Episode 1.7 - Long Live The Mayor

[KryptonSite]

Talk about the Nov. 1 episode here. See some images from the episode at this link.

[KryptonSite]

Wow, no one talking about tonight's episode? That's... not good...

[Lexgirl33]

I didnt see it! I thought it was on at 8 for some reason I got confused

[Chevy Consensus]

Jeez the story moved on well tonight! The Australian previews make the next show look even better.

I don't like Gray : (

My new theory about Hawkins (now that the bomb-in-a-truck scenario has been confirmed) is that he is in some government squad that captured a bomb. Knowing that it was all about to go pear-shaped and that his chain of command would be in tatters, he got his family out, walled up the bomb to keep it out of the hands of the bad guys, and is sitting tight until his buddies reach him with their families.

The medical stuff about the septic pneumonia is spot on by the way. We've just lived through that exact scenario with my father-in-law. He got out of hospital two days ago after spending three months including a week in intensive care with operations and IV antibiotics delivered straight to his heart.

[wolfgang76]

I have to admit this was one of the better episodes. Overall it moved along and yet didnt break down at times into a "Mad Max" situation like some have feared.

Overall this also leads me to belive that it may not be as bad out there as some in that town think. If some of the major cities have survived and government centers than eventually order will be restored.

also if its ONLY the US attacked then we could expect aid from our allies, especially if the UN is still working.

[katzman]

Hey all,
I've been following this show for the entire season and after watching last night's episode, I am believing that the producers are doing a better job with the writing and the development of the characters in the show. I agree that the show moved along very well last night.

On the Hawkins theory presented by Chevy:
I agree with most of your theory. I am also am in belief that the Jake Green character may have had some play with the group Hawkins was involved with. In the episode with the Denver refugee, Hawkins finds out there is a "traitor" in this group. Coincidently, in the pilot episode, Jake, who hasn't been seen in 5 years passes through Denver earlier on the day the bombs go off. And comes back to Jericho on the day the bombs go off. And has different stories on where he has been. I wonder if he is the so called traitor.
I wonder since Hawkins and Jake Green seem to know things ordinary people don't, that this group Hawkins is a part of is some sort of inside government based group whose intent is on thining out the population and population control. Or they may be some government group who wants to destroy the country from within.
Why would they hit Lawrence, Kansas and not New York City? Interesting thoughts. I wonder what you guys think of this theory.

[Shell3283]

Honestly, I found this episode to be quite boring. The most interesting part was when that guy came back with all the info and Jake and Heather finally shared a kiss!!!

The Irs lady and Stanley are boring.

I dont know about Hawkins, he has me stumped, especially now that him and his wife are going at it. I don't think he is a bad guy, but obviously he is not telling everything he knows.

[Mantose]

I think Gray is an important part of the show, as soon as he came back and started to mess with people I felt he is what the show was missing last few episodes.

It was nice to finally learn what the deal is with Hawkins and his family. They really are a family.

Was nice that girl finally showed Jake how she feels ... tho I can see into the future her and the blonde girl cat fighting over Jake.

Finally the snobby girl asked the grocery boy to stay at her house... was thinking that was going to happen a couple of episodes ago.

Hawkins acted surprised when he found out NY is still there. I wonder why? Was he surprised because he knew it would get hit , Because he is involved with the group that planned the attacks? Or is he just surprised because he is a smart guy and knows NY would be a major target.

The way the bombs happened ... in a truck drove in and blew up ... leads me to believe this was an inside job(still could be another country) and not someone launching missles at us ... so that would explain why noone was prepared for it... I assume you would have plenty of time to react if it were a missle attack...

I dont think Jake is a traitor ... if he knew what was coming like Hawkins did , why would Jake come back to get money? As you saw by this episode noone has a real need for money right now. I think Jake is a smart guy and he would know this.

Speaking of money ... Hawkins knew what was coming .. why would he buy a house in full ... why not a downpayment ... ?

[zonofzod]

If you guys missed the show, you can go to www.cbs.com to view the entire season! The link will be in the middle left hand side of the page.

This episode was okay. Grey, to me seems like a power hungry politician. Remember, absolute power corrupts! And he's already power hungry. Very interesting to know that NYC made it, but to me I have no earthly idea why they would nuke Lawrence KS. It's a college town! Good to know that FEMA is still running.

Jake and Hawkins back story are the things that keeps me watching. The scene between Hawkins and his wife, to me was really emotional, although some of you may disagree. It's obvious that he cares for his family, he's just being portrayed in a weird way, but he's becoming one of my favorite characters in the series. Next few episodes will be Mad Max like, which to tell you guys the truth was inevitable. But think about it, what would happen if most of our major cities were destroyed and our Federal Government was no more? It definitely wouldn't be a day at Disneyland.

[wolfgang76]

What I cant figure out is WHY is the Federal government disolved? This may be my ignorance but this "attack" seems pretty minor to most anticipated wars with Russia during the cold war. If we had plans to keep the government running then why dont we now?
This gets even more strange with the fact that it seems major centers of government were not hit or managed to survive thier attack like New York.

[naskippy]

Well, I was sick with a cold and my attention span was not very good due to all the cold medicine I am taking. But correct me if I am wrong...It was my understanding that this was an act of more like terrorism and dirty bombs not an actual missile attach from another country. If that is the case, then next thing that come to mind...who are we shooting back at?

zonofzod wanted to know why in the show they hit Lawrence, KS. I might possibly have the answer to that one. During the Cold War it was always the theory that Lawrence, KS would be one of the safest places in the USA in the event of a nuclear attach. Lawrence, KS is considered the geographical center of the United States. And the theory is it would be one of the most difficult spots to hit, and who would want to hit it? There is nothing there. I think they hit it in the show Jericho for the same reason they used Lawrence, KS as the backdrop in the 1983 movie, The Day After. Just to show that anything is possible and that regardless where you are no one is safe.

As for Hawkins...one of my thoughts was and I think I may have expressed in another post somewhere was that he and all his buddies in that picture of him in army clothes with his buddies in the jungle are the ones I think are behind this. I think he will be later revealed as one of the bad guys...that is just a thought I have had and this past week’s show it keeps it on the table as a possibility. I think we can now for sure throw out the Alien possibility. I thought it was a good show last night. Just wish I would have been less medicated and could have paid better attention.

Thanks

[zonofzod]

I've seen "The Day After", I actually own the DVD, but if this was a terrorist attack, which it seems to be, why nuke Lawrence? Well, after thinking about it, I've come up with this. From what we've gather, the attacks happened simultaneously, there's a possibility the terrorist didn't have enough time to make it to Topeka, so a fallout attack would be the next best thing. Of course this is a speculation.

[Liriel]

Hawkins acted surprised when he found out NY is still there. I wonder why? Was he surprised because he knew it would get hit , Because he is involved with the group that planned the attacks? Or is he just surprised because he is a smart guy and knows NY would be a major target.

Hawkins can't have been one of the planners unless he's playing two sides. Because another guy in his group went back to the irradiated city to save people, which he wouldn't do if he'd been involved in bombing them.

[Mantose]

Hawkins can't have been one of the planners unless he's playing two sides. Because another guy in his group went back to the irradiated city to save people, which he wouldn't do if he'd been involved in bombing them.

Maybe the guy had a guilty conscience. I seem to remember Hawkins asking why he went back. Then Hawkins said it was suppose to be family only. I dont remember if the guy responded or not.

Hawkins went in to save his family just before DC went up ... how did he know it was going to be a target?

Or maybe he and the others of his team didnt know what the targets were but they suspected and decided to just move their families to the places they thought would be safest.

What I cant figure out is WHY is the Federal government disolved?

Do we know for sure it is ?

I thought the president was killed in DC Giving a speech... and since most politicions hang out there... I assume they are dead too...

Hard to run things if most of the people in 1 or more branches of government are dead?

I could be wrong, just my thoughts

anyway I think I might be getting off topic .. I apologise if I am. Maybe this belongs in the speculation forum?

[Liriel]

The guy said he couldn't let all those people die. I don't recall his exact words, but that's the gist of it.

Hawkins and his crew definitely knew about what was happening. He seems to have known the targets and where to go that was safe.

[Shell3283]

This show has got me so confused

I don't know what to think, I just wish they would give more info.

[zonofzod]

Originally posted by Shell3283
This show has got me so confused

I don't know what to think, I just wish they would give more info.

They do that so you can keep watching!

Check out www.cbs.com and click on Jericho or countdown, it's right in the middle of the page. There are a couple of webisodes that discuss Hawkins getting information. He is portrayed as if he did not have anything to do with the actual bombings, he was just gathering intel. Take a look and we can discuss it in the speculation thead

[Montecore's Revenge]

We learned a few key bits of information this week. First, the bomb they stopped in New York was a 20kt device. Obviously a 20kt weapon is incredibly powerful. However, in the grand scheme of things as far as nuclear technology goes, that’s fairly weak. It’s only slightly more powerful than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki devices. The point? Hawkins’ comment about an H-bomb blowing up Denver is inaccurate at best, a red herring at worst. (Note also the surprise expressed by Hawkins upon hearing that New York survived.)

Another key point along those lines was the subtle mention that the 20kt device was in a steel drum. A few weeks back, I pointed out that I thought Hawkins might have been moving a bomb if he was part of the organization that was responsible for the attacks. That theory just got a whole lot more support, as he did, in fact, have a steel drum that he moved with him (along with a cache of weapons) during the rainstorm.

Perhaps the most important thing is that the method of executing the plan is at least somewhat evident: Small teams detonating the bombs in major cities during the SOTU address. In New York, it was three guys in a van. This makes the ICBM launch even more curious, and raises two important questions: One, if it’s a terrorist network, at whom were the missles launched? Two, why did Hawkins inquire whether the ICBMs were “ours or theirs” a few episodes ago? Regardless of what side he’s on, if he had some kind of advance warning of the attacks, he would know that the perpetrator was detonating small nukes from the ground, not firing ICBMs / MIRVs.

It’s also clear that Hawkins was living in D.C. up until two days before the attacks. Furthermore, his wife comments that she started having an affair long after he had “left her for his work.” He’s either a really good guy or a really evil guy. Like I said before, I don’t think we’ll find out definitively until this current run of shows is over (at least three more weeks, possibly as long as the end of the first season). He’s the “Tom Underlay” of the series.

Finally, I take most of what Gray says about the incident on the highway with a grain of salt. He seems like the kind who would lie about something like that, especially given the coverup of the incident in the mine. I’m not sure if that will be relevant again.

Why Lawrence and not Topeka? I think that's going to be a key to figuring out what's happening.

Finally, I thought it was a bit odd that Gray said that Topeka was hit hard by the fallout from Lawrence, since Topeka is over 20 miles west of Lawrence. Fallout patterns are dependent upon prevailing winds (hence, why a nuke in Denver would create problems for Jericho), so it's curious that an attack on Lawrence would cause Topeka to be hit so hard.

[eblkheart]

[ not firing ICBMs / MIRVs.

Just a technical thing, MIRV's, if this was based in 2009 would be all but gone by then. All ICBM's are going single warhead. Also, MIRV's are on the ICBMs, not something seperate (Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles, aka, warheads).

But I would agree on the 20KT explosion. This is way odd (but plausible to in a terrorist attack). If 20KT type explosive did go off in Denver, one, they wouldn't have seen it (or could even see the mountains for that matter) and two, there would have been minimal fallout, if nothing at all.

One other thing that makes me keep thinking about his whole thing. Where is the military? Fort Reily is just down the street from them? Why haven't we seen anything from that? Even just a few troops off on patrol checking on everything, talking to the people, I mean there were major bases all around the nation that weren't hit that are fully loaded with MP/SP personal along with support staff (for example: medical, food, communications etc) that would be helping those out. We saw that in the Day After and many other movies. And with the next episode coming up, it doesn't make even more sense.


I honestly don't see this show making it past the second season the way its going. I expected it to be way better then this, but, I'm not seeing it.

[Shell3283]

^^^I agree. I have read the spoilers and it doesnt look too great.