Story originally printed in the Vernon Broadcaster or online at www.vernonbroadcaster.com
Published - Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Outsider supplemental: Jericho finale exceeds expectations
The CBS drama Jericho wrapped up its 29-episode, two-season run with a satisfying finish Tuesday night.
The post-apocalyptic, conspiracy-driven show had good defeating evil, likeable characters winning battles and America starting a revolution against corporate takeover. What more can you ask for in an hour?
Jericho lasted just two seasons. The final seven episodes were produced largely thanks to a grass-roots campaign from fans, which sent 40,000 pounds of peanuts to CBS after the show was cancelled following its initial 22-episode run in 2007. Fans were dismayed that a cliffhanger ending, which has the town of Jericho, Kan., in the middle of fighting off an assault by a nearby town. Lead character Jake Green (played by Skeet Ulrich) tells Jericho’s foes from New Bern “Nuts!” when confronted with their surrender conditions n Just like the 101st Airborne at Bastogne during World War II.
The final seven episodes of Jericho would have launched a third season, but ratings didn’t rise. In fact the last episode earned a 3.8 rating/6 share n just 9 percent up from the previous week. That was too bad, because writers furiously pushed the pace of the show to a speed that kept fans hanging on every twist and turn.
Fearing a second cancellation, producers shot two endings. One of the endings would have led into a third season. Instead, CBS announced Jericho’s second cancellation a week ago, so fans got to watch a specially-shot finale episode that tied together many of the plot lines.
In fact, the finale’s nuances, including placing an embassy for Texas in the Capitol of the Allied States of America n Cheyenne, Wyo. n were masterful. In the end, the good guys from Texas, wearing white hats no less, help save the day.
Both Green and the other main protagonist, Robert Hawkins (played by Lennie James), escape the grasp of the Allied States of America. In the end it appears as if Texas is siding with the United States of America (states east of the Mississippi River) in a battle to reunite the nation. Even the Allied States of America’s field army begins to turn against its leaders in Cheyenne, as Major Beck (played by Esai Morales) finally sees the conspiracy hatched by the evil corporation Jennings and Rall. Beck decides he won’t be a corporate killer anymore and begins to reach out to other military units to do the same.
Jericho, Kan., meanwhile is left to play its own role in the new revolution, flying a flag of defiance “Don’t Tread on Me” at city hall.
Fans of the show are sad to see it go, but they can tip their hats to producers John Turteltaub, Stephen Chbosky and Carol Barbee, who got the ending right.
It’s time to think about placing an order for a Jericho entire series DVD box set, with both finale episodes and special content. The only thing fans want to know is, when will it come out?
All stories copyright 2006 Vernon Broadcaster and other attributed sources.