Jericho first impresions

[Taelorn76]

Did anyone catch the premier episode of Jericho tonight?

I just wanted to gather some first impresions from fellow Enworlders.

I thought it was pretty good. I would give it a seven or an eight. The acting was not superb, good enough for TV. The premis is what drew me in. A town in middle America becoming completly isolated from the rest of the country. No one really sure what is going on or what exactly happened other than a mushroom cloud is seen on the horizon. The show has me curious and I will be watching next week.

I was a fan of the eighties movie Red Dawn and this had a little of that feel to it.

 

[sydbar]

I think its a pretty good series so far, but its hard to tell from the first episode. I shall continue to watch this lost like show, and see how it goes.

 

[Shalimar]

I really like it so far, I'm a big fan of the genre, so i plan on watching it regularly. I do think the town is actually fairly well off, assuming the area around it is fertile. They seem to have what they need to keep things going, at least for awhile.

 

[Jamdin]

I liked it for the most part and Skeet Ulrich was great.

 

[LightPhoenix]

It was okay, but not great. I'd give it a six, and I'll be tuning in next week.

It's interesting, I'm trying to write a more detailed account of why I only felt it was a six, and I'm struggling a little, so this is going to be a little messy.

It very much felt like I was watching a poor knock-off of Lost. Not so much character-wise, although you can definitely draw parallels. Heck, they even have an escaped prisoner, albeit possibly more sinister. It was more the tone of the whole show... I know Lost wasn't the first show by far to be "mysterious", but it was certainly the biggest, and between this year and last, it seems the big thing to do now. So I wasn't really thrilled in any way.

I had a lot of trouble liking the main character, especially because, well, we're not really sure if we're supposed to like him or not. That wouldn't be a problem in an ensemble piece, except there wasn't really an ensemble here - Ulrich was by far the center of the whole show. This may change... hopefully, it does. If it doesn't, I really don't see myself tuning into this every week.

The actress that played the mother was great, I'd like to see more from the others. Again, not sure how much was too much emphasis on Ulrich's character and how much was simply bland writing.

Overall, I had a lot of trouble believing that the effects of a nuclear blast really did happen. More specifically, the EMP pulse. The physics of it just don't work out - namely, a ground level nuclear blast would have to be relatively close to knock out circuitry in Jericho. An airborne strike certainly has more EMP range, but would be visible to the residents of Jericho. Could be an explanation for the dead birds though.

Similarly, I found it hard to believe that after failure to communicate with the governor, or any elected official in Topeka, or possibly Witchita or Kansas City, they wouldn't send out someone. Okay, again, paranoia, okay. However, they'd KNOW if it were Kansas that were hit... so at the very least they could find out if more people are alive. Heck, drive to KC and get on a computer. Better than nothing.

 

[Taelorn76]

Similarly, I found it hard to believe that after failure to communicate with the governor, or any elected official in Topeka, or possibly Witchita or Kansas City, they wouldn't send out someone. Okay, again, paranoia, okay. However, they'd KNOW if it were Kansas that were hit... so at the very least they could find out if more people are alive. Heck, drive to KC and get on a computer. Better than nothing.

I felt that was sort of covered when the Mayor's opponent suggested the parents go out an search for their kids. The mayor stated that they should stay put until they get a better idea of what was going on. Which I agree with somewhat. Try to assess the situation close to home before you send people out, who might not return.

 

[Taelorn76]

What got me scratching my head was the girl driving the car at the end. She was just totaly oblivious to what was going on. So much so that it was a little ridiculous. So obsessed with her MP3 player she doesn't notice anything around. I don't know why, but that was a low point of the show.

 

[Arnwyn]

I found it firmly mediocre. I'll tune in again, though, because I love that 'nuclear war' kind of stuff.

Far too many contrivances for my taste, but heck - it's network TV. I just groaned when I saw the prison bus, which - of course - is filled with insane murderous nuts, who'll kill police officers at the drop of a hat.

What was happening with the woman at the end? It was too dark for me to see anything - were those dead birds?

Overall, I had a lot of trouble believing that the effects of a nuclear blast really did happen. More specifically, the EMP pulse. The physics of it just don't work out - namely, a ground level nuclear blast would have to be relatively close to knock out circuitry in Jericho. An airborne strike certainly has more EMP range, but would be visible to the residents of Jericho.

Was that supposed to be the effects of the EMP? I didn't think it was - many electronics were still running just fine, including cars, etc. I just thought the power went out due to infrastructure "problems" (destruction) - we do know how the power grid is so interconnected...

 

[LightPhoenix]

Was that supposed to be the effects of the EMP? I didn't think it was - many electronics were still running just fine, including cars, etc. I just thought the power went out due to infrastructure "problems" (destruction) - we do know how the power grid is so interconnected...

True... I never really considered it. Kinda dumb of me, considering how many major black-outs I've been in in the last decade... one weather related (Labor Day Storm), one power company related (that big Northeast one), and a couple of minor ones. So yeah, your explanation makes a lot more sense.

 

[Henry]

Yeah, I didn't take the cell phone and TV outage as EMP, but problems with communication in general. One thing -- I wonder if the town as a local TV station, and they'll be using it.

Also, can someone fill me in on what happened when they paid the conspiracy nut 50 cents to use his ham radio? I had to do some domestic-type stuff, so I missed this snippet. Did they get to contact anyone, or did the ham radio not work, either?