main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Jericho

Discussion in 'Archive: SF&F: Films and Television' started by JediTrilobite, Aug 31, 2006.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    Another, quite lengthy promo up for Season 2.

    And it looks like ...the government seizes Hawkins's nuke. Looked like it may have been strapped to a helicopter? Though I'm still projecting like I did before that the nuke is ultimately used to get rid of Valente and his organization.

    "BOOM," indeed.


    Also, note the "Jennings & Rall" building in this promo, and shoot back a few pages for my comments from the better part of a year ago on these guys, and what they portended for the future. Damn, I love being right. Can't wait to see how much -- or little -- this new President-guy (the former Senator Tomarchio, who was conveniently out of town on the day the bombs went off in D.C.) is tied up with Valente's plot.

    That, and the whole "from [the] Mississippi [to the] Pacific" thing smacks of a brewing civil war, this time between East and West. Bring it on.

    Some other news of interest:

    Apparently Pamela Reed won't be returning to Jericho past the first episode of this next season -- that will be her last episode, as it seems that the network was wanting to cut some of the cast who were "over 40," and she was one of the casualties. She also doesn't have a contract for Season 3 (unlike most of the rest of the cast), and has been giving a number of recent interviews to the media confirming this. Michael Gaston (Gray Anderson) is likewise gone from the series after episode three.

    Hooray for youth.

    Then again, considering the abbreviated season, characters like Gail are there almost solely for the character-driven aspects of the show, whereas characters like Jake and Hawkins are the driving force behind the show's overarching storylines. Since this season has been shortened so much, they're going to be focusing a lot more on the show's greater mythology, and there won't be nearly as much space for some of those minor characters this season, anyhow.

    They're going to spend most of the time focusing on the new government and the conspiracy, so Hawkins and Jake will get most of the screen time. And then there are characters like Stanley and Eric who, though not as connected to the conspiracy as Jake and Hawkins, will tag along with them in their adventures. Old characters (unless they're a hardcore old guy like Johnston was) don't go gallivanting around fighting wars and bringing down a corrupt government, which I'm guessing most of this season will revolve around, so I just don't see how they'd fit them in. I bet you anything characters like Dale and Skylar don't get a lot of screen time, either.

    The "official" Jennings & Rall website is now up, and has some very interesting information on it.

    Note too that they're also the parent corporate owners of Ravenwood. These ***holes are tied up in the nukings somehow; we simply haven't been given that specific information yet as to how.

    One particular section:

    "Full acquisitions awaiting integration into the J&R family tree include the Kom-Ma Shipyards, the formerly nationalized ship-building enterprise of North Korea, undamaged in their recent attacks." (http://www.jenningsandrall.com/html/index.php?cle=4822747)

    Maybe the fake Marines weren't lying about Iran and North Korea after all.
     
  2. xm41

    xm41 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2007
    Ok Jericho nuts. I managed to get an advance copy of the first 3 new eps of season 2 on DVD. If you want a disc PM me.

    Ron
     
  3. Robimus

    Robimus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2007
    I find the program of some interest but found the second half of season 1 incredibly rushed. They seemed to go from having no clue what was happening in the outside world to knowing everything that was going on. I guess they were worried about getting cancelled and moved the plot forward as much as they could just incase. My favorite episode was early on when the Merc's tried to come to town and they had the confrontation on the highway.
     
  4. Sith_Lord_Linkoping

    Sith_Lord_Linkoping Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    Some good news. :)


     
  5. Sith_Lord_Linkoping

    Sith_Lord_Linkoping Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    Some more good news. :)


     
  6. Obey Wann

    Obey Wann Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2000
    Sweet --this looks great!!!
     
  7. Sith_Lords

    Sith_Lords Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 17, 2004
    Well I "aquired" the first 3 episodes of the new season, and all I can say is amazing, Major Beck's character development is definately looking to be one of the high points of the new season. The only problem I have now is that I will have to wait till late Feb to watch the rest!
     
  8. Sith_Lord_Linkoping

    Sith_Lord_Linkoping Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2001
    Some more news.


     
  9. Obey Wann

    Obey Wann Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2000
    Season 2 starts Tuesday night. Catch it if you can --it should be a great show!!!
     
  10. Obey Wann

    Obey Wann Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2000
    100 reasons to watch Jericho

    http://www.cbs.com/primetime/jericho/video/video.php?cid=629546370&pid=hT2rH1DUwkMgeQbdnWwZTgsCMA12ekl3&play=true&cc=2


    Nuts tonight!!!!!
     
  11. Errant_Venture

    Errant_Venture Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 21, 2002
    Awesome episode tonight. Without a doubt the strongest one of the entire series to date.
     
  12. Robimus

    Robimus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2007
    Watched episode 1 of season 2 tonight. Major Beck is a really cool looking/sounding character(Lets cast him in the Star Wars live action), but for me the show is broken. It was great when it was the whole town of Jericho against the unknown in a lawless society. It's come too far, too fast. Probably because they didn't want to risk not finishing the story line before getting cancelled. I can see why they did it but It really takes the premise of the entire series and flushes it. Sorry, thumbs down for me at this point but I'll likely keep watching as it airs around midnight on the time shifting. Its all thats on when I get home from work.
     
  13. Obey Wann

    Obey Wann Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2000
    I had classes last night that kept me out until way late, so I haven't been able to see it yet. Thank the Maker that they put it online. I did get to see the first 5 minutes yesterday before class, and it looked really good. Can't wait for tonight to catch up!!!
     
  14. Espaldapalabras

    Espaldapalabras Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 25, 2005
    Overall I liked the episode, but you can't help but notice that they rushed the entire storyline. I can't say I blame them at all, it was extremely unlikely that this second season was going to even be made, and who knows where it will go from here.
     
  15. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    (Been trying to post this all day, but I'm biting the damn bullet and splitting this up into two separate posts, due to the fact that the boards are being a major bitch-kitty about long, code-heavy posts, and also the fact that my so-called "24 hour" ban wasn't lifted until 60 hours had gone by. Wrote this up over the last day or so. Anyways:)

    This episode moved way faster than any of the Season 1 episodes, except maybe the flashback episode ("A.K.A."), especially when you consider the amount of recap for new viewers that got shoehorned into the episode.

    In this episode:
    * We were introduced to a whole new form of military rule;

    * The political sphere of the post-destruction United States was hashed out in substantial detail;

    *The farmer and IRS agent got engaged;

    *The vengeance-plot against New Bern has been largely wrapped up;

    * Hawkins was reunited with one of his fellow DHS infiltrators, and:

    * Jake became Sheriff.
    This show has gone from a show with science fiction overtones to a bona fide science fiction alternate-history. Loved the newscast at the beginning; we even got to see someone's camcorder footage of the L.A. bomb detonating downtown (à la T2).
    * Also, another nuked city was added to Hawkins's map: Honolulu, HI.
    And there appeared to be at least one more new one up in the corner, near New Jersey (have to go back over the TiVo to analyze it).

    Newark? It would make sense, especially considering the major airport and other key infrastructure factors in the area. Regardless, there are clearly more than 23 nuked cities now accounted for, regardless of Jake's opening narration...I'll take this up in a separate post down the road.

    (And did anyone else noticed that when they were in Jimmy's hospital room, there was a newsticker running across the bottom of the screen that said something about the "Hudson Virus" being contained? It says the Health and Human Services secretary -- presumably of the ASA -- said, so far, the Hudson Virus has been contained "east of the Mississippi." Might this be a plotline for later in the season, or a potential Season 3?)
     
  16. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    (...Continued from above:)
    * We're definitely seeing the seeds of potential civil war being laid in the series, particularly with this possibly-fanatical new President Tomarchio in power (an ex-US Senator who -- very conveniently -- survived the Washington, D.C. bombing). Two different governments: Cheyenne and Columbus, OH (Hawkins's missed target). On both sides of the Mississippi? Looks like the post-war US is gearing up to fight each other, perhaps in and around Texas, for starters.

    * Examining the different military bases and where they're located, it gives some indicator as to who would fight who (the new soldier-guy was 10th Mountain Division, which was up in Fort Drum, NY). And the fact that Tomarchio reduced Iran and North Korea to radioactive rubble on a completely false pretext...the international community wanting nothing more to do with us is clearly bull**** propaganda cooked up by this group, as evidenced by the aid sent from China and Germany in Season 1.

    * Jennings & Rall are being established as the Halliburton-esque profiteers of this whole mess -- it's no coincidence that they're the parent-owners of Ravenwood -- and how they gradually shift from "benevolent" crisis-aid to the Allied States of America survivors to the brownshirt-arm of Valente's regime is going to be interesting to watch.

    * Likewise, will D.B. Sweeney's merc-army be brought back for Round 2 when Jericho finally realizes what Jennings & Rall (and the greater New Order) are really up to?
    (Anyone happen to catch the "New America!" book that someone was holding in the promo for next week's episode? Published by Tomarchio and Valente's faction, no doubt. Very shady, neocon-type stuff. A hardliner faction. They're starting, ever so slowly but steadily, to remake the country along how the lines of how THEY want things to be. The nukes were simply the initial, softening-up phase of this greater scheme.)

    I think it's probably wrong to say that the military would step in automatically after the attacks, but first and foremost, the military would communicate, find out who the senior U.S. commander left alive is (probably someone in Colorado Springs at USNORTHCOM, or maybe someone in Omaha at USSTRATCOM, in the scenario of Jericho), and then find out who the highest-ranking civilian left alive is.

    During a State of the Union address, or usually any other time when the POTUS addresses a joint-session of Congress, Cabinet members take turns being the one left out and going to a secure, undisclosed location, just in case the Capitol is blown up and the POTUS, VPOTUS, etc. perish. As soon as possible, elections would be held for a new Congress. But really, much of this is undiscovered territory.

    The US has not faced such a serious situation on its own soil since the War of 1812. And even then, Congress was not disbanded or killed en masse like on Jericho.
     
  17. Obey Wann

    Obey Wann Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2000
    Good recap. It's going to be a very interesting series. Love it!!!!
     
  18. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    Above, I brought up the issue of the total overall number of nuclear weapons detonated on the show, but -- as also mentioned -- the producers have been somewhat wildly inconsistent with that number, not only in terms of the number detonated, but in the conflicting reports of major cities destroyed throughout the series.

    This is simply an exercise in quantifying and sorting out the various contradictory inconsistencies in the canonical evidence seen onscreen -- whether that be in dialogue, on the many maps glimpsed thus far, et cetera.

    First, we can begin by providing a log of the various pieces of dialogue establishing the number of bombs detonated:
    * In the episodes "A.K.A." and "Reconstruction," Jake makes mention of "23 American cities" destroyed by the terrorists on that day.

    * Likewise in the former episode, Victor Miller, one of Hawkins's bosses, gives a figure of "25 nuclear devices" created by the terrorists from the stolen Soviet fissionable material.

    If we're to accept these figures strictly at face value alone, then we already have a major problem -- we have Jake's "23 cities," plus Hawkins?s Columbus, OH bomb, plus at least one bomb meant for NYC. An even 25, right? Wrong.

    In that same episode, Hawkins outright establishes that there were a MINIMUM of two bombs meant for the New York metropolitan area ("[The] New York bombs were intercepted"), plus Carol Barbee strongly insinuated in a recent interview that Albany, NY also took a hit. Even if we allocate one of Hawkins's two (or more) bombs for NYC, and one for Albany, we're already up to 26 devices...and possibly even 27 or more.

    And then, in the Season 2 premiere ("Reconstruction"), we STILL have Jake mentioning the "23 bombs," but we also get no fewer than two, brand-new targets -- Honolulu, and another city in New Jersey (possibly Newark)!

    You'd think that the writers would?ve been a bit more cross-communicative in their world-building.

    Now, we come to the contentious issue: the differing, at-odds maps we see scattered in various places during the series. Some show cities like New Orleans destroyed, while others do not. Likewise, there are further continuity-nitpicks, such as St. Louis's presence on the main terrorist target-list (seen in "A.K.A."), but also its absence from two of the other maps.

    There was no mention made of the interception of the St. Louis bomb(s) -- and if it WAS on the terrorists' final list a mere one day before the attacks were carried out en masse, then it's a fairly safe bet that they had a bomb waiting and ready to go.

    There hasn't been any evidence suggesting that the city WASN'T hit...and lest anyone bring up the St. Louis Air National Guard F-16s, keep in mind that such bases keep fighters in the air around the clock, and these jets were in the sky at the exact moment of the attacks, per the airline pilots' radio-chatter. They likely would've been among the last survivors of the base at Lambert International Airport if the bomb detonated close enough to it, and would have had to re-divert.

    Also:
    * In the first week or two surrounding the series' premiere back in September 2006, production work was completed on a series of Beyond Jericho webisodes meant to tie into the greater mythology of the series, and to show the scope of the attacks in other parts of the country. The first episode was posted, but due to the ongoing and growing unease between the Writers Guild of America and the networks over webisode content revenues, the episode was pulled, and the rest never seen to this day.

    * What's interesting about this episode is that it showed survivors of Las Vegas, NV as a nuclear bomb was detonated in the downtown area, and what was to come of this. After the WGA pooched the Beyond Jericho series, producer Carol Barbee and the other writers ended up completely retconning the Las Vegas bomb away, having the city survive intact (per Kenchy lounging poolside there afte
     
  19. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    Remember what I said above about the "Hudson Virus" spreading across the eastern United States (per that news ticker-scroll in the season premiere)?

    ...Ahem:

    Apparently, the virus becomes a VERY BIG deal by Episode 3, and you get the feeling something really wrong is going on...
     
  20. redxavier

    redxavier Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2003
    I've got to say this Leto II, but those posts made for damn fine reading.
     
  21. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    Thanks, appreciate it. It's a show that is full of subtle details warranting some analysis. (Also...unbanned again. Go me.)

    Some points from this week to consider:

    * This week's Morse code:

    "J&R RAN BOXCAR"


    * So Jennings & Rall evidently had a hand in the actual nuclear attacks themselves. I thought that maybe they were simply collaborators set up to move in once the bombs went off, but this is far more sinister.


    * The plane that dropped the Nagasaki bomb was "Bock's Car." Named after the normal aircraft commander, Frederick Bock. But the name caught my eye when they showed it on the computer screen the first time. I did think the same thing about the possible connection.


    * "Bock's Car" flew the second atomic mission. Are there plans for a second nuclear attack? "Bock's Car" was also flown by a different-than-normal crew. Substitute leadership?


    * The interesting thing is, I'm not entirely sure that Major Beck will necessarily side with Jake and Hawkins. He's clearly disillusioned, and would almost certainly sympathize with their cause. But I think he also has a strong sense of duty that would stay his hand. Still, I don't quite see him making it out of this season alive. Especially once Hawkins' and Chavez's info finally gets leaked to the world, and the **** hits the fan.


    * D.B. Sweeney is indeed back, folks.


    *Remember what I said earlier about Ravenwood (and, by extension, Jennings & Rall) turning into the S.A./brownshirt-arm of Tomarchio and Valente's regime? Ravenwood helping to supress the "Hudson River" vaccine. 'Nuff said. And United Nations troops quarantining/cordoning off the Mississippi River border? Very interesting.


    * I think there is a distinct possibility that Mayor Anderson doesn't come back alive from that "constitutional convention." He plans on asking a lot of questions, and I get the impression that the Cheyenne government is not going to tolerate too many questions that they don't like.


    * SPOILER:

    Since Michael Gaston is only set to be in one more Jericho episode anyhow, reading between the lines, I'd say the handwriting is on the wall for Gray Anderson. Jake's brother becomes the de facto town leader, and Jericho gets a "Mayor Green" once again.


    * And that new textbook? Twisted, subtle stuff. Yet already, people on other boards are once again whining and bitching about the Jericho producers having it in for "right-wing conservatives," et al...


    * I don't necessarily think the United Nations would pick a side in this conflict. After the the Sacramento government fell to Cheyenne, the newly declared "Allied" government likely began the march west. Seeing this, the United Nations swept in to preserve the legitimate government by freezing the borders at the current front, which was probably the Mississippi.

    Considering that none of the surviving member states of the UN Security Council would have a stake in fighting another country's civil war, they'd probably be content with two governments, much like Germany after World War II. The UN peacekeepers are likely playing a similar role to their current operation at the Kosovo-Serbia border, and previous operations like those along the border of Chad and the Sudan. (The same role American troops still serve along the DMZ between North and South Korea.)


    * Also, surprised no one's yet commented on the fact that Lance "Alex Rogan" Guest played the doomed reporter in this episode.

    One thing that struck me when the Hummer with the "Ravenwood" emblem rolled up in front of the sheriff's office is what a visceral reaction that caused. Much like hearing Vader's belabored breathing or seeing his mask, it's the same kind of feeling of dread.

    When Ravenwood was introduced in the first season, it was a brilliant prediction of the excesses that result from private security contractors like Blackwater. (I know I'm not the only one who thought of Ravenwood when that one slaughter in Iraq made Blackwater front-pa
     
  22. Obey Wann

    Obey Wann Former RMFF CR & SW Region RSA star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2000
    Great questions and synopsis. especially on Boxcar, and the 10th Mountain div. I have no idea where it'll go, but it's well done so far.

    I think the next episode is going to be very interesting. And rough.

    At the end of the last episode, the Green brothers were sharing a drink and said something like, "we've been through worse, what more can they do? Whatever it is, we'll get through it." It reminded me of in The Two Towers at Helm's Deep when King Theoden said something like, "Is this all you can conjure up, Saruman?" It made me shudder and think that when under attack, never, ever ask (rhetorically) if this is the worst and enemy can do. Because inevitably, it will get worse. Qucikly.

    So Gray's life will be cut short. At least he'll redeem himself. I always had him figured as a sackless, spineless loudmouth in over his head. At least he'll do some good before it ends for him.

    The show is also making a good point about merc outfits like Blackwater. Heck, I'm a right winger, and I am leery of the implications of what is possible with outfits like that.

     
  23. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    You know what this series subtly keeps reminding me of? The Patrick Swayze guerilla-fighter movie Red Dawn.

    Except this story is even more terrifying, because instead of playing on jingoistic Cold War paranoia, it reverses the invaders, and makes them a distinctly American brand. The little details like the textbooks being rewritten and the journalist having a "heart attack" show the same kind of fascist threads from Red Dawn, but wrapped in the red, white, and blue, and slipping in peacefully.

    The storyline with Hawkins and Chavez fascinates me, because clearing away the ambiguity has made that storyline more potent, not less. The idea that only four people in the entire country are willing to do anything about the truth, among a mere handful that even know the truth, is even more frightening than the fear from last season that Hawkins was a cat among the pigeons, so to speak.

    Other interesting details: the virus is called the Hudson River Virus, which helps clear up why the legitimate United States government is based out of Columbus, instead of one of the more eastern faction capitals. It's likely that the Albany/Rome government was either forced west by the virus, or else Albany took a nuclear hit (remember the ICBM launches from last season?), as producer Carol Barbee has recently implied in a number of interviews.


    Back in November, 2006 (during the first season), I predicted that Gray -- after getting elected, and demonstrating a few "iffy" decisions early on -- would be the first one to cozy up to the New Order and welcome them with open arms as a collaborator, once they rolled into town and set up shop.

    ...Boy, was I wrong, and I'm more than happy for the fact. I like the way things have actually developed for his character. Gray is first and foremost a businessman, with the strengths and weaknesses that implies. He brings different qualities to his leadership than Jake's father did, but he has a more pragmatic approach that isn't necessarily so bad.
     
  24. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
    This episode was totally unexpected. Thrill and despair, all rolled into one.

    And the genius of it is that it's exactly how it should be at this point. Going all the way back to "Rogue River," there isn't a clear line between a man who would authorize an action such as killing an entire town, and the man who would kill over $10,000 using very Nazi-like "S.S."-tactics.

    Months earlier, I speculated about Ravenwood/J&R becoming the Brownshirt-enforcers of the new order. It's now finally here.

    Things have built steadily from rather mundane roots to something terribly horrific. Dale gets free, which hides the greater sacrifice at the end. As this episode proved, appeasement gets you nothing. Give a mouse a cookie, and they're going to want a glass of milk.

    At least Bonnie gave as good as she got. Don't **** with gun-owners. That's the lesson of this episode. Especially deaf chicks packing 12-gauge Jesus Cannons (as in: "Are you ready to MEET--??").

    Series producer Carol Barbee said they broke this season like a lengthy feature film, and I believe her. Every episode ups the stakes. People are dying now. The whiff of corruption abroad now has absolutely pervaded the very heart of things.

    I haven't felt this same sense of "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold" hopelessness and everything going to hell since the mid-third season of Babylon 5. The Jericho equivalent of the Nightwatch are now in the picture and running the show, and things are only going to get worse from here.

    My favorite moment, other than Bonnie taking out virtually the entire Ravenwood team before they took her down, was the big reveal of who was feeding Hawkins information. He's Daniel Ellsberg, and Jennings & Rall is the RAND Corporation -- if the RAND Corporation had chosen to overthrow the United States government.

    Hawkins has the modern-day Pentagon Papers on his mysteriously-functional Sprint cellphone.

    Hawkins's manipulation of Major Beck so that he would unwittingly discover Valente's involvement in the conspiracy was rewardingly clever. Elements like this make me especially glad that I've stuck by this show.

    And now Hawkins has help from what appears to be an inside man, who seems to be genuinely trustworthy. I'm glad the writers give us gratifyingly-steady progress on Hawkins's mission instead of stringing us along with unending mystery. (I won't name any names, here.) I honestly can't think of a way they could make his story more riveting or more compelling.

    And the icing on the cake was learning that Jennings & Rall decided to nuke the country, in order to profit off the chaos. From seeing that map of the projected bombings and megadeaths, to learning that Hawkins's informant was one of the authors of the disaster-contingency plan...all the chickens are coming home to roost in a big, big way.

    This show is like a Gatling gun -- many triggers are now being pulled. I know the heartbreaking ending eclipsed Hawkins's story somewhat, but I couldn't let the remarkable developments in Hawkins's arc go without comment.

    Again, best episode to date.
     
  25. Leto II

    Leto II Jedi Padawan star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2000
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.