This week, things begin to heat up between New Burn and Jericho, leading into the final arc of the season. After tonight, only three episodes left!
A group of trucks returns from New Bern with the windmills, a few months earlier than the original agreement. Eric, however, is not with them. Jake confronts Russell about his brother's whereabouts. Russell says Jake should be worried, though he told Mary Eric stayed behind because he was still upset about April's death. Jake heads out to New Bern, recruiting Hawkins to go with him. Hawkins is reluctant to go, but of course finally agrees. Who can resist Jake's big brown eyes?
At New Bern, Mayor Constantino says his town was hit hard by Ravenwood, and many of the people blame Jericho. He was worried about the safety of the men from Jericho and sent them home. He takes Jake and Hawkins to the factory and tells them Eric and Heather both went home to Jericho after the others left.
But Ted slips Jake a note with the address to his trailer. Perkins is staking out Ted's trailer. Jake and Hawkins drag Perkins into the trailer and set about finding out the truth. Heather and Eric are both missing. Perkins is less than forthcoming, so Hawkins fixes to torture him. Hawkins is damn scary with the knifes and pointy things. Finally, Perkins says Eric and Heather sabotaged the factory, then ran away.
At the factory, Jake and Hawkins find a full inventory of Jericho's supplies on a chalkboard, as well as a detailed map of the town with different areas assigned to different people from New Bern. Turns out the folks of New Bern are making munitions in their factory, preparing for war. That's not very friendly. Jake tries to stop them and is apprehended by Constantino. He's taken to the jail. Surprise, surprise, there's his brother, also imprisoned, and a bit the worse for wear. Also really shaggy. He hasn't shaved in a long, long time. Sadly, Eric tells Jake that Heather is dead.
With Jake and Eric in custody, Constantino riles up the people of New Bern, telling them Jericho has no intention of living up to their side of the bargain regarding the windmills, and that Jericho wants to see New Bern destroyed. The Green brothers are dragged out in front of the crowd and accused of being sent to wreak havoc on New Bern.
Subplottyville:
Mayor Gray has a confrontation with Skylar over the salt, which she claims is 51% hers, but Gray won't acknowledge her claim as legitimate. Russell stops by to talk to them about helping them distribute the salt, but he wants half Skylar's share of the mine, which Mayor Gray insists isn't rightfully hers in the first place. In return, Russell will distribute and sell and also deal with Gray. Skylar files papers to declare her parents dead so she can claim the mine, but Gray refuses to acknowledge them.
Mary stops by the Greens' to give them the news about Eric's non-return. Johnston goes to help Mary with her still and they do some bonding. Gail doesn't seem too happy about this. She and Johnston have a bit of a tiff.
Stanley returns home to Mimi and Bonnie. Stanley's not happy about Bonnie's boyfriend staying in the house. Mimi tells him they should let it be, or risk running Bonnie out of the house and somewhere not safe. After some resistance from Stanley, Bonnie and Stanley finally bond a bit and settle their differences.
Sam is drawing scary, violent pictures. Jimmy brings this to Darcy's attention, thinking Sam might be dealing with some kind of trauma. Hm. Maybe this has something to do with his being held at gunpoint in his own house?
The windmills are put to work, and electricity is restored to Jericho. Russell talks to Gray about the salt. He's made a deal with Skylar in spite of Gray's opposition to her original plans. Russell tries to explain to Gray the situation with New Bern, in vague terms (that is, he doesn't come out and say, everybody at New Bern wants to kill everybody in Jericho to death), but Gray buckles down and sends men to guard the mine. That's not going to end well.
The conflict between Jericho and New Bern promises to bring the first season to a tumultuous close. While I enjoy this show for the most part, I still find myself a bit frustrated by the tendency to rely too often on stereotype, both in plot and characterizations. This week I liked the bits with the Greens--Johnston's acceptance of Mary in this situation plays a bit against his character, but makes sense. I also liked Stanley's final decision to accept Sean--again not entirely expected of him but it makes sense under the circumstances. Mayor Gray, on the other hand, is getting a bit tiresome. With all that salt around, can't he afford to buy a clue?
Jericho on iTunes:
