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