Jericho - Sedition (Episode 206)

Tortured!JakeLast week an attentive reader commented that I have been spelling the name of überbaddie “Getz” wrong.  Here's a shout-out to eagle-eyed Jericho fan Lisa!  While I’m not going to go back through previous recaps and edit every misspelling, I will make the change, starting… now.  Previously on Jericho: Goetz (proper spelling) croaked, and I wasn’t sad.  In fact, practically nobody was sad to see Goetz go the way of the dinosaurs.  That is, except for Beck, who really got his manties in a bunch.  Remember how he told Jake they weren’t allowed to harm a hair on Goetz’s fugly little head?  And the next thing you know, Goetz is dangling from a tree outside of New Bern like some sort of extremely unattractive windsock.  Beck decides that the good folks of Jericho had their chance to play nice, and now fun time is over.  He and his men go after Jake and the Rangers full force, breaking into houses, Bailey’s, and the Med Center with guns drawn.  But the crafty Rangers are nowhere to be found.

Somewhere far, far away (I hope) the Rangers are holed up in a garage.  I think it may be Emily’s father’s garage, actually.  There’s some disagreement over what to do: turn themselves in, or keep hiding?  An extraordinarily Emo Stanley (complete with greasy hair hanging moodily in his eyes) decides that he’s going to turn himself in to spare everybody else.  Whereupon Jake throws himself in Stanley’s path and they kinda wrestle a little bit, Jake trying to keep Stanley from leaving.  Yowza!  Eh… am I the only one who found that kinda hot?  Ahem.  I fan myself as Hawkins comes in and lets the Rangers know that Beck’s after them for the killing, but doesn’t know Hawkins was involved.  Things will only get worse for them until Beck nabs the culprit.  “There’s only one thing to do,” Jake intones. 

Beck marches out the front door of city hall to find Jake, alone and with his hands up.   A whole mess of soldiers aim guns at him as he says that Goetz’s killing is his fault.  As Heather arrives, trying to figure out what the heck and a half is going on, Jake offers his surrender for the amnesty of the other Rangers.  Beck’s mouth twists into what can only be called a creepy snarl.  Things just took a serious turn for the worse, here, my friends.  I have a feeling we’ve seen the last of Mr. Nice Guy Beck.  “I accept your surrender,” he says, “but not the terms.”  Soldiers grab Jake and bind his hands behind his back, and then I honest-to-God yelp out loud as they violently yank a black bag over his head.  COUGHiraqwaranalogyCOUGH.  Heather and other town square onlookers watch in shock as Jake’s escorted away, shouting and thrashing. 

Jake’s been taken to some sort of cell with stone walls.  A bright light shines in his face all freaky-deaky torture style.  Beck prowls around, and this is a side of him we haven’t seen.  It’s not friendly.  A “source” has given Beck details about what happened in that field, including that Stan was Goetz’s executioner.  Jake tells Beck that Goetz was a murderer who had to be dealt with, but Beck replies that it wasn’t Jake’s call to make.  To be honest with you, I don’t think Beck liked Goetz any more than Jake did – but this is his JOB, dammit.  Jake’s pretty sure he’d rather tap dance along to “The Good Ship Lollipop” while wearing hot pants and a Shirley Temple wig than give up Stanley’s location.  So Beck has Russell from New Bern dragged in.  He’s the “source,” and was tortured for the info.  Beck says that everyone breaks eventually, and until Jake does he won’t sleep, eat, or leave this room.  They leave him on the floor with the bright light shining on his face. 

Over at Ranger Garage, Heather lets everybody know that Beck hottie-napped Jake.  A newly take-charge Eric’s sure he won’t talk, but they still need leverage against Beck.  Next thing you know, an army convoy pulls to a stop on a dirt road.  There’s a stalled truck blocking their path, soldiers milling around examining it.  One of the convoy soldiers gets out to see what’s going on, and to his surprise, the stalled truck soldiers turn guns on him.  Ha!  It’s the Rangers, in army uniforms!  I don’t know where they got these uniforms, but Chubtastic Deputy Jimmy looks so danged adorable with his puffy cheeks all pink under the too-small helmet straps that I just can’t be bothered to care.  “We need your truck,” Deputy Bill deadpans to the driver. 

Hey, it’s Hawkins’ kids!  Apparently they’re done “staying with friends.”  He and Darcy have brought them back to Hawkins Hideout, where they get a call from Chavez in Texas.  He’s convinced the Texas government to listen to what he has to say about Cheyenne, and they want to see the bomb.  Hawkins needs to get to San Antonio ASAP.  Hawkins says he’ll get there as soon as he can; he’s developed a solution to get past checkpoints.  As a wide-eyed Alison watches, Hawkins rifles through a safety deposit box full of phony IDs and comes up with a Jennings and Rall ID badge.  Hawkins is totally the Benjamin Linus of Jericho.

Over at Town Hall, a pissed-off Beck discovers that the Rangers have hijacked the truck convoy and want to trade it for Jake.  Beck heads over to see his prisoner, who’s looking, in all honesty, like crap.  He winces as Beck asks him to sign a letter to the Rangers, rejecting their tactics.  Whereupon Jake… spits on it.  DUDE.  I always knew that Jake had balls… but now I’m convinced that they’re made of steel.  Pure steel balls.  Beck looks like he’s about to breathe fire as he declares that he’s going to track down and arrest all the Rangers.  He’s listed Jericho as being in open insurrection, which means Martial Law, baby.  Trucks full of hundreds of troops begin arriving in Jericho, shoving townsfolk about like cattle.  Lights, power and food supplies will be cut off.  Jake’s unintimidated, even though Beck says he’s the cause of it all.   

Hawkins is packing up an SUV with the bomb when he gets a call from John Smith, who somehow knows he’s headed to Texas. Instead, John wants him to go to a secure destination, where he won’t have to worry about crossing borders.  Hawkins readily agrees, only to hang up and tell Darcy he’s leaving for Texas right on schedule.  Um… is he playing both sides of the coin, or does he just not trust John Smith?  I’m still not sure exactly what’s going on with this particular plotline.  Anyhoo, turns out that Hawkins’ brilliant plan involves an oh-so-stylish stolen Jennings & Rall polo shirt, and an equally stolen company SUV, which should get him a free pass at checkpoints.  He kisses Darcy goodbye and heads out. 

Heather confronts Beck about the fact that a full embargo has been placed on Jericho.  He’s all, “The government won’t tolerate insurrection and this is Jericho’s own fault so there.”  Jeez, Beck, why don’t you just stick out your tongue and give her a raspberry?  A p.o.ed Heather says that the townsfolk won’t give up the Rangers, and that she can no longer tell the difference between Beck and Constantino.  Beck asks her to talk to Jake and get him to realize what “he’s” doing, but Heather sharply replies that Beck’s the one doing this, and she can’t keep defending him.  Hmmm.  When nobody else can get through to Beck, for some reason Heather always can.  As she stalks out and he gazes forlornly after her, I maintain my theory that he has a thing for her. 

In his jail cell, a super-haggard Jake starts hallucinating.  Suddenly he’s in a field with his (dead) grandfather.  Jake says he doesn’t know how much more of this no sleep/bright light/no food or drink thing he can take.  Gramps replies that they’re trying to break his mind.  Turns out Gramps was a POW in Germany during WWII.  He got through it by thinking about how he had to protect his men.  “People are depending on you,” says Gramps.  Blammo! Jake’s back in his cell under the blinding light, his eyes bloodshot and face resembling the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man.  Meanwhile, over at the Med Center, Mary goes to visit Mimi, who’s getting antsy ‘cuz she hasn’t seen Stan in awhile.  When she finds out he’s not talking to anyone, she demands to be taken to him, even though she’s still recovering from her bullet wound.

Those hallucinations are coming fast and furious now.  Jake’s back in the field with Gramps, talking about how unfair it is that Stanley never hurt anybody, and he’s lost everything.  Gramps replies that the answer to this problem is Beck, but Jake knows there’s a bigger picture.  It’s not about convincing one man he’s wrong, but rather about reforming an entire system.  Wise old Gramps slyly says that it’s all happened before.  Over and over again, down through history, it’s all come down to one thing.  Revolution.  As Jake and Gramps (or Jake and his subconscious, whichever theory floats your boat) come to this rather inevitable conclusion, Hawkins drives his truck out of town.  At nine o’clock sharp, Jericho’s lights turn off as their power source is removed.  The town slowly, ominously, goes black as an anvil marked “SYMBOLYSM” falls out of the sky and hits me on the head.

Stanley is all surly and quiet in Ranger Garage when Mimi shows up.  She takes his hand, but he barely looks at her.  When she tells him she loves him, he replies sharply, “Don’t.”  Bonnie’s dead, and he killed a man, and nothing will ever be the same.  In tears, Mimi says that when the bombs went off, her entire world was destroyed.  But then she found Stanley, and she knew she could get through it.  Everyone knows why he killed Goetz, and nobody blames him.  But Stanley says that when he put the gun to Goetz’s head, the guy was helpless.  All Stan could think was that this was just some guy.  He wasn’t scared or angry.  He just pulled the trigger.  Poor sweet Stanley.  He’s such a good guy that he’s even feeling guilty about offing somebody as foul and slimy cockroach-like as Goetz.   

As Hawkins drives through the night, his phone rings.  It’s a dangerous sounding John Smith, who thought they had an agreement – why is Hawkins headed for Texas?  Hawkins answers a question with a question and wonders just how the heck John knew he’d lied.  John intones that they can make history together if he turns the car around.  Hawkins: “Yeah not so much.”  Ooh.  I have a feeling this is not going to end well.

Back in Beck’s No-Fun Dungeon ‘o Torture (kinda sounds like a carnival ride, don’t it?), Jake looks rather like somebody decided to do some sandblasting on his face. Yikes.  Beck reads a file on Jake’s father and grandfather, who were both Army Rangers and mayor of Jericho.  He doesn’t think they would have supported citizens taking the law into their own hands.  Even in his altered mental state, Jake retorts that his Pops and Gramps never would have handed the town over to mercenaries.  Beck needs to open his eyes – this isn’t a country anymore, it’s a company.  And Beck is just “middle management.”  The look on Beck’s face when Jake delivers this particular line causes me to nearly fall off of my couch giggling.  An astute Jake tells Beck he’s about to have a revolt on his hands.  The citizens of Jericho want their town back.  True enough: at this very moment, townsfolk are throwing Molotov cocktails at the J&R Evil Fortress of Doom.  Later, a chagrined Beck (as if he needed more problems) gets a call from John Smith, who spills the beans that Sarah’s been dead several months, and that Robert Hawkins has a nuclear bomb.  A handy mug shot fax of Hawkins isn’t far behind.  Goddamn.  John Smith wasn’t kidding about wanting cooperation.

In Beck’s No-Fun Dungeon ‘o Torture, Jake looks like poop warmed over as a woman crouches next to him.  Gail!!!!  After six episodes, she’s finally back from “visiting relatives!”  “Mom, what are you doing here?” Jake mutters, barely conscious.  I’m not entirely sure that Gail’s not a hallucination until she gives him a sip of water and caresses his face.  Gail, with a surreptitious glance at the nearby guard, tells Jake that she can’t stand to see him like this.  She wants him to tell Beck everything, so that he’ll be released.  Gee, I wonder if Beck asked her to say that?  “No,” Jake mutters.  Gail tells Jake she loves him, then leans in close to whisper in his ear.  “Eric and the boys are coming.  Stay alert, and don’t give up.”  The asshat guard apparently doesn’t overhear this bit of Beck-unauthorized motherly advice, and leads Gail out without comment. 

Hawkins is making his getaway when suddenly Humvee headlights appear behind him, and the chase is on!  A helicopter appears out of nowhere, and everybody tries to force Hawkins off the road.  He swerves into a wooded area, and when he emerges on the other side, the helicopter… starts shooting at him.  Um… really?  Hey helicopter guys, did nobody happen to mention to you that there’s a friggin’ nuclear bomb in the back of this SUV?  I’m thinking you don’t want to be shooting at that shit!  Hawkins wrecks into a ravine and doesn’t have time to grab his important paperwork before the soldiers run down to his car. He bails and makes a getaway, but the soldiers take possession of the bomb. 

At Ranger Garage, Gail meets with Eric and the boys to figure out where Jake is.  She was blindfolded when they took her to his dungeon, but she easily describes the route they took; how far they drove and what turns were made.  Also, the joint smelled terrible.  “Hog farm,” declare Deputies Jimmy and Bill in perfect unison.  Hee!  The Rangers go out and survey the hog farm with binoculars, spotting soldiers on patrol.  Next thing you know, Jake hears shooting, and Eric and Deputy Jimmy bust him out as the Rangers lay down cover fire.  So much for Beck’s No-Fun Dungeon ‘o Torture!

Hawkins walks down a dirt road, looking the opposite of a badass espionage secret agent.  In fact, he looks pretty freakin’ lame and sweaty and has his sweatshirt tied around his waist.  Hey Hawkins?  Yeah, that’s not a good look for you.  Just FYI.  John Smith calls his cell, and Hawkins wants to know how the guy knew where he was.  The phone is secure and the car was stolen… so the only way John could have known was if he had a tracking device inside the bomb itself.  Hawkins is putting the pieces together.  Piece #1: Fourteen years ago it was John who wrote a Jennings & Rall report which claimed that one individual with enough access could mastermind a disastrous attack on the U.S.   Piece #2: Whoever brought in the bombs would have been able to implant them with tracking devices.  Piece #3: John had an axe to grind and knew the system.  Conclusion:  John Smith is not some innocent whistleblower.  He’s the mastermind behind the nuclear attack that took out twenty-three American cities.  Overwhelmed by what he’s figured out, Hawkins asks why John did it.  He claims it was to liberate the country, since its relationship with Jennings and Rall had become so corrupt it was like a cancer.  J&R may be more powerful for the moment, but they’re also vulnerable.  They’re centralized in one city.  Hear ye, hear ye:  John Smith is planning to blow the shit out of Cheyenne… using Hawkins’ bomb!  Hawkins panics, promising John that the next time they meet it’ll be face to face, and it’ll be bad for John… but John hangs up, having no more use for Hawkins and his idle threats.  At this point Hawkins seems rather like an ant shaking his fist at an elephant.  A big fat elephant with a nuclear bomb.

Beck surveys the damage at the Evil Fortress of Doom, and his men inform him that there’s no sign of the Rangers.   A bunch of locals are in lockup for arson and destruction.  Beck goes into his office and takes off his helmet pausing for a moment.  And then Mr. Calm and Steady Beck loses his temper and throws his helmet.  It whacks into the window, which is bulletproof but immediately breaks into spider web cracks.  Somebody get this man a Prozac, stat. 

Jake’s pals have taken him back to Hawkins hideout, and he awakens from a nap looking much better.  Thank goodness.  Dirty, sweaty Hawkins shows up and asks to speak with Jake.  When Emily makes an exit, he admits that he lost the bomb.  I have to say, Hawkins when he’s messed up and he knows it is pretty funny.  He looks like a shameful little kid who broke his mom’s favorite vase and has to confess.  The army has the bomb, and it’s on its way to Cheyenne.  This isn’t about Texas anymore; it’s about the nut job behind the original attacks, and his plan to nuke another city, with a population of over a million people.  Hawkins is sure that the J&R masterminds will escape again, and will keep their positions of power.  Only innocents will die.  “If that bomb goes off,” Hawkins says, “we will lose this country forever.”  He can’t stop it alone.  Solemnly, Jake holds out his hand and they shake.  “When do we leave?” asks Jake.  In the final shot, we see an army truck carrying Hawkins’ bomb as it rolls into an unsuspecting Cheyenne, Wyoming.