An Astounding Lack of US Intelligence (Jericho - Season 1 (DVD))

Name: plipplop

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Product:	Jericho - Season 1 (DVD)
Date:	08/04/08 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Occasional moments of excitement - there's an interesting idea trying to get out

Disadvantages: Dreadfully mixed tone, rubbish cast, stupid ideas, lack of direction

A series of devastating nuclear attacks on the major US cities leaves the country in a state of near-meltdown and the survivors must suddenly learn to cope without infrastructure, food or governance. In a small Kansas town named Jericho, a small, rural community struggles to pick up the pieces. Mayor Johnston Green, just going through the tribulations of a re-election, is under pressure to maintain law and order in the face of increased threats on every side of the town. But amidst the devastation, there are individuals with their own sinister agenda. Who is the mysterious new neighbour, named Robert Hawkins, who appeared mysteriously literally days before the nuclear attacks - and what does he know about Jericho?

Earlier this year, the news that the television network CBS had finally cancelled Jericho was greeted with a mixture of disappointment and outrage from a growing band of cult viewers who clearly believed it was the best thing since. In the UK, reception to Jericho has been rather less rapturous, with a terrestrial television screening on the fringe channel ITV4 and a quiet DVD release for the first season in the earlier part of the year. Reading around the response to the show's cancellation on various web sites, it would seem that there is a belief that CBS has given into pressure from the government, with the conspiratorial nature f the subject matter proving too edgy for some and so the fans are now whipped into a outrage. Having watched season one, however, I can confirm that the reason for the show's cancellation is infinitely simpler; it's complete and utter rubbish.

The series suffers most notably from an absolute crisis of identity, as the creators and writers seem completely unable to decide exactly what it is that they want it to be. In summary, it combines elements of just about every popular American television series of the last decade. Imagine 24 meets Dallas and you're part-way there. Scenes of action and espionage are inextricably woven into protracted (and rather dull) character drama, born straight out of a regular American soap opera. There are romantic plot lines, mystery stories, a heavy dosage of conspiracy theory and even some of that backwards and forwards story telling technique favoured by J J Abrams in Lost. It could have been really good. In reality, it's an absolute mess. With 22 episodes of this cluttered, misdirected format, your typical DVD viewer is likely to find himself reaching for the fast forward button at ever more rapid intervals.

This frequent change in tone and pace makes the series an extremely mixed viewing experience. Some episodes are quite exciting; there's a fairly engaging yarn about a trip to a bleak, post-Apocalyptic market place that certainly presents some interesting ideas. Others are utterly, utterly dull and as the series progresses, early ideas and successes are often lost. The most intriguing storyline is that of Robert Hawkins, a man who clearly knows more than he's letting on, given only that he has a nuclear warhead in his basement, but the revelations are painfully slow to come out. More and more of the series is actually devoted to a growing feud with a neighbouring town, which shows the writer focusing on the way in which society would quickly break down in such a post-Apocalyptic state, but never really doing it very well.

Jericho is utterly unconvincing from start to finish. At times, it's hard to remember that the country is in such a state, as the glowing townsfolk of Jericho carry on about their business as though nothing has happened. With decreasing food and amenities, they seem to stay remarkably well-groomed and healthy in appearance, and if wasn't for the fact that they keep talking about their predicament, you could be forgiven for forgetting about it. They seem pre-occupied with ridiculous things; setting up a new means of paying for things in the store; putting up Christmas lights with their new generator; looking after their absent neighbours' houses in case they return. It's so gratuitously wholesome, it make you want to throw up, as the writers desperately want to make the point that decent Americans would continue to maintain their civility. Like they did in New Orleans, you mean? Hmm.

For a post-Apocalyptic story, Jericho is a strangely sanitised piece of story telling, too. Lots of people get killed or die, but we don't generally see it, and when we do, it's more for emotional effect than to be shocking. The science is unconvincing at best too; the land seems largely unaffected by any radioactive fallout or consequence, despite the number of bombs detonated. (In one particularly ridiculous move, a corn crop is apparently protected from radioactive fallout by the corn's natural sheath.) The show's only real edge is the ongoing revelation of the masterminds behind the whole atrocity. As the government's involvement becomes increasingly suspicious and further revelations are made, the series almost runs the risk of feeling edgy, until the soap opera slick trickles back in. The conspiracy theory is poised to develop further in season two (I can't wait) but just doesn't get the chance to really grip the audience in season one, which is the show's gravest error.

It's not helped by extremely weak characterisation and a budget cast. The show's primary characters are the Green family, comprising the mayor, his wife, their two sons one of whom is dysfunctional, of course) and their daughter-in-law. They're an uninspiring bunch, with Mayor Green probably the strongest of the bunch, which is a problem given that it's his son Jake who is supposed to be the hero of the piece. Skeet Ulrich is an unlikely choice for the lead role, lacking any real presence or gravitas and actually looking rather weedy and tired. His brother has curious facial hair and skips between being the brains of the family and the weakest link. Needless to say, they repeatedly get themselves into a variety of physical and emotional predicaments, none of which are of any real interest to the audience.

This generally applies to the rest of the cast too, who comprise a miscellaneous selection of disinteresting, American clichés. There's an increasingly irritating teenager who takes over as the town storekeeper; a young teacher who has romantic ideas about Jake until her husband turns up and pretty much every other dramatic stereotype you could imagine. There's a frustrating lack of variety, with the only coloured folks being the mysterious family from out of town - but then this is Kansas after all. Nobody seems to have any real conviction and everybody just seems to be going through the motions. The only real exceptions to this are Mimi Clark and Stanley Richmond, a city slicker and rural farmer thrown together by circumstance. The pair has a genuine on-screen chemistry and are really the only likeable characters in the whole piece.

The suggestion that Jericho was cancelled because it was too close for comfort for the US government is, frankly, ridiculous. Jericho was almost certainly cancelled because it's just not good enough. The narrative is such an amateurist shambles that no government could ever feel threatened by the content; there are no revelations here. How I managed to sit through an entire series, I shall never know, but when the eight-episode run of season two comes out, I won't be buying it. Frankly, I couldn't care less what happens next.

The region 2 DVD release of Jericho is available for around £30 but is best avoided like a radioactive plague.

Summary: A post-apocalyptic vision of life in a Kansas town.