"Patriots and Tyrants"
The all too short rollercoaster ride of
Jericho is over for now. CBS gave
Jericho the axe shortly after its penultimate episode, giving the series absolute closure. There is slim hope that another station will pick up the show, so I am certain another "Nuts Campaign" is imminent.
This "series finale" fell far short of the quality I expected from
Jericho. Season One's finale was a high-octane event, most notably containing Jake Green's famous NUTS statement! This finale's pace was slow to a crawl and the storyline was astonishingly predictable.
Major Beck's progressive storyline came to its inevitable conclusion. Since the second episode it was obvious that Major Beck would eventually defy his corrupt government. Regrettably, in last week's episode Beck performed actions which were entirely out of character. His loss in rational thinking was displayed so his ethical revelations in "Patriots and Tyrants" would make for a more profound dramatic statement. Unfortunately, his out of the ordinary actions created little interest in any decision he'd make whether it be positive or negative. I did find great amusement when Beck exclaimed to Heather, "You didn't give up on me." Heather had lied to Beck multiple times, stole from him, and verbally disparaged his behavior. Beck's view of his relationship with Heather was certainly skewed from reality. Due to Beck's involvement with the principle members of
Jericho, his inconsistent actions hindered the believability of many of Season Two's storylines.
Eric Green faced the possibility of leading an insurgent Jericho against its residing Cheyenne government. Eric received intelligence that the Cheyenne soldiers would soon be given orders to shoot civilians if they were in unsanctioned areas of Jericho. Eric was offered New Bern's assistance for this impending war, but thankfully realized that killing soldiers was not his wisest course of action. It was a waste of screen time to witness this potential camaraderie, because it was unthinkable that he would ally himself with his enemy, Constantino. I also thought that the "marriage" between Stanley and Mimi was cheesy, as their scenes together are typically moving. After all, Mimi gave an unsanctioned vow of her love for Stanley
BY BONNIE'S GRAVE! Their scene was forced into an area of the episode where it had no place.
The other portion of "Patriots and Tyrants" focused on the attempts of Jake and Hawkins to locate a nuclear bomb and transport it to the Texas government. I thought this concept was brilliant, but its execution contained the episode's most disappointing segments. The immediate discovery of "John Smith" and the nuclear bomb by Jake and Hawkins was followed by a vicious shootout in the Cheyenne government. "John Smith" shot Hawkins in the stomach, thus debilitating Hawkins (and any hope for intense scenes of violence) for the remainder of the episode. Jake would retaliate by shooting "John Smith," and this potentially fascinating character that killed millions of people would promptly leave the episode. I hoped "Patriots and Tyrants" would be full of moments with "John Smith", including the revelations of his real name and true motivations behind his sabotage of America! Soon after, Hawkins was somehow able to direct Jake towards the Cheyenne embassy, where they were offered transportation to Texas in the form of an airplane. I had earlier seen the trailer for this week's episode, and I expected Jake's flying experience would lead to a lengthy aerial dogfight with the enemy fighters. Ultimately, this sequence was over as soon as it began when additional Texas government airplanes came to Jake's aid. I hope that
Jericho finds another station so this promising series will continue and experience a more deserving conclusion!
I would like to show my gratitude to my great friend BOOPI Q, aka. Nate's, for assisting me with the editing process of my
Jericho blogs. These blogs were pleasant to write but also tended to be involved. His second pair of glasses proved to be enormously helpful. So thank you BOOPI Q and thanks to my Green Family for appreciating my writing. From the wise words of Hiro Nakamura, "Yatta!"
