Jericho Season 2 thread - Page 6

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Is there any significance to the fact that he was strung up right on the border of New Bern/Jericho?

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Typically it's done on the border of a town (it's not a shared border) as a "warning" to those entering.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

OK, tonight is the 'next-to-last' episode, for either the season or the entire series. I want to believe the ratings will get better, but CBS just isn't promoting this show.

As I mentioned some posts back, previously CBS announced "four more left" then "three more left" -- last week they said "two left this season". Maybe they will keep it going.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

I just got caught up to the episode where poor Bonnie was killed.

This shows kicks total ass, Hawkins is the "Black Jack" and is not to be trifled with, and I really hope this gets picked up again.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Spoilers...

A very good episode. Nice return from some of last years cast (Pamela Reed, etc). I wonder if they tried to get Gerald McRaney. But, either he was too expensive or unavailable they used the grandfather.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Yeah, Gerald McRaney would have been more powerful, but it worked fine with the grandfather. Lot of sudden reappearances, not just Pamela Reed but Hawkins's kids as well.
Not sure I like the revelation that Hawkins' informant is the mastermind of the attacks is some extremist wack job. Having Valenti and J&R execute the attacks fit better and made a lot more sense. Thematically, I don't think it works for the big climactic race be to save what is essentially the enemy stronghold.
The best part of the episode for me was the word "Season" instead of "Series" in the preview for next week.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Gads, there's going to be screaming about CBS breaking some sort of implied promise if they decide against picking it up, isn't there? This means nothing other than that there's no good reason to advertise it as a series finale if any chance exists that it will be picked up.


Anyway, I was glad to see them go to the grandfather. As much as getting McRaney back might have meant to us, there has always been a much closer relationship implied between Jake and his grandfather, so it makes sense that that's where he would go for strength.

Sometime, I'd really like to hear the story of why Beck and company wound up following Cheyenne rather than Columbus. Beck seems smart and principled enough to have questioned their legitimacy before this.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Not from this viewer. My happiness comes from knowing that hope is not yet extinguished. Series Finale would have meant it was over; season finale means the question is still on some level an open one. That's absolutely a fair argument from a dramatic standpoint. My feeling was as a viewer, not a writer. Going for the grandfather arguably was more valid dramatically. That's what made me laugh about his determine to put down insurrection. For all intents and purposes, Beck's employed by a militia for an insurrection.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

One episode left? Seems like they have a lot of ground to cover before giving us our "ending". Whether its really over or not, I do hope that they don't end with a cliffhanger, since at this point, no one knows the show's fate.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Actually, I think Jake was closer to his grandfather than his father. This is very typical in the father-son-grandfather relationships. I thought it worked very well.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

I don't want to stir anything up here, but I don't think saying it is the season finale is making any promises of another season. I am sure CBS's "company line" is that no decision has been made about the continuation of this series. I hope that there will be another season, but it does look like the series is coming to some kind of conclusion next week.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Good episode. After Jake's therapy session with his grandfather, I wondered at first whether his mother was really there. When she whispered in his ear that Eric and the Rangers were on their way, eliminating any doubt about her real-ness in the veiwer's mind, it was a very dramatic moment.

Robert's phone conversation with the erstwhile whistleblower was surprisingly dramatic given the extent to which it was bogged down with exposition and Robert unnecessarily tipping his hand (though that was also necessary for the exposition). I understand the need for all the exposition to set things up for the finale, and I think the writers did a great job of getting it all in without disrupting the pacing or drama.

Again, Heather shows herself to be remarkably principled, with an abiding interest in always doing the right thing, no matter the cost. She's my hero (along with Hawkins, of course). Her interaction with Beck revealed as much about him as it did about her. I wonder if Beck wil be the one who tips the advantage to one side or the other in the finale.

Will we see Texas next week? Or is our roller coaster going to take us headlong into Cheyenne?

I hope CBS doesn't cancel, but even if they do, it's sure been a fun ride.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Actually, I never thought about this. If the informant is truthful. J&R really had nothing to do with the attacks. Valenti maybe. This takes away a major charge against the Cheyenne govt.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Actually, according to the series producers, Gerald McRaney was all set to appear in this episode's "torture-hallucination," had received the script, and was onboard prior to shooting.

However, at the time the episode was to have been filmed, McRaney was appearing on Broadway, and literally had only one day off per week, which made flying him out to California, shooting his scenes with Skeet, and getting back in time to do the next show impossible. They ended up having to rewrite the script, and brought back Grandpa Lebowski (not that I'm complaining, of course...Huddleston's fantastic in the role).


Given the fact that they're saying "season finale" instead of "series finale," it seems likely that although CBS is probably cancelling the series, they're still going to use the cliffhanger ending and announce a pickup at the Sci-Fi Channel or another network very soon here.


Agreed, and so now does this mean that perhaps President Tomarchio is actually innocent of any involvement in the September nukings? Or J&R as a whole?

If you listen to the voice rhythms, speech patterns and cadences of Hawkins's mystery informant, it sounds an awful lot like Daniel Benzali. And Valente would've been in the perfect position to tip Beck off as to Hawkins's immediate whereabouts, as well as possessing inside info on the Cheyenne government and Jennings & Rall that's been used by the main characters to date, et al.

That, and given the fact that Valente was head of the Department of Energy's nuclear materials program prior to taking over as head of Federal Homeland Security in D.C. would have meant that he would have the ideal insight into drawing up and authoring a nation-wide nuclear disaster plan. It's possible Valente worked in some capacity with J&R decades earlier, recognized their insidiousness, but decided to take rather...extreme...measures to "cut out the cancer."

Talk about going off the deep end, if this is true. Looking forward to seeing if I'm right or wrong on this one.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

I wouldn't go so far as "likely". It's possible, but a much more probably situation is that CBS has not decided whether or not to pick it up. Even if they're leaning 99% toward not picking it up, there's probably no benefit in billing it as a series finale.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Given the fact, though, that Sci-Fi made a hefty offer to pick the show up last year, and are airing the series in repeats right now (and will be re-broadcasting Season 2 very soon), leads one to think that something's probably in the offing on that front, as a contingency against a CBS cancellation.

Also, CBS has been fairly consistent in the past about advertising "series finales" if they're warranted...and it's not like Jericho has a building audience-base that they'd be scaring off by doing so, either.

If Paramount, Jericho's parent studio, is shopping the show around to different outlets right now, keeping their bases covered by leaving open the conclusion for further episodes is the smart thing to do. Also, as of last week, the producers still hadn't received any directive from CBS or the studio to use the "series finale" ending.

It's likely that there are offers out there from other parties to pick up the show; otherwise, they'd almost certainly be going with the "lid" ending. According to sources, CBS might be deciding the series' fate at their network as soon as today or tomorrow (3/20). The major things this show has going for it are its growing online audience and strong sponsorship bucks within key demographics; also, the online video audience for last week's episode of Jericho boosted the show's TV ratings by almost a full point: from 4.2 to 5.1.

The numbers that Jericho is generating for CBS (6 million tuned in last night) are considered extremely high-end and "sexy" by the Sci-Fi executives, where even shows like Battlestar manage to pull in around only 2 million viewers per week. Also, the series took a budget cut this season that would put it comfortably within Sci-Fi's price range, should they choose to pick it up.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

I just hope Sci-Fi picks up this show if CBS gives it the ax because a quality program like this(one of the few still on the airwaves) deserves to continue.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Agree 100%

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

my understanding is two endings have been filmed for episode 7 and depending on which way the wind was blowing at CBS regarding Picking up the series, will determine which one they air.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

At this point, even if there's only a 1% chance of another season, I'd rather they air the one they filmed with the intention there would be more to follow.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

I agree. If it wasn't picked up they could always include the conclusion episode on the DVD release.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Partially correct, except also that Paramount, who own the show, would likely insist upon using the "cliffhanger" ending even if a CBS cancellation were imminent, if another network is wanting to pick the show up.

It'd be like when Stargate SG-1 went from Showtime to Sci-Fi, and continued on seamlessly, storywise. They'd want to have that continuity already in place for a potential pickup elsewhere, in order for the audience to follow Jericho wherever it ultimately goes.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Totally off-topic, but I love your faux-inspirational poster sigs Josh!

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Josh, bring back Capt Kirk!

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Heh...thanks, and I might just bring back ol' Tiberius down the road, here.

That said, some somber news, reported last night on Shaun "O'Mac" Daily's Blog Talk Radio show...apparently Jericho isn't coming back to CBS, but it ain't like most of us were expecting this to happen anyways.

Here is a direct transcript of what Shaun had to say:

Shaun later posted on the official Jericho boards that his source is at CBS New York.

Also, there are now apparently some problems with the Sci-Fi Channel picking up the series, as they are owned by Universal, not Paramount (who own Jericho, as mentioned above), and the two are at odds over how to share the revenue if a pickup were to take place at Sci-Fi.

If it doesn't happen at Sci-Fi, it would be a situation very similar to what killed the Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers series over there -- B5 is owned by Warner Bros., and a pissing match over profits ensued, which ultimately killed the entire project.

The good news?

CBS is in discussions right now with both the USA and CW networks to pick up the show, with CW being a good fit, as CBS already owns half the network, and the CW being starved for viewers and quality programming (they'd still better f***ing renew Reaper, though).

So there you have it...discuss.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Wouldn't USA have the same issues as Sci-fi?

I hope not. I hate cliffhangers on general principle, and I figure it would have to make more sense logistically to have a break between seasons, in case budget or other issues force them to reshuffle the cast, strike sets, shift filming locations, etc. Given the setting of Jericho, even a season that doesn't end on a "what happens in the next five seconds?" note will still leave the writers of a hypothetical next season with plenty of different ways to go.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

Looks like it's official. The official word is up at hollywoodreporter.com.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

CBS cancels 'Jericho'

In a way, I wish CBS had made the decision sooner. Then the studio could have shipped the project around and we could have gotten the cliffhanger ending on Tuesday.

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

They can still shop it around and rebroadcast this episode with the alternate cliffhanger ending before the first new episode. I doubt that will happen. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if both versions appear on the DVD set.

Neil

Re: Jericho Season 2 thread

I sincerely hope they try to get one of the cable networks mentioned in Josh's post before they shut the door completely on "Jericho". Prior to CBS' announcement, Skeet Ulrich talked to TVGuide.com's Matt Mitvoich about the two endings to Episode 7 and that if they use the non-cliffhanger ending the fans won't be too happy.

I have a bad feeling that "The Unit" is next on CBS' chopping block. (Thankfully, "Numb3rs" is safe.)