After weeks of building up tensions between New Bern and Jericho, there was a lot of expectations for “Why We Fight” to live up to. It didn’t so much live up to those expectations as take them in a different direction. And it was awesome.
When the episode began, I was kind of wondering why they were wasting time with flashbacks. Here I was all prepared for a climatic final battle, and all of the sudden, I was seeing Eric’s wedding. Once it became clear that the episode wasn’t really about New Bern’s invasion, it made perfect sense, but I was initially bewildered by those flashback scenes showing up when they did.
As for the flashbacks themselves, I thought they were pretty well done. For the most part, characters actually did look to be substantially younger, which is rare for TV show flashbacks. I’m guessing the fact this was the season finale gave them a bit more freedom as far as changing the actors hairstyle and facial hair.
It was good to see a brief return for April and the first appearance of Jake’s grandfather. While it wasn’t mentioned much later in the season, in the early episodes they made a big deal out of the bond between Jake and his grandfather (his grandfather’s passing is what lead Jake to return to Jericho in the season premiere), so it was nice to meet the guy. Granted, Jake’s grandfather didn’t get a whole lot of screen time, but it was still cool. I would not be adverse to seeing other flashbacks from this era from time to time in later seasons (just as long as they keep it as an occasional thing).
Darcy being the one to figure out why Valente was so determined to track down the bomb was a nice touch. Hawkins is quickly learning the benefits of trusting other people. Of course, he has already had extensive lessons on the drawbacks (such as how by trusting the wrong people can lead to nuclear holocaust) so it’s kind of a balance issue.
I did think it was kind of silly how Hawkins figured he was safe as long as he disconnected the satellite signal in time. Even assuming that for some reason Valente was never told that Jericho was the rally point, if he knows Hawkins is accessing the satellite, the location Hawkins was observing should be a pretty good clue as to his probable whereabouts. It’s not like he’s going to think Hawkins was just surfing the globe for something entertaining to watch.
But the satellite trace does seem to be leading Jericho’s (temporary) salvation, so I guess it’s not all bad. It may not turn out so well for Hawkins, however, given that Valente is pretending that Hawkins is a major terrorist figure and all. It’ll be interesting to see if the people of Jericho cover for Hawkins. Most of them don’t know about Hawkins CIA background, of course, but he has helped to save the town on several occasions, so that may be enough to get the people to protect him. Cause if they don’t, he’s presumably going to have to flee until he can clear his name or the troops leave Jericho.
Heather’s return was a good thing to see. I was kind of annoyed that the previews spoiled her return but seeing as she showed up so early in the episode, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Like the flashbacks, the reason for Heather’s on screen return wasn’t immediately obvious. At first I thought maybe she was somehow going to convince the army to rescue Jericho but there didn’t seem to be any logical way for her to do that. So when Valente showed up as a major government figure, learning of Heather’s story, things made much more sense.
I was kind of annoyed that the previews for this week spoiled/hyped the fact that someone was going to die. It seems to be pretty common now for previews to do this, presumably as a way to boost ratings, but I prefer the impact of a out of the blue death.
The way it was hyped, I assumed the death was going to be happen to someone the audience cared about (there’s not much point of hyping a tragic loss and then killing off someone the audience will be happy to see die). My thinking was that it would be one of the the Richmonds (I don’t remember Mimi’s last name so I included her in ‘Richmonds’, but not Sean.) or one of the Greens (though obviously not Jake). When Stanley, Mimi and Bonnie went to the trouble of establishing the family burial site and Mimi hoped they wouldn’t die for a very long time, I immediately put the Richmonds on the top of the list. So the actual death came as something of a surprise to me.
While the way it happened was rather random (we didn’t even see Johnston get shot), the whole death sequence was rather moving. Everything from Johnston’s deathbed (or deathtable, I guess) speech to Gail’s arrival to Jake’s breakdown to the final ‘gone drinking’ flashback was excellent. Johnston shall be missed but at least he had a great send-off.
Jake’s speech where he took the leadership mantle from his father worked rather well. I think it would have been more effective had Jake actually been elevated though. Within in the first few episodes of the season, Jake quickly established himself as one of the leaders of the town. Whenever there are problems, people always turn to Jake; it’s not like people are going to see him as a leader all of the sudden because of his actions in “Why We Fight”. Still, his speech at the end made for a great moment.
Minor side note about the invasion itself: How did New Bern get its hands on so many guns, trucks, etc. They couldn’t have been that well supplied when Ravenwood attacked. From what we’ve seen the Ravenwood contingent in Kansas isn’t all that large; they wouldn’t have been able to do much against a force the size of New Bern’s. Then again, we don’t know how the battle with Ravenwood actually ended. Maybe they were wiped out once New Bern had enough time to gather its forces to counter Ravenwood’s assault.
Back to the actual ending of the episode; if this episode had actually been about the New Bern invasion, it would have ended on a rather anti-climatic cliffhanger. We know the military has been dispatched to quell the battle between Jericho and New Bern. We also know that military helicopters are just moments away from the battlefield. So there’s no question of New Bern’s invasion of Jericho actually succeeding. But this episode was never about war with New Bern. It was about the fall of one leader, and the rise of another. And in the final moments of the episode, Jake speech and order of the attack on the New Bern troops solidified his status as a leader. Assuming there is a second season, the first episode will probably begin at the exact moment this episode ended, but it will be telling a new story.
I’m not entirely sure what to make of the lack of a ‘To Be Continued…’ as this episode came to a close. On the one hand, as I said, it told a complete story. It feels complete on its own so there’s no need a TBC slapped on at the end. On the other hand, it ended mid-action, so you almost expect a TBC message. The lack of one could bode ill for the chances of Jericho getting renewed next week.
That was one excellent season finale for Jericho. Hopefully it will continue to be a season finale; if Jericho doesn’t get picked up again for a second season, this episode will still be awesome, but it leaves a few too many questions open to serve as a series finale.
