End of the world, continued

Jericho is back on for a truncated second season--better late than never, and better some than none, I guess. I think they've shot 8 episodes to run through the spring, and given the ratings for the first two, I doubt they'll have a chance for any kind of third season. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I like the idea of a novelistic show which has a concrete beginning and end, but I don't think Jericho will have a satisfying ending, no matter what.

The residents of Jericho, Kansas are no longer struggling through a hard, quasi-nuclear winter, and we're now getting a "big picture" plot involving two competing American governments. We hear about an East Coast government situated in Columbus, Ohio (Yay!!), but Our Town is currently overrun by the West-of-the-Mississippi government, from Cheyenne. They've helped the town get back to something like normal in terms of power and food, but they've also brought with them a new flag (nice creepy touch) and and are clearly meant to be seen as dangerous or evil, especially since we know that the Über-bad guy who is most likely behind the nuclear attacks (Daniel Benzali, who has so far been able to almost literally phone in his performances) is behind the scenes in the new ruling body--he may be the Cheney/Rove to George Newbern's "nice guy" figurehead president, who was featured in the second episode.

I'm sorry that Gerald McRaney is gone, though his demise made perfect plot sense, and I miss Pamela Reed, McRaney's widow, who I hear may be back for a couple of episodes. I am still in love with the opposites-attract couple of cornfed Stanley (Brad Beyer) and big city Mimi (Alicia Coppola), though I hope that they start getting dragged away from the farm and into town more often. Skeet Ulrich (pictured at right with Coppola and Beyer) is still fairly one-note, and not much is being done with the supporting women. I liked Esai Morales in his first appearance as a military man who may or may not be in full sympathy with the new government, but his gritted-teeth delivery threatens to be as irritating as Ulrich's constant scowling. (And Skeet, get rid of that little beer belly or quit wearing those snug t-shirts) I'll keep watching through the spring, but I'm pretty sure that this will be the last we hear from our beleaguered Kansans.