Jericho (New TV Show) - ComicCon Review (Spoilers)

[CrusaderX]

This show sounds cool. I'll definitely check it out.

 

[Crothian]

X-Files almost went that route, but at least they started to provide something approaching answers occasionally.

X-files also had the ability to have stand alone episodes. Lost and the three shows like it that all died last year are unable to have those and I think that hurts it. This show doesn't seem like it will either.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Any show can have standalone episodes, if the writers want to. Surface, especially, could have had fun telling a one-off story about someone encountering the sea creatures.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Any show can have standalone episodes, if the writers want to. Surface, especially, could have had fun telling a one-off story about someone encountering the sea creatures.

Threshold was very much stand alone episodes. It was mostly a monster of the week show.

As for Jericho I disagree about the feul issue to some extent. As a farming community the farms should all have some fuel on hand with some probably having tons of it (All that farm equipment doesn't just drive to the gas station for refills). Even without the fuel storage you just need two full cars to go exploring. Siphon the gas out of one into gallon jugs and put them in the other. That should give you a 350-450 mile range to drive and get back which is more than enough to get to Denver from the middle of Kansas (if you are on the Eastern side you should be going to Kansas City or St. Louis to find out what is going on).

As for the Short Wave radio you just take it from the crazy guy and let a normal person run it.

 

[Abraxas]

As for Jericho I disagree about the feul issue to some extent. As a farming community the farms should all have some fuel on hand with some probably having tons of it (All that farm equipment doesn't just drive to the gas station for refills). Even without the fuel storage you just need two full cars to go exploring. Siphon the gas out of one into gallon jugs and put them in the other. That should give you a 350-450 mile range to drive and get back which is more than enough to get to Denver from the middle of Kansas (if you are on the Eastern side you should be going to Kansas City or St. Louis to find out what is going on).

There would probably be a crop duster within walking distance, or horses.
I just can't see small town folk becoming paralyzed by this - start moving in the direction away from the explosion and toward another town. Its only big city folk, where people are packed in like rats and have cell phones attached to their skulls 24/7 that this wouldn't be a solution.

The brief blurb on the link puts it on my to be ignored list.

 

[Mistwell]

We can hope it doesn't turn out like Lost or Twin Peaks, shows that start out cool and intriguing, but it turns out later that just more and more questions pile up without answers.

X-Files almost went that route, but at least they started to provide something approaching answers occasionally.

We can hope that they have an actual, coherent answer for what is going on, and that while questions pop up, there will be answers, and looking back in retrospect those answers will make sense and be things that could have been plausibly deduced from the clues given.

If they do all that, then it could be a very good show.

Did you just seriously say, with a straight face, that x-files provided something approaching answers while Lost has not?

Wow. We are worlds apart in perspective. That is, unless you stopped watching Lost before the drove of answers started to pile up this last season (in it's second season, as opposed to it's 5th season).

 

[Mistwell]

Threshold was very much stand alone episodes. It was mostly a monster of the week show.

As for Jericho I disagree about the feul issue to some extent. As a farming community the farms should all have some fuel on hand with some probably having tons of it (All that farm equipment doesn't just drive to the gas station for refills). Even without the fuel storage you just need two full cars to go exploring. Siphon the gas out of one into gallon jugs and put them in the other. That should give you a 350-450 mile range to drive and get back which is more than enough to get to Denver from the middle of Kansas (if you are on the Eastern side you should be going to Kansas City or St. Louis to find out what is going on).

And they may well do that. But in the pilot, they were not near that level of organization yet. It was more of a "try and get control of the panic" for that episode.

As for the Short Wave radio you just take it from the crazy guy and let a normal person run it.

They did use it, we just didn't see the results in the pilot. They don't need to take it from the crazy guy...they persuaded him to allow them to use it, by agreeing with the crazy guy that this was all about an alien attack.

 

[Steverooo]

One thing that was brought up in one of the trailers, that the arguers, here, have so far ignored, is that, if you see a nuke going off, and can't (for the time being, anyway) contact the outside world, then you have to assume that the US is under attack, either from an enemy country, or terrorists. As one of the guys in Jericho points out, "We may not want whoever is out there to know that we're still here!"

So, you can send out scouts, but any scouts captured by the mysterious "Enemy" can be tortured into leading them right back to you... That would certainly cause some dissension among the folks debating whether or not to send out a search team.

Eventually, someone would have to go. Initially, however, they might prefer to try the radio, internet, and other means of information gathering.

There are also the dead birds. What killed them? Concussion? Radiation? Jericho probably doesn't stock Potassium Iodide, so the explorers have no protection from radioactive particles in the air, falling on their food & into their water, etc. They can rig some protective wraps out of materials on hand, but do you want to go out under those conditions? Especially with all the stuff going on "at home"?

I don't know. I don't see going off into the probbly-radioactive wasteland as the best idea, as compared with sitting where we think we're safe, calming things down, and listening to the radio... YMMV. Again, eventually, they'll have to do that, but certainly not in the opening episode!

 

[Steverooo]

1. Electricity is probably out for good. They have some generators, but those will run out quick. No cell phones of course. And nothing to charge walkie talkies with once their batteries run out.

Was it a nuke, or not? Do we really know, for sure?

If it WAS a nuke, then there was an EMP, and anything electronic (as opposed to electrical) is fried, and you'll need new chips (generally) to repair it. (In some cases, depending upon the chip and damage, a knowledgable person might be able to repair it... I couldn't, but it is sometimes possible.)

If it wasn't really a nuke, then I don't know why power is out, unless the lines are down (which is very possible, in an explosion). Phones operate under their own power, so the electricity has no effect on them. If the phone company has no power, though, no phones. Cell nets I don't know anything about.

Batteries are really no problem. even a small town probably has hundreds, in the stores, and more almost dead ones laying all about, throughout the town. And that's without any recharging (I have quite a few crank- or solar-powered rechargers, as well as the kind that plug into the wall, and that's without using a 12-volt battery to recharge a bunch of 1.5 volts).

2. No gas station refills either. You run out of gas, and you may be stranded.

Not really. The gas stations still have gas, the PUMPS just won't work without power (no electricity). You can syphon a bit of fuel out of the hose, without any special gear.

With a little preparation time, and a working vehicle, I could haul a battery and an inverter up to the station, find the guy who runs the place, and get the voltage/amperage that the pump needs, and then power the pump from the batteries/alternater & inverter, and get all the fuel that we had storage containers for... As long as the vehicle ran, we could charge the batteries from the alternater...

Unlike the electronics, the EMP wouldn't fry copper coils of wiring. Motors, light bulbs, etc., should still work, if you have power to run them. Does the ol' "crazy guy" have solar panels? Let's hope SOMEONE in Jericho does!

 

[Brown Jenkin]

One thing that was brought up in one of the trailers, that the arguers, here, have so far ignored, is that, if you see a nuke going off, and can't (for the time being, anyway) contact the outside world, then you have to assume that the US is under attack, either from an enemy country, or terrorists. As one of the guys in Jericho points out, "We may not want whoever is out there to know that we're still here!"

A nuke in Denver tends to indicate an ICBM strike from a major power, terrorists, or possibly just an accident. If it is an ICBM strike then in all likelyhood there would be many more than the one cloud seen as the enemy would likely be striking military facilities as well. There would also probably be some indication in the news that tensions were running high with another major power. With only one cloud the terrorist or accident theory have stronger likelyhood. With either the terrorist or accident theory then in all likelyhood there is only one or a very small number of cities hit at once and most of the rest of the country wouldn't be in a post apololyptic scenario yet. If the concearn is about the actual enemies knowing about Jericho then I don't buy it at all.

So, you can send out scouts, but any scouts captured by the mysterious "Enemy" can be tortured into leading them right back to you... That would certainly cause some dissension among the folks debating whether or not to send out a search team.

See above. My question is what "Enemy" are they trying to keep secret from? Without more mushroom clouds I doubt that the US is some post-apocalyptic nightmare or that there are Russian/Chinese/Alien troops running all around Kansas.

Eventually, someone would have to go. Initially, however, they might prefer to try the radio, internet, and other means of information gathering.

CB radio/Shortwave radio. The other means of communication are probably down with the power. It looks like a pretty big town though so someone will likely make a drive sooner rather than later. There would also likely be a minor exodus and influx as people try to leave to get to relatives and the surrounding farmers all come into town to see what is going on.

There are also the dead birds. What killed them? Concussion? Radiation? Jericho probably doesn't stock Potassium Iodide, so the explorers have no protection from radioactive particles in the air, falling on their food & into their water, etc. They can rig some protective wraps out of materials on hand, but do you want to go out under those conditions? Especially with all the stuff going on "at home"?

Sure why not. Its not like Denver isn't upwind anyway and anything radioactive in that cloud will be heading right to Jericho. If radiation is a concearn the best bet would be to drive north or south depending on the wind direction. Maybe head down to Oklahoma City (about the same distance) and see what is going on. If all the cities are hit then pool the gas and cars and convoy up to Canada since it won't be long until Jericho is just as contaminated as everything else.

I don't know. I don't see going off into the probbly-radioactive wasteland as the best idea, as compared with sitting where we think we're safe, calming things down, and listening to the radio... YMMV. Again, eventually, they'll have to do that, but certainly not in the opening episode!

See above. OK heading to Denver is a bad idea but what about heading to Oklahoma City, Witchita, Omaha, Kansas City all of which are away from Denver. As above, if Denver is a radioactive wateland then Jericho won't be much longer with the winds heading from west to east. The longer you stay and decide what to do the more radiation you will get. My guess would be that with only one cloud seen it is limited in nature and heading north or south as soon as possible would be a good idea. If it is nukes all across America it doesn't much matter as it is now radioactive-postapocolyptic endgame anyway and pretty much everyone is screwed no matter where you are.

The way I see it is that this is trying to be another Lost with drama and unsolved mysteries. However right now I can see too many holes in just the preview to really be interested. Oh and if it/they are not nukes but some non-radioactive super science bombs then I am out as well.