The End of Jericho

Jericho was a TV show that began with a lot of promise as being something different than the usual cop/doctor/.sitcom fare that is usually offered up on the networks. The idea of a series about life in a small, Kansas town after a nuclear catastrophe was original and bold.

Jericho was cancelled after one season, but then revived for a second season after massive fan protests, an almost unprecedented occurrence. Nevertheless, Jericho ended its small, seven episode second season and it looks like it’s not coming back. Why this is so is a cautionary tale about how Hollywood has become politically and culturally alienated from its audience.

To recap the premise of Jericho, one bright September day in Jericho, Kansas, a nuclear explosion is seen in the distance in the direction of Denver, Colorado. All communications, followed by electricity go out. The people of Jericho had no idea what’s going on, except it’s something horrible.

The first season depicted how the people of Jericho, some of them with their own hidden pasts and agendas, coped with the situation they found themselves in. Meanwhile, slowly but surely, the people of Jericho began to realize the full extent of the catastrophe. Apparently over twenty American cities were incinerated by suitcase nuclear bombs.

Many viewers found Jericho compelling with its depiction of people, suddenly cut off from everything, struggling to survive and get back on their feet. Conservative viewers especially liked the idea of an armed citizenry, unfettered by a bureaucratic government, running their own lives.

But Jericho had another purpose, one that was hinted at in the first season, but became slap in the face obvious by the second. Jericho, you see, had a political agenda.

The second season of Jericho begins with the town occupied by an army battalion from something called the Allied States of America, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Apparently the ASA controls America, except for Texas, west of the Mississippi. The original government of the United States holds sway in the east.

While the occupation has its benefits, including the restoration of power, communications, and regular deliveries of food and other essentials, there is a price. It seems that the people running things in Cheyenne were actually responsible for the nuclear attacks.

That’s right. A cabal of the religious right, neocons, and an evil corporation called Jamison and Raleigh (read Halliburton) destroyed the country in order to take over the remains and establish a dictatorship. The Constitution is to be rewritten to make this transition easier. In order to conceal their evil plans, the government in Cheyenne is willing to destroy two countries, Iran and North Korea, and use an army of mercenaries from a company called Ravenwood (read Blackwater) to spread terror and murder inconvenient people.

The occupation of Jericho soon became an allegory of what liberals imagine the occupation of Iraq to be. Even though the army commander, Major Beck, is painted as a complex and fundamentally decent person, his administration is heavy handed verging on fascistic. Beck is prepared to follow orders that would violate any rule of engagement followed by the real US Army.

Kansas is considered a conservative, red state which regularly votes for Republicans and support the war on terror, including Iraq. Jericho seemed to be a way to vicariously punish the people of Kansas, as if to say, “There! See how you like it!”

The entire premise was ludicrous, with plot holes large enough to fire an ICBM through. Jericho the second season also suffered from sloppy writing. For instance, at one point it was implied that the nuclear attack was orchestrated by a mysterious intelligence chief who looked like Dick Cheney for the purpose of taking down Jamison and Raleigh. The revelation, absurd on any examination, was quickly dropped, without any effect whatsoever on the story arc.

Naturally, viewers quickly turned the channel in droves. People were not interested in having either their values or their intelligence insulted. Ratings for the second season were even lower than those of the first.

Inevitably, the show was cancelled. Another promising show with a good premise ruined by lousy execution.