Of all the reasons that CBS executives gave last summer for reversing their decision to cancel “Jericho,” one they didn't give seems in hindsight the most obvious: strike insurance.
Though the three-month-long work stoppage by writers appears to be almost over, CBS is now looking kind of shrewd, picking up seven episodes of the post-nuclear thriller set in a mythical part of western Kansas and saving them until late winter, when the network's cupboard was bare. The show's on at 9 p.m., a much better hour for a thriller of this kind. It doesn't even have to go up against “American Idol.” Things are looking up for “Jericho,” if not Jericho.
(Check out CBS's pretty amazing "Jericho" show website.)
Just in case, however, the producers have taken nothing for granted. This ain't “Lost.” Rather, it's a straight-ahead hour that assumes no prior knowledge on the part of the viewers. Which is just as well, because it's a whole new world Jericho finds itself in, even though the gap between last season and this one is four weeks.
Four weeks since the residents of Jericho and the neighboring town of New Bern hurled armaments at each other in a military battle that might take place today in Anbar Province. Four weeks since the U.S. Army moved in -- yes, Uncle Sam is suddenly back on the scene as the details of what happened outside of Kansas become clear. Four weeks since a shadowy puppet regime based in Cheyenne, Wyo., began consolidating power among survivors west of the Mississippi, led by a new president, who's played by a certain college classmate of mine you may have seen as the groom in the “Father of the Bride” films, among other things.
That's right. In just four weeks, we've gone from the New Bern War to George Newbern.
Oh, the regulars are all still there: Hawkins (Lennie James) is still working undercover for truth, justice and what remains of the American way -- if anyone's going to figure out who set off those nukes, he's the guy. Jake (Skeet Ulrich) is still the civilian leader of Jericho, having defended his town against the New Bern nasties.
But now there are U.N. peacekeepers guarding the “blue line,” aka the Mississippi. An Army commander (Esai Morales) is trying to manage the uneasy truce between the two Kansas towns. President New is spreading the word that the North Koreans and Iran set off the bombs. Closer to home, a private-sector company has been dispatched to perform pretty much all the tasks that we would normally associate with government.
For those of you who have been following the show “Battlestar Galactica,” some of what's going on in Jericho is going to seem a little familiar, because let's face it, every fictional occupation these days sounds a lot like a metaphor for Iraq. (One must salute the writers' restraint in not placing the new capital precisely in Dick Cheney's hometown of Casper.)
But there are some interesting exchanges that echo closer to home. We'll meet a big-city reporter who knows some of the government's darker secrets, but would rather tag along with the White House press pool because America doesn't want to hear the messier version of events. “If I thought anyone was willing to listen anymore, believe me, I'd be talking,” he says. And there's a whole subplot about rebooting the country, one that puts a sinister twist on Thomas Jefferson's adage about needing a revolution every 20 years.
Of course, there are the domestic and romantic sideshows, but these are even less prominent than they were a season ago. Mostly, the first two hours of “Jericho” are nonstop tension, and as compelling as any two hours of “24,” though not as slick or as addicted to adrenaline.
“Jericho”
Seven new episodes of “Jericho” air beginning 9 p.m. Tuesday on CBS (KCTV-5). Season one begins airing 9 p.m. Mondays on Sci Fi and in high definition on Universal HD (times vary).
