Written by: Dominick at 9:47 pm
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James, Ashley Scott, Kenneth Michell, Brad Beyer, April Parker-Jones, Alicia Coppola, Pamela Reed, Bob Stephenson
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: June 17, 2008
I had my first taste of Jericho when Dominick reviewed the first season last year. I had heard of the show previously, but had never watched it. We decided to watch it together and after watching the first season I was thoroughly hooked. CBS cancelled the show, but brought it back thanks to some major fan outrage. Of course, they only brought it back for seven episodes.
This was one of the few shows I ended up watching while it was on television, because I was desperately hoping that they would end up extending the season or adding a third season to the lineup. Of course, CBS decided to cancel it instead. Fans are still as upset as they were the first time, though there are talks that the show might be picked up elsewhere or be made into a movie. Regardless, CBS never found their cash cow to fill the Jericho time slot and fans are able to laugh at the unnecessary decision to replace the show with something that got low enough ratings to be cancelled less than a month after the first airing.
Receiving this second season box set was bittersweet. I was glad to receive it and to review it, but I am definitely sad to see this show go, if in fact, it does. Of course, owning both the first season and now the second season means that I can watch it whenever I want, so it could be much worse. This second season includes eight episodes, one being served up as a special feature because it was the episode that would have been aired had CBS decided to keep the show on the air. As they opted to cancel, something most fans feared would happen, they aired an episode that they felt tied things up, even though most agree this was anything but the case.
Release Information:
Jericho had an unfair run in the two seasons that it was on the air. The show started out to good ratings, but there was a break in the season and with lackluster advertising when the show came back on to finish the season the ratings dropped. The show was cancelled at that point, but after CBS received an abundance of nuts (a reference to the show’s last episode) the show was picked up for a few more episodes to either wrap things up or set it up for an extended season. The second round of protestation brought on full page ads in magazines such as Variety, though to date, Jericho has been cancelled with no word of bringing it back. Fans, myself included, are still hopeful though as time passes that hope is slowly dimming.
The second season of Jericho was released on June 17, 2008. The box set includes all seven episodes of the final season and the additional unaired episode that would have rounded out the season had CBS picked it up for another round. You should be able to pick this up at most major stores that sell DVDs. You can also find this at Amazon where you can purchase it for $22.
The Jericho – The Second Season Plot
Those of you that watched the first season of Jericho realize that the show is about life in Jericho, Kansas after a series of nuclear attacks of 23 cities. The attacks left the government dissolved and incapacitated, and the rest of the country was left to fend for themselves. Once the folks in Jericho realized that no one would be coming to their aid, the show focused on rebuilding and what that meant to the various figures in the town. Natural born leaders emerged and you quickly learned the cowards in the bunch versus who you could trust. In either case, the folks of Jericho needed to man down and protect what they had or else they would end up suffering even more as the city faces devastating illnesses and starvation from lack of food and medicine.
The first season ends as the son of the former mayor (Gerald McRaney), Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) goes to battle with the war-mongering neighboring town of New Bern. When Jake’s father, Johnston is murdered in an altercation with New Bern, all bets for peace are off and Jake leads the town of Jericho into battle before the end credits. It’s no wonder why fans were clamoring for some additional storylines with things left so unresolved. The remaining seven episodes were the answer that CBS gave in the form of resolution. The result is a bittersweet victory, with a jam-packed storyline, incredibly talented actors, and a few better episodes than we saw in the first season. So, in some ways I couldn’t have asked for more, and in other ways it was sad watching this, knowing that this would be it, at least for now.
Things pick up in the second season right where they left off. A war is emerging between Jake with the town of Jericho and Constantino (Timothy Omundson) with the town of New Bern. As things get rolling, the military from one of three new governments (this one is in Cheyenne) rolls into town, headed up by Major Edward Beck (Esai Morales). Beck is sent to town to get things back in order. While the residents of Jericho are thankful that Cheyenne is there to help, it quickly becomes evident, at least to Jake and secret operative Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) that there is a lot more than meets the eye with this particular government.
One of the reasons for this had to do with Jennings & Rall. As far as this new government is concerned, 21 states are included in it. J&R are the books behind the new government. They are the logistical record keepers for the operation. Unfortunately, J&R works with Ravenwood, a mercenary group of scavengers that take for themselves and leave everyone to suffer. Jericho knows full well the trouble they can cause because they have dealt with them before. While they won the first time, this time around the head of Ravenwood, John Goetz (D.B. Sweeney) is running the show at Jennings & Rall.
Jericho suffers in small ways this time around. For example, in the first season there were multiple storylines with numerous cast members included. This second season, follows suit, but characters that were important last season, such as Gail Green (Pamela Reed) and Gray Anderson (Michael Gaston) are rarely seen. This second season relies on the acting talents of several of the most popular (in terms of storyline) characters. This includes Jake and Eric Green (Kenneth Mitchell), Robert and Darcy Hawkins (April Parker-Jones), Stanley Richmond (Brad Beyer) and his girlfriend Mimi Clark (Alicia Coppola), and of course, Major Beck and the unsavory Goetz. Other characters and sub-plots are definitely represented, but these are the main players. The other characters appear in incredibly short segments or in one or two episodes out of the seven.
Despite the fact that things have changed in this way, the result is equally as good. Even though the storyline may seem rushed and cramped at times, the show has never been better. The acting is excellent. The camera work is detailed and yet frenzied, much like reality would be in this real life scenario. The direction is right on track. Keeping on the positive side of things, there were some moments of closure here. The series was cancelled by CBS and these episodes were meant to be the farewell in that. I don’t know that the series was wrapped up as tightly for me as I would have hoped, but with talks of a possible third season elsewhere and the idea of a movie (it’s happened with other series) or some other option to keep things alive, this season of Jericho certainly satisfies enough to keep the home fires burning.
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Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
In most cases it is hard to complain about a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and anamorphic widescreen. This is not going to be much different. Sure, there might be slight issues. This is an action packed show and things can move pretty quickly so unless the quality were perfect, which is entirely rare, then there are going to be some small problems. Jericho looks amazing for the most part. I noticed some slight color instability at times, but other than that the picture quality seemed to be flawless. It worked really well and even with the slight color issues I never had a problem watching this DVD.
When it comes to the sound you can play it in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or the standard Dolby Digital 2.0 track. In addition to the standard sound, there are subtitles in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Brazilian. The back of the box has a note that says some of the episodes may have been edited. I am not sure what was edited. If there are changes I did not notice any major ones though I cannot say for sure what was changed. Whatever it was appears to be minor, if there was anything at all. In any case, the actual audio sounded good. I found the 2.0 track to offer a higher level of frenzied realism, but in both cases the audio comes through loud and clear.
Visual: 
Audio:
Bonus Features:
This two disc set includes a number of features that span both discs. Audio commentaries are one of the most popular features and there are quite a few of them. Each episode has a commentary, including the episode that should have been played (to signify a continuation of the show) on air, but never was. The commentaries feature the show writers, producers, creators, and actors. Depending on the commentary you will hear from Carol Barbee, Dan Shotz, and other behind the scene folks. When it comes to actors you will hear from Alicia Coppola, Skeet Ulrich, and others including Lennie James.
There are some spoilers in these commentaries, so if you want to hear them, I recommend watching the episodes first and listening to them later. One of the most interesting people to hear from was Carol Barbee. She offered plenty of interesting information and insight about the show and how excellent it turned out despite all of the setbacks they had concerning the production troubles. Skeet was also interesting to listen to because it seemed that he hadn’t seen the episodes that he was commenting on until he actually did the commentary. There are plenty of features beyond commentaries though.
Multiple deleted scenes are included in this set, probably due to the fact that they were intending to cancel the show and they needed to trim for time to fit everything in. It would have been nice to see them in the actual episodes, but it’s good to see these scenes here like this, as well. Commentaries are included for every deleted scene. A few featurettes are available, and the most popular is the unaired episode. Other featurettes include “Rebuilding Jericho”, which deals with the idea of being cancelled and then put on the air again, and “I found a Nut Job”, which looks at the peanut campaign that made sure that Jericho would come back on the air.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
This is a must have box set for fans of Jericho. In fact, both seasons should be purchased if you consider yourself a fan. Even though CBS obviously showed little interest in the feelings of loyal fans, it was obvious that they attempted to create and package a couple of nice sets to serve as farewell gifts to the people that loved the show the most. It is sad to see the show go because it was one of the best in recent memory. Either way, if you haven’t seen Jericho you should rent the first and second seasons. If you have seen it, I highly recommend you pick this up.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Movie, Jericho, TV on DVD, Nuclear Attack, Bomb, Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James, Ashley Scott, Kenneth Michell, Brad Beyer, April Parker-Jones, Alicia Coppola, Pamela Reed, Bob Stephenson, CBS, Paramount, DVD Review
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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
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Dominick Evans is in his late 20's. He spends his days working as a full time writer/editor and a part time musician/composer. His passions in life include music, directing films, watching movies, reading books, watching sports, wheelchair football, politics and spending time with his family (fiancée Ashtyn, son Robert, and shih-tzu Oliver). Other interests include being an advocate for the disability and GLBT communities.
