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

[Brown Jenkin]

Yeah the idea that anyone would see a mushroom cloud, completely lose power, have no contact with the outside world and calmly say "well there was only one nuke that we know of, probably terrorists, let's leave our homes and drive north".

Yeah... *THAT* is what normal people would do.

Not.

People certainly are free to stay. I'm just saying I would get out from under the fallout that is heading my way. It doesn't matter if it is war or terrorists, either way the radiation is coming.

 

[Vigilance]

People certainly are free to stay. I'm just saying I would get out from under the fallout that is heading my way. It doesn't matter if it is war or terrorists, either way the radiation is coming.

This is assuming you were reacting calmly and rationally. A big if.

Also, look at the synopsis of the show again in the first post. There is a blast in Denver, they hear of a similar event in Atlanta, the President is meeting in emergency session with Congress and THEN power goes out, as well as a complete information blackout.

You're really going to just head north and hope for the best in a circumstance like that?

Maybe YOU would. But to say it's a huge plot hole that the entire town doesn't pick up and head for Canada is a bit of a nit, don't you think?

 

[Crothian]

Isn't denver like 180 miles or so from kansas? Can one actually see a mushroom cloud from that far?

 

[Vigilance]

I wasn't under the impression they were physically seeing it. But even so... seems like a little literary license might be in order at some point.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

This is assuming you were reacting calmly and rationally. A big if.

Also, look at the synopsis of the show again in the first post. There is a blast in Denver, they hear of a similar event in Atlanta, the President is meeting in emergency session with Congress and THEN power goes out, as well as a complete information blackout.

You're really going to just head north and hope for the best in a circumstance like that?

Maybe YOU would. But to say it's a huge plot hole that the entire town doesn't pick up and head for Canada is a bit of a nit, don't you think?

Once more if I am downwind of a mushroom cloud that I can see then yes I am out of there. Staying put is just asking for radiation posioning. I will happily take my chances heading north. I will be freaking out and probably making some irational discissions but getting away from there will be a top priority.

I realize that people staying put is the premise of the series but some premises I just can't except when they fly to much in the face of reality.

 

[Vigilance]

Once more if I am downwind of a mushroom cloud that I can see then yes I am out of there. Staying put is just asking for radiation posioning. I will happily take my chances heading north. I will be freaking out and probably making some irational discissions but getting away from there will be a top priority.

I realize that people staying put is the premise of the series but some premises I just can't except when they fly to much in the face of reality.

Uhuh, and air never travels north? Isn't there a little thing called the jet stream that frequently passes south, then turns north?

What I am saying is, even if only TWO ICBMs strike the US and none strike Canada or Mexico, you are not getting away from the fallout.

So you can have known surroundings and fallout, or you can hit the road, with less idea about how you are going to get gasoline, the strong possibility that you will soon be on foot, no real idea where your next meal is coming... and you will have fallout.

The idea that "I can outrun the fallout" is just not correct.

 

[RangerWickett]

I figure most people would wait for the government to show up. Some people would explore, though.

 

[Steverooo]

EMPs

Well, I don't presume to know (or care) what BJ would do, in the event of a nuke, nor what the weather patterns around Denver are, or whether or not they blow towards Jericho, Kansas (if there even is one). This I DO know: I don't have a car, so I'd be one of the people cutting up trash bags and taping them over the windows, and trying to get by where I'm at.

Also, I am going to actually wait and SEE the show, before I make any judgement calls about how gaping the plot holes are. IF they see a mushroom cloud, AND the prevailing winds are blowing the cloud their direction, then staying put is dumb, yes, but that's presuming a lot that I don't think we really know, yet. So I'll just wait and see,,,

So, does anyone here know how and why EMPs fry the electronics? I'm no physicist (don't play one on TV, nor even in an RPG), but my understanding is that radiation ionizes parts of the ICs (Integrated Circuit chips), making their function irratic, at best. Thus, anything with ICs is effectively "burned out". Is that about right?

Also, it's my understanding that simple electrical circuits (light bulbs, house wiring, pumps, motors, etc.) should all be okay. Right?

So why is the power off? Generaters still work. Power distribution systems should still work. Control panels without gayges won't, but those with'em will still work. Seems to me that only switching gear will be out, and manual switches will still function... Shouldn't power be back on, pretty quick?

(Yes, yes, lots of modern control systems are computerized, but the overrides are almost all manual - so where's the problem? What am I missing, here?)

Also, once the EMP is past, why wouldn't communications work? Sure, the IC-bearing walkie-talkies would have ceased to function, but the Ham sets don't have any ICs to "burn", so...? Does radioactivity in the air cause some problem? (I've never read anything like that.)

So why no communications? Even if only one guy in all Jericho has a Ham set, there should be plenty of other Hams out there, similarly equipped... I hope this doesn't all turn out to be some sort of "Emergency Preparedness Drill"!

 

[Vigilance]

I the reason the power would be out would be all the routing stations and lines that would be physically evaporated and/or destroyed, but I'm just guessing.

Large power plants might even be directly targeted in a serious military strike, but as we have seen with blackouts, even one missing link in the chain can cause a lot of havoc.

So my guess is that if a lot of places were destroyed, then a LOT of those links would be missing.

As for communications, Im sure there would be a Ham network, which would probably hook you up with a lot of people you don't know, can't trust and who in many cases know just as little as you.

Though I'm sure that would be more comforting than static and silence

 

[Brown Jenkin]

I am ok with the power outage. The EMP would fry the Denver area but that is not the cause of the blackout (well it sort of is). What happens is that the power grid is very delicately balanced. If one entire portion goes out, say an entire city, this does not neccesarily stop electricity production elsewhere. All the electricity which is supposed to be used in that area is suddenly not being used and builds up causing systems to hopefully either cuircut break or fry entirely. This then causes another section of the grid to fail causing another surge in the next portion and so on and so on. This was seen recently with the eastern power failure in Ohio that took out parts of Canada and New York. Power plants then shut down as well, but unfortunately power plants also require outside electricity to start back up so it takes alot of work to isolate areas of the grid and get power back up in them. The last major blackout took days and that was without having to deal with a war at the same time. The US system is broken into at least two major grids seperated by the Mississippi but if both Denver and Atlanta are hit then I see no reason that there couldn't be a blackout accross the entire US.