Series Finale – Jericho – “Patriots and Tyrants”

“Patriots and Tyrants”

March 25th, 2008

You know, say what you will about Jericho, but I have to point out how frustrating the title of this finale is. By the end of the show’s short second season, there is no questions – the world can be boiled down simply to patriots and tyrants in the world of Jericho, as we saw as the Cheyenne government’s days are coming to an end while we leave Jake and Hawkins on their way to finish saving the world.

This episode was always bound to be a disappointment due to the circumstances of the show’s cancellation, but for the most part it was a dramatic failure less due to its own accord and more due to the short season. There were arcs being resolved in this episode that were never given adequate time to develop. Would we not have been more involved with storylines like Beck’s redemption if, in fact, we had spent time in an episode examining his back story with his family? And wouldn’t we care somewhat more about Cheyenne being bombed if we knew anyone who lived in the city other than the evil Jennings & Rall? Wouldn’t we have wanted to spend more time with John Smith, or examining the nature of diplomacy in this new America?

The answer to all of these questions is an emphatic yes, which means that I left this finale wondering just how much dramatic potential had been by necessity left on the table. It’s never good when you’re thinking about what’s not there, as opposed to what it is, but thus is the nature of the only vaguely satisfactory series finale.

However, let’s take a look at what the episode brought, how it ended, and why the show’s chances of being picked up by another network are now even more slim.

It was during the plane sequences when you felt the time crunch they were under – there was huge leaps of time as Jake and Hawkins jumped over numerous security hurdles without even a problem. One wonders how this would have gone if spread over two episodes – I think the pacing would have worked better, especially since it seemed like their storyline moved so fast while the one in Jericho moved at a slow but meaningful pace.

One of the problems that the show has faced is the trouble of representing multiple different narratives in the span of only seven episodes. The result was that when the main “plot” took center stage, you lost some of the Jericho charm that we are used to seeing. Here, I felt that Bonnie’s death provided a strong grounding – it reminded us what was at stake, it gave us the heart in Mimi’s vow to Stanley, and it made for a sobering experience in the fact of oncoming war. I wanted to see more of that, really, but that would have required a two-hour finale not possible due to the rushed production schedule that had all episodes done before their aired.

The two focuses of the episode were two storylines we’ve seen coming: Jake and Hawkins playing Jack Bauer and Beck finally realizing the corruption of the Cheyenne government. I think that the latter storyline just didn’t work – we didn’t spend enough time with Beck to really empathize with his position, and while Morales has done some great work in the role everything felt too easy. His soldiers were too forgiving, and even if he is on the side of “good” in the fight ahead we never got a sense of evil. I would have liked to see Valenti, or spend more time with Smith, simply because I felt like the episode lacked a personified threat. The season lost its villain when Goetz died, and this episode seemed aimless as a result.

As for the straight out of 24 plotting that we saw from the trip to Cheyenne, it was engaging and predictable television. I think it was all a bit too easy, and I would have loved to see things be stretched out even a little bit (Extended Finale for DVD?), but in the end it felt like an event bigger than the rest of the series which is one of the things I look for in a finale.

Plus, while it is certainly not perfect, I thought that Jake and Hawkins’ discussion of what it’s like to make history was a nice parable for the series, and for the fans who saved it. There was so much potential left in their speech, a civil war and a political undertaking, that it’s hard not to want to know what happens next. Considering that we left Jericho on some final words from Johnston Green flying from the flag pole, and the war likely going in their favour after swinging Texas, I think we’re supposed to be optimistic…but imagining victory is different than seeing it.

In terms of where it could go from here, there are newer comments about Barbee and Co. shopping the series to other networks and in other formats. While this is likely how Friday Night Lights will survive for a third season, what Jericho is heading towards is not a cheaply produced football drama. Jericho is heading towards Civil War, towards an outright war – war, believe it or not, is not cheap. This isn’t something that a network is likely to jump on unless they are willing to go the route of spinning off the military aspect of the series and eliminating its serial nature.

That idea, of taking the ensuing conflict and creating a series in the vein of The Unit, is probably something that CBS would jump on…but also something that completely ignores the heart of Jericho that fans fell in love with. It is these unfortunate financial reality that will likely keep that Jericho off the air, even if some part of this franchise survives. I’d like to see more about this fictional, but realistic, conflict in the future, and I’m hoping they figure out something…but that something won’t be the same.

As far as Series finales go, this one didn’t feel like it: we got little resolution, the character arcs never had time to grow, and we’re left asking for more and feeling as if we didn’t get enough. And yet, if we compare this to what came last season on a battlefield and with a tank, I do feel as if we better understand where this nation is headed. And, to an extent, I think that fans also have more guidance, more solace in what they’ve seen and what it means to them…or maybe that’s wishful thinking, and all this did was leave us wanting more.

Cultural Observations

• For those who are going to try (likely in vain) to reinstate the series, I didn’t see anything outright that could be send to CBS unless someone wants to send out some rattlesnakes…as pets, of course! What did you think I meant?
• I was disappointed to see that Pamela Reed only returned for one episode – while I thought her appearance last week was timely, her completely disappearing here was kind of frustrating.
• I just watched the finale of Veronica Mars over the weekend, and I must admit that I’m glad Jericho didn’t go the Rob Thomas route, which was clearly ending on a cliffhanger to try to force the network’s hand. Jericho has run its course on CBS, so it going out on at least an optimistic note is better in the end.