I ended last summer with high hopes for Jericho. A TV series about a nuclear apocalypse? No way! It seemed too good to be true… and as the season progressed, it apparently was, as we were treated to a town of people who seemed to be in denial, spending their time drinking and eating their way through the apocalypse as if nothing had happened.

The show took a break through December and January, and when it returned it had lost quite a few viewers. To be fair, Jericho isn’t the only show with this problem. Many serialized shows, including Lost and Battlestar Galactica, have suffered similar problems. Out of sight, out of mind. And once you lose viewers, it’s hard to get them back.

Thankfully, Jericho improved with time. Yeah, the music was still out of place and kinda crappy - like a Toto soundtrack to a film version of the classic SF novel “Dune” - and it was as much soap opera as SF. But it seemed to be becoming more realistic, as well, and grim. One of the major characters died, the town was living without power, dealing more with the neighboring towns and generally having a rough time making it through the winter.

The main storyline running through the end of the season involved the tensions between Jericho, which was faring relatively well, and one of its neighbors, which wasn’t, and which coveted Jericho’s resources. This tension inevitably leads to one town invading another. I don’t want to spoil the season ender, but I’ll say that I was surprised with one of the choices the writers made, in a good way. The season finale ends in a cliff-hanger, but you know that one way or another the town will make it through it, with most of its cast intact.

The show also started exploring more of “what happened”… who attacked, and why. There’s no “Lost”-style mystery here… we’re not going to find out that Jericho is a simulation, or that the town has been abducted by aliens, or that it’s all taking place in purgatory. But there are questions still as to who the group was set off the bombs, and how deep into the government they had their fingers.

It’s not clear yet whether Jericho will have a second season. While it started out surprisingly strongly, its ratings were weak in the end, and not many people seem to expect it to be renewed. We should know soon. In December I doubted I’d even watch it again in February, but right now I’m hoping it gets a second season.

That, and I’m still holding out for some nuclear mutants.

If you’ve missed it and you want to check it out, you can buy episodes of Jericho from the iTunes Store. You can also buy episodes through Amazon’s Unbox video service, and you can sign up to be notified when the first season DVD set becomes available as well.
[tags]jericho, nuclear war, nuclear bombs, tv, skeet ulrich[/tags]

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