Now that Jericho is taking a well-deserved vacation, we can pause for a moment to take a little trip down Painful Memory Lane. I've been asked to do a quick recap of the major characters and "plot"lines from the season so far, so you might want to just bookmark this right now so you can refer to it often. You know what, better be safe and just make it your home page.
The Plot Thus Far: Nuclear bombs have gone off all over the country. Jericho, a small town in West Bumblefuck, Kansas, has been cut off from most communication from the outside world, except for the occasional satellite transmission to the one and only television located in the local bar, which is where most people spend their time. They do know that several cities have been hit, including but not limited to Denver, Washington, D.C,. Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Hawkins, the mysterious stranger, has a map in his basement indicating even more cities, but we don't know how he knows this information or who he's connected to or anything about him really, other than the fact that he hates football and seemingly his family.
Every week we get a new piece of cryptic information, usually having something to do with the government's (very limited) response to the attacks. So far we've gotten an F-16 flyover, a tank sighting, a Homeland Security recorded telephone call, an Emergency Alert System alert that led to nothing, a couple warnings from FEMA, and an airdrop of supplies from the Chinese government. There have also been a couple of fairly reliable reports of FEMA operating refugee camps in other towns, and the makeshift Jericho police squad has had a few run-ins with Ravenwood, a group of mercenaries allegedly sent by Homeland Security. Why no one from Jericho ever tries to actively seek assistance from any of these fine institutions is anyone's guess.
The town is being run more or less by Mayor Green and his family. The two boys run around making all the decisions and then report back to Daddy, who usually disapproves. In the last episode's election, he was defeated by Gray Anderson, who is going to have an awfully big hat to fill in the upcoming half of the season.
The Jericho Community Players
Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) - Oh, Jake. What can I say. The heart and soul (and maker of many a confused face) of Jericho, Jake has a Very Mysterious Past that is revealed in tiny, tiny slivers of information each week. Kind of like Lost, except not at all. He returned to Jericho right before the bombs went off and has henceforth dispensed all sorts of random information and heroics at exactly the right time in exactly the right place. Other than that, he's a pretty big idiot.
Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) - The father of the Green clan and former Mayor McCheese. Papa Green just lost the election to his nemesis, Gray Anderson, and God only knows what he's going to be doing with himself now. He spent the better part of the first season dying from a bad flu, and was only saved at the last minute by the valiant and ridiculous efforts of his sons.
Gail Green (Pamela Reed) - The unofficial Mother of the entire town. Sometimes creepy but always fun to watch, Mama Green usually spends her time threatening her boys and providing a shoulder to cry on to many various citizens of Jericho. She's the queen of making seemingly innocuous bits of dialogue seem outrageously sinister. It's great.
Eric Green (Kenneth Mitchell) - The other Green brother. Eric is both a whiner AND a major pussy. Every time Jake comes up with another wacky plan to blow shit up, Eric pouts as hard as he can. He's married to April (a weepy waif and apparently the only nurse in Jericho), but he is currently in love with another woman (Mary Bailey, owner of the local bar and temptress extraordinaire). Oh, and April's pregnant. Good luck, Eric.
Rod Hawkins (Lennie James) - Head of the only black family in Jericho, Hawkins moved his family to our favorite little burg under suspicious circumstances right before the bombs went off. He has a Laptop of Doom in his basement lair which he uses to communicate with the outside world, unbeknownst to the rest of the Jericho citizenry. He also has a lot of random knowledge about how to survive a nuclear apocalypse, but his is probably grounded in some sort of solid training, whereas Jake's is more likely the result of fancy guesswork. We don't know how much Hawkins has to do with the bombs, but we do know that he's involved...somehow.
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Comments (7)
Additional information about Jericho, just in case anyone cares:
Lawrence, Kansas has been mentioned many times in the show. Skeet Ulrich and some behind-the-scenes types visisted Lawrence back in September to film a couple of brief scenes and have a little preview showing for some Lawrence residents. You can read about it in the local newspaper here:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/aug/04/n_lawrence_looking_benefit_publicity_cbs_drama/
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/sep/10/tv_series_has_lawrence_seeing_stars/
The interesting thing is that Lawrence was the town featured in the made-for-tv movie about the after effects of a nuclear bomb called, "The Day After," with Jason Robards, Steve Guttenburg, and John Lithgow.
Is it just me or does Hollywood think of Lawrence and/or Kansas way too frequently when it comes to nuclear war? We do many other things here, including great college basketball (think Dr. James Naismith, Phog Allen, Wilt Chamberlain, Lynette Woodard, Paul Pierce, etc. etc. etc.).
But maybe I'm a little biased, considering I live here. :-)
1 of 7 | Posted by JayhawkAnne
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Posted on December 6, 2006 11:21 AM
haha...crusty. oh screampillar, you scamp.
2 of 7 | Posted by thetank
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Posted on December 6, 2006 8:52 PM
Well, JayhawkAnne, being from MO and a Mizzou alum, I don't really have a particular affinity for Lawrence at all, hehee... = ) Go Tigers!-actually i really don't care.
But! Its really really odd that Hollywood has picked it like that and my theories are:
1.If crazy bombs were to go off, the enemy would surely pick major metropolitan areas and we all know the midwest isn't really the home of much of those, especially Kansas and north...
2.Which is part of the reason why rural midwest is where (supposedly) rockets are stored in secret, and the Stealths are based--also because, enemy would have to fly over the rest of the country before they got to the midwest.
3. KU is a big deal in the Big12 and as far as smallish Midwest Universities go, but not well known enough for it to be a media frenzy or for people to actually know what Lawrence is like, so they can take whatever poetic license they want.
So why NOT pick that area?
3 of 7 | Posted by tigereye
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Posted on December 7, 2006 8:11 AM
Screampillar, you have a knack for writing. I really enjoy reading the recaps. Thanks
4 of 7 | Posted by may1
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Posted on December 7, 2006 11:03 AM
In a conventional first strike (USA vs. USSR scenario) the targets would not be the population centers. The target would be the enemy's missile silos. You take out the enemy's nukes, and then they can't nuke you back. Missile silos are usually placed in rural areas away from large population centers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_strike
It appears the bombs in Jericho are from some sort of terrorism.
5 of 7 | Posted by kevintheomanharris
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Posted on December 7, 2006 4:38 PM
I'm very disappointed that Deputy Dave Coulier didn't get a profile...
6 of 7 | Posted by dumbanddumber
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Posted on December 7, 2006 7:50 PM
Great summary, but no entry for Deaf Bonnie, who has the power to read the lips of people she isn't facing?
7 of 7 | Posted by Ubiquitous
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Posted on December 15, 2006 5:40 AM