Watching Jericho

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Opening Morse Code - ONE GOT AWAY

From CBS.com:
When Eric doesn’t return from New Bern with Stanley, Jake senses something is wrong. He gets Hawkins and together, they head to New Bern to investigate and end up uncovering a dangerous secret about New Bern’s plans for the future. Back in Jericho, a disagreement between Gray and Skylar over the salt mine leads to a confrontation that could ignite a war. Stanley is also shocked to come home to find Sean Henthorn living in his house with Bonnie.

Originally aired: Wednesday April 18, 2007 on CBS
Writer: Karen Hall
Director: Steven DePaul

Recap below the fold…

Jericho, Casus Belli, TV, television, CBS

Trucks and El Caminos are coming into Jericho from New Bern, bearing windmills and the Jericho Men. Gray meets them in Main Street, and questions why Constantino’s “Act of Good Faith” doesn’t sit well with him, though he accepts it.

Mary finds Stanley getting off of the back of one of the trucks and asks where Eric is. He tells her that he decided to stay in New Bern because he wasn’t ready to come back yet. She obviously doesn’t like this answer, and runs off with a brief ok. Jake comes up right after that, and asks the same about Eric. With Jake, Stanley is a little more forthcoming, saying that he talked with Eric three days ago, and while he was still messed up about April’s death, something is going on in New Bern. Eric disappeared not long after talking with Stanley about staying, and then the Jericho Men were transported quickly away from New Bern under close supervision. He says that he got the feeling that they didn’t feel as though the Jericho Men were safe in New Bern any longer.

Jake confronts Russell, asking if they (the New Bern guys) even bothered looking for Eric when he went missing, and that Constantino told him that they were looking for him, and directly told Russell to pack up the Jericho guys and send them home. When Jake gets a little physical with him, asking him if he should be worried about Eric, Russell responds simply with an “I would be”. Jake storms off, shrugging off Stanley’s offer of help and going directly to Hawkins to ask him for help.

Jake and Hawkins hash it out in Hawkins’ living room, Hawkins trying to dissuade him from going, and Jake telling him that it’s his brother. When Hawkins points out that he can’t just pack up and leave, Jake says that if he doesn’t want to go, that’s fine, he’ll go alone. Hawkins says that he’s not saying that, but if they go, they have to do it his way.

Mimi and Bonnie are hanging the laundry to dry on a line strung up on the porch, when Stanley comes walking up. Both of them go running to him, and have an impromptu group hug in the front yard. As they are exchanging “I missed you”s, the screen door opens and Hipster Boy surprises Stanley.

Mary shows up at the Green’s house, apologizing for bothering them and launching straight into the fact that the men were back from New Bern, and Eric wasn’t with them. When Johnston questions whether or not Constantino made him stay, Mary tells them that Stanley had talked to him before they had left and that he wasn’t ready to come home. After an awkward moment of silence between them, Johnston asks her how she had hurt her hand, and she explains that she was trying to fix her still, and Gail pipes up with alcohol not having to be a priority. Mary tells her that it wasn’t for alcohol, it was for making antiseptic for the the Medical Center, stopping Gail in her tracks. Johnston offers to help her before Gail can say anything else, and they leave her standing there.

Gray sees some guys loading salt bags into the vehicles from New Bern, and confronts Skylar about taking it from the mines. When she says that all she was doing was taking her 51% of the mine’s product, he says that she’s a minor, and her parents are the ones with the 51% interest in the mines, as long as they’re alive. She stops, and he tells her to put the salt back before he has to send “some of his guys” to put it back for her.

The Blue Bomber, as I’ve come to refer to it, is barrelling down a road, Jake and Hawkins on their way into New Bern. They come upon a roadblock and when the Bulletproof Vest wearing guy asks for their proof of residency, Jake tells him that they aren’t from there, and that they’ve come to see his brother who came with the Jericho men. The guy waves at another to come up, and has guns are cocked and ready, both inside and outside of the car, a guy in a sheriff’s jacket and badge says that Jake is Johnston Green’s son, and he’ll escort them to see Constantino. Jake uncocks his gun hidden below the window and follows the guy through the roadblock and into town.

As Jake and Hawkins get out of the car, a group of kids comes up and accosts them for food before being shooed away by the sheriff’s deputy. Jake looks at Hawkins as says “And I thought we had it bad” before the shot pans away from them and to the badly scorched county building in front of them.

Hawkins wonders what could have happened in New Bern, and Jake’s only response is “Ravenwood”, right before Constantino and his deputy come out of the building. Jake and Constantino get into a verbal sparring match about Eric’s disappearance, and the deputy jumps in saying that there are so many things that could have happened to Eric, which sets Jake to pushing. Hawkins breaks it up, and Constantino says that Eric’s disappearance got him to worrying about the safety of the Jericho men in New Bern, due to rumors floating around that the residents of New Bern weren’t all that happy with Jericho. He cites the lack of warning about Ravenwood and the idea that Jericho might renig on the food deal for the windmills. Constantino is at least seemingly sympathetic that he realizes that they are upset and in desperate times, looking for someone to blame. Hawkins asks where was the last place that Eric was seen, and the deputy answers with the factory during his shift. He goes on to ask what it is that they can do to help Jake and Hawkins, and Jake asks to see Heather.

Darcy is listening to the radio broadcast from the repaired Marine radio, repeating the same message with no new information. Deputy Jim comes in and thanks her for taking the shift of listening, and she responds that it was the least that she could do to not feel like a freeloader in his house. He replies that she’s the best houseguest ever, since she cooks and cleans, and that they are dreading the day that she and Hawkins get back together. When he realizes his faux pas, they both laugh, then Jim gets serious, saying that he’s got something that he needs to show Darcy. He pulls a picture that Sam drew, which is full of monsters, a house and bleeding people on the ground and says that he’s not a therapist, but it seems that Sam is dealing with some trauma. Darcy thanks him, and says that he’s sure that it has to do with the bombs, and Jim disagrees, saying that this drawing is too specific in his mind for something like that. Darcy tells him that she’ll talk to him when he comes by there after school, and Jim seems to accept it.

Johnston is showing Mary how to use sand to help keep the still together and working, and when she asks him how he learned this, he laughs and says that like anything fun and illegal, he learned it from his father. When Mary says that means the stories that Eric has told her are true, he agrees. Johnston turns the conversation to Eric via “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”, saying that men need to hole up in a cave sometimes. Mary agrees, and Johnston is adamant to tell her that this whole situation isn’t her fault, that it isn’t anyone’s fault.

Jake and Hawkins are receiving a tour of the factory in New Bern, and the deputy brings Ted (from Black Jack) up to the boys, who launches into an obvious lie that Heather and Eric went off to Jericho this morning, borrowing his car. While no one looks as though they believe this, Jake thanks Ted and shakes his hand when it’s offered. A firefighter in turn-out gear comes up and says that they have to clear the building, and when Hawkins asked Constantino what’s going on, he tells them that the machines had to be retro-fitted after the EMP and one of them caught fire. Constantino then asks Jake if he got all that he needed, and Jake says yes, a little too brightly in my opinion. When Constantino tells them that they’ll be escorted out of town, Hawkins says that they don’t need it, and Constantino says that it’s policy. Hawkins says that he seems big on policy, Constantino replies that since Ravenwood came into town, he’s big on anything that keeps the town safe.

Jake and Hawkins drive up to the roadblock, and discuss the lack of sincerity on New Bern’s finest in their dealings with them today, and Jake shows Hawkins a post-it that Ted slipped him when he shook hands with directions to a trailer park lot on the side of town, the note having the standard “Come Alone” tacked onto the bottom. Hawkins says “So are we done here?” while checking the clip on his gun and Jake just smiles wryly as they drive through the roadblock.

Over on the Richardson’s farm, Stanley’s having a moment to freak out about Hipster Boy (Sean) and Bonnie being in the same house, with Mimi’s sanction. Stanley throws a fit, saying that he only asked one thing of Mimi, and when Mimi jumps back at him, telling him that he can’t treat her like a child anymore, because Bonnie isn’t, and that if he keeps up this complete contempt for Sean that all it’s going to do is drive Bonnie straight to Sean. She tells him that yes, it’s a pain in the ass, but it’s a manageable pain in the ass with them under their roof, and that she suggests he keeps it that way.

Hawkins and Jake easily evade the permiter guards outside the trailer park, making their way to the trailer park lot specified on Ted’s note. Before they get to the trailer, though, Jake notices the deputy’s (Perkins) truck, obviously staking out Ted’s trailer. When he voices this to Hawkins, Hawkins responds with a “Why don’t we ask him” and they make their way over to the truck, surprising Perkins and taking his gun before leading him into the trailer.

Ted doesn’t know anything other than Perkins forcing him to tell Jake the lie about Eric and Heather leaving that morning, but that Heather didn’t come into work this morning, and something was wrong and no one seemed to know anything. Hawkins looks at Perkins and says, “Or someone knows something” which draws all eyes on the deputy.

Jake starts roughing up Perkins, asking about his brother, while Hawkins calmly goes rifling through Ted’s cabinets, pulling out a grater, a couple of knives, a sharpener and Drano and laying them out on the countertop as he says that answers are easy, but the truth is a little harder to come by. Even Jake seems a little shocked at Hawkins starts sharpening up a chef’s knife, cool and collected, and Ted just looks like he’s going to puke.

Hawkins calmly asks Perkins when was the last time that he saw Eric Green, and he comes back that he saw Eric and Heather sabotage the machinery that caught on fire and when he says that they ran away, Hawkins laughs, then asks Jake to hold Perkins’ knees. As they start to get to Perkins, he admits that Constantino gave them an order for an S.O.S., which doesn’t mean something nice, but Shoot On Sight, which Hawkins clues us in to. Hawkins asks what is in the factory, and he says that he doesn’t know, but that Constantino does. Hawkins pulls Jake aside and says that they need to see what’s in that factory, and Jake agrees after a moment. Hawkins then talks to Ted, asking if he has somewhere to go that’s safe and tells him to grab what’s important, because he’s not coming back there.

Hawkins releases Perkins from the bindings, and then stands him, execution style, leaning against the counter. When it looks as if he’s going to shoot Perkins, Jake yells out, which seems to break the moment, and Hawkins just handcuffs him to the sink drain. Jake and Hawkins leave, and Jake confronts Hawkins with “his way” of doing things. When Jake asks him what he was going to do, Hawkins replies with “Less than you would have.” He goes on to explain that the threat of torture is much more effective than actual torture, and that actual torture only works in the movies.

Stanley tells “the family” about one of the guys at the factory that was starving to death, and Mimi says that she never thought that she’d be thankful to live on a farm. Stanley smiles and says that while they don’t have much, they’ll have enough when Sean pipes in with his contribution that all they need to do is get the internet back up. Bonnie chokes a little on her food as he goes on to explain that you can do anything on the internet with the “virtual” world. When Bonnie asks him where they would get all the stuff that they need, which Stanley expands on with food, clothing, etc., Sean tells them that all they’ll have to do is order it online.

Sweet kid, not a lot going on up there in his noggin.

Mimi tries to redirect the conversation from degrading even more by telling Stanley how helpful Sean has been in helping around the farm. And then Sean has to go and stick his other foot in his mouth by saying that it’s weird because he’s more of “Vibe Guy”. Stanley has no clue (hell, I had to wait for his explanation), and Sean goes on to say that he’s never been much of a physical labor kind of guy, more the guy that you like to hang around because of his “vibe”. Stanley just can’t do it anymore and leaves the room, grabbing Sean’s bag and is about to throw him out when Mimi steps in, and Bonnie’s shooting death rays through her eyes. He ends up just throwing his bag next to the couch and says that Sean will be sleeping there from now on before sitting back down at the table.

Johnston is regaling Mary with stories of Eric while they drink some coffee before heading back to take a look at the still.

Sam comes into the sheriff’s office while Darcy’s out, and Jim asks him to come into his office to have a chat about his artwork.

Russell comes into Dale’s store, and Dale introduces him to Skylar. Russell launches into a proposed partnership between him and them, trading salt and supplies. Skylar looks to Dale, who doesn’t say anything. When she asks him when he needs an answer by, he says tomorrow before he leaves.

Jake and Hawkins make their way into the New Bern factory, and all is quiet there. They come across a door that has a recent “Authorized Personnel Only” sign tacked onto it, and in that room they find a blackboard on which a full inventory of Jericho is listed, and on the other side, a detailed map of the city and outlying areas are mapped out with sections divided up between the major players of New Bern. Hawkins asked what it is that they (New Bern) know that they (Jericho) don’t.

Darcy sees Jim chatting with Sam in his office, and walks in on them, asking Sam what it is that they were talking about. When Sam tells her that they were talking about his drawings, Darcy asks him to wait in the waiting room for her, and turns on Jim, who says that he’s just trying to help. Darcy responds that Sam’s been through enough without being poked and prodded, and that she will be the one to handle the problems that Sam’s going through.

Stanley and Mimi are outside, and Bonnie joins them to tell Stanley Thank you for not kicking Sean out of the house, and for not telling him that he’s an idiot even though he is one. As they get more animated signing, Mimi clears her throat to remind them that she can’t sign without actually saying that she can’t sign. Bonnie goes on to say that while Sean’s an idiot, he can also be great, and that’s just what you have to deal with in any dealings with guys. When Stanley asks where she learned that from, she points to Mimi before walking over to Sean. Sean signs to her, and Stanley asks when did he learn to sign. Mimi replies that he’s sleeping with a deaf girl, which Stanley doesn’t want to hear. But he finally says that if dealing with Sean as a thorn in his side is all he has to deal with, then he should consider himself lucky.

Skylar presents Gray with paperwork saying that she’s an emancipated minor, stalling his argument that she can’t have the mine interest from her parents. When they disagree, Gray pulls the fact that for this document to be acknowledged, her parents would have to be dead in her mind. He then asks Dale, since he’s obviously advising her, how creative he got in detailing her parents’ deaths to her, since New York survived. Skylar starts to weep, and says that it’s just a piece of paper before Gray hands it back to her and they leave.

Jake and Hawkins are still going through the factory, where they come upon ammunitions being made, mainly mortar rounds. Hawkisn says that they need to get back to town, and Jake says that they need to stop them before he runs off with a quick “cover me” to Hawkins.

Jake, of course, gets caught.

They haul him off to jail, which is (not) surprisingly occupied, unlike Jericho. He hears his name whispered across the hall, and sees a much-beaten Eric in the cell opposite him.

Johnston walks in, sheepish, apologizing for missing dinner. When Gail rails at him, he says that they promised Eric that they would take care of Mary, and Gail responds that she thought that meant keeping her alive, not spending all day with her to do some heavy lifting, which Johnston just walks away from. Gail, shocked, wonders out loud if Johnston thinks that Eric left because of her, and Johnston replies that Eric left for a lot of reasons, but Mary may be the only reason he’ll come back.

Darcy is staring at Sam’s drawing while Sam is packing up some more toys from the Hawkins’ house. As she tries to broach the subject, Jim knocks at the door, and says that he needs to talk to Darcy. She sends him upstairs for something and Jim says that he thinks that Sam’s trying to say something with his drawing. Darcy looks shocked, and waits for the other shoe to drop. Jim, though, true to form, goes the higher road and thinks that Sam’s drawings are all about Darcy and Hawkins’ splitting up, and that he let Sam know that he’s not alone.

Russell visits with Gray to say that everything is ok, and he tries to pull the “quarter stake in the mines” as he did with Skylar and Dale, which Gray sees through pretty quickly. While I agree with Gray (stop my heart, I agreed with him!), I do think calling Skylar and Dale the Olson Twins was a bit much, though exceedingly funny. When Gray says that he doesn’t care about what New Bern thinks, Russell tells him that he should.

Jake watches the guard make his rounds in the jail, and Eric starts telling him that he found the map and showed it to Heather, who didn’t think that New Bern was capable of doing that. When she saw the mortars being made, however, she changed her mind.

Gray’s kicking Russell out of his office and Russell tries to explain to Gray that things are out of his control, and when Gray tells one of the cops outside to put a detail on the salt mine, Russell tells him that he’s already got men up there.

Constantino gets the starving people of New Bern good and riled up for a war with Jericho, pulling out the stops on inflaming the rumors that Jericho is hoarding food and that they sent Ravenwood to them.

Eric tells Jake that they got caught by trying to destroy the factory machinery that was making the mortars, and that he was sent there, and that they killed Heather. (What?!?!?!) The guards pull Eric and Jake out to the waiting mob, and Constantino uses them as the scapegoats for their fire, while Hawkins watches from the shadows, obviously trying to sort out what to do.

And if you’ve made it this far, gentle readers, let me know your thoughts in the comments, while I try to sort out why the Jericho writers are trying to pull a Joss Whedon on me by killing off my favorite characters.