Review of the Season Premiere of Jericho

Jericho started off this season with a bang--literally. After briefly recapping the previous season, scenes from the battle between Jericho and New Bern are shown. The action is vicious, and an end does not seem to be in sight. Fortunately, the military comes in and releases fire. Major Beck has come into town to restore order. The name of the episode is "Reconstruction", for obvious reasons.

Jake is as feisty as ever. He is bitter about the loss of his father and both he and his brother want to take revenge against Constantino. Major Beck tries to warn Jake of the implications this could have, most notably death. Jake managed to prevent a New Bern deputy sheriff from firing in Jericho territory. Beck chose to release the man, but later he decided to return to Jericho in a group. They opened fire on the military and were killed. Major Beck respects Jake and wants him to be a key piece to the reconstruction. Beck evens offers Jake the job to be Jericho's sheriff. However, if he cannot hold back his anger towards Constantino, he will end up just like the others--in a body bad.

Overall, the show was a B-. The love scenes were corny; no one really cares too much about an indebted farmer getting married to an uptight women. Unless eventually the couple plays a greater role in the season (which seems highly likely), their relationship is trivial to the show. The scenes that jump to them are the ones that viewers decide to go to the bathroom or get a drink.

While the stage has been set for the next episode, it is hard to see exactly where the storyline is going. Viewers know that the president is coming to town and that the Cheyenne government needs to be exposed before Texas joins forces. While the first episode was fast-paced, it left some to be desired. It also would have been nice for the first season to have been recapped in a little more detail. New viewers would have been totally confused by the show and probably turned it off by the first commercial break. Jerichoshrunk its potential audience by doing a poor job in this aspect of the episode. It is hard to say whether it is worth staying up until 11:00 to watch next week's entire episode. Hopefully the action starts fast; otherwise, Jerichocould be in trouble in the ratings.