22 episodes have aired. 22 episodes have been watched. Season 1 of the sci-fi show Jericho ended on the 9th of May. I’ve been following this show ever since a friend of mine, Mr. NiceViolence, gave me a couple episodes and bid me watch them. He told me they were good, with an interesting plot and good enough actors (including one very hot chick). Seeing as I had just finished watching Buffy, and because the show came recommended from other sources as well, I decided to give it a go.

The none-spoilerific plot summary is this: Nuclear bombs go off in almost every major city in America, thus sending the country back into the 19th Century. The small town Jericho, Kansas survives the attack, and find themselves in a most peculiar situation. No one is coming to help them. No one knows their there.

Jericho portrayals in a fascinating way how fragile our society really is. The story line revolves around the Green family, the town of Jericho and the mystery behind the attacks. A mysterious man named Stephen Hawkins moved into town only a day before the attack. He claims to be a former cop from St. Louis, but is he really?

The story behind the series is well thought out and realistically told (for the most part). The characters the story centers on are interesting and well acted. The Green family, including mayor Johnston Green, Eric Green, Gail Green and Jake Green, is the focus of the main attention, and Jake Green stands out as the most prominent actor among them. His story became my favorite during the show, closely followed by Hawkins mysterious revelations. The show has got everything from exciting plot lines to romantic intrigue and full scale war. This is of course a very Hollywood thing to do - mixing things for every taste into one show, but the cake that comes out of the oven ends up tasting rather good.

The biggest failure of Jericho’s first season is the slow overall progression of the “Nuclear Attack Plot”. We start off during the early autumn and end when spring finally arrives - over six months at least. You would think that other countries could have provided America with more help than they do. There may be reason for why they haven’t, but those were not revealed. Some of the actors, especially Eric Green, weren’t very good, and his story was boring as well. The season ending was also very unsatisfying. I know that a major cliff hanger may secure a second season of the show, but I would have liked more closure before they finished off. Stopping “mid-action” seemed somewhat weird.

All in all, Jericho is one of the better shows coming out of the US. It can’t compete with the likes of BSG and the amazing Heroes, but it provides the viewer with fair entertainment in every episode. I’ll be looking forward to the potential second season with anticipation, but suffice to say that I will live on if Jericho gets canceled. Final verdict for Jericho, season 1: 7,5/10.