This week’s episode, “A.K.A.”, was very Hawkins-centric. After months of questions, we finally got a plausible backdrop for Hawkins character and the beginnings of a possible Hawkins and Jake adventure. Definitely a step up from last week’s effort.
Given Hawkins previous penchant for creating stories that weren’t so much with the being true, I still have a shadow of doubt in my mind about the story he told Jake. However, given that Hawkins’ story not only meshes with the flashbacks Hawkins had on his own at the start and end of the episode, but fits really well with what we, the viewers, already knew about Hawkins’ activities, I’m mostly willing to accept the story. At the very least, it definitely has elements of truth to it.
It was suggested that after the attacks Hawkins was still communicating (and working) with the people responsible for detonating the bombs. It always seemed odd that Hawkins still had a nuclear bomb after the attacks (Fun note: I originally used the word ‘undetonated’ in that last sentence before realizing how stupid that was). In “The Day Before” we learned that Hawkins was instructed to use his bomb on Columbus, Ohio yet, even when Sarah’s life was threatened, he refused to do so. People willing to detonate a whole series of nuclear bombs don’t seem like the forgiving type so I was always confused by the fact they were apparently still working with Hawkins. Hawkins working for/with the CIA makes a hell of a lot more sense.
It will be interesting to see just how much of what Hawkins told Jake is the truth, and whether or not Hawkins will enlist Jake’s aid in his quest to track down the bombers. Hawkins story, especially now that we know he’s quite possibly on the path to tracking down the man responsible for organizing the attacks, is much larger than anything anyone else in Jericho has to deal with (seeing as everyone else is focused more on keeping the town supplied and not dying) so it would make sense for Jake to become involved. Of course, whenever something happens over in New Bern Jake is almost certainly going to be busy with that, so who knows how the next few weeks will unfold?
The stuff with Jake and Hawkins ate up the bulk of the episode, but the other stories were fine (though rather brief). I’m kind of wondering what is going on with education in Jericho. It seemed like the class Emily was teaching was her first in quite some time and it was for teens. I wonder what all the other kids in Jericho are doing? We’ve only ever seen two teachers in Jericho, and Heather has been gone to New Bern for quite some time. Are the younger kids being taught by some never seen teachers? Or do they not get an education any longer? I can understand the older kids feeling they had more pressing concerns at the moment, but the little kids at least should still be continuing on with their educations.
While people in Jericho feel that they can’t be bothered wasting their time with ‘book-learnin’, the tombstone business is apparently still in full swing. I guess grave markers are considered a priority. It was nice to see that people are remembering April though it seemed a little odd that Eric wasn’t the one to get the first visit to April’s tombstone (especially in light of the guilt he’s dealing with over her death). Of course, with Eric off in New Bern for an indeterminate amount of time, I guess they didn’t want to put it off forever.
The other mini-arc running throughout the episode was a ‘Mimi and Bonnie grow closer’ one to follow up on a similar arc in “Winter’s End”. This time, most of the scenes consisted of Mimi talking to a chicken before eventually cutting its head off, but it was amusing and sweet where appropriate.
All in all, “A.K.A.” was a pretty solid episode. A lot of questions about Hawkins and his mysterious contacts have been answered and everything regarding Hawkins seems to have fallen nicely into place. Of course for all I know next week’s show could reveal that it was an elaborate series of lies, but for now it’s a satisfying answer.
Speaking of next week’s show, I still have no way of seeing the preview but according to the one sentence preview over on Wikipedia, someone’s going missing over in New Bern. Presumably that someone is either Heather, Eric or Stanley. My money is on Heather.
