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TV Drive-by Watch: Jericho!
Aug. 13th, 2007 12:01 amSomehow I couldn't get past this one, because obviously I needed to watch yet another highly addictive, progressively dark show with an apocalyptic element.
So far - Episode 8 - I like it a lot, even though the fact that the show takes place after a nuclear attack on a massive scale isn't necessarily something that has filtered through all that much - yet, as I have been made to believe. What strikes me as interesting about the whole concept is that it is basically a western - the state government plays no role, the local authorities are working only perfunctory, and the small bits of civilization the town has kept for itself are increasingly threatened by a progressively lawless situation that is ruled by criminals and rampaging mercenaries on the one hand, and the less joyous traits of the townspeople somewhat beginning to get the better of them on the other.
At the same time the story has a strong conspiracy element, concerned with the wider aspects of the attacks, and right smack in the middle of this is Robert Hawkins, a character who rivals Jack Bristow and Noah Bennet in moral grayness and bad assery, and who may just have more dark secrets than both these gentlemen combined. Like them, he also has a highly assertive young daughter in Alison, who, despite starting out as the usual sullen teenager, catches on extremely fast on the less than savoury traits of her father's occupation and holds herself up just fine.
In general, the characters are likable and multi-dimensional, and, except for one storyline concerned with an ill-fated romance between a young misfit shop clerk turned wanna-be gangster and a snotty teenage queen, mostly blessed with watchable plots. I was also very fond of the show's tendency to mix up the characters in often unexpected ways: how often do you see genuine friendship between the woman the hero is pining after and the woman who is pining after him? Plus: James Remar, playing once more a sketchy father figure (even though this time on the definite wrong side of the law).
So far - Episode 8 - I like it a lot, even though the fact that the show takes place after a nuclear attack on a massive scale isn't necessarily something that has filtered through all that much - yet, as I have been made to believe. What strikes me as interesting about the whole concept is that it is basically a western - the state government plays no role, the local authorities are working only perfunctory, and the small bits of civilization the town has kept for itself are increasingly threatened by a progressively lawless situation that is ruled by criminals and rampaging mercenaries on the one hand, and the less joyous traits of the townspeople somewhat beginning to get the better of them on the other.
At the same time the story has a strong conspiracy element, concerned with the wider aspects of the attacks, and right smack in the middle of this is Robert Hawkins, a character who rivals Jack Bristow and Noah Bennet in moral grayness and bad assery, and who may just have more dark secrets than both these gentlemen combined. Like them, he also has a highly assertive young daughter in Alison, who, despite starting out as the usual sullen teenager, catches on extremely fast on the less than savoury traits of her father's occupation and holds herself up just fine.
In general, the characters are likable and multi-dimensional, and, except for one storyline concerned with an ill-fated romance between a young misfit shop clerk turned wanna-be gangster and a snotty teenage queen, mostly blessed with watchable plots. I was also very fond of the show's tendency to mix up the characters in often unexpected ways: how often do you see genuine friendship between the woman the hero is pining after and the woman who is pining after him? Plus: James Remar, playing once more a sketchy father figure (even though this time on the definite wrong side of the law).
