Jericho: Patriots And Tyrants
By fred | March 26, 2008
(S02E07) If the fate of the town of Jericho is still in the hands of its people, there’s nothing that can save the show now. Last night was the very last episode of the show, the series finale. I don’t doubt that many fans will not be happy about this, thinking this is, as Jake once said, “nuts!” But the fact and the matter is, this is the end, and there’s no way CBS will ever bring it back.
But at least this time we knew before going in, and even more importantly this time producers & writers knew as well, and so they could write it as a series finale, instead of ending it on a cliffhanger with ideas of what would come next, only to never be able to make that happen. Thanks to the millions of fans who loved the show enough, and that maybe Nielsens refuses to see, we all got to enjoy a real finale for this great show, and that’s a great thing that, sadly, we don’t get to have for many (great) series.
So, how does this ending left you feeling ? Sad, of course, I would imagine, if only because this was the last time we got to see everyone and that’s never something to enjoy. But further than that, and besides wanting more of Jericho, how was this episode ? Did you like it, or did it disappoint ?
I have to be honest, much like this entire season, I really liked it. I thought this second season has been a really great thing, faster and stronger than the first one ever was, and despite flaws it’s been a really great journey. And it ended exactly like we expected it to, with Hawkins kicking ass like no one else does !
Not only did we get explosions, but they happened in mid-air mind you ! Explosions, planes, and Hawkins only using force when he has to, of course this time he had to, and the way he twisted that guy’s neck was just awesome, I don’t think even Jack Bauer could have done it that well ! There’s no doubt that many things got resolved, it had a real sense of closure, despite leaving the story open for more, and I overall really enjoyed the episode.
It was great, and of course you have to love how Texas was the savior for the used to be the USA. Texas for chosen because it was the opposite of Washington DC or New-York, it’s not where the big companies headquarters are, it’s not where the politics are, it’s where the people are.
Now that this is said, I have to talk about what I didn’t like so much, and that could be summed up by saying that mainly, it was way too much of a happy ending (for my taste). I mean let’s look at it : now only did Jake & Hawkins located the bomb, got their hands on it, and brought it to Texas to expose the whole J&R conspiracy, but no one died on the way. Of course I don’t count enemies, including Smith, or the new guy we didn’t know nor cared about 5 seconds ago.
In Jericho, not only did Beck finally realized his mistakes (more on that later), but his men did too and everyone was happy. The mayor finally got back to Jericho after being away to do absolutely nothing, and he just put a new flag up, Eric made the right decisions, no one fought, it was all a happy blissful peace. And after burying Bonnie, Stan & Mimi pretty much got married. I don’t think things could have ended any better than they did, it was like a dream, a dream where everything goes as you wish they would, even if that goes beyond common sense.
On the whole bomb plot, I don’t think it should have done much different, also I wouldn’t have minded if the bomb went off in Cheyenne, or if Jake’s plane exploded in the air, although that would have probably not have been enjoyed by (most) fans. No the only thing that bugged me in there is the fight in the air, because it was made of very TV-stupid moves.
I mean really, the planes from Cheyenne had more than enough time to destroy Jake’s plane, they were behind him ready and willing to fight before the planes from the Texas Air National Guard showed up. We all know how critical for the government that mission was, and I’m sure it was made clear to them it was a matter of life & death, for everyone. They should have fired before the Texan planes showed up, or when they opened fire, when they saw the missiles coming right up they shouldn’t have tried to move away, but first push the freaking button and destroy Jake’s plane.
That whole thing was just how things happens in movies or on TV, to get the full suspense all along the way, to drag the tension as long as possible and only disarm the bomb when the timer reads 0:00 Maybe not much, but done a little differently it would have really made that scene better & more powerful, at least I think so.
