Jolie RobersonJericho: Vox Populi
December 1st 2006 04:20
It was my opinion that Jericho needed a great mid-season finale to ensure that viewers would return to the show next year. Whether or not that occurred is debatable. From what I’ve read, some people loved Vox Populi, but I personally was pretty underwhelmed.
The writers decided to take the more predictable route of having Mitchell (Clayne Crawford) frame Jonah (James Remar) for Gracie’s (Beth Grant) death. This managed to elicit from me my best Leighton Hewitt impersonation, as I screamed ‘Come On!!!’ repeatedly at the screen. While this plotline was certainly unsurprising, it was fairly well executed – at least they delivered on the foreshadowing of the previous episodes.
As for Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) losing the election, I can see why the townsfolk would prefer a man of action over one who does little except make saccharine speeches. It’s just a pity that Gray Anderson’s (Michael Gaston) idea of justice is akin to that exercised at Guantanamo Bay. It also seems a little ironic that his idea of stopping thugs like Jonah and Mitchell is to encourage the townspeople to become thugs and vigilantes, but I guess that’s politics for you. Of course, Jake (Skeet Ulrich) was the one to help him see the error of his ways – what a surprise, Jake saves the day again.
The interaction between Jake and Emily (Ashley Scott) took up far too much time in this episode. I really don’t care about them, or their history, or their newly-rekindled romance. Their near-kiss is pretty bad form on both their parts. Jake promised earlier in the episode that he wouldn’t hurt Heather (Sprague Grayden). Worse still, Emily is betraying both her fiancé and best friend. It was fairly obvious that as soon as Jake and Emily got close, Roger would return. While I know the arrival of so many people was supposed to be a significant moment, I was dissatisfied – I was hoping it would be an army of the undead.
While I liked the fact that Dr Kenchy Dhuwalia (Aasif Mandvi) was back, I was frustrated by the fact that once again Heather failed to appear.
I’m really starting to think that my theory may be correct – this show hates capitalism. Firstly Gracie becomes a caricature of a money-hungry opportunistic, only to be slain for her efforts. Now, no sooner did Dale (Erik Knudsen) become owner of the store, he committed murder. I guess owning the local store is bad for your morality. I didn’t find the scene where Dale shot Mitchell particularly tense, but perhaps it would have been more so if Network Ten hadn’t showed it in the promos.
The redeeming feature of this episode was the segments with Stanley (Brad Beyer) and Mimi (Alicia Coppola). They were very cute, particularly when Stanley was trying to come up with their amalgamated name. It was nice to see Bonnie (Shoshannah Stern) make an appearance, obviously returning from the cave in which she had been living. Her scenes with Sean were a little strange. It was hard to tell if she is hooking up with him, considering the pensive and slightly pained look she had throughout all her interactions with him.
There were some quite nice scenes with Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) and his family tonight. He’s trying to prove that he is one of the good guys by leaving behind the Enigmatic Organisation of Mysteriousness that he belongs too. I guess they are not the good guys after all, judging by the fact that they are hunting him down. I guess Google Earth still works after the bombings.
Overall, it was a passable episode, but I don’t think that it was engaging enough to make viewers anticipate its return next year. Then again, some people might find a more subtle cliffhanger refreshing. It will be interesting to see what sort of response Jericho gets when it returns in February.
*Image courtesy of Wikipedia, and used under Fair Dealing for Identification and Critical Commentary
Screencap from Jericho*
As for Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) losing the election, I can see why the townsfolk would prefer a man of action over one who does little except make saccharine speeches. It’s just a pity that Gray Anderson’s (Michael Gaston) idea of justice is akin to that exercised at Guantanamo Bay. It also seems a little ironic that his idea of stopping thugs like Jonah and Mitchell is to encourage the townspeople to become thugs and vigilantes, but I guess that’s politics for you. Of course, Jake (Skeet Ulrich) was the one to help him see the error of his ways – what a surprise, Jake saves the day again.
The interaction between Jake and Emily (Ashley Scott) took up far too much time in this episode. I really don’t care about them, or their history, or their newly-rekindled romance. Their near-kiss is pretty bad form on both their parts. Jake promised earlier in the episode that he wouldn’t hurt Heather (Sprague Grayden). Worse still, Emily is betraying both her fiancé and best friend. It was fairly obvious that as soon as Jake and Emily got close, Roger would return. While I know the arrival of so many people was supposed to be a significant moment, I was dissatisfied – I was hoping it would be an army of the undead.
While I liked the fact that Dr Kenchy Dhuwalia (Aasif Mandvi) was back, I was frustrated by the fact that once again Heather failed to appear.
I’m really starting to think that my theory may be correct – this show hates capitalism. Firstly Gracie becomes a caricature of a money-hungry opportunistic, only to be slain for her efforts. Now, no sooner did Dale (Erik Knudsen) become owner of the store, he committed murder. I guess owning the local store is bad for your morality. I didn’t find the scene where Dale shot Mitchell particularly tense, but perhaps it would have been more so if Network Ten hadn’t showed it in the promos.
The redeeming feature of this episode was the segments with Stanley (Brad Beyer) and Mimi (Alicia Coppola). They were very cute, particularly when Stanley was trying to come up with their amalgamated name. It was nice to see Bonnie (Shoshannah Stern) make an appearance, obviously returning from the cave in which she had been living. Her scenes with Sean were a little strange. It was hard to tell if she is hooking up with him, considering the pensive and slightly pained look she had throughout all her interactions with him.
There were some quite nice scenes with Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) and his family tonight. He’s trying to prove that he is one of the good guys by leaving behind the Enigmatic Organisation of Mysteriousness that he belongs too. I guess they are not the good guys after all, judging by the fact that they are hunting him down. I guess Google Earth still works after the bombings.
Overall, it was a passable episode, but I don’t think that it was engaging enough to make viewers anticipate its return next year. Then again, some people might find a more subtle cliffhanger refreshing. It will be interesting to see what sort of response Jericho gets when it returns in February.
Overall Rating
*Image courtesy of Wikipedia, and used under Fair Dealing for Identification and Critical Commentary
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Comment by Daressi
Comment by Nina
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Good wrap up of the show. I was actually out and forgot to record the show, so thought I'd see what you had to say about it. Sounds like it was how I found most episodes, okay but not enthralling. It one of those shows for me now that I'll watch if I happen to be home and it's on, but don't go out of my way to watch it.
We'll see if the 2nd half of the season goes next year.
KylieW
Comment by Nina