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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 26 2008, 5:30 AM EDT (current) | Downunder | |
| Feb 15 2008, 1:59 AM EST | tmasen | 1 word added, 7 words deleted |
Changes
Key: Additions Deletions
Original air date: May 9, 2007 (season finale)
Morse code deciphered: To The Flag
Summary:
Jericho residents have to defend their town from an attack, but one of their leaders will not survive the encounter. - wikipedia.org
The residents of Jericho have survived the attack on their town but there is a lot more in store for them. - tv.com
In the first-season finale, Jericho battles New Bern in a lopsided confrontation, and Johnston struggles to lead his outnumbered citizens to victory: - tvguide.com
Episode recap:
The episode begins with Jericho residents in the town hall as Jake returns from a scouting mission to inform them that they are both greatly outnumbered and out gunned. Hawkins and Jake tell Johnston that Hawkins has access to a satellite he can use to track New Bern forces. Johnston tells Hawkins to get to it and keep him informed. Jake and Hawkins appeared stunned by Johnston's decisive statement, to which Johnston says he's going to war with the town that has the nearest Costco -- the day couldn't get any stranger.
The Jericho troops decide to make a stand at the Richmond farm. It is where the road splits and has the highest ground. Jake and Hawkins realize that the only way to defend themselves is to use the tank that was taken from the fake US Marines to defend the farm. The tank is then used to successfully defend the Richmond's farm from New Bern's initial attack by destroying a truck with their only mortar round and routing New Bern's advance force.
However any joy at this early success is swiftly tempered with the discovery that Johnston Green was shot as he followed the tank. Despite his sons' best efforts, he dies on the farmhouse's kitchen table, but not before apologizing to Jake for pushing him away, declaring his love for Eric and wishing his wife Gail was there with him.Throughout this episode, we view a flashback of Eric's wedding six years ago, with the episode sometimes moving between this past (which is given a very bright aura by relatively intense sunlight) and the present day (which, in contrast, appears dim with a grey, overcast sky) without a cut. Jake is Eric's best man, although Eric makes it very clear that this is only due to his mother pressing him into giving Jake the role. Prior to Jake's arrival at the reception, he is shown drinking with Emily, Stanley and Jake's grandfather. His grandfather recalls the story of a World War II U.S. Army commander who was out gunned and outnumbered by surrounding Nazis. The General was offered to surrender or fight; his response was simply "Nuts." When asked what it meant, Jake's grandfather said it meant "Go to hell." The American commander, whose name is not stated, is General Anthony McAuliffe.
Despite the tension between himself and Eric and the lack of confidence shown in him by his brother and mother (both wrote speeches for him, not trusting him to have written one himself), Jake succeeds in giving a relatively successful toast, although he later admits to his father that it was mostly his mother's words he used.
Darcy and Hawkins had earlier come to the conclusion that Hawkins isn't being hunted so the bomb can be used, but because he's one of the last surviving members of the conspiracy with evidence -- the uranium has a signature that can be traced.
Back in the present day, Hawkins' satellite connection is being tracked by an individual he believes to be the corrupt Thomas Valente. His connection is tracked, though the exact location not discovered before he cuts the satellite connection at Darcy's insistence. Right before the connection is broken, Hawkins notices that several hundred New Bern men are headed to Jericho in trucks, as well as a train containing several cars of men, probably several hundred more.
Meanwhile Heather is shown to be alive, contrary to Eric's claims in New Bern, having been found in car wreckage by a military patrol. She wakes up in an Army hospital tent at "Camp Liberty" in Southwest Nebraska. She urges Colonel Hoffman, the commander of the base, to
break up the fighting between New Bern and Jericho. Initially, he states that he must carry out his current orders of securing roads in the area. However, after passing on Heather's report to his superiors, Valente (seemingly still working inside the Intelligence infrastructure) informs Hoffman that a high priority "terrorist" has been located within 200 miles of Jericho and orders Hoffman to immediately mobilize to "clear" this skirmish before searching for the fugitive.Prior to this, Hoffman informed Heather that a federal government has been restored with the capital in Cheyenne, Wyoming, although Texas and "a block in the east" are apparently in dispute with this new authority. Valente later mentions that the new president is Senator Tomarchio, as referenced in "Black Jack". It is not known if Tomarchio was part of the conspiracy behind the attacks. After watching the troops dispatching for Kansas, Heather notices that a heavily altered version of the Stars and Stripes is flying over the base. Heather is shown to be clearly taken aback by this symbol of change. It has been suggested that this is the U.S. Civil Flag of Peacetime, a valid flag, but one that hasn't really been used in the last 100 years. Additionally, the theory behind the "Civil Flag" is that it would fly over civilian government facilities while the traditional "Military Flag" would fly over military facilities. So why would the "Civil Flag" be flying over Camp Liberty, a military facility?
-- There is much contention however that there is no "Civil Flag of Peacetime"
her head against his. Jake explodes into sobs and Emily sit with him silently, both of them crying. Within a minute he stands up and tries to cover up his sadness. He gets word from Hawkins about the coming train and prepares his men for the impending battle. After hearing this, he looks back at Emily who is still standing on the porch behind him. He, without a word, instantly walks towards her and immediately kisses Emily. The impulse of their feelings for each other finally surface as the kiss continues. The scene ends when they are looking intensely into each other's eyes. Jake is walking back to prepare for the upcoming battle when Stanley reveals to him that he's planning to ask Mimi to marry him. Hawkins says he is going to use the tank, even though it is unarmed, to stop the train. Hawkins wishes Jake luck and drives away on his own in the tank. Jake receives a radio message from Constantino, apologizing for Johnston's death and saying that New Bern is too desperate to give up. Constantino then offers Jake the choice of surrender one final time so no one else will be hurt. Jake's response is simply "Nuts" followed by "Go to hell." Jake also makes clear he holds Constantino personally responsible for his father's death and intends to exact revenge himself. The episode ends in a "cliffhanger". The men of Jericho see a cloud from smoke grenades blocking who is coming up the road. Jake orders the defenders, who include Jimmy, Stanley, possibly Mimi and Bonnie, Skylar, and Dale, not to fire. Heather stares around at the insides of the base, trying to figure out what is going on. Hawkins is sitting on the tank on a hill over the railroad and notices several military helicopters flying overhead. Jake then orders the town's defenders to fire as the show fades to black with only the sound of the ensuing firefight in the background.
Recreation of the flag flown at the army base:
Quotes:
Johnston: "The people elected you as their leader. You're to be protected at all costs. Besides, I'm gonna need your help in a minute."
Gray: "Help? With what?"
Johnston: "Loadin' up our tank."
***
Bill (after firing the tank): "...Did you see what I just did?!"
***
Hawkins: "Twenty minutes, give or take?"
Jake: "Please tell me you have a plan, and a really good one."
Hawkins: "I need to borrow your tank."
***
Stanley: "I'm gonna ask Mimi to marry me."
Jake: "Yeah?"
Stanley: "Yeah. She can't cook, she's never seen nine innings of a baseball game, and she hates my clothes. But I love her, and I'm happy. Jake...I really don't want to do die today."
Questions for next episode:
Q. Was Jericho shooting at New Bern or the Army? The only thing we could see was a truck but both groups have them.
A1. More than likely it was New Bern's men that they were firing at, the army was to far way to arrive there in that amount of time. Most likely the battle will end when the helicopters fly over the battle and everyone will stop to see what is going on. - Weapon_X33026
A2. New Bern. Even though we're working with "television time" and anything can happen, there wasn't enough time for the Army to arrive from Nebraska.
A3. New Bern. The Fake Army from Nebraska (Cheyenne) could not possibly make it and the Real Army from the East is coming on the train, along with their Apache Attack Helicopters.
Q. Are those New Bern's men on that train?
A1. I do not think that if New Bern had access to a train they would worry about taking Jericho they could go anywhere they wanted to through the USA train system. Why go against a town who has little food when you can go to a less devastated area that is not near the target cities and start over there. - Weapon_X33026
A2. Given that the train was in motion before the Army was informed, it's probably New Bern's men. They know the rail is good between Jericho and New Bern and don't have to risk unknown territory.
A3. Hawkins seemed too surprised of what was on the train for it to be New Bern. It could be an army supply train that happened to be on it's way to Nebraska.
A4. The only ones that knew about the tracks that we know of are Hawkins, Johnston, Jake, Eric, and Maggie.... and..... Russell. He said he wanted to stop this. What if it was him and his men and the helicopters stop Hawkins from stopping the train. And Russell and his men get out and fight with Jericho???
A5. The men on the train are the Real US Army from the East. Why else in the world would there be Apache Attack Helicopters along side or in escort. Did you see how Hawkins was reacting. He would not react so strongly if it were the men from New Bern. Beside where would New Bern have gotten or kept the Helicopters or be able to fly them for that matter?
Q. Will Heather be coming back to Jericho in the second season?
A1.
Q. If Heather does come back in season 2, will the relationship that surfaced in the finale between Emily and Jake still exist, or will Jake change his interests again?
A1.
Q. What happened to Maggie? Will she be in season 2?
A1. It looks like Maggie has joined the Cheyenne Based Fake US Army. Look at this screen-shot I took.
A2. I think that Maggie is still in the Medical Center in Jericho, KS with a gunshot wound to the upper leg...
A3. Uh, yeah, Maggie is Jericho not with the army! Remember, she escaped with Jake and the others in 1.20? And that girl doesn't even look like Maggie.
Trivia:
- The title of this episode has been used as episode title in other shows, for example "band of brothers" or the film or the same name. http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/main.html
- Just a guess, but if the last two Morse code phrases were "I pledge" and "allegiance," this week's might be "to the flag" or some thing close to it.
- TV.com list Sprague Grayden (Heather Lisinski), as a star in this episode maybe she is not dead...and if you watch the exclusive sneak peak on the home page it shows two soldiers finding her on the side of the road after a car accident. Well I guess we know who brings the cavalry to Jericho. US Army and Jericho vs. New Bern... I know who I have my money on. Also if you look at the preview you see Heather looking at what looks like a US civilian peacetime flag with 13 vertical strips and 21 stars (see: http://www.barefootsworld.net/uscivilflag.html) and you can see Hawkins sitting on the tank that was taken from the fake marines.
- The US Civilian Peacetime Flag is bunch of BS. It is some crazy idea invented by an anti-establishment type (it is a bastardized US Customs Ensign, it was used by the early US Customs Service so boats would know that the ship approaching them was a tax collector (see: http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo1z2a/CivilFlag.html)). I think the writers did some good research, since the Government in Cheyenne is flying it, it raises more questions. If they were real then why don't they fly the real flag. The US Government would want to reunify the Nation to adopt some alternate flag (just like in the Civil War)
- Guest Starring: David Huddleston (E.J. Green), Candace Bailey (Skylar Stevens), Bob Stephenson (Jimmy Taylor), Richard Speight, Jr. (Bill), Timothy Omundson (Phil Constantino), Darby Stanchfield (April Green), April D. Parker (Darcy Hawkins), Emily Swallow (Nurse), Titus Welliver (Colonel Robert Hoffman), Daniel Benzali (Thomas Valente)
- Co-Starring: Tripp Pickell (New Bern Soldier), Kassim Osgood (Searcher), Patrick E. Wymore (Jerry)
- Special Guest Star: Sprague Grayden (Heather Lisinski)
- Written By: Carol Barbee & Jonathan E. Steinberg
- Directed By: Sanford Bookstaver
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