Jericho Season 1 DVD Review
Posted by Ron Martin on 10.14.2007
Nuts! Is the first season of Jericho worth the investment? Is it worth all the nuts? A complete season one recap/review lies inside.
I can sum up the first season of Jericho in three words: Solid, but unspectacular. This shows in most every aspect of the show. Skeet Ulrich is the perfect actor to play Jake Green, the hero of Jericho. Skeet has never offended anyone with his acting, but he has never blown anyone away with it either. He’s always been solid, but unspectacular. You can put any say that about any member of the cast. Ditto the writing. The idea for the show is a novel one and I was kind of excited when I heard the premise. The dialogue, however, ranges from pedestrian and predictable to downright terrible when the writers try to get cute. When the writing concentrates on the matter at hand, it’s very businesslike. While it’s not good for the soundbites, it moves the story along. It takes a good half of the season for the story to actually hook you. If you purchase the Season 1 set, you’ll probably start watching them slowly, one episode at a time until around the middle of disc three. Then look for some marathon sessions.
Curious? Here is a complete rundown of episodes with basic descriptions. Now, if you don’t like to know anything about the movies/TV shows before you buy them….skip down to the bottom.
Disc One
The First Seventeen Hours
Jake Green returns to Jericho, Kansas after a five year hiatus hoping to get some cash from his grandpa’s estate. His father and mayor, Johnston Green, isn’t going to let that happen. While a prison transfer bus and a school field trip are on the road, an atomic bomb mushroom cloud is seen in the distance. Everyone assumes its Denver. Jake is in a car accident that kills the two passengers in the other car, but Jake is superhuman so he just had a hurt leg. Even with a hurt leg, Jake manages to drive a bus of scared schoolchildren back to town. During the aftermath and power outage, the town is calmed by Johnston and his rival candidate for mayor, Gray Anderson. Two convicts kill the sheriff and escape. A kid named Dale plays a tape of his mom on the phone recorder where the bomb can be heard going off…in Atlanta.
The Fallout
The rains from Denver are coming and they are bringing the nuclear fallout with them. The town has one hour to get prepared. Some go to a shelter but others have to be blasted into the local mine. Still, others are holed up in their homes with duct tape over the windows and doors. Dale is holed up with rich bitch Skylar. Emily, Jake’s ex, and Bonnie, the deaf little sister of Jake’s best bud, get into a gunfight with the two escaped convicts. Luckily, Jake shows up and kills them. Jake’s best bud, Stanley is caught in the rain for about 20 minutes. Johnston comes down with the flu. A new guy in town, Hawkins, gets a mysterious Morse code message and starts to put tacks on a map.
Four Horseman
Jake composes a plan sending teams in four directions to find out more information on what happened after everyone sees a bit of a Japanese news report showing areas bombs were dropped, though there is no sound so no one knows if the Japanese are reporting are were the ones doing the attacking. Jake finds two airplanes downed, one is fine but evacuated, the other crashed with no survivors. Jake brings the black boxes back and listens to them confirming other sites hit. The plane Emily’s boyfriend, Roger was on, landed in a cornfield and was evacuated with no casualties. Heather (the schoolteacher) questions the death of her friend in the mine. She was told he had a heart attack. Stanley is recovering fine from his time spent in the nuclear rain.
Walls of Jericho
A stranger turns up in Jericho and is in advanced stages of nuclear poisoning. Eric, the deputy mayor and younger brother of Jake, wants to question him. Jake is more concerned with keeping him alive. Meanwhile the town is running out of energy. Jake and Eric go to get some. Of course Jake wins emasculating Eric. Oh, and Eric is having an affair with the local bartender even though he is married to April. Once again this proves how much better Jake is than Eric even though Jake is a screw up and Eric is the deputy mayor. Jake and Hawkins question the guy who says there is a camp of people outside of town. When Jake is not in the room, Hawkins tells the guy that they said “families only”. Hawkins is part of some sort of group with the guy. The guy admits there is a spy in the group and dies. Jake and company go to get the refugees only to find them all dead. Somewhere in here Dale brings food back into the town from a crashed supply train.
Disc Two
Federal Response
The town gets its power back. The surge in energy causes fires around town and of course, Jake fights them off. This time things aren’t quite as ridiculous. People are starting to question why Jake knows all the stuff he knows. Jake, also finds out that Hawkins isn’t who he says he is and vice versa. Eric gets to kind of be a hero saving Heather and a child from a fire and re-uniting with his wife, but leaving his lover, Mary in the dust. The federal government gets reverse 911 warnings to the town telling them to stay put. The episode ends with missiles being shot into the air.
9:02
At 9:02 PM an electromagnetic pulse fries all electrical equipment –except for Hawkins. The city learns to live without. Enter Mitchell Cafferty. We learn that Jake bailed on a planned robbery back in the day. The bailout caused Mitch to go to jail and Emily’s brother to be killed. Mitch steals some horses but gets away. Dale informs Jake that Mitch and juvenile delinquent, Sean helped him unload the train to the grocery store. Mimi, the IRS agent who had been auditing Stanley’s farm, moves in with Stanley. Stanley gets the towns help (after much to do) in harvesting his corn. Hawkins has 23 cities pinpointed on his map.
Long Live the Mayor
Jonah Prowse comes to town as leader of an outlaw gang. Jonah happens to be Emily’s dad. Jonah busts Mitch out of jail. Gray comes back spewing of horrible atrocities in the rest of the world. DC has been wiped off the planet. New York was spared through the diligence of the NYPD. FEMA is still active, but the governor of Nebraska is no where to be found. Heather becomes romantically interested in Jake. Much is made of Jake’s past as part of Jonah’s gang. Emily has not forgiven Jonah or Jake for her brother’s death. Johnston is dying and needs antibiotics of which Jericho has none. Jake makes a run for Rogue River in order to find some.
Rogue River
Eric and Jake travel to Rogue River to find medicine for their pops but find the hospital deserted…kind of. The patients and doctors have been killed by Ravenwood, a mercenary military group. One of the members of the group helps them escape when Jake reveals that he had been in Iraq working with one of the contractors. The guy is killed as Jake and Eric escape with Doctor Kenchy. They get the medicine to their dad just in time to save his life, of course. Meanwhile, in Jericho, Gray interrogates the Hawkins family. Hawkins convinces Gray he is an FBI agent with a really heavy badge. Eric admits he loves Mary the bartender and is going to leave his wife to Jake. April, his wife, admits she’s pregnant to his dad. Eric then admits that he left his wallet in Rogue River and Ravenwood now has his name and address making an attack on Jericho likely.
Disc Three
Crossroads
Jericho realizes it needs security. Jake is going to blow up the bridge that leads to town even if it means leaving the people on the other side of town to fend for themselves if they won’t move into town. Johnston tells Eric to stop the proceedings anyway possible. The citizens of Jericho have a faceoff with Ravenwood, but are outnumbered. Eric saves the day by bringing in Jonah and his gang. Now Jericho outnumbers Ravenwood and Ravenwood retreats. It’s revealed that Emily and Jake were once engaged and this was to be Emily’s wedding day to Roger.
Red Flag
It’s Thanksgiving in Jericho! A supply drop has everyone up in arms. Food and a generator were dropped out of Russian planes, with American parachutes but food supplied by the Chinese. Jonah steals the generator, but Emily steals it back much to the chagrin of Jonah’s gang who almost mutinies. Eric comes clean with April about Mary. Stanley and Mimi hook up. In the last bit of the episode, the grocery owner, Gracie is stabbed to death.
Vox Populi
Jonah is assumed the killer of Gracie. Gray wants to hunt him down and kill him. He gets a band of townsfolk together to do just that when Jake and Hawkins stop him. Jonah is hiding out with Emily. He didn’t do it. He was set up by Mitch. Dale inherits the grocery store and maybe Skylar. Bonnie, upset with Stanley’s relationship with Mimi, hooks up with hooligan Sean. Gray is voted mayor and arrests Jonah. Mitch admits to Dale he killed Gracie. Jonah is free but exiled for past crimes. Dale kills Mitch and nobody cares. Emily and Jake are about to renew their relationship when a group of people straggle into town, one of them being Emily’s Roger. Hawkins receives messages from his mysterious group telling them he is compromised. They know he is lying and present him with his exact location and the threatening message that they will be seeing him soon.
The Day Before
This show takes place 36 hours before the bombs and mostly deals with Jake and Hawkins past. Hawkins is with a girl named. Sarah is kidnapped when Hawkins doesn’t deliver a bomb meant for Columbus, Ohio. The organization that set the bombs off was in Washington DC the day before. Jake was offered a gun running job with Ravenwood, then a position as a spy to take down Ravenwood. The end of the episode flashed back to the future with the new refugees in Jericho. Emily goes to Roger as the episode ends with April questioning a lady we now know to be Sarah.
Disc Four
Black Jack
People are dying of hypothermia because Jericho has no power and it is getting cold. Jake, Johnston, Heather and Dale go to the Black Jack fairgrounds in Nebraska where a trading post has been set up. Unable to trade for the part they need to get a windmill going for power, Heather decides to go to New Bern with her old friend Ted and learn how to make the part, much to the chagrin of Jake. In Nebraska, we learn the country had been split into six different regions and now had six different presidents. Several foreign countries have been dropping aid all over the country. Back in Jericho, Sarah moves in with the Hawkins. Both Sarah and Hawkins work for the same person tabbed “the old man”. At the end of the episode, Sarah tells “the old man” they can use Hawkins family as barter to get the bomb back.
Heart of Winter
Jake, Stanley and Mimi go searching for more food only to get their truck capsized by another vehicle. Jake is stuck under the truck. Mimi gets help in the form of Jake’s parents. While waiting for more help to arrive, Jake sees visions of the 12 year old girl he killed in Iraq. Jake is freed but later falls into his father’s arms weeping presumably over guilt of what he had done. Hawkins and Sarah find “the old guy” dead when they go to meet him but are being observed by someone else secretly. They find out half the people in their secret group have been exterminated, the rest are MIA. Hawkins decides for the good of his family, he has to move them. Darcy tells him he has to leave on his own. Sarah meets up and kills the person who had been observing them.
Semper Fidelis
Marines roll into town with a tank. They tell the town that the war is coming to a close and we nuked the hell out of North Korea and Iran. The government has unified with Columbus, Ohio as its capital and the former Secretary of Health and Human Services as President. Jake falls for the radio technician. At a banquet in the Marines honor, Johnston realizes they are phonies. They take Jake hostage but are captured by the townsfolk. The “marines” are former refugees who took over their camp and confiscated the uniforms, weapons and tank going from town to town to take peoples food and supplies thinking they are actual Marines. They are escorted out of town and all their weapons and tank confiscated by the town of Jericho. Sarah takes the Hawkins family hostage but is killed by Allison (Hawkins’ daughter) in a fight. Hawkins tells Sarah’s commander that she has the package and that Hawkins has been terminated.
Winter’s End
April starts having serious medical issues with her pregnancy. The Green family turns to Kenchy to operate on April against his better judgment. The New Bern leader Constantino tells Gray and Johnston he will provide them with more turbines for heat but demands ridiculous payments. Gray gives in to his demands. Constantino takes ten Jericho men (including Eric and Stanley) with him as collateral. Dale starts making people pay their grocery tabs at gunpoint with Skylar at his side. Kenchy can not save April. She dies. Kenchy takes over the doctor spot assisted by a med student who was with Roger’s refugees.
Disc Five
One Man’s Terrorist
Gray decides its time for the refugees to get kicked out of Jericho. They are using up valuable supplies. Roger disagrees. A fight ensues in which a gun is discharged into Gray’s belly. Jake volunteers to be Roger’s hostage to ensure the refugees get the needed supplies They leave for New Bern. Hawkins gets info on the people who were Sarah’s superiors. He is tracking them. Jimmy figures out Hawkins is not really FBI. It is mentioned all the terrorists who set the bombs off had near perfect replicas of FBI badges.
AKA
Jake confronts Hawkins on his true identity. Hawkins and Sarah worked for project Red Bell. Project Red Bell is several organizations working together to take out the American government. When the time is moved up to detonate the bombs, Hawkins informs the CIA and is able to save NYC. Jericho was the rally point for the team. Jake tells Jimmy Hawkins can be trusted and is FBI. Bonnie (Stanley’s hearing impaired younger sister) is sleeping with all around bad guy Sean.
Casus Belli
New Bern sends three windmills over early with most of the men Jericho sent to them to “help build the windmills”. Stanley comes back. Eric and Heather do not. Jake and Hawkins go to New Bern to see what is going on. After jumping through many hoops they find out New Bern is planning on going to war with Jericho to steal all their supplies. Eric and Heather tried to destroy all of New Bern’s equipment but were caught. Jake and Hawkins try the same thing with the same results. Jake is thrown into jail. Hawkins escapes. Eric tells Jake that Heather is dead. Constantino rallies New Bern by telling the town that Jericho tipped Ravenwood off to them and that Jake and Eric were here to destroy them. Skylar tries to take her half of the salt mines left to her by her parents but Gray fights her off. Sean is shacking up with Bonnie much to the chagrin of Stanley. Johnston is warming up to Mary. Gail is not.
One if By Land
Eric is being tortured by New Berners to give up information on Jericho. He refuses. Meanwhile, Hawkins and New Bern ally Ted devise a plan to break the boys out of prison. Maggie (the fake Marine) is tossed in jail with the boys but gets out getting them help. She helps Hawkins and Ted break them out. Timely driving by Johnston gets the five of them out of New Bern but not before Hawkins is shot in the shoulder and Maggie in the leg. The car runs out of gas and the group has to walk the last 12 miles to Jericho.
In Jericho, Gray refuses Skylar her half of the salt mines even after hearing Russell’s (New Bern guy) plan to sell the salt for much more profit. A gunfight ensues further enraging Dale.
Disc Six
Coalition of the Willing
Constantino demands supplies and seven Jericho farms from Gray or this is going to be a war. New Bern starts firing mortars anyways, injuring Gail. At Gray’s orders, Stanley takes a team and tries to capture the mortars only to have them all killed but Stanley. Dale has formed an army of refugees who have captured several farms and are trying to protect them. Jake and company capture a mortar but are themselves surrounded by Jonah and his new gang. Jonah agrees to help them capture more for half the supplies. When they do, of course, Jonah takes all the supplies and takes off. Hawkins reveals his secret stash of guns – how convenient. Johnston gets Dale’s army to join and Jericho readies themselves for the season finale to go to war with New Bern.
Why We Fight
Jericho prepares to defend itself and remembers that it has a tank. With the tank, Jericho wins the first battle of the war, but not without casualties. Johnston is killed in the battle. Hawkins is discovered by Thomas Valente when using his equipment to help track the New Bern army. Heather wakes up in a military camp in Nebraska and is told aside from Texas and a block in the east, the country is united. She urges them to stop the war between Jericho and New Bern. Valente orders it to be because there have been reports of a “high level terrorist” within 200 miles of Jericho. The season ends with Hawkins camped out in the tank ready to take out several hundred men coming off a train when he sees military helicopters overhead. An unseen enemy is approaching the Jericho army as Jake yells to “Fire!”
Special Features
The special features for this set are par for the course for these quick to DVD TV seasons. Basically there are two special features. The first is your basic cast and crew interviews. The second is a little more unique. What if is a pseudo documentary about nuclear warfare. You can find better on the History Channel, but not bad for something thrown together at the last minute.
Last Thoughts
Jericho is riding a dangerous line in the first season. The acting is what it is. It’s passable, it’s not going to hurt the show but it isn’t going to carry the show either. This show will go only so far as the writing of the show will take it. Sometimes the writers show flashes of brilliance with Ravenwood and the deconstruction of Dale. I am hoping the shoddiness of the writing near the end of the season was because they thought they were going to get cancelled. Which they did. Then they were brought back. Hopefully the writing gets back to where it was in the middle of the season. The three most likable characters were completely destroyed in the last third of the season. April and Johnston were killed and Bonnie killed any good faith she had with the audience by falling into stupid traps that she should have been above. It’s as if the writers are trying to set a record with the most possible cliché characters in one show. Invincible hero? Check. Mysterious man who comes through in the clutch? Check. Heroic but stupid sidekick? Check. Rich bitch with a heart? Check. The list goes on and on.
Can I recommend the first season of Jericho? It really honestly depends on the second season. I know that’s a huge cop out, but if the writing of Jericho continues on downward spiral, then I can’t recommend buying a whole season of a TV show based on half the episodes. If the security of a second season whips the writing team back in shape, then you have to have this season as background.
If this were the only season, then I would say it’s worth a look – but don’t pay too much!
The 411: There's some good stuff here. There is some bad stuff too. For now, the good outweighs the bad. Let's hope it stays that way.
