with Jennings & Rall having direct control over Jericho! Jake and Eric Green might hold "authority," but Jennings & Rall will be damned if Jericho's citizens act without their say-so.
Hawkins' story was somewhat of an homage to his first several appearances on
Jericho. In the early Season One episodes, Hawkins manipulated everyone he encountered in order to uncover the ramifications of the attack. In "Jennings & Rall," the unabashed police officer Jimmy makes his return to duty, only screw up Hawkins' investigation. Jimmy sees a wanted poster for Sarah Mason and tells Major Beck that he knows that she used to briefly reside in Jericho. Hawkins is forced to "play" Beck by aiding the search for Sarah Mason. I really felt sympathy towards Beck, because he seems like a stand-up guy and a fine officer. Not only is he being manipulated by Jennings & Rall, but now he's also a pawn of Hawkins. However, at the end of the episode he breaks command by inoculating a nearby town from the Hudson River Virus. The strength he displayed will be necessary to overcome his superiors in the episodes to come!
