User Reviews

Unfortunate this was cut off after only two seasons. Had so much potential. Probably more than crappier shows today that last 5+ seasons.

Still relevant. Even 15 years later.

There are some cheese scenes though. That's why I rated a 8/10. Also... the tubby doofus cop that keeps digging is beyond annoying.

There are so many things that can be said about Jericho. It is fantasy drama based on U.S. foreign policy and corporate corruption in the government. It brilliantly brings atrocities committed by Blackwater in Iraq into the spotlight by bringing the issue home to the United States and showing "ravenwood" abusing U.S. citizens in the same way. Parallels and caricatures showing the actions of corrupt government, corporations, and individuals who have helped destroy United States Liberties and civil rights.

Jericho isn't light, and it isn't comfortable. It brings to light real life issues in a way that could make many blind followers of the military or military action very uncomfortable. The first season shows people struggling to survive after a tragedy and breakdown of modern society. The second season progresses showing how they are abused and subjugated by the new government formed by the very internal terrorists that destroyed the old one.

The show is well done and keeps your attention. Unlike mindless drama shows the characters her grow and learn allowing resolution and understanding. It's definitely something not truly meant for kids to see, but worthwhile for anyone old enough to understand politics, world issues, and the dangers of war and military being used for profit, control, and the enslavement of the people by supported corporations. In other words the show brings the real ugly face of government and corporate corruption to life using a fictional world representing traditional American culture being destroyed by in house corruption.

So we are done with the first season of this interesting premise combining the classic movie "The Day After" with the equally strong British post-catastrophe show from the seventies called "Survivors". The British show had a virus kill of 99% of the British population, so the rebuilding and maintaining of society and civilization is the same as here. However this US show is so far spending way to much time in close-ups of soapy sub-plots that belongs on daytime television instead being the though gritty tale it could be. I don't mind the big baddie lurking far away as a potential threat, but the story ought to focus on the rebuilding of society if it is going tell a meaningful tale. As with the "Invasion" show from 2005 nothing much happens at all between the pilot and episode 12 at which point it has almost painted itself into a corner... We will see what (if anything) happens to save the show. Points for pretty decent acting (although they killed the best one in the final - that was nuts...), potential and some of the subplots, but thats it - more than seven is nuts...

The premise is certainly interesting enough. A small town seemingly cut off from the rest of the world as civilization itself might have gone up with a mushroom cloud. It's a story that has been effectively told in the book Alas Babylon and the miniseries The Day After. Those are big footsteps to follow in, and I'm not too sure this show can do it.

For one, the characters all seem too artificial. We have the wayward son, the bullheaded father, the strong "glue" mother, and the brother who stayed loyal to dad. There's also the standard 2 girls for our hero to fall for: beautiful woman with past history, and hometown girl who can fix machinery. Plus there's other characters like the stranger who knows how to do everything (while apparently 98% of the rest of the town can't understand concepts like how to start a generator or how bad radiation is), outcast boy who pitches in to help, snotty rich girl who spurns outcast boy at first but is won over by a can of pop, and a host of other one dimensional characters with a single role to play, which is usually just to provide a way for the main characters to highlight their knowledge or show how heroic they are.

Like I said, the premise is sound. I want to know who or what caused these attacks. I want to know how wide spread it is. I want to see how the town survives. I'm just not at all convinced that I want to see the story unfold through these characters. I'll give it a little more time, but most likely I'll just stop watching and read up on the storyline if it survives the year.

Just finished watching Jericho on Netflix (all 29 episodes over two days). Others have written about the show's premise and storyline, so I won't repeat those here. As for my take on the show: First I have to say, anyone claiming that the acting is poor either stopped watching after a couple episodes or watched a different show entirely. Rarely have I seen such moving performances on television or anywhere else. I found myself relating to almost all the characters, and their hardships were believable and realistic. If anything, the acting was TOO moving; my wife and I were both teared up a few times, and given that several of the main characters die and there is no shortage of sad moments.

The other thing Jericho has no shortage of is red herrings. Just when you think you've an angle figured out, there comes a twist. But the twists make sense and keep you interested.

**spoilers** Behind the story of the characters is the hostile takeover of the USA by subversive forces within the US government itself. What appeals to me here is that the writers address the biggest problem our real life US government faces - severe corruption and the supremacy of corporate influence over our political system. The terrorists in Jericho are not religious zealots or militant patriots. They are very high ranking government officials working along with corporate interests to use a false flag operation (the nuke attacks) to take over the USA and replace the current government with a new one. The new one, in this case, is a federal government that delegates its day to day power to two corporations - Jennings & Rall (aka Haliburton) and Ravenwood (aka Blackwater). Of any threat to our democracy, corporate and banking influence are the most dangerous because they are the most powerful. Jericho presents us with a nightmare vision of what life would be like under the boot of such powers. The Bill of Rights is just a memory. No right to due process or fair trial; if you don't do what you're told you are a "security risk" and you disappear. Your property is subject to seizure without notice, warrant, or compensation. All of you personal information is recorded and put in a database. You have no privacy. Jennings & Rall control all commerce and bleed the people dry with price gouging while using Ravenwood to violently suppress any free market or black market competition, even while people suffer from want.

This really would be life under such corporations, and this is what Jericho shows us. And that, in turn, is what makes it so scary. Because if you stop to think about who the real threat in America is, it's not a handful of Saudis with box cutters on planes, or some poor deluded schmuck that the FBI can string along and then arrest for show. The real threat comes from capitalism overtaking democracy instead of complimenting it. It's a threat that is all too real, and Jericho warns us against allowing such a future to come to pass. That message, along with simply being a very well written and entertaining show, is what makes Jericho one of the great TV series of my time. Sadly, the shows ratings didn't live up to its writing and it was canceled way too soon. Evidently people would rather watch the likes of Snookie drunkenly prancing around making an immature ass of herself over trivial problems than come to grips with a potential future we may someday face in one form or another. Whatever. If you have two braincells to rub together and any grasp of the dangerous state that modern America is in, give Jericho a try.

***May contain spoilers*** For those naysayers that think this series won't make it, think again. It's subtly cerebral and has action in it as well. It has the makings of a very subtle psychological thriller and is full of suspense because it makes you really want to know why Denver was attacked. I really enjoy how the attack on Atlanta was discovered on an answering machine by a now-orphaned teenager. It leaves you wide open for guessing whether it was these two cities only as a show of terrorist force (given the times we live in)- or if it was a more widespread attack by a foreign aggressor nation.

You also get the sense of the community being affected when the mayor attempts to rally the citizens together in a united effort. The introduction of the former police officer from St. Louis is lacking, but it leaves me feeling that his role in responding to the attack is much more deeply rooted and agendas hidden. The conflict between the mayor and his son, the hero that saved that bus load full of children- and the son's redemption by performing the emergency tracheotomy on a child to save its life (while being assisted and watched by other children) really shows how people can adapt to stressful situations at any age and it shows our resolve and strength as Americans.

Overall, I think this will go well! Let's hope that the first episode was an hors'd'oeuvre and not the whole enchilada!

I'm fascinated by this show partly because I am a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction (Alas Babylon, The Day After, Testament, The Last Ship, Threads, On the Beach, etc). I recommend "Threads"(BBC 1984). After viewing it, you will wonder why someone hasn't done a good book or movie about Hurricane Katrina using it's premise.

But back to "Jericho." A town of five thousand in western Kansas, most of whose residents have no visible means of support. Where is the big employer, like a shoe factory or a plastic-extruding plant? You can't tell me the town is one to two thousand farmers and their families.

Farmers would be too busy and too far away to hang out in a bar all day, they'd have supplies of gasoline and food at their farms, plus old agricultural machinery and other equipment that doesn't require gasoline and there would be people who would have the knowledge to operate it.

A town of five thousand would have a courthouse, a bank, and leading citizens. There would be power dynamics and struggles that were in place before the catastrophe.

In the most recent episode we learn that the Greens have a ranch out in the countryside with a barn full of horses. A barn full of horses is a time-consuming high-maintenance endeavor, not some place you visit in the fourth episode because you need to get Jake Green worked up.

We also learn that the people of Jericho turn to the mayor and police when their utilities stop working. There does not appear to be an electric substation anywhere near the town nor anyone in the town who appears to know where the electricity came from.

It looks like the creators of this show got their concept for a small town from their experience with suburban bedroom communities. Jericho appears to work as if there were a large city no more than 20 minutes away by car, not like a town in the middle of nowhere.

If you take a look at the IMDb cast & crew page for this show, you will note there are no credited producers, directors or writers. You see executive producers, art, sound, SFX and miscellaneous crew, but just like the town of Jericho itself, there are no responsible adults to look to or blame.