Watching Jericho

So, with the close of this week, we’re now officially over half-way through the season, and I have to say…. I finally like it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m over the moon when it comes to the fact that it’s just back on the air at all, but I truly didn’t like the first two episodes (Reconstruction and Condor), and had you asked me after watching just those two episodes, the only redeeming value I found from them were Chavez and Beck. All of our tried and true returning characters dropped the ball, in my opinion. Which I think is why I’ve had such a hard time getting up the energy to write up any true recaps for these episodes for the second season.

Then came Jennings & Rall, and I finally saw a good chunk of the great storytelling and the characters that I fell in love with back and ready to roll. I came back to caring as to whether or not Jericho Kansas existed in my mind, and wondered with everyone else what the hell was going to happen.

That’s right… search through the archives over on your right, and you’ll see how much energy I’ve invested in this show and these characters over the past year and a half, and I just couldn’t seem to care about them for the first two episodes.

I was almost afraid that Jennings & Rall was a fluke, given that the first two episodes were disappointing to me, so I didn’t stress when I missed watching Oversight and just made sure it was on my DVR. I played it last night, and I’ve only got three no, four words for y’all.

Oh. My. God. Wow.

I couldn’t escape that I knew that someone was going to die, and even who it was* (Nope, not placing that one above the fold, just in case there’s folks out there who haven’t seen it yet) because, well, I live (and work) on the internet. But even knowing, it was still one of those moments in television that comes up and knocks you upside the head. And not only that scene in this episode, but most every bit of this episode was spectacular. Really spectacular.

I’m just hoping that the first two episodes were a fluke instead of the other way ’round. What do y’all think?

(more…)

SciFiWire has some great spoiler-y visions of the sets being built up for the upcoming 7-episode second season.

John Steinberg, co-creator and producer of the show, said in interviews that the seven episodes of the season will focus primarily on the introduction of these new outside elements to the town of Jericho and how its citizens respond to them.

“The first season was about that sort of invisible force, the government, the law, the financial system, all those things, disappearing, and living in a vacuum,” Steinberg said in an interview on the set. “And season two is about what happens when something comes back to replace that vacuum, and it’s not what you remembered being there when you left. And so that’s kind of the big arc of it, and how we respond to that and resist it or learn to deal with it.”

Read the whole article here.

The 4400, John Steinberg, Jericho, TV, television, USA, CBS

Esai Morales, who has been seen all over the place, but most recently in “NYPD Blue”, will be joining the cast of Jericho, comingsoon.net is reporting. He’ll be appearing in six of the seven new episodes in the coming season, which makes me think that he’ll be playing the character that Watch with Kristen a few weeks ago talked about called Col. Hoffman.

Now for a little scoop: We’re told the show welcomes a new character in the premiere: Col. Hoffman, a reliable and experienced military man, just might fill the void left by Mayor Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney). Apparently, he’s a good family guy, known for being faithful to his wife (who has been missing since the attacks) and fair to the men in his command. He plays a key role this year.

So, what do y’all think? Is Mr. Morales the Family-Man Col. Hoffman or someone we haven’t heard anything about yet.

Read the article on Esai Morales here, and the Watch With Kristen spoilers here.

Jericho, Esai Morales, Watch With Kristen, second season, Col. Hoffman, TV, television, CBS

Have you watched the Previews for this week’s Season Finale of Jericho? I caught it at the end of last week’s episode, and I threw some of my thoughts into the bottom of my recap, which has garnered a repeated comment:

CBS, Don’t kill off Johnston Green!

But that’s exactly where I think we’re heading to when it comes to Wednesday’s episode. We know that someone is going to die, because of spoilers and previews, but of course, they aren’t telling us who. Because of everything that has been thrown around, official and unofficial, it looks as though Gerald McRaney will be leaving Jericho, though a decent search can’t tell me what’s going on.

Don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the links at the bottom of the post. Then, come back and let me know what you think, and who it is that you think is going to be the one killed off.

Watch the Sneak Peek here. *Spoilers in this clip*

Watch the Preview here.

Jericho, Gerald McRaney, Johnston Green, Season Finale, TV, television, CBS

Mark your calendars, because the season finale has been set for Jericho as May 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, reports SCI FI Wire. Along with the date, they’ve also posted an “official” spoiler from CBS.

In it, one of the town’s leaders will not survive when Jericho must defend itself against an attack by the citizens of the nearby city.

While I promised a recap of One Man’s Terrorist yesterday, non-blogging life has unfortunately taken over with problems at work taking up my spare time, so it will be this weekend before I can get a chance to do the write-up, but my money’s on Gray to bite the bullet. Of course, they could pull a switch-a-roo on us still.

What do you think?

SCI FI Wire article here.

Jericho, Season Finale, TV, television, CBS

It’s really not a secret that I adore the character of Heather, played by Sprague Grayden, and the fact that it’s been a little irritating that she disappeared for so long only to come back for one episode (1.13 - Black Jack) just to disappear again off to her hometown to work on creating windmill parts. At least Kristen over at E! Entertainment is looking out for me.

SPOILER WARNING! – SPOILER WARNING!

We’ve gotten quite a few questions in this vein, and when I pressed Skeet Ulrich for info, he told me, “We definitely see Heather again, [but] I don’t know what the chances are of us hooking up. I’m not saying we won’t, but I’d give it about 10 to 1 odds right now.”

While it does make me a little sad that Jake and Heather aren’t on the horizon of following up that kiss, at least Heather will be back.

Now, we’ve got to run out and work on making sure that we get a second season of Jericho to see what happens in more detail with those two.

Read the whole thing here. (Near the bottom of the page)

Jericho, Sprague Grayden, Heather Lipinski, Skeet Ulrich, Jake Green, TV, CBS, television

Can’t wait until tomorrow to get a sneak peek at what’s going to happen for Jericho’s new episode, “The Day Before”? Well, wait no longer… (Mild Spoilers in the quote, but nothing that you weren’t aware of if you saw any ads for the episode)

“The Day Before” takes steps to change that. The episode begins 36 hours before the bombs go off and fills in gaps that I’ve been hoping they would fill in for months. We learn about Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich), the prodigal son of Jericho’s mayor, and his mysterious dealings with the private defense contractor Ravenwood. We learn about Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) and his association with the bomb plot.

Read the whole thing here.

Jericho, The Day Before, TV, television, CBS

Matt Roush over at TV Guide.com says yes at his column, Ask Matt.

When he was asked what shows he expected to come back next season, this was his response:

Five other sure bets: Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters on ABC, Shark and Jericho on CBS and probably 30 Rock on NBC (preserving the “comedy night done right” lineup).

So what do you think? Will Jericho come back for a second season, or will it end up being relegated to “Freaks and Geeks” status of a one season show?

Also, for more spoilers, check out Ask Ausiello for some great Jericho news. Kinda.

Jericho, Second Season, Spoilers, TV, television, CBS

Want to hear all about the Spring Season? Can’t wait until later in the month? Need your spoiler intake, and can’t find anything on the net?

Wait no longer, because Jace who writes at Televisionary out in Beverly Hills has your recap of the Spring Season Premiere right on his blog, written by a friend of his who is an avid Jericho fan.

While I would love to post a quote from his recap, because there are so many things that I think y’all would love to know about, I think all I’ll do is link to the post with the bold warning that Here Be Spoilers for those that aren’t interested in finding out anything out just yet.

Read the whole thing here.

Jericho, Spring Season, Premiere, Spoilers, TV, television, CBS