Hi Jim:
Hit the nail on the head didn't you? Jericho is nothing more than the
standard protagonist/antagonist Hollywood pipe dream of heroes coming
out of the woodwork to save the day.
I certainly hope no one is seriously considering this show as a realistic
depiction of life after "the pulse". Rather, I compare this
show to the "Dark Angel " series, i.e. for network TV, fairly
good science fiction with almost nothing based in fact. Actually, I
retract that statement. As far as depicting the scenario after an
EMP event; the "Dark Angel" series was quite a bit more realistic
than Jericho, if you ignore the mutants that were the basis for the
show. The "Dark Angel" series depicts a repressive and corrupt
socioeconomic system fostered and encouraged by the so-called "government" that
came into place after all "normal" government had failed.
Checkpoints, passes to enter and leave the city, national ID cards.
Sound familiar? These are realities that have and will occur if a major
catastrophe
strikes.
Back to Jericho: Nice mercenaries? Way too many Steven Segal movies.
Backing down a crew of heavily armed mercs with shotguns and 22 rifles?
I Don't
think so. One realistic part was the sniper shot by the only fellow
in Jericho who has a lick of sense, the double agent. I doubt
he makes it all the way thru the third season, if there is a third
season. The response to that scene was not so realistic!
I understand that the anticipated rush by the general populace to stock
up on "survival" supplies due to the influence of this show
never materialized. I imagine this is because the viewing audience
of Jericho either:
1] Feels they are already prepared and watch the show because it validates
their preparations or 2] Takes the show with a grain of salt. Pretty
cool situation drama, and beats the heck out of the That 70s Show reruns
or one of the other "pabulum" shows on network TV or 3] Simply
have their head in the sand! Their thought processes may be as follows: "This
can never happen, and , if it does, we can live like those folks on
Jericho."See how well they live?".And, "They
have power, food, water, even beer and a transistorized juke box that
still seems to work after a half a dozen megaton nukes go off all
over the US!"
Enjoy the show, take it for what it really is, and Lord help us if
the depicted scenario actually occurs. - Bob in GA
Mr. Rawles:
I appreciate your take on Jericho, but I see it a little
differently from an average person's perspective. Jericho is not going
to be an
accurate portrayal of how the US would react because the general public
could not handle it if it were. The show would be too violent, too
depressing and would never garner ratings, let alone be aired by politically
correct network. To make it an entertainment vehicle, it has to have
the very elements that make it more fantasy than reality (girls and
makeup, lack of arms, etc.). On the flip side, what makes this show
wonderful is that it actually has a large audience of ordinary folks
who may never have thought of survivalism or may never have thought
they could survive such a cataclysmic event. So yes, it is not accurate.
But if it gets people talking and moving towards preparedness, then
it's saving lives. That is heck of a lot more than you can say about
CSI
or American Idol. LOL. I speak from personal experience since up until
last fall, I was one of those 'sheeple' whose eyes were opened by the
show and the survival [Internet] groups I joined as a result. - Tarran
