‘Jericho’ blogging: “Oversight”
(previous: “Jennings & Rall”)
Okay, so I was right to fear for Bonnie. But the poor girl never even got a chance to leave town. Oh, man... Horrible way for Stanley to learn, but maybe he gets it now: that things aren’t like they used to be, that corrupt politicians and evil corporations have gone a step too far, and yet it’s a perfectly logical, perfectly reasonable step, from the corrupt and evil perspective, at least. And they must be stopped.
Just when you think Jennings & Rall cannot possibly get any worse, we get that bombshell from Hawkins’ informant, that J&R actually planned the whole nightmare: the nukings of every major American city. I mean, maybe not planned, back in 1993, with an eye toward actually carrying it out -- of course it would have been presented and probably even intended merely as an exercise, a wargame -- but surely it can’t have been long before someone saw the vast opportunities for an ambitious corporation in such a project. Why not? J&R got a taste for it -- for the no-oversight, do-whatever-you-want, and make a hefty profit in the process -- while in Iraq. How much better to do the same on American soil, where the weather is better and everyone speaks English? Brilliant. Evil, but brilliant.
“Come on, guys, this is not Red Dawn!” Stanley says. Yeah, it’s worse. Treason is always worse. Except J&R is loyal only to J&R. Time to rise up and oust these organized psychopaths. I’m not sure if having your Boston Tea Party planning meeting at the only bar/burger joint in town is the best way to keep it secret, except someone always rats you out anyway. And now we have Bonnie, the Crispus Attucks of the Second American Revolution.
Oh, it will be absolutely criminal if CBS doesn’t renew this show -- or if someone else doesn’t pick it up! It’s just starting to get really interesting, and it’s just starting to tell a story that really needs to be told: about how America has gone off track, and what it will take to get it back. Sure, it’s all exaggerated and metaphoric, but still: If Jericho doesn’t make you furious about its real-life parallels (if you weren’t already), if it doesn’t make you itch to figure out how to make it right again, then, well, you must own Jennings & Rall stock.
(Next week: Final three episodes already? Noooo!, starts with “Termination for Cause”)
(Get a full recap or watch the entire episode at CBS’s official site for the show.)
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comments
posted by Clayj (Wed Mar 05 08, 11:14AM)
More evil: Jericho's Goetz (D.B. Sweeney), or The Patriot's Col. Tavington (Jason Isaacs)?
It was nice to see Bonnie give better than she got... she was pretty handy with that shotgun, but Goetz knew she was deaf and must have been able to sneak up on her.
My previous theory about Hawkins using his bomb to perform a decapitation strike on Cheyenne still holds some weight, but I wonder now how effective it would really be... Jennings & Rall are surely smart enough not to put all of their eggs in one basket, aren't they? Still, Hawkins could take out Valente and the other ASA government conspirators and provide an opening for the US government in Columbus to reassert some authority, perhaps with help from Texas. Hawkins seems pragmatic enough to sacrifice 800,000 more Americans if it will save the country.
Love to see how he's playing Beck like a Stradivarius, though... Beck is smart, but Hawkins is obviously smarter and craftier.
posted by MaryAnn (Wed Mar 05 08, 6:54PM)
I love how Hawkins played Beck here, and Beck knew he was being played. That was cool.
Goetz is worse than Tavington. Tavington didn't have stock options in the Redcoats, or in the British royal family. Goetz is doing what he's doing cuz he's a psychopath *and* he's making really good money at it. I bet he stole the ASA$10K, too.
posted by Clayj (Wed Mar 05 08, 7:59PM)
Tavington didn't have "stock options", but he did ask Lord Cornwallis to "tell me about Ohio". His primary motivation for being a sadistic bastard was monetary, namely in the land and nobility (as a landowner) he expected to receive when the revolution was put down. In that way, he and Goetz are obviously similar.
The cliché now would be that Stanley will be the one who ultimately kills Goetz, as payback for what he did to Bonnie. So I predict that Goetz will actually meet his final fate at either Mimi's hands or at the hands of the J&R girl (Emily Rose), who was Bonnie's friend (so you know she's probably upset, or will be when she finds out what happened).
As far as Beck being played goes... yeah, I think he did know he was being played. But I think he's willing to be played as long as Hawkins can prove that he's not just taking wild guesses about what's really going on. If Hawkins can keep working his magic, Beck can go along with him and, if confronted, claim truthfully that Hawkins is a sneaky SOB who tricked him into doing his bidding. No one expects an Army major to be crafty like a black ops agent; soldiers are just supposed to follow orders and not do too much thinking.
posted by Rose (Thu Mar 06 08, 1:58AM)
Thanks so much for your article!
I agree, WE MUST HAVE A SEASON THREE!!
I think it would be AWESOME if it were
Mimi who killed Goetz!
OVERSIGHT was one of the best tv episodes I've seen
in a long time. Jake and Hawkins totally ROCK!
And good-bye to Bonnie. We will miss you a lot.
Say hello to Johnston for us.
posted by Tom The Patriot (Thu Mar 06 08, 11:31PM)
Hi,
Taverns have a very important, but little remembered place in the American revolution. Check out an example, Mary's Tavern at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4727/mays.htm
"Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher."
posted by MaryAnn (Fri Mar 07 08, 11:49AM)
No doubt. Still, it doesn't change the fact that it might not be the smartest move ever to plan your secret uprising in the most public place in town other than the town square.
What's the connection to *Jericho*?