CBS is bringing back Jericho for a partial second season. Is it worth your time to catch up on the series and could something like the show really happen?
A nuclear holocaust destroys over a dozen major U.S. cities, kills close to 50 million people, decimates the nation's commercial and communications infrastructure, and effectively shutters the national government.
This is the backdrop to the much-talked about CBS show Jericho, executive produced by Jon Turteltaub, Stephen Chbosky and Carol Barbee. It debuted in September 2006, and was cancelled after a disappointing first season. Disappointing, at least, insofar as ratings were concerned. Thanks to a massive grassroots fan campaign, however, CBS is bringing the show back for a second go-around (albeit a partial one).
Since Jericho is a continuing series, with each episode following and building on plot points from the previous ones, it would be a mistake to start with Season 2. Accordingly, viewers can catch the reruns Fridays at 9 Eastern or can watch all the episodes in their entirety at Jericho's Emmy-nominated <a href="http://www.cbs.com/primetime/jericho/">website.</a href>
The question is: Is it worth one's time to do that? After all, CBS cancelled Jericho after one season due to disappointing ratings. So, should one even bother catching up on it?
Jericho, Kansas is the fictional center-point for a cast of characters that includes rising stars Skeet Ulrich and Ashley Scott as well as the venerable Gerald McRaney. The dynamics and on-screen chemistry between the cast members are compelling.
However, as talented as the cast, Jericho excels in its writing. The development of the characters is deep and captivating. Viewers don't know, for instance, until several episodes into the season, whether the mysterious "Hawkins" (portrayed by Lennie James) is good or bad. But they realize rather quickly that he's a character worth knowing.
The main character, Jake Green (played by Skeet Ulrich), is equally absorbing. Throughout the series, viewers are given greater insight into Jake via a compelling backstory that takes him from an immature embarassment to his family to the leader to whom Jericho's citizens increasingly turn.
In addition to rich characters, Jericho's writers have given fans a gripping world within which people can explore some of the weightier questions of life. To what lengths will desperate people go to feed and clothe their families? What makes someone turn "bad"? How complacent have we become as citizens in what is a very stable and prosperous nation? What would it take to turn our world upside-down?
Of course, a show like Jericho begs the question of believability. Could such a scenario, as depicted in the show's first season, take place?
Without giving too much away in terms of plot, the United States is unraveled and brought to its knees by a loosely-defined terrorist conspiracy -- one that may have reached into the upper levels of our own government. And it's a conspiracy that Hawkins helps bring to Jericho's doorstep.
First, could terrorists mastermind such a massive nuclear devastation - one that would level over a dozen major U.S. cities? At this point, the scenario seems unlikely. There are extensive checks-and-balances within the U.S. government (not to mention the "check" provided by a thorough news media) to ferret out any would-be conspirators on the inside.
In addition, at least according to the U.S. government, terrorist organizations have not yet acquired nuclear weapons capability. Of course, one might question how forthcoming the U.S. government would be if terrorists were to acquire such means. In addition, one might wonder how extensive and thorough U.S. government information is on that topic. One would hope, however, that it's greater than the writers and producers of Jericho.
Second, would the destruction of several major U.S. cities (including the capital) successfully bring down the U.S. government and unravel the nation? In Jericho, the national government is completely decapitated - the bomb in Washington, DC apparently going off while the President speaks to a joint session of Congress - and a dispute over presidential succession leads to separate U.S. "governments" and "capitals."
This is the most unlikely of the show's scenarios. While it makes for great drama, the United States Constitution is (still) pretty well burned into the psyche of most Americans - though there are signs of this eroding, thanks to our increased historical illiteracy and judicial activism.
It is HIGHLY unlikely that the U.S. military (much of which would no doubt be recalled from overseas deployments) and the nation's law enforcement infrastructure (federal, state, and local) would be so easily divided up between competing heads of state as Jericho suggests.
There is always at least one high-ranking federal Cabinet official missing from a presidential appearance before a Joint Session of Congress. This person is usually at a highly secure location away from potential catastrophe - like that portrayed in Jericho. In the event of a Jericho-like holocaust, this person would quickly seize the reins of power - and unite the nation's military behind him or her.
What IS likely, however, is that the longer the nation's heartland went without a working economy, adequate money supply, power, transportation, etc., the more the nation would slide toward disorder and anarchy. And this part of Jericho is very realistic, with gangs and even towns preying on one another for survival.
Whatever its shortcomings in the Department of Realism, Jericho is great TV drama. It is well worth your time. Let us just hope the scenarios depicted in Jericho remain in the category of fiction.
