By Strega
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This week's first plotline is based on the fact that the people of Jericho are dim bulbs. Wait, that's what every plot is about. But this week the lights are going out, for real. Again. Because they've been using their generators to keep every decorative light and television at the bar going for the past few days. The power at the clinic is also flickering, endangering the life of the bubble-baby. If only they could have predicted that this might happen, and planned for it in advance. Jake, Stanley, and Heather make a mad dash to siphon gas from the Texaco station. There's the usual "maybe someone's about to die" fake-out, which is resolved with the usual whimper. The power comes back on, everyone bellies up to the bar, and Eric starts asking for gas donations so that we don't have to go through this again in Episode 8. Our second storyline involves the discovery of a radiation-burn victim named Victor. He's rushed to the clinic, and manages to tell Jake that there's a group of refugees from Denver outside town. Over April's protests, they decide to give Victor an adrenaline shot so that he can give them more information. Hawkins takes a break from teaching his family their cover stories so that he can have a private chat with Victor. We learn that Hawkins and Victor are part of the same secret ambiguous conspiracy, and that there was a traitor in their midst. Oh no! Or, yay! Depending on how you feel about cops from St. Louis. Then Victor dies. Jake lectures the townsfolk into sending a team out to rescue the refugees. Unfortunately, they only find a pile of corpses. Bummer. But it's not all bad news: Emily wasn't in this episode very much. Oh, and Dale brought all of the food from the train back to town and single-handedly restocked Gracie's store. Seriously. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously: Boom, eek, pow, etc.
According to the all-knowing captions, it's four days after the bombs, and one day after the fallout has cleared. From Jericho? But there wasn't any fallout. Maybe the captions aren't so smart after all.
Stuttering images show crowds of people running down a street, and a cloud of smoke. Boy, I'll bet a show about whatever's going on there would be pretty interesting. Apparently the people of Jericho feel the same way, since they are, of course, watching these images on the TV sets at Bailey's. Eric thinks that the shots are of Cincinnati, and proposes marking it as a possible site of badness. Hawkins kinda rolls his eyes, heh, and Mary scrawls a question mark over Cincinnati on their map of doom. Which is pinned up over the dart board. I hope that, in future weeks, lots of tiny punctures start to appear on the map. Stanley and Bonnie join Jake at the bar. Stanley wonders why Gray and Shep haven't returned. Maybe they're trying to do Jake one better. "He found a couple of planes on a highway, eh? Well, I'm gonna find us a submarine in a cornfield! That'll show him!" The images cycle through on the TV again, and Stanley says, "Makes you wonder what happened to whoever shot this." Aw, Stanley is like my kindred spirit. That should probably worry me. Hawkins replies, "I think that mighta been the last thing they ever saw." Jake puts his hands over his face like he can't believe what a downer Hawkins is. Then they go back to watching TV for a while. But lest you think that this week's opener is a little dull, that's when the power flickers. Thrilling! And then...it comes back on. Mary tells Eric that the generator's almost out of gas, and that, when it goes, they won't get to watch TV anymore. Well, they could make a trivia game out of it. "Was the man fleeing for his life from the clouds of radioactive smoke carrying a suitcase or a backpack?" Stuff like that. Eric reassures Mary that he'll take care of it. She helpfully reminds him that the gas pumps aren't working. Eric tries to imitate Jake's "I can solve any problem if I'm confident enough" style. So naturally, the power flickers again, and then goes out for good. As everyone groans, Mary tells them that the bar's closed. Stanley whines, "It's only 9:30!" Ha! I don't understand they can't keep drinking in the dark, but I guess that they can do that just as well at home.