Watching Jericho

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Opening Morse Code - A COSTLY DEAL

From CBS.com:
Faced with a catastrophic complication in April’s pregnancy, Jake forces Kenchy to confront his post-traumatic stress syndrome and perform a heroic operation. Bonnie and Mimi, volunteering at the medical center, begin to bond while Johnston desperately searches for Eric so he can be at his wife’s side. Gray, moved by April’s circumstance, fights with a trading party from the town of Myles to get more power-generating windmills. Meanwhile, Hawkins covers up Sarah’s murder as the very bureaucratic Jimmy noses around.

Originally aired: Wednesday March 28, 2007 on CBS
Writer: Frank Military
Director: Kevin Dowling

Recap below the fold…

Jericho, Winter’s End, TV, television, CBS

Hawkins is playing cleanup, digging the grave for Sarah’s body and cleaning up the blood on the floor as someone knocks on his door.

We cut over to April and Gail in the Clinic, with Gail giving April grief for sleeping in her office as “rest”, considering her condition. A med student comes up to April and gets her up to date with someone complaining of chest pains who only wants to talk to her. As April chats with the med student, we gather that she’s a 3rd year Med Student that came in with the other refugees. She’s willing to help out at the clinic just so she’s not in the basement of the church like the rest of the refugees.

Deputy Jim is the one knocking on Hawkins’ door, with his trusty flashlight aimed right at Hawkins’ face. After some small-talk, Deputy Jim tells him that Mayor Gray has asked him to keep track of the refugees, and asks to talk to Sara, leaving Hawkins holding the door, not wanting to let him in because of that big ol’ pool of blood that’s in his living room.

The generator pops back to life at the Clinic, and Jake’s there. He must have an electrical personality, that one. Actually, he’s just put the last of the fuel into the Clinic’s generator, and as he and Gail are discussing all of the options that they’ve run through, April collapses.

Deputy Jim finally gets into the house, and he asks Hawkins about the fact that his lights were on as he came upon the house earlier. Hawkins passes this off by saying that he was using the last of his fuel in his generator to clean up. Deputy Jim gives him a little grief over the fact that “Darcy trained him well” and Hawkins just sighs a “yeah” in response. Hawkins tells him that he was about to turn in, and Deputy Jim remembers why he was in the house at all, and asks to talk to Sara again. Hawkins thinks on his feet, and tells him that she left yesterday, saying something about family in New Orleans. Deputy Jim’s skeptical, mentioning something about “in this weather”, but accepts it generally and leaves, but not before noticing the cut on Hawkins’ head.

Back at the Clinic, April’s in a hospital bed, with Gail hovering over her. The med student chats with Gail outside of the room, saying that she’s not sure, but the baby seems to be having a problem, and if she knows it, then April knows it. Gail asks about what to do, and Jake asks about Dr. Kenchy Dhuwalia, and Gail blows him off because the good doctor’s done nothing much more than drink himself into a stupor every day since being in town, other than fixing Jonah’s arm that one time. The med student says that she needs an ultrasound machine, and Gail goes to the basement to see if one works while sending Jake off to find Johnston and Eric.

The New Bern guys show up, greeted by Gray and Johnston. Johnston gives the Sheriff from there some grief (Det. Lassiter, how ya doing?) and introduces Gray to the guys just as Jake shows up, asking if Johnston’s seen Eric at all that day. He sees the wind turbine in the back of the New Bern guys’ pickup, and says that it really should be put up as soon as possible, because the Clinic will need the power. He then breaks the news that there’s something wrong with April and the baby back there, which sends Johnston off in a flash.

Mimi drops Bonnie off at the Clinic, telling her that she’s just following Stanley’s orders to pick her up later, and Bonnie lets her know in her sassy teenaged way that her help isn’t necessary, and that volunteering at the Clinic isn’t about cute hipster Shawn, it’s about helping. She leaves the truck with a jab at Mimi asking if she’s ever volunteered for anything.

Over at Gracie’s Dale’s Supermarket, Dale’s trying to negotiate with one of the farmers that Gracie had a deal with, and the farmer’s backing out because of the fact that he’s got barely enough to keep his family and livestock together. When Dale says that he’s breaking the deal, the farmer reminds Dale that there isn’t really any law anymore.

Bonnie, in her scrubs, turns a corner and grimaces as she sees Mimi also in scrubs in the hall of the Clinic. Mimi looks so so bright and candy-striper perky until Bonnie hands her a bedpan with the directions to “Empty. Clean. Repeat.”

Jake runs into Gail as he enters the Clinic and says that no one can find Eric, but that Johnston has set Bill (AKA the other deputy) on the case. Gail tells Jake that April’s blood pressure is dropping as the med student calls for her, and they go running. It looks as though April’s going into labor at 16 weeks, and she asks the med student for some drug to stop the labor. She says that they don’t have any of that particular medicine, she runs off in search of something else that could work. April tells Gail and Jake that if she loses consciousness and they can’t find any medicine, to put her on a 10% drip of whatever is coming out of the still to stop the contractions. She passes out suddenly and Gail sees that she’s bleeding out. She yells at Jake to find Kenchy now, and he goes running, since he’ll find both the alcohol and Kenchy at the bar.

Eric and Mary are all bundled up and gathering firewood on the side of the road somewhere, which is why no one can find the man. They get all the firewood they can, and then bundle up in the cab of the truck to warm up.

Kenchy shows up, and the first thing the med student notices about him is that he smells like a wino. He brushes her off, getting April’s stats between her and Gail’s information. Gail takes Jake and runs off to get the ultrasound machines she pulled from the basement, and the med student is sent in search of O Negative blood, leaving just Bonnie and Mimi in the room with Kenchy and the unconscious April. He asks for a fetal heart monitor, and Bonnie shakes her head. He tries to hand Bonnie the stethoscope, telling her that he’ll tell her what to listen for, but she tells him that she’s deaf. He grabs Mimi’s attention, pulling her into listening for the fetus’s heart rate. She picks up quickly, finishing his sentence for how to multiply the beats to get the rate. Bonnie stands off to the side, obviously upset because she’s become a non-entity in the room to Kenchy because of her disability, and because Mimi has been advanced for the same reason.

The boys from New Bern are moving the wind turbine, and Skylar is telling Gray that he needs to settle the dispute between Dale and the farmer. Gray kind-of laughs her off, telling her that he’s got robberies, power problems and that the refugees are planning on trying to get into the food lockup (WTF?), so he doesn’t have time to deal with a trade dispute. He leaves her and Dale to stand at the side, while he and Stanley help the New Bern guys lift the wind turbine. Johnston shows up right after they get it lifted, and Gray asks how the baby is doing and if they’ve found Eric yet. After getting negative answers to both, Gray looks to the Sheriff to see about buying some more of the wind turbines from them.

Hawkins is burying the “package” under the shed out back of his house when Deputy Jim calls for him. They chat for a little bit about gardening (Carrots are Super Food), when Jim finally gets to asking about what Sara took with her when she left. Hawkins responds that she only took a tent and some food with her backpack when she left, and Deputy Jim looks a little confused as to why someone would take off in the nasty cold that they have. When he asks to talk to Darcy, Hawkins tells him that Darcy moved out because they are having some problems at the moment. Jim responds with the “too bad” and an interesting off-hand comment that Hawkins has a lot of people leaving him that Hawkins looks like he just can’t respond to. He finally tells him that he’ll take him to her, and takes off to the shed to get his coat and finish up hiding the “package” while Him chats about Hawkins working on his “communication” skills with Darcy.

The Sheriff from New Bern is driving a hard bargain with Gray and Stanley about what Jericho will need to trade for more wind turbines. He says that they’ll need salt and also food. When Stanley says that they won’t have anything until the spring crops, he says that was what he was talking about, trading ten turbines for ten percent of the crop from Jericho. Gray vetoes that, saying that is too much for them to spare, and Stanley says that losing ten percent of the crop to New Bern would put them in the same position next Fall for the lack of food. Johnston comments that they’re only asking them to be reasonable, and the Sheriff responds simply, “Starve next fall or freeze this winter” before walking off quickly, leaving them all standing in Main Street.

At the Clinic, Kenchy and the others all are working on April. Bonnie comes in with a bag (probably the alcohol), and Kenchy tells her what do to do to start a drip, but isn’t looking in her direction so she can’t read his lips. He snatches the bag from her hands and starts to do it himself as Jake runs in saying that they’ve found four people with O Negative blood in the Clinic. Gail is in full-on Nurse mode, and Kenchy gets the ultrasound machine to finally work, and sees that April has placenta previa, which means that he won’t be able to find out where to go to stop the bleeding unless he operates on her. Kenchy is adamant that he won’t operate there, because he has watched too many people die horribly because of unclean facilities, and that they’ll have to find another butcher, because he just won’t do it, which he imparts as he leaves the room.

Jake, Gail and the med student follow him out, trying to talk him into helping April by doing the surgery. With every single thing that he says that they don’t have, Gail and the med student (anyone get her name, because I’m tired of typing out “med student”) counter with either that they have those things, or that there are alternatives. Kenchy finally relents and says that he’ll do it.

Mimi and Bonnie are out back, boiling sheets to prep for surgery, and Bonnie starts teaching Mimi sign language, starting with the sign for “bitch”, i.e., Mimi, in Bonnie’s thoughts. She follows it up with a few more, such as “please” and “sorry”, and Mimi seems to get both the signs and the meaning of why she chose those words.

Dale’s loading up his gun, probably to go and have a “discussion” with that farmer, as Skylar interrupts him. He tells her that he’s heading out for a while, and to lock up if he’s not back by dark. He follows that up with a “if he never comes back” for Skylar to go and talk with Gail and Johnston if she needs anything. Skylar surprises him by saying that she wants to come with him. When he asks why, she says simply that it’s two against one. Ah, young teenage spree-killing… kinda like Charlie Starkweather or Bonnie and Clyde, depending on how romantic or irritated at the angst you are at the moment. My vote’s for irritated, because for a long while now, I’ve wanted to ground Dale into next year for all the crap he’s pulled along with his attitude.

Praise Jesus, Deputy Bill finally finds Eric!

Mimi apologizes in an awkward way to Bonnie for the fact that Kenchy’s not in any way paying attention to Bonnie and utilizing Mimi instead, because he doesn’t know her. Bonnie says that everyone else speaks Mimi’s language after Mimi says that everyone else at the Clinic respects here, then walks off.

Gray, Johnston and Stanley are discussing their options in regards to getting either the turbines or the food for the turbines together, and Stanley thinks that they should tell the town that the Marines who told Jericho that the Army Corps of Engineers were on their way there eventually aren’t coming at all, and both Johnston and Gray don’t think that would lead to anything but anarchy. When Stanley throws out the idea of them agreeing to New Bern’s terms, then refusing if, come next Fall, they just didn’t have the crop to spare, and Johnston just says that that’s how wars are started.

Hawkins leads Deputy Jim to the refugee shelter to see Darcy, since he wanted to ask her some questions about Sara and where she went. When Hawkins tells her what he had told Jim, Darcy throws it back that all she would have to do is tell him the truth and Hawkins would go away out of her life forever. Hawkins and her start to get onto each other, and Deputy Jim finally walks up, knowing that they’re heading for a fight. When Darcy refuses to talk to him while Hawkins is around, he leaves them, but with a glance at Darcy before leaving.

Everything is prepped for April’s surgery, and the med student speaks up before they really get started by asking Kenchy if he’s sober enough to do the surgery at all, and that if he’s not, he can talk her through the procedure. He responds that she shall refer to him as Dr. Dhuwalia and that his sobriety is not an issue at this time, and when Mimi rattles off the stats, that are getting worse, He draws the line for his incision, ignoring the med student.

Eric is being led by Jake to where they’re doing the surgery, trying to tell him that all he was doing was trying to gather some firewood. Gail sees Mary as Jake holds the door open for Eric to get into the room, and drops her mask for a moment before telling him to shut the door.

Everyone is knee-deep into the surgery now, as Gail is told by Kenchy to stay away from the incision as she tries to get a fetal heart rate. When she tells him that he’s not let her get a fetal heart rate for over an hour, and that the beats are coming in at 5 per minute, the power cuts out from the last of the diesel in the generator. When Gail starts to freak because she can’t hear anything from the baby, the med student and Kenchy share a look before the med student says that the surgery hasn’t been about the baby for a while now, that they’re really only trying to save April at this point in time.

Dale and Skylar knock on the farmer’s door, and when the farmer refuses him again, Dale blocks the door and pulls out his gun, reminding him that he said earlier that there was no law anymore, and all he wants is his share now.

Everything’s quiet out in the hall of the Clinic, where Jake, Mary and Johnston wait for Eric, who comes barreling out of the room, saying that he just needs some space for a minute, and everyone’s silent until Eric tells them that they’ve lost the baby. Mary tries to comfort him, but he brushes her off and says that he needs to be with April right now before heading back into the operating room.

Hawkins waits in the cold for Deputy Jim to come out, which he does after a moment. Hawkins checks his gun in his pocket before turning towards him. Deputy Jim tells him that things seem to make a little more sense now, and then tells Hawkins that Darcy agreed with what Hawkins had told him earlier before about Sara heading to New Orleans to be with her family. He adds that he told Darcy that she and the kids should come and stay with his family for a while, because they don’t need to be living at the shelter. Deputy Jim holds out his hand to Hawkins and after a moment, Hawkins responds in kind. As they’re shaking, Deputy Jim tells him that they found a body with a broken neck out where the animals had gotten to it, and that one of the other deputies saw an African-American woman driving out that way a few nights ago that matched Sara’s description. He asks Hawkins if she might have been capable of doing something like that, and Hawkins responds that he’s learned recently that things aren’t always as obvious as they seem. He’s cool and collected when Deputy Jim shows him a photo of the Mystery Man that Sara killed, saying that he doesn’t have any idea who he is. Deputy Jim says that if Sara comes back, they’d really like to talk to her, but Hawkins says that she probably won’t be back, to which Deputy Jim agrees.

There’s a conference happening between Gray, Johnston and Stanley with the Sheriff from New Bern, who says that New Bern itself is all on clay, so they need that ten percent of the crop and 700 pounds of salt to survive, because they can’t grow anything themselves. When Gray says that he had asked for only 500 pounds of salt earlier, he says that the price just went up. When Gray says that they’ve got people in Jericho freezing to death in their homes, he says that he’s sorry for their troubles, but New Bern has their own. They have a standoff for a moment, and the Sheriff rises to leave when Gray caves and says that they’ll give them whatever they want for the wind turbines. When he asks for a guarantee on the crop, Johnston says that they have their word on it, the Sheriff says that they’ll need ten Jericho men to help them build the turbines and that they can take them back with them now. When Johnston and Gray balk at the idea of using the men as collateral for the turbines, the Sheriff responds that he doesn’t want to come to that, but if they want the turbines now, they’re going to need some help in building them, which, to be honest, I don’t really believe completely.

April’s got a bleeder, because Kenchy keeps yelling to put pressure THERE! and I’ve watched enough medical dramas to know what that means. Kenchy can’t see, and everyone starts talking at once about getting another lantern or opening blinds as things get even more tense in the room. When Kenchy says that there’s nothing more that he can do, and to give April some dignity and just close her up, Gail tells him that he can’t stop now. When he bolts out of the room, Eric follows, Jake close behind him when he sees what’s going on, and tells Eric to go back inside because of April, and then says pretty much the same thing to Kenchy. Kenchy says that at this point, what they are doing is just cruel to April, and there’s no way that he can go back in there and do anything else to her. He wants to live a simple life, and Jake says that he can’t because of his responsibilities as a doctor. Jake tells him that he cannot stop, because if he stops, then they’ll all stop, but that he must keep on trying. When Kenchy tells him that April is going to die, Jake tells him that he knows that, and what’s left unspoken is that all that matters is that they keep trying until there are no more options left. However it is, it works, and Kenchy comes back renewed and reinvigorated to finish the operation.

After the surgery, Eric is at April’s bedside, staring at her until she wakes up. Jake peeks in on them, but doesn’t say anything. Outside of the room, Gail is trying to clean up the area like it’s the end of the world, and Jake comes up behind her to calm her down. He leans into her a little and tells her that Eric’s going to need her, now, and in the other room, April wakes up. Eric and she just stare at each other for a moment and then April says that he’s holding her hand. Eric smiles and agrees. She looks at him and says that she likes the name Tracy, right before drifting off again, and Eric loses it just as his family comes in to support him.

Hawkins is back in the shelter, helping Darcy pack their things when he thanks her for protecting him. She says that she didn’t do it for him, she did it for Allison. He says that he wants them to come back to the house, and Darcy tells him that the last three months she realized all the things that made it work and all the things that make it not work, because of the lies. She goes on to say that her daughter just killed a woman, and that she just doesn’t have any more trust to give him. Deputy Jim comes up right after that, telling them that the kids are already gone, and asks if he can help. Darcy grabs the things she was just packing, and walks off. Deputy Jim lags behind for a moment, and tells Hawkins to hang in there because he has faith in them, which causes Hawkins to laugh to himself.

Mimi comes up to Bonnie in the hallway, and signs that she’s sorry, which is when Bonnie collapses into her in tears. The lights come back on, and the med student calls Kenchy to come and help her with a lady who is having problems breathing. Kenchy turns and goes straight into Doctor Mode, getting the med student to get something to help, which is when Jake sees him and seems to gather hope from the scene.

Dale and Skylar are camped out and reliving the night’s grand larceny conquest like it was a prank that they pulled. They turn towards each other, and then start making out like, well, horny teenagers.

Gray’s sending off the the ten Jericho guys to go off to New Bern, and Eric and Stanley are in their ranks. Stanley asks Bonnie for a promise, which is not to kill Mimi while he’s gone, and to give her food. She smiles, and then she asks why it is that he has to go, which he tells her that people will die if they don’t get these wind turbines to Jericho. She starts to cry, and tells him that he’s all she’s got, and Stanley tries to lighten the mood with a bad Ahnold impression before hugging her tightly and going to say goodbye to Mimi.

Mimi asks Stanley not to freak out, then launches into a very convoluted explanation to tell him that she loves him, and Stanley stops her before she can say it to him by telling her that he’s been in love with her since that first day that he saw her at Bailey’s Tavern. Her eyes light up, and she tells him that no one has ever said it first to her. He goes on to say that no one knows what can happen tomorrow, and as a plus, he can hold it over her for the rest of their lives. And the crowd giggles at the same time they say Aaaawwwwww!

Eric walks over to Mary to say goodbye, and she tells him that it wasn’t his fault and that he doesn’t have to do this. He responds by saying that he can’t be here right now, and embraces her before going over to Johnston, Jake and Gail to say his goodbyes. When he gets to Gail, he tells her that he’s sorry, and she says that they’ll take care of Mary right before the group gets called to move out. Jake wanders over to the New Bern guy that he greeted personally at the beginning of the show, and tells him that Johnston told him what was going on. The guy says that the Jericho guys will be safe, and Jake questions him. He responds that this wasn’t him, or his idea, and then Jake asks about Heather. He says that she knew that they were coming to Jericho, but that she didn’t want to come, which, he says, is the absolute truth. Jake tells him plainly that if anything happens to them, New Bern guy is the first one that he’ll come for, which the guy says that he knows.