"JERICHO" RETROSPECT: (1.11) "Vox Popoli"
When I first read the title for this eleventh episode of "JERICHO", I found myself confused. I suspected that there was a strong reason why the series' show runners had given the episode this particular title. The problem was that I never learned any Latin.
Following my latest viewing of (1.11) "Vox Populi", I decided to make the effort to translate the phrase. It means "voice of the people". Considering what happened, I believe this particular episode was well titled. The "voice of the people"truly made an impact on this episode . . . not just for Mayor Johnston Greene, but also local criminal Jonah Prowse.
"Vox Populi" proved to be a strange episode upon first viewing. The episode merely picked up where the previous episode, (1.10) "Red Flag" left off - with the murder of local merchant Gracie Leigh at the hands of Prowse's second-in-command, Mitchell Cafferty. The incident not only proved to have far-reaching consequences, it also had a major impact upon this episode. While Jake Greene and Emily Sullivan continue to enjoy their renewed interest in each other, their budding romance is interrupted by Prowse's ragged appearance at Emily's home. He reveals that Mitchell had not only killed Gracie, but also framed Prowse for the crime. Another scene confirms this, by revealing Mitchell telling Johnston, Gray Anderson and the law that Prowse had killed Gracie. From that moment on, Gray switches to lynch mode and organizes a mob to find Prowse. Jake recruits Robert Hawkins' help to find Prowse before Gray's lynch mob can. Unfortunately, both Jake and Robert are too late. Gray and his gang finds Prowse and quickly place him in jail. A short period of time reveals Gray being sworn in as Jericho's new mayor. The "voice of the people" - at least those belonging to the town's residents - had spoken. Due to their resentment over Johnston holding back the food from China and especially Gray's capture of Prowse, they decided to vote for a new mayor. Unfortunately, Gray's victory and his continuing paranoia went to his head and he decided it was time to lynch Prowse.
Among all of this doom and gloom, some good happened in "Vox Populi". Dale Turner learned that he had inherited Gracie's store. And although Mitchell tried to extort goods from Dale, the latter dealt with the former on his own. Despite a few setbacks, Robert managed to find a way to click with his son, Samuel, and continue repairing his fractured marriage to Darcy. And as I had earlier pointed out, Jake and Emily seemed to be mending their relationship. However, the arrival of a group of newcomers that include Emily's missing fiancé Roger Hammond, seems destined to fracture that relationship again.
I must admit that this was a pretty good episode . . . much better than I had originally assumed. My original opinion of"Vox Populi" was that it was a bit too fractured, due to including Gray's election as Jericho's new mayor into the mix. It just seemed too out of place. But after my recent viewing, I finally understood that the situation regarding Jonah Prowse, Gracie Fields and Mitchell Cafferty played a major role in Gray's election. Jonah's arrest was the incident that got Johnston Greene thrown out of office. It was also the incident that encouraged Gray to consider lynching Jonah with the help of others. Jericho also found itself with a new mayor who was more willing to make the easy choices to placate the "voice of the people" and quell his own inner paranoia . . . instead of the hard choices that are morally right or would benefit others in the long run. However . . . Gray made his first correct choice as mayor in "Vox Populi". With Jake's urging, he ignored "the voice of the people" and his own inner emotions and made the choice not to lynch Jonah and allow the latter to leave Jericho.
If there is one thing about "Vox Populi" that I found disappointing was that Gray's election as Jericho's new mayor was never dramatized on screen. I realize that the episode's running time gave the writers little opportunity to show the actual election. Yet, I still wish it had been shown. Following Gray's capture of Jonah, the episode went into a commerical break. Then it returned showing Gray being sworn in as the the town's new mayor. I realize that Gray's election played a major role in the episode. Unfortunately, this method of showing it seemed disjointed to me.
"Vox Populi" featured some solid performances from the likes of Brad Beyer, Alicia Coppola, Clayne Crawford, April D. Parker, Sterling Ardrey, Aasif Mandvi, Richard Speight Jr., and Bob Stephenson. I was surprised to find Sprague Grayden as Heather Lisinski missing from this episode. It would have been nice for the episode's screenwriter to explain her absence, but I guess I cannot have everything. But for me, the best performances came from Skeet Ulrich, Ashley Scott, Michael Gaston, James Remar, Erik Knudsen, Gerald McRaney, Pamela Reed and Lennie James. As far as I am concerned, all of them knocked it out of the ballpark.
I must confess, "Vox Populi" is not a personal favorite of mine. But after my recent viewing, I must admit that it was better than I had originally assumed. Also, it did a good job in moving the series' major narrative forward, despite focusing on the situation regarding Jonah Prowse. More importantly, the episode ended with the arrival of new survivors to Jericho. One of those survivors turned out to be Emily Sullivan's missing fiancé, much to hers and Jake's consternation. Another survivor has yet to be seen. But that person's impact will be felt in the upcoming episodes to come.
"JERICHO" RETROSPECT: (1.10) "Red Flag"
At the end of the previous "JERICHO" episode, (1.09) "Crossroads", Jake Green had approached his father, Mayor Johnston Green, about raising a militia unit for the defense of their town, Jericho. I could say that this next episode, (1.10) "Red Flag", is the result of Jake's idea. Instead, show runners Stephen Chbosky, Josh Schaer and Jonathan E. Steinberg decided it had another story to tell.
The episode began with Jericho's militia trainees hunting turkeys for Thanksgiving. The story immediately shifted when Jake, along with best friend Stanley Richmond, find a crate of food - from China - in the middle of a field. The episode soon shifted to the skies above Jericho when bomber planes drop crates filled with food, medicine and a generator upon the town's streets. Wary of receiving food from China, Mayor Green, Jake and Eric decide to hesitate in distributing the food and other supplies; until they can ascertain whether the material is safe or not. Unfortunately, standing in the Greens' way are three impediments:
1) the politically ambitious Gray Anderson's insistence that the food be immediately distributed
2) the group of criminals/survivalists led by Jonah Prowse, who wants to use the food and supplies for profit
3) Jericho's citizens who desperately want the food
In a way, "Red Flag" reminded me of the series' earlier episodes in which the plots focused on the basic survival of Jericho's citizens. Food supplies have been diminishing for weeks, despite Dale Turner's discovery of an abandoned freight train filled with supplies in (1.03) "Four Horsemen". I have mixed feelings regarding the Greens' reluctance to distribute the food to Jericho's citizens. On one hand, I understood their wariness to do so, considering that the food came from China, which had been a political enemy of the United States since 1949-50. On the other hand, this episode was set during the Thanksgiving holiday, which meant over two months had passed since the bombs were dropped. If China had been behind the attacks, the United States would have been under the control of an invasion force by this episode. I found it improbable that the Greens or Robert Hawkins never considered this.
I will give credit to the episode's screenwriter, Mike Ostrowski, for using the China supply drop for extending the series' main narrative forward. Johnston Green's reluctance to distribute the food led to conflicts between him and many of the town's citizens - especially Gray Anderson, who harbored ambitions to become the new mayor. While Johnston is too busy dealing with the town's survival, his wife Gail sees the writing on the wall and fears that he will soon be out of a job. Both the supplies and the generator leads to another conflict between the town and Jonah Prowse, who makes a grab for the generator. This, in turn, leads to Emily Sullivan surprising everyone with a quick recovery of the generator . . . and trouble for Jonah. His second-in-command, Mitchell Cafferty, murders storekeeper Gracie Leigh in an attempt to frame him - an act that ends up having far reaching consequences in the near future.
The most interesting story arc of "Red Flag" turned out to be the consequences of Eric Green's failing marriage to Dr. April Green. I must admit that Ostrowski and director Martha Mitchell in continuing the fallout of Eric's affair with tavern owner Mary Bailey and the end of his marriage with surprising maturity. The situation becomes increasingly heated after Eric learns of April's pregnancy. Those scenes that featured Johnston and Gail Green's failed efforts to convince Eric to continue his marriage to April were probably the best in this entire episode. I found them emotional, real and surprisingly mature, thanks to the performances of Kenneth Mitchell, Gerald McRaney, Pamela Reed and Darcy Stanchfield.
There were also pleasant aspects to "Red Flag". It featured another step in Robert Hawkins' efforts to re-bond with his family - especially his children. This story arc ended on a pleasant note when he founded a way to make Thanksgiving a positive experience for his kids and Jericho's other citizens, using the recaptured generator. And when Stanley is beaten by Jonah's men, while stealing the crate on his property; he is nursed by his current tenant, former IRS agent Mimi Clark. Not surprisingly, the pair finally acknowledge their attraction to each other and begin a romance.
As much as I admire how the episode's story arc propelled the series' main narrative forward, "Red Flag" is not a major favorite of mine. It is a pretty decent episode that featured one particular story arc - the Eric and April Green marital breakup - that really impressed me. Unfortunately, the food supply story arc left me feeling as if the episode had regressed the series on an emotional level.
"JERICHO" RETROSPECT: (1.09) "Crossroads"
The previous episode of "JERICHO" - (1.08) "Rogue River" - left off with Jake and Eric Green returning home from a harrowing trip to a town called Rogue River with the medication needed to save their very ill father, Mayor Johnston Green. Unfortunately, Eric discovered that he had left his wallet, which included his identity, behind. Even worse, the leader of the Ravenwood mercenaries that they had encountered, John Goetz, had discovered Eric's wallet.
The series' ninth episode, (1.09) "Crossroads" focused upon the Ravenwood mercenaries' attempt to invade Jericho and rob the town of food and other supplies. Goetz made the mistake of leading a scouting party to the farm owned by Stanley Richmond, who did not hesitate to inform Jake and Eric about their presence. The two brothers quickly inform Jericho's other leading citizens, which include the two remaining lawmen, the mysterious Robert Hawkins and businessman Gray Anderson, about the potential threat of Ravenwood's arrival. The men manage to recruit of citizens to defend the town at a crossroads by barricading the road with trucks and cars. Goetz gives the citizens to remove the vehicles within an hour or his mercenaries will shoot their way through. The townspeople decide that the only way to defend themselves from the threat of Ravenwood is to blow up the bridge . . . with the exception of Eric, who fears that its destruction will cut off those citizens who live on the far side - including the inhabitants at the Richmond farm.
Meanwhile, both Emily Sullivan and Heather Lisinksi decide to deal with the stress of Mayor Green's illness with a walk and a few drinks at Mary Bailey's tavern. The two women meet Jericho's newest citizen, Dr. Kenchy Dhuwalia, whom Jake and Eric had rescued from Ravenwood. The two women spend their time drinking with Kenchy and listening to his horror stories about the road and Rogue River. And when Emily realizes that this day would have marked her wedding to her missing fiancé Roger Hammond, she begins to image what would have happened if he had never left Jericho.
I was surprised that the showrunners would immediately follow up from what happened in Rogue River. I figured they would wait for another episode or two before dealing with the aftermath of Jake and Eric's road trip. But it did not matter. "Crossroads" proved to be an interesting episode filled with tension, suspense and a little action. To be honest, most of the action occurred in a scene that featured the first confrontation between Jericho's citizens and the Ravenwood mercenaries. A few shots exchanged resulted in the death of a Ravenwood mercenary. Ironically, this only led Goetz to keep his cool and threaten the townspeople with more violence if they do not cooperate. But I got the feeling that "Crossroads" was basically a character study of three people - Jake, Eric and Emily. Did this bother me? No. But it left me feeling slightly deflated after the high level tensions of"Rogue River".
When I first saw this episode, I was surprised to see Jake and Eric at odds over whether to blow up the bridge. Even more surprising was that both Jake and Gray agreed that the bridge should be destroyed, while Eric opposed the suggestion. I found this surprising because Jake and Gray rarely agreed on anything. Also, Eric has always been the only member of the Green family that Gray genuinely liked. But the most surprising aspect of this conflict is that for once, Eric proved to be right. And he settled the matter in a way that not only surprised Jake, Gray and Jericho's other citizens, but also Goetz.
More importantly, "Crossroads" drove the series' main narrative forward. Like "Rogue River", it did not focus on the town's efforts to deal with the latest survival crisis. Instead, it pushed forward storylines that will prove to have a major impact later in the series. Near the end of the episode, a defeated John Goetz promised Jake that sooner or later, some kind of order will be restored. And when that happened, he would be back to cause more trouble for Jericho's citizens. Sure enough, he kept his promise in Season Two. But more surprising, the Jericho/Ravenwood conflict will have consequences that will take the town's citizens by surprise . . . later in Season One.
The subplot regarding Emily had originally struck me as nothing more than an episode filler. Watching her imagine how her wedding to Roger Hammond would have panned out did not strike me as particularly thrilling . . . or interesting. But after a re-watch of this episode, I realized that this subplot was really a foreshadow of Emily's future with both Jake and Roger. In fact, this "triangle" will prove to have a strong impact in Season One's second half. But what I really found interesting about Emily's visions is that she was finally able to face the fact that she was still in love with Jake. I am certain that many Jake/Heather shippers were upset with this revelation. I was not. As I have stated in an article for a previous episode, Jake and Heather had always seem more like siblings to me, instead of potential lovers.
I could not find a performance out of step in "Crossroads". Everyone did their job. The episode featured competent performances from Lennie James, Michael Gaston, Darby Stanchfield, Sprague Grayden, Pamela Reed, Alicia Coppola, Shoshannah Stern and Gerald McRaney. There were a few that stood out above the other performances. I thought Skeet Ulrich did an excellent job in conveying both Jake Green's bull-by-the-horn approach to any crisis and the fear that nearly had him shaking during his second confrontation with Goetz. Kenneth Mitchell was exceptional as a determined Eric Green, who is certain that Jake's decision to blow up the bridge was wrong. I was also impressed by Brad Beyer, who did a great job in portraying Stanley Richmond's determination not to abandon his farm even in the face of the threat from Ravenwood. Ashley Scott did an excellent and subtle job in conveying Emily's growing realization that she was still in love with Jake. I also enjoyed Aasif Mandvi's performance as Dr. Kenchy Dhuwalia. I thought he was very skillful in conveying his character's drunken charm, while conveying a sense of horror to Emily and Heather of his experiences in Las Vegas and Rogue River.
I also have to commend And once again, D.B. Sweeney managed to knock it out of the ballpark in his portrayal of the Ravenwood leader, John Goetz. I realize that many might find this hard to believe, but what really impressed me about Sweeney's portrayal of Goetz was the skillful manner in which he conveyed the character's cool. Goetz was a cold-blooded, ruthless and violent man. But he knew how to keep his cool. And Sweeney managed to convey all of these aspects of Goetz's character with great skill.
What else can I say about "Crossroads"? Although not as action-oriented as I had originally assumed it would be, the episode still proved to be a first-rate study of some of the leading characters. Thanks to screenwriter Robert Levine, "Crossroads" did an excellent job of driving the show's main narrative forward.
"JERICHO" RETROSPECT: (1.06) "9:02"
This sixth episode of "JERICHO" picks up at the same moment where the previous episode, (1.05) "Federal Response"left off. In other words, (1.06) "9:02" started with the citizens of Jericho, Kansas witness the presence of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) soaring eastward over the town's skies, before the time period jumped another two weeks.
Despite this exciting opening, I found myself wondering why the series' producers and screenwriter Nancy Won used"9:02" as the episode's title. I realized that it referred to the time in which the ICBMs sent an electromagnetic pulse that disrupted the electronic devices – cellphones, the Internet, television, radios, etc. - throughout the town. But what did it have to do with the episode's plot overall?
Come to think of it . . . aside from all electronic devices in Jericho not working (save one), what was "9:02" about? There seemed to be at least three subplots at work in this episode. One of them involved the town's citizens failed attempts to assume some form of normalcy, following the ICBMs' disruption of Jericho's electronic devices. Kids have been stealing from Gracie's Market. And so has a new character named Mitchell Cafferty, who happened to be an old friend from Jake Green's delinquent past. Cafferty’s thefts have put him in the path of Dale Turner, the young shop assistant who managed to stumble across a supply of food for the store. Cafferty has also been stealing horses from various farms and ranches outside of town. When Jake and his mother Gail visit the Green family ranch to feed their horses, the latter is nearly trampled, when Mitch and a fellow thief are in the middle of a heist. This sends Jake on the warpath to take down his former friend. Robert Hawkins becomes aware of the enmity between Jake and Mitch and decides to investigate the pair’s past relationship.
Meanwhile, Stanley Richmond is approached by I.R.S. auditor Mimi Clark for room and board in exchange for her labor on his ranch. During their conversation, Stanley discovers worms that have infested his corn crop. He tries to acquire pesticide from merchant Gracie Leigh. But she is only willing to give Stanley insecticide in exchange for profit from half of his corn crop. Even worse for Stanley, Mayor Green is willing to help him get the insecticide if he is willing to share his corn with the town’s citizens. In the final subplot, Allison Hawkins discovers that her father Robert possesses the only electronic device that is still working. She also discovers that he has a map of the U.S. locations that were bombed . . . and a gun. When Allison confronts her father, he decides to tell her that he is a government agent who knew about the September attacks. He also decides to teach her how to shoot. Father and daughter eventually begin to grow close.
Many of these subplots proved to be interesting. And all of them proved to have an impact on the characters’ relationships, developments and the series’ main narrative. At first I had a hard time believing that the situation with Stanley Richmond’s corn crop had any future impact. But it did. One, Stanley’s desperation for the insecticide led Mimi to hire a few kids to steal it from Gracie’s Market. This act led to a visit to the Richmond farm by Deputy Bill Koehler, who reveals his aggressive nature for the first time in the series. This storyline also marked the first time both Stanley and Mimi display something other than hostility toward each other. And it exposed Gracie Leigh’s penchant for avarice, which proved to have an impact upon her character’s future development. Gracie and Dale’s encounters with Mitch Cafferty not only played a major role in their characters’ arc, it also revealed Jake’s past with the criminal. And this, in turned revealed how dangerous Jake could be – something that Robert Hawkins found very interesting.
All of these subplots – Jake/Mitch Cafferty conflict, Dale/Mitch Cafferty conflict, Robert and Allison Hawkins’ relationship, and Stanley’s corn crop – end up having some kind of impact upon future story and character developments. The question remains . . . what did the episode’s title, which was an indication of when the ICBMs disrupted the town’s electronic devices, had to do with the plot? The lack of electronic devices seemed to have robbed Jericho’s citizens of a sense of normalcy, leading many of them to behave more irrationally or aggressive. But overall, the impact of no electricity seemed more like a metaphor of the disruption in the lives of the town’s citizens, instead of any real impact on the series’ overall narrative. And this is probably why I found the use of "9:02" as the episode’s title a bit weak.
However, "9:02" did provide some interesting moments in the series. The episode featured two interesting conversations – one between Robert and Allison and another between Stanley and Mimi. Both conversations changed the relationships of all involved. "9:02" also featured an exciting action scene in which Jake and his brother Eric had a violent encounter with Mitch that I found rather suspenseful. Not only did I find myself wondering if Jake and Eric would be able to arrest Mitch. I wondered how Jake would react once they made the arrest. Needless to say, I was not disappointed by how that encounter turned out. But my favorite sequence proved to be the montage in which Jericho’s citizens arrived at the Richmond farm to help Stanley save his corn crop. After Jake greeted Robert in the middle of the cornfield, the following exchange occurred between the Hawkins father/daughter duo:
Allison: [in reference to Jake] Is he a good man or a bad man?
Robert: Baby, there is no such thing.
In that one line, Robert Hawkins said more about humanity’s moral ambiguity than any other person – fictional or real – ever has.
Do not get me wrong. I enjoyed "9:02" a good deal. It was interesting to see how the ICBMs’ impact upon the town’s electronic devices affected the citizens. And the episode featured some very good performances, especially from Skeet Ulrich, Pamela Reed, Lennie James, Erik Knudsen, Jazz Raycole, Brad Beyer and Alicia Coppola. But if I must be honest, I wish that someone on the production staff for "JERICHO" had given this episode a better title. This sounds like a shallow criticism. But if one looked at the episode, the ICBMs’ impact upon the town seemed to have a minor impact upon the episode’s narrative, aside from the Robert and Allison Hawkins’ familial relationship.
