Jericho: Why We Fight

[vaznetti]

So this week, I have two things to say. First of all, why are you not watching this show? And second, this show, this show I used to think didn't have a lot of emotional depth, this show made me cry tonight. This was one hell of a season finale.

So first of all, Heather! She's alive! She escaped! And she's responsible for the 7th Cavalry (or modern equivalent) turning up to rescue Jericho, just in the nick of time. And yet of course, all is not what it seems -- the army she found may be full of good guys, but somewhere at or near the top of the government it serves is that man Valente, and he wants his bomb back. His smoking gun, as Darcy tells Hawkins -- and how well that scene was handled! the way Darcy gives the viewer the information as she figures it out, and how clear it is from Hawkins' face that he's known all along that the bomb is more than just a bomb, how dangerous he is and how much danger it puts him in. I do love a well-handled piece of infodump.

But to get back to Heather: that moment, when she looked up at the flag, and we saw it clearly for the first time, and it was wrong: absolutely chilling.

Oh, Johnston. Well, you could kind of see it coming, for the same reason we all knew John would die eventually on Supernatural -- his sons have to grow up, and they can't do that with him standing over them, always there to take the lead. And he got to use the tank, and had a great final episode. He was hysterical, in the scene with Jake and Hawkins, when they tell him about the satellite, and he just doesn't care. "I am about to go to war with New Bern, Kansas, home of the nearest Costco. This is just about as much weird as I can handle in one day."

And the deathbed scene wasn't too bad, either. But the flashback, that final scene with Jake, that's what made me cry. I actually sobbed. I'm really going to miss Johnston Green.

I was a little suspicious when the wedding flashbacks started: I mean, this was the season finale, and there was a lot of action -- why show us the past? But it was all worth it, for that last scene -- Johnston's assurance that one day he would stop worrying about Jake, that Jake would become the man -- the leader -- Johnston knew he could be. And of course it turns out to be the day Johnston dies, the other day he would naturally stop worrying. But they were also great for the contrast in the relationship between Jake and Eric -- how distant they were back then, and how close they are now -- how absolutely they can rely on each other.

Also, the information that Jake's grandfather taught him to fly a crop duster when he was 13 made me enormously happy. And I didn't even mind the Jake and Emily romance (with short hair, she looked a bit like S1 Kara Thrace, out of uniform.) They were cute!

I also liked the scene with Stanley and Bonnie and Mimi at his and Bonnie's parents' graves -- they're so adorable, and they've come so far. And Stanley, I don't want you to die either.

What was interesting, though, is that this episode had such a clear focus -- first on the Greens, and then on the New Bern plotline. Everything else was pushed into the background, because by now we all know why it matters. I thought it was really well done -- the cutting between the front at Stan's, the basement, the flashbacks and Heather in Nebraska was so well done. The show finally found its feet in the second half of the season, and these past few episodes have just been getting stronger and stronger.


Please, please let this show get a second season. It deserves one, now.

I may have more to say about this show through the summer. I hope the DVDs come out over the summer, so I can watch the whole thing again.

Comments

[cofax7]

::closes eyes to spoilers;:

I thought about watching the finale (I'm in a hotel in DC tonight), but figured that would be done. I'm planning to watch over the summer, if there are dvds or if they repeat.

[medie]

*sigh* I FORGOT ABOUT IT. Seriously, I FORGOT tonight and I am all CRAP over it. Dammit. Well, at least Heather's alive! YAY! And woe, Johnston.

Dammit, I cannot believe I forgot! *headdesk*

I so need to catch up with this over the summer. gah.

[vaznetti]

YOU MUST SEE IT! it was a really amazing episode. (And you don't get Space Channel, am I right? because of course they have the reruns. Darn.)

[medie]

GAHHH I do not! *FLAILS* I wish! I gotta look around and see who's got a copy. Of all weeks to forget!

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

Lurking in from Likeadeuce's friendslist. I thought I was the only one watching Jericho! I quoted the same line from Johnston as you did. I was a little surprised by his death, we already had a near miss with him early on when Heather made ice to get his fever down and the boys went to Rogue River for the doctor. I thought Stan was doomed by cliches, now that he and Mimi and Bonnie have bonded as a family group. And I agree, that moment when Heather looked up and saw the redesigned flag was just amazing.

[vaznetti]

Another Jericho fan! (there are so few of us!)

I remember Johnston's near-miss, of course, but I guess I figured it had to come eventually. It was a shock, but not a surprise, exactly. And that was a beautiful line. I think I would have been even more upset if Stan had died, to be honest -- it would have seemed so random, and so cruel, even if he did have the "dead meat" label on his forehead. (I suppose there's always next season!)

I'm so glad that you were struck by the moment Heather sees the new flag -- it was just so wrong, and so striking.

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

On Johnston's line, though, I have to wonder how Ravenwood cleaned New Bern out so thoroughly that they've been forced to invade if they had a CostCo. (we don't have them locally but it's something like Sam's Club, yes?) Even discounting spoilage without power, there would be enough food for months from there alone.

[vaznetti]

Even discounting spoilage without power, there would be enough food for months from there alone.

I wondered that, too. But the food-shortage plotline was really poorly thought out -- I've commented, and so have a lot of other people, that there's no way people would be that short of food, Ravenwood and a hard winter or not. So I just handwave a lot.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

I may have teared up during the death scene. Gerald McRaney really knocked that out of the ballpark.

Great, great finale -- suspenseful, tight, moving, insightful and wrenching as all get out. Cap this with Stanley cracking wise at his parents' graves, and you have a true winner of an episode. God, please, yes, a season two.

[vaznetti]

I didn't really cry until the final flashback scene with Jake, really. But I was on the seat of my chair for the entire episode.

I really want another season two! But Hawkins! the army is coming for him!

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

It was totally and completely awesome.

Johnston's limit for weirdness was terrific - that line sums up the complete and utter surreality the characters *should* be feeling. And I was sad that he died, when at the beginning of the season I suffered from Post-Hearst Stress Disorder from McRaney's role on Deadwood and would flinch every time he appeared on screen. Good on you, GM, for making me care.

Yay for Heather! Even if her actions bring more complications, they did not need to go to war with New Bern. And hopefully she'll make it back to town next season, which they BETTER HAVE!

[vaznetti]

And I was sad that he died, when at the beginning of the season I suffered from Post-Hearst Stress Disorder from McRaney's role on Deadwood and would flinch every time he appeared on screen.

Me too! I used to have to tell myself, OK, this isn't Hearst, you don't hate him and you don't secretly want him dead, whenever he came on screen.

I am so glad about Heather! She's a great character, when you think about it -- she's smart and brave and she takes risks and solves problems -- and it's all so understated, on the show.

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

Johnston was my favorite character of all, I'm so sad he died. But that Costco line is CLASSIC forever. All three of those boys ripped it up in that scene. The HUG over Dad's dead body was awesome. Adn the dead body in that bright farm kitchen on the table. That's a great image - what the whole show is about, really.

I also loved seeing Jake's relationship with his grandfather, which helped you understand why he was so mad in the pilot. And the "nuts" callback. Kicked butt. Because WWII still resonates so much with Middle America.

The thing that bugs me most is if Jake is supposed to be an ex-soldier, why is he such a crappy shot? In fact, all of these guys who are supposed to be hunters and whatnot and none of them can hit the broad side of a barn. I am ashamed for them. Also, why weren't the New Bern guys shelling them in the field? They had all those rounds, they had to have more mortars. they work for anti-personnel when people are in entrenched positions, like say, across a road.

the Hawkins subplot was also great and tense and sets up danger for next season. Wow, do I hope they get one now. I've been faithfully watching all season and it has just jumped up to be one of my favorite shows. Martial law and terrorist hunting is going to suck, plus Mayor Gray Bitch Anderson going to cause even more problems than he has already.

[vaznetti]

I thought the "nuts" comment was a little cheesy, actually, but of course WWII does have that resonance, and it was perfectly set up. (And I loved that he couldn't let it lie, and just kept talking, too.) And the whole Green family was spot-on, in this episode.

In fact, all of these guys who are supposed to be hunters and whatnot and none of them can hit the broad side of a barn. I am ashamed for them.

I am handwaving a lot here, but also thinking of statistics about soldiers in WWI -- only a minority (I can't remember if it's one in 3 or more like one in 5 or even 8) ever aimed at the enemy -- most of them purposefully shot too high. Shooting a deer is one thing, shooting a human is something else -- and shooting the guy you used to play softball against last summer must be even more of a challenge.

Also, why weren't the New Bern guys shelling them in the field? They had all those rounds, they had to have more mortars. they work for anti-personnel when people are in entrenched positions, like say, across a road.

This, however, makes no sense at all -- this is exactly the situation that a few mortars on the back of a truck would solve perfectly. Maybe Constantino has a limit to the amount of weirdness he can handle, too?

Such a good episode, and such a good show -- I really want that second season!

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

We should write CBS to get that second season.

[vaznetti]

Martial law and terrorist hunting is going to suck...

Yes -- and what do you bet we get some kind of civil war, next season (if we get one), between the government they're under now (that flag still creeps me out, whenever I think of it) and some other, possibly more legitimate government? And how awesome would that be? As a plot-line, I mean.

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

Since clearly it was an inside job, it was probably what was intended all along.

How scary if ALL the "legitimate" governments are actually run by the various inside men now fighting over the scraps.

That might be too dark, though. I'm hoping the East Coasters out of NY are for real.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

I can't believe they killed Johnston. I mean, wow. What happened to It's The Apocalypse, Except Heartwarming This Time, anyway?

[vaznetti]

What happened to It's The Apocalypse, Except Heartwarming This Time, anyway?

Ha! That's exactly what I love about Jericho, all summed up in one sentence.