"What it always was is a democracy. That's easy when things are going all right. But when you're scared or mad, it gets to be a lot harder." - Former mayor Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) on preserving the town of Jericho after a nuclear attack
Jericho: The First Season DVD Review
By Jude Clement
Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) has picked a heck of a time to visit his estranged family in Jericho, Kansas. He's been away for five years, and while his mother Gail (Pamela Reed) welcomes him back with open arms, his father Johnston (Gerald McRaney), the town's longtime mayor, and Jake's brother Eric (Kenneth Mitchell) are less than receptive. When Johnston refuses to give Jake what he's looking for-control over an inheritance from his grandfather-Jake decides to leave town again. Only one thing stops him-apparent countrywide terrorist attacks, including a mushroom cloud that seems to envelop the distant city of Denver. Cut off from the outside world-there's little food, water, or electricity and communications systems are down-the residents of Jericho must work together to ensure that society continues.
As a series, Jericho almost didn't continue. The show received decent ratings when it premiered in fall 2006, but ratings dropped when it returned from its winter break. CBS ultimately decided to cancel the series, but eventually changed its mind when diehard fans started a massive campaign to save the show. The network did issue one ultimatum, though-the series wouldn't be around for long in the 2007-2008 season if its devoted followers didn't convince other people to watch, too.
Ultimately, this may prove to be a difficult task. As Jericho: The First Season shows, the series' charms may not be universal. Take, for example, "The Day Before," the series' first episode back after its break. The episode attempts to fill in the blanks on both Jake and the mysterious Robert Hawkins (Lennie James), but by this point the characters are so opaque it is difficult to care. Many of the characters are either inscrutable or one-dimensional, leaving this viewer cold.
The story arc is also a tad simple-minded. We live in a country where citizens often have difficultly identifying the President but know every detail about Brittney Spears' life. Yet one of the plot threads is a mayoral race held in the aftermath of the nuclear attacks. This hardly seems realistic.
Even so, fans of the series should enjoy this DVD set. With its numerous deleted scenes, commentary tracks, and a pair of featurettes, it will keep them occupied until CBS schedules the second season premiere.
The twenty-two episodes that make up Jericho: The First Season are divided onto six discs. The discs are housed in three slim, clear plastic keepcases, each of which holds two discs. The fronts of the cases include photos of the series' stars. The backs of the cases include titles, brief synopses, and original airdates for each episode. The interiors of the cases include an image of Jericho. The keepcases slide into a cardboard outer sleeve.
The DVD menus are simple and easy to navigate. Viewers choose individual episodes, but there is no "play all" feature. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there are no scene selection menus.
