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After Jake gets over his initial attempts to shoot D.B. Sweeney's Goetz where he stands, Jake tries to kill him in a different spot: his barcodes. No, seriously. Jake has intimate knowledge of J&R's practices, protections, and predilections toward OCD, and he uses this knowledge to make sure that Frodale's black-market vaccines for the Hudson River Virus get duly punched into a few significant arms around town. Of course, Eric helps out a bit by giving Trish something that J&R isn't used to: a conscience.
Also in this episode, Beck is putty in Hawkins's hands as the regional bad-ass obfuscates the truth about Sarah Mason until it becomes the truth. It all culminates in Beck's asking Valente a key question about the ongoing investigation, and Beck finally learning -- or at least suspecting -- that Valente is a big, fat, bald, Cheneylicious liar.
In other Beck news: Heather appeals to his softer side when she tells him about a town in Missouri that is secretly suffering from the Hudson River Virus. At first, Beck plays it off, trotting out the party line that if the town were really in trouble, the current administration would have swooped in before things got out of hand. Because, you know, they always do. It's quite likely that Beck shares our cynicism, because in a darkly-lit scene, Heather confronts him with the news that the Missouri town just got an army truck filled with vaccines and a med tech. Beck plays it off all humble-like, but the fact that he went above his chain of command to send the necessary help is as clear as the sound of Heather's zing-zing-zinging heartstrings. These selfsame heartstrings hit a flat zong when we all learn that Beck -- the hottie from McNottie, the pants from Penzance, the ass from...Kansas -- is married. But his wife seems to be missing, so, you know, there's still hope. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously on the awesomeness that is Jericho: D.B. Sweeney traded in figure skates for guns; Jake turned himself into a bridge bomb (look how short his hair was!); Frodale got store-savvy; there's a big ol' conspiracy happening; Beck came to town hotly; and Goetz returned to town evilly.
Opening scene. Frodale and his new posse are blocked by a border patrol in Indian Springs, Missouri. He whines about getting to a trading post, but the soldiers stand their ground while letting in a Humvee filled with hazmat-togged soldiers. Dale asks, "What the hell's going on out there?" The soldier politely asks him to return to his vehicle. As posse-mobiles go, driving a woody station wagon has got to be the least threatening ever.
Jericho. Walking up to J&R with Jake and Eric, Beck briefs them on the new town administrator. Beck says, "I just thought I'd give you the heads up." Jake -- being far more attractive than strictly necessary in a chocolate brown t-shirt -- asks, "Why?" But his answer comes as D.B. Sweeney turns his paunchy face to greet them. "Sheriff!" he smiles evilly. Jake's reaction is satisfyingly panicked. He immediately fumbles for his gun, but Beck stops him. Quickly grabbing Jake's twitchy arm, Beck just says, "Jake." "Thanks for coming by," Goetz evils. "What the hell is this?!" Jake demands of Beck. "I was afraid our little misunderstanding might come up," Goetz understates with maximum evilness. While Beck seems to be giving Jake a hard look that communicates how well he understands Jake's fury, Eric just stands there and tries to have an emotion. Beck says that Goetz told him about their "run-ins." "Yeah, did he tell you about the massacre he and his men carried out in Rogue River? Did he give you a headcount on how many people he murdered in New Bern?" Jake trembles. "What I heard is that a sanctioned government contractor attempted to enter this town and you opened fire, killing one of his men," says Beck. Oh, those "sanctioned government contractors" -- they're so impudent with their murder and their multiple Halliburton/KBR rape cover-ups. I wonder if the Allied States of America finds rape and torture acceptable during times of war. Jake, pissed that Beck hasn't heard his side of the story, blusters, "Yeah -- that's what he told you!" With evil smoothness, Goetz asks if he can have a private word with Jake. That's Sheriff Jake to you, asswipe of evil. Jake glares at Beck and turns to Goetz. "I'll be right here," Eric promises. Oh, good. I was worried. Evilly, Goetz begins his Teeny-Tiny Woman ramble: "This is a new building and this is my new office. In that office is a desk. And on that desk is a folder: the Jennings and Rall corporate dossier on Jake Green." Jake squints at him warily. Goetz goes on to say that Jake's employment history with J&R is quite the page-turner, especially when it comes to a little place called Saffa in Iraq. Goetz is so dumb; Saffa's in Palestine. He must be talking about Haditha. "Remember Saffa?" Goetz taunts. "You heard stories about me, think you know who I am...I wonder what the people of Saffa must think about you." Okay, first of all, Jake didn't "hear" stories about you, dude; you came to town and threatened everyone. Second of all, grow your beard back. It hides your muckle mouth. Jake backs away and rejoins his brother -- who is just where he promised he'd be: out of any possible danger -- and Beck. Goetz turns to face the town square and looks very proud and evil of himself.
Police department. Jimmy is fully recovered and out of the hospital and gets applause and cheers from his fellow cops as he returns to work. Jimmy jokes that if they all came to visit him in the hospital, he was heavily sedated and he's sorry for anything he might have said. Beck steps out of the sheriff's office and introduces himself. Jimmy grins, "You must be the one that promoted Jake to be my boss." Beck asks if that's a problem. Jimmy, a bit flustered, stutters, "Um, no -- it's uh, you know, I mean, whatever, it's cool." Beck apologizes for imposing himself on the office and says that they're still getting settled in. "It's great, I'm ready to dive back in, just let me know where you need me to go," babbles Jimmy. However, before he can photocopy his butt for his expense report, Jimmy is distracted by the Sarah Mason WANTED flyers. Darcy watches through narrowed eyes as Beck asks Jimmy whether he knows anything about the terrorist.
Hawkins's Happy Hunting Hut. Darcy busts in and tells Hawkins that Jimmy told Beck about the Sarah Mason/Hawkins connection. Hawkins flares his lips irritably and asks what other beans Jimmy spilled. Jimmy didn't say much else, because he still thinks that Hawkins is undercover FBI. Hawkins tells Darcy that if Beck contacts the FBI, they're going to say they don't know who Hawkins is. Okay, fine. In any other regular non-splitting-the-country-down-the-middle situation I'd believe that. However, are we to take from this that the FBI is with Cheyenne? Because it's not like Beck could call the FBI in the East and expect to get info out of them when he's working to support the Usurper President, right? I know Valente is DHS, but CIA and FBI are not under DHS jurisdiction. Darcy panics about Beck coming to get Hawkins and how they have to run away with the kids. Hawkins calms her down and says that if they run, they won't get far. "Then what are we going to do?" Darcy whimpers. Don't worry: the Hawkins Lips of Planning are as active as Nero Wolfe's. He'll think of something. Just a note: I love Hawkins. I love any scene with Hawkins in it. However, I'm getting slightly fatigued by these Darcy scenes. I know that Darcy is sort of a liability with Hawkins now, and it makes him conflicted about certain actions, but she's becoming very one-note. Then again, it may be because these scenes make me miss Allison, the junior bad-ass.
Hawkins storms into Beck's office and announces, "I'm Robert Hawkins." Beck gets on his stony wary-face. Hawkins pulls out his credentials and says, "I'm with the FBI. I really don't mean to start off on the wrong foot, but you're killing my investigation." It's the way Lennie James makes his voice go up when he says "investigation," all "why you gotta do that, man?" that seals the genius of his offensive tactic.
After the break, Hawkins goes on to say that he's been on this investigation for months, but now Beck's mucking things up by plastering Sarah's face all over town. Beck stands his steely-eyed ground and says that he ran Hawkins's name through the FBI database and there's no record of him. See, how did he get access? I'd think the secession of the Western states might necessitate an intelligence lockout. Ah, but Hawkins clarifies all of this for me (because he's awesome), by saying, "Well, I'm not in Cheyenne's FBI database." Beck wonders why. Hawkins fixes him with a look. "I haven't registered with Cheyenne and I don't think I will," Hawkins says, with so much double meaning that it drives me into a frenzy of inexplicable "HELL, no he won't!"-ness. Hawkins goes on to say that his bosses in Columbus, OH are the ones who sent him to find Sarah Mason. See, Hawkins is lying, but he's not. The good side of the CIA -- the ones not affected by Valente -- are in Columbus. Hawkins goes on to say that when he finds Sarah Mason, it will be the Columbus boys who get her. Beck leans over his desk and tells Hawkins that the government of Cheyenne isn't a state of mind: "On this side of the river, it is the law. You obstruct it for the benefit of another nation? We call that treason." Hawkins tosses off Beck's threat and says that he's way more concerned with catching a terrorist than he is in "playing politics." I love how he undercuts Cheyenne by basically equating it with Weeble-Wobbles. (At least in my mind. Maybe it's Valente's head.) Hawkins adds that he thinks Beck is more concerned with catching Sarah Mason than he is with the politics thing. Beck rises warily up from his accusatory lean. Hawkins goes on to say that, judging by his methods, Beck could use Hawkins's FBI help. Beck examines the FBI badge and hands it back to Hawkins. He wants Darcy out of his office, and he wants to know what Hawkins knows.
Mayor's office. Eric tells Jake that he's been pushing the army, but that no one can do anything about Goetz: "It's like he's completely above the law." "Goetz isn't. Ravenwood is," Jake tells him curtly and then explains few hard facts. He uses small words so that Eric will be sure to understand. Ravenwood is J&R's private army, and anything that J&R does is judged by a different set of rules. Eric admits that he's afraid to ask (because he's a pussy), but says he does want to know how Jake knows so much. Eric, remember in Rogue River? No, before you were the wallet-leaving buttmunch, who was directly responsible for leading Goetz straight to Jericho and thence to New Bern. Remember when Jake told you he was in Iraq and you DIDN'T ask him a thing about it? Okay, well, I sort of lost track of my point here, but I'm pretty sure that it boiled down to the fact that you are the munchiest of butts, who should know more about his brother. Jake says that he was hauling supplies for J&R in Iraq. Eric sighs and gets all judgy-face. Wow, Eric, it's almost as if you didn't cheat on your wife who then died from complications with and from your baby. It's almost as though you have forgotten every time Jake has saved your whiny, Daddy's-boy ass. Jake pleads with his brother to hear him out, shakily explaining, "One day in Iraq, our convoy was ambushed. A couple of our guys were killed. We had no rules of engagement, and we had seen the village they fell back to. So we just...we just went in. And we started shooting." Jake starts crying. Eric stands up and starts disapproving. "When it was done there were six gunmen dead along with four bystanders," says Jake. "One of them was a twelve-year-old girl." Jake holds up a silencing finger as he collects himself: "The only reason I tell you this is that there were no repercussions. None. The army had no authority over us; the police didn't. Most of the guys, they just went back to their jobs. The company? The company wanted it quiet, so it was." Quiet as a rape. Jake stands up and asks whether Eric comprehends whom they are dealing with. "These guys, they don't answer to anybody," Jake says, spelling it out for his Slow Donnie of a brother. Eric tries to say that Jericho isn't Iraq. Don't fool yourself, Eric; the Usurper President is Paul Bremer, and you all are the beaten-down insurgents. Jake tells him, "The rules are the same."
Emily greets Frodale as he arrives at his store with a shipment of goods. Of course, the Mitchell-murdering Frodale is now way too hardcore to actually be polite to Emily and say "hi" back, but he does tell her that all his new merchandise is from Missouri and Nebraska. "I've been hitting the big trading posts," he brags. Suddenly -- and I hate that I made this comparison -- Frodale is the blockade-running Rhett Butler of this Gone With The Nuclear Wind drama. Emily points at a pallet of stuff and asks what it is. Frodale tells her that it's the Hudson River Virus vaccine. "Yeah, but the virus ended at the Mississippi," Emily says complacently. Frodale explains that he came across a military-quarantined trading post, and when he asked around in the town, scuttlebutt was that there was an outbreak of the HRV. He got the vaccine from the black market. Normally, you'd say, "I got this on the black market." Not "from." Frodale says it like the black market is an actual place, rather than an operation. "Did you see they put in a new black market? Yeah, it's to the Whole Foods. They're selling local tomatoes and organic eggs!" Frodale says that the quarantined trading post was in Missouri, a hundred miles west of the Mississippi. "Okay," Emily whispers.
Police department. Jake stands there, looking busy as Hawkins comes out of Beck's office. In an undertone, Jake demands to know what Hawkins is doing there. Poor Jake, he's gotta have a Pavlovian response to Hawkins's appearance. It means that bad and dangerous things are about to happen. He's all, "Skippy-doo, tweedle-dee, isn't it a nice day in Jeri-- aw, shit, there's Hawkins!" Also in an undertone and also pretending to be busy, Hawkins says that Beck wants his help on the Sarah Mason case, and that he's getting a copy of the John Doe autopsy. That's not what Jake means. Hawkins drops the hedging and says that Jimmy talked and told Beck that Hawkins was FBI. "You seem awfully calm about it," Jake says nervously. Hawkins isn't sure he has an alternative because he can't run: "The only way out of it is through it." "So what's the plan?" Jake asks, knowing that Hawkins always has a plan. Hawkins says that he's trying to suss out whether Beck is willing to hear the truth about the people he's working for. "And if he's not?" Jake asks. Well, then Hawkins will kill him. "Then nothing I say will matter," Hawkins responds. "He'll call his bosses and tell them I am here." And then you'll kill him, right? "And when Valente finds out that I'm alive..." Hawkins lets Jake imagine the end of that sentence, which might still end with him killing Beck. Not that I want Beck dead, mind you; it's just that Hawkins is so awesome at doing it.
Over at J&R, Bonnie and Trish have a little confab during which Trish attempts to bring Bonnie into the J&R cult by telling her how great Cheyenne is and how much she'd love working for J&R.
Frodale's store. Goetz goons from J&R cart off boxes of Frodale's merchandise. "I paid for this stuff, you can't just take it away," Frodale whines to Goetz. "You're absolutely right," Goetz handles. Boy, how did word get around to J&R so fast? It's gotta be that there's some crankypants old biddy in Jericho who is going up to J&R shaking her cane and being all querulous: "I just thought that you should know that there's a young, purple-lipped scallywag who is al'ays selling stolen goods from that there store that Gracie used to have. And if you ask me, the way he come by that store is mighty suspicious. MIGHTY suspicious! And he doesn't cut his hair, neither! That boy is a hippie! He's probably smoking some of that mary-ja-wanna every night, too!" She's also the one who writes long letters to the newspaper -- the Jericho Cryer (which, coincidentally, is also Jake's nickname) -- complaining about potholes and poop on her lawn. Jake arrives on the scene and demands to know what's going on. Goetz tells Jake that he's just confiscating some contraband. Goetz -- trying to be all nudge-nudge, wink-wink about it -- says that he's willing to overlook most of it, but that at the end of the day, he's got a paycheck to justify. Frodale, who has been pacing irritably all this time, asks Goetz to leave the meds. "The meds are the worst part of it," Goetz explains. "Unregistered pharmaceuticals could be tainted -- even cause an outbreak." Well, we wouldn't want an outbreak, now, would we? Goetz goes on to say that all of Frodale's vaccines will be shipped to Cheyenne and destroyed, and if Jericho needs meds in the future, J&R will issue a "safe supply." "Thanks for your help, Sheriff," Goetz says, and leaves. Emily rolls her eyes. Jake tells Frodale not to worry about it; Goetz didn't take that much. "It's not how much he took, it's what he took," Frodale explains. Emily tells Jake and Eric that there's something they need to hear.
In the back of Frodale's store, Heather sits by a radio taking notes. Eric picks up a map from her table and notes that the virus jumped the Mississippi. Jake rubs his temples and asks if the virus can be treated. It can, Heather explains, but Goetz took all of Frodale's vaccines. Heather explains, "Three doctors on this radio frequency said the risk of the generic stuff being dangerous is almost nil. But somehow, there's only one legally approved source." J&R's. A woman's voice comes across the airwaves, trying to make contact from Fall River, Missouri. Heather dials her in and responds. The woman asks if they are a quarantined town. Heather's shoulders drop with sympathy. "No -- no, we're clear," she tells her apologetically, "How are you?" Not good. The woman has been working around the clock in the hospital. Heather tells her that they're in Western Kansas, and are just hearing about the outbreaks in Missouri. "How long since the virus hit?" Heather asks. "It's moving really fast," the woman responds. "I think we saw the first cases ten days ago and now we're down two nurses." Heather asks how many people they've lost since then. "Hard to say," the woman crackles back. "About [interference] twenty." Heather tells her that she's breaking up: "It sounds like you've lost twenty people in the last week?" "Sorry, two hundred and twenty," the woman repeats. "Around two-twenty." Shit. "Look if there's anything--" The woman crackles out of range. Eric announces that he's going to J&R. Jake tries to tell him that it's not going to do any good. Eric is going to find someone to reason with and get Goetz transferred. Jake's all, "Go ahead, dumb-ass. Keep yourself busy and out of our hair while we do the real work." As soon as Eric's gone, Jake tells a whinge-faced Emily to find Kenchy (yay! Aasif Mandvi is back!) and get him working on inoculating as many people as he can, as fast as possible, while he gets the vaccines back. "And that?" Jake informs Heather, gesturing at the radio. "That's not going to happen here." Not if Jake has to suck every last bit of virus out of every last Jericho citizen, right? Hey, Jake -- I think I'm feeling a bit feverish.
Jimmy shows Beck some corpse photos of John "The Hunter" Doe, saying that they found his body with his neck broken. Hawkins adds that it wasn't hard to finger Sarah Mason as the murderer. "What makes you think that?" Beck snaps. "Well, look at his neck -- it's snapped clean," Hawkins points out. Isn't that what you did to one of the SS in the Situation-mobile? Oh. Right, they probably figured it was Chavez, since Beck realized (belatedly) that he was BlackOps. Beck asks whether they ran prints and DNA. "Well," Jimmy laughs, "the, uh, CSI department has been a little busy lately." Great. I watched Superbad last night and all I can think of now is, "Well, if only Sarah Mason had been a guy and ejaculated on the guy she killed, then we'd have a positive ID." Because, really? How different is Jimmy from Officers Slater and Michaels? Beck silences all of this with A Look. Hawkins glances at Jimmy and tells Beck that they've been offline for a while. Beck tells them to run it now and see what turns up. "You know, when you do," says Hawkins, pulling out an ammo clip in a baggie. "There's another set of prints you should run as well." He hands the baggie over. "Think you could lift a set of prints from that, Jimmy?" Hawkins asks. Jimmy looks challenged. "Uh, sure, I'll give it a shot," he mutters. Jimmy leaves, making a note to look up "how to lift fingerprints" in Wikipedia. Beck asks whose prints are on the clip. Hawkins tells him that they are Sarah Mason's: "We exchanged fire." Yeah, fire and bodily fluids! "Almost had her cornered, but then she slipped away. Left that clip behind." Beck wonders what Sarah Mason's prints can tell him that her dossier doesn't already. Hawkins shrugs that they'll find out.
In some room in the PD, Jimmy awkwardly hands over some prints to Hawkins, asking, "There -- how's that?" Hawkins barely glances at it and frowns, "Yeah, Jimmy, that's fine." Jimmy walks off, staring down at the prints he lifted as if afraid he'll lose them. Jimmy's kind of like a retarded dog. He's big, sweet, eager, and dumb. Once Jimmy's gone, Hawkins goes over and fiddles with the clip and baggie. Jake walks in and asks whether he should take it as a good sign that Hawkins isn't in jail yet. Hawkins tells him that Beck is conflicted and not 100% signed up to Cheyenne yet. "What makes you think that?" Jake asks. "Well, he's not a guy trying to wrap up a mission," Hawkins explains. "He's curious, he wants to know the truth." Hawkins adds that, with Darcy banished from the sheriff's office, he's going to need Jake's help on the inside. "Yeah, well, we might have a problem with that; I'm about to do something that might cost me my badge," says Jake. "No," Hawkins tells him. "No?" Jake echoes. "NO!" Hawkins repeats. Jake gets all angsty and frustrated on the table. Hawkins hisses that they can't lose Jake's badge, since it gives them access to intel. "What's going on with you, Jake?" Hawkins demands. "Look, I might not have a choice, all right-- " Jake starts, but Jimmy clumps back into the room, interrupting them. "Those prints weren't good enough," Jimmy explains, gesturing vaguely behind him. "No?" Hawkins asks, totally not surprised. "Try these," says Hawkins, handing over another set. "Oh, yeah, that's better," Jimmy mumbles, walking out, again with his nose glued to these new prints. See? Trusting. Retarded dog. Hawkins could lick the lifted prints and Jimmy would still believe they're good if Hawkins tells him so. Jake leaves without explaining the vaccine issue to Hawkins.
Med Center. Kenchy, the Senior Suppressed-Virus Correspondent, bursts through some doors, telling Emily that he can't get involved. Emily pleads that she wouldn't ask him if they weren't in serious trouble. She starts to explain about Goetz, but Kenchy stops her: "I have seen what he is capable of. And I will not go against him!" Huh. Aasif Mandvi shaking his ductile cheeks emphatically is something you never get to see him do on the The Daily Show. Emily continues to plead about protecting the town. Kenchy slams down his files and instructs, "You administer the vaccine on the fleshy part of the body. Okay? No one who is ill, no one who is getting ill, no one with egg allergies -- that is very important. Now, children, six months to two years, pinch the fleshy part of the thigh and administer the vaccine quickly -- the quicker the better, now. We don't to need to get everybody -- just 75 to 80% of high risks, and then we've achieved herd immunity." Emily writes down "heard immunity" but really didn't get the rest. Whatever. If Heather were here, she wouldn't even need a pen. She'd just take "herd immunity," whack out a solution to the differential equation based on the town's pop and risk factors, and run with it. Emily, however, is not Heather. "'Heard immunity'?" she blondes. "Yes, herd immunity," Kenchy repeats, "It's like when-- " It's the opposite of critical mass, EMILY! Emily pleads with Kenchy to help her do her homework so that she can go to cheerleading practice.
J&R. Eric talks to Trish about his issues with Goetz. He explains about the murders in Rogue River and New Bern. Trish interrupts to say, "Officially? My answer is that Ravenwood personnel can only do their jobs if they're insulated from these kinds of complaints." Trish lowers her voice. "Unofficially, my answer is that the J&R policy that protects Ravenwood is inexcusable. It's one thing about this company that I don't understand and wish I could change but I can't. And neither can you." Eric winces. Trish tells him that for every one of Goetz, there's one of her. That's not making Eric feel any better. Trish raises her voice again: "And if it's any consolation, since the end of the lawlessness, the reports of Ravenwood violence have almost disappeared." Gee, and how have they disappeared, Miss Burn Bag? Eric gets up to leave with a hefty sigh but asks, "I'm just curious -- you been inoculated for the Hudson River Virus yet?" Trish just stares up at him with clear, steady eyes and doesn't answer. "Yeah," says Eric, with the tone of "thought so."
Sheriff's office. Heather puts a piece of paper on Beck's desk that reads, "Fall River, Missouri." She explains it's a town in Missouri that's been hit hard by the HRV. I love how she had to write down "Fall River, Missouri" on a scrap of paper and drop it on Beck's desk rather than just telling him, "Fall River, Missouri." It's like when Michael Scott insisted that Darryl write down his salary request on a piece of paper and slide it across his desk because that's the way they do it in the movies. Beck looks at the paper and says that all the "isolated outbreaks" in the area are being handled. "Are they," Heather states with surprised sarcasm. She doesn't know what to think: either Beck's lying to her, or he's completely, complacently unaware of the reality, and she's not sure which is worse. Beck goes back to his file reading, but Heather doesn't leave. She takes a deep breath and rushes out, "I don't care what the official story is or what the news is reporting; people in that town are watching their families die. They need help and they're not getting it." Beck squints with concern at her self-assurance. Heather walks out. Beck watches her go and clenches his jaw. Yeah, some part of him wants her. Probably a lower part.
Frodale's store. Jake and Frodale have an oddly-situated confab in front of a fridge. Jake comments that since Frodale is restocking as fast as he is, visiting trading posts isn't all he's been up to out on the road. Frodale doesn't answer, but just looks smug. Jake brushes that aside and says, "As sheriff, it's my job to tell you that even though the vaccines are heading out on a J&R transport today to be destroyed in Cheyenne, it would be a big mistake to hijack that truck." Frodale looks a bit concerned. Jake explains that he knows from experience that J&R is very meticulous about inventory: "Every barcode that leaves at origin is tracked at destination or all hell breaks loose. The only way someone could do it would be to remove the contents of the boxes without being detected and leave the barcoded containers in the truck. You know what I'm saying?" "Yeah," Frodale whispers. I'm intrigued by the fact that there's not just random bottles of soda in the fridge at Frodale's, but a small supply of homemade canned goods as well. Looks like there's some cornichons, maraschino cherries, and chutney in there. Frodale had better boost some Lil' Smokies soon, because clearly someone's planning a cocktail party!
J&R. Goetz asks whether the vaccines are on the road. Trish confirms that the truck left an hour ago. Goetz wants to be told when the vaccine arrives and has been incinerated. Trish asks why it's so important that the vaccine get destroyed. "It's policy," Goetz barks. "Unregistered meds could pose a threat to public safety." Trish argues, "But what if the virus really is a threat to these people? I mean shouldn't they have a chance to--" "There's hasn't been outbreak within five hundred miles of here; there isn't a threat," Goetz interrupts. "Clearly, there is some form of threat out there," Trish persists. "I was inoculated, you were inoculated--" Goetz leans over Trish's desk and says that when and if there is a threat, she will be so informed. Until then: no threat. Trish nods. Goetz picks up a piece of paper from her desk and asks about it. "Purchase orders...?" Trish shrugs. Goetz grunts over the bulk syringe order and asks who ordered it. "The Medical Center, I assume," Trish says carefully. Goetz frowns and tells Trish to call the driver of the vaccine transport. He wants him to pull over and visually inspect all the cargo. Visually inspect. Jake's awesome.
Med Center. Goetz drags Kenchy off and asks why he ordered three thousand syringes today. "This is a clinic, and I need supplies," Kenchy chokes. "It's curious timing," Goetz leads. "It's almost as if you plan to run out over night. I'd like you to tell me what you know." I don't see what the big deal is. So, Jericho has a heroin problem. Don't judge; addiction is a disease.
Richmond Farm of Corn and Cheese. Man, this pullback is just picture-perfect with the yellow farm and the windmill/vane and the red tractor parked on the side of a hill. All you gotta do is slap Mimi in a pink dress to really Wyeth it up. Inside, the Richmonds are having dinner. Bonnie tells them about Trish and J&R and the big city of Cheyenne. "Cheyenne, Wyoming?" Stanley asks. No, Cheyenne from Reba. (I don't watch that.) (Much.) Bonnie goes on to say that J&R needs people who can sign. "So, she wants you to work for J&R," Mimi surmises. Bonnie explains that it's not necessarily J&R; there are lots of programs. Stanley chews his food seriously. Bonnie quickly signs that it's not like she's actually going. "Why not?" Stanley asks. "Because I live here," Bonnie says, adding, "You want to get rid of me so you can be alone" with great facial expressions of bamp-chicka-bamp-bamp. "Forget it," Bonnie finishes. "I'm staying here." Stanley stares pensively at her. Bonnie raises her eyes tentatively to his.
After dinner, Bonnie is on the porch. Stanley joins her and tells her that he and Mimi aren't trying to get rid of her, but if she wanted to leave.... Bonnie signs that she doesn't. In fact, Stanley was the one planning to leave. He was supposed to go to college to play football. Bonnie signs on that Stanley gave up his scholarship to raise her after their parents died in the crash. Could Stanley be more All-American? You rip him open and corn on the cob and apple pie just gush out. Stanley signs back that Bonnie was only four years old. Bonnie smiles, "You could have been a famous football player by now." Stanley shakes his head and signs that he was always planning on coming back home after college. He shakes his head and says, "I was so afraid I was going to lose you, too. How could such a little girl survive such a terrible crash? But you did." Bonnie gets all choked up. Stanley puts an arm around her and tells her that she can do anything: "You just haven't had the chance to figure out what that is yet. Life's short and I want you to be happy." They hug. God, with the fading light and the music and the gloaming, this is so The Natural mashed in with that episode of Quantum Leap when Sam leaps home to play basketball, teach his sister the words to "Imagine," and save his brother from dying in Vietnam, which of course he couldn't do until the second part of the two-parter which is also when he unwittingly seals Al's POW fate. Why do I have to be so affected by this intentionally heart-pulling scene? Dammit, Jericho! Stop making me feel! Stop making me care!
Somewhere in a warehouse by the railroad tracks, Jake paces and frets. Frodale finally arrives, carrying the vaccine in coolers. Jake orders Frodale to divide the vaccines up among the trucks and send them to their designated locations. Once they're secure, they'll spread the word around town. How are they going to tell the dim-witted denizens, "Shut your friggin' pie hole, Jericho, we're trying to save your lives?" Because, see crankypants old biddy above. Jake backs out of the room, saying that Kenchy was supposed to be there thirty minutes ago. Also, see the sheep who applauded the Usurper President who put their flag, country, and constitution to rest.
In the Med Center, poor Kenchy sits in a chair and repeats his assertion that his supplies are a routine matter. Goetz says that he's trying to resolve all of this in a civilized manner, but that Kenchy is making it difficult. "Well, you may be wearing civilian clothes, but you're anything but civilized," Kenchy snarks. Goetz leans down to Kenchy and says, "I know you. The hospital in Rogue River -- you were the ER doc." Kenchy says, "I saw what you did to those people. I know what you are." Goetz stands up to ask him one more time, "Where are the vaccines?" Kenchy is silent. "Okay," Goetz says. "Now let's talk about how uncivilized I can be."
Beck stalks into his office. Hawkins asks him what the prints turned up. Nothing. They're classified. Top Secret. "Mason or John Doe?" Hawkins asks. Both. Hawkins nods sagely and leans forward. Beck says that he's going to call DHS because there must be some sort of mistake. He lifts up his phone, but Hawkins puts his fingers over the hang-up plunger. "It is not a mistake," Hawkins tells him. "Get your hand off the phone," Beck orders. "Okay," Hawkins agrees, "but don't you realize that you just stepped on a land mine?" Beck slams the phone back in its cradle and sighs, "What are you talking about?" Hawkins explains: two individuals, two classified files. One killed the other in a professional hit, and that killer has avoided capture for months in the face of a full-scale manhunt. "Come on, Major," Hawkins urges. "You're not hunting a terrorist, you're hunting a spook." Hawkins goes on to say that the files would not be locked unless both were formerly involved with a covert agency. "There are plenty of valid reasons for a terrorist file to be sealed," Beck says, but he sort of trails off at the end, so you can tell he doesn't really believe it himself. Hawkins agrees that there are, but Beck has orders to kill on sight, doesn't he? "My orders are my orders," Beck mumbles to his chest. Hawkins says, "Well, they want you to find her and kill her before you find out what you're involved in. You call your bosses and you tell them that you are even onto a scent of it and they will remove you from the situation. Or worse." Beck thinks. moment, he calls out to his office to get him Valente on the conference screen. Hawkins pauses before jumping up and telling Beck to ask Valente whether Sarah Mason ever worked for the government. "Step out," Beck orders. "You just ask him," Hawkins insists. "Because he will either say, 'Yes,' and explain her involvement in your investigation, or he will say, 'No.' If he says 'No,' then understand: you have just stumbled into a government conspiracy that will stop at nothing to protect itself." Hawkins leaves Beck's office.
Jake finally bursts into Kenchy's room and finds Goetz on his way out. "He's all yours," Goetz smiles. Kenchy bites his hand. (His own hand, not Goetz's, which would probably taste of burning.) "What did you do?" Jake demands. "A little Q&A -- a little corporate security," says Goetz, leaving. "He's tougher than he looks." Way tougher, since I don't see any blood or bruises. Jake demands to know what Kenchy told Goetz. "I didn't know what else to DOOOOO!" Kenchy wails. "What did you tell him?!" Jake repeats. "The vaccines! The warehouse!" Kenchy bawls. Jake dashes away. Kenchy drops his head in his hand.
Warehouse. Frodale transfers vaccines. He and Emily hear a noise and get all ready. Emily even pulls her gun out. Jake runs in, and Emily bursts out, "Jake!" Jake shushes her and tells Frodale to leave everything and get out. Emily protests that they have one more truck to load. Jake: "Look, there's no time -- go!" Emily argues that they will lose the needed vaccines if they leave them. Jake gears up his face to retort, but he's stopped by the sound of squealing wheels outside. He softly tells Emily and Frodale to go. Emily slings a cooler over her shoulder.
The J&R guys bust in with flashlights and start gun-skulking around. You know, the whole crouching and stopping and posing and freezing -- all with their guns out -- thing. Gun-skulking.
Not leaving, Frodale continues to load up on vaccines. Jake's face does backflips as he concentrates on manning his post at the door. He cocks his gun and whispers to Frodale and another guy to get the stuff out to the truck and that he'll buy them some time. He also tells them not to make a sound, Frodale. Frodale orders the other guy -- one of his road gang posse, obviously -- to go with Jake. Jake rejects this and says that they can't fight it out: "[Frodale], don't wait on me." Jake exhales loudly and proceeds to do some gun-skulking of his own.
Outside Beck's office, Hawkins paces. Inside Beck's office, Valente's Dr. Evil face asks whether Beck is contacting him because he's accomplished his mission. Beck hasn't, but he's hopeful that in a few weeks-- Valente interrupts him and says that he doesn't want to hear about hope. He wants to hear about death. "If you have questions, ask them," Valente orders. Beck asks if there's any possibility that Sarah Mason ever worked for the government. "No, she hasn't," Valente responds without hesitation. "You know everything you need to know in order to apprehend this terrorist, Major. I'm tired of your delays. I'm tired of your failures. time you contact me, I want to hear that Sarah Mason has been located and eliminated. Is that clear?" Crystal. Valente shuts off the TV. Beck stands in his office, conflicted. Hawkins continues to pace outside. He glances down and spies a sheet of paper with lots of numbers on it. He picks it up and quickly folds it away in his pocket as Beck comes out. "Mr. Hawkins" is all Beck says.
More fun gun-skulking in the warehouse.
Frodale loads more vaccines but is an idiot and drops a case of them. Not only does he make a loud noise that announces their presence to Goetz's Goons, but from the sound of it, he broke a bunch of them too. What a Daledo.
Goetz moves in, and there's just so much darkness around tall stacks of Pallets Of Grave Bodily Injury that I sort of expect the Charmed Ones to show up and start flinging Hands of Discontent and Fun Bags of Demian's Nightmares all over the place.
Hawkins asks what Beck's boss said. Beck doesn't say anything at first, but when he does, he changes the subject: "I accept your offer to assist in the search for Sarah Mason, for now." Hawkins nods, "Okay," and sticks out his hand. They shake. "And no politics," Hawkins instructs, turning away. Beck hisses, "Mr. Hawkins, she still has the bomb." "I know," Hawkins says, subdued. He leaves, saying that he'll be in touch.
Warehouse. Skulking. Guns. Jake. Goetz. Goons. Finally, Jake steps out behind Goetz, his gun pointed at him. Goetz whirls around, his gun likewise so pointed. Goetz snarks that they have to quit meeting like this, and asks whether he happens to know anything about stolen vaccines in the warehouse. "I CHECKED! IT'S CLEAR! PUT IT DOWN!" Jake yells in tones louder than their proximity would deem necessary. "I'm sure it is," Goetz says smoothly as his Goons move in. Goetz lowers his gun and encourages Jake to play ball. Yeah, evil ball. Jake continues to play dumb. Goetz raises his gun and yells at his Goons to get on the horn to J&R. They wait. The Goon comes back and says that the vaccines have been located. In Cheyenne. Goetz is all in a twitter: "What?" The office at J&R has confirmed the arrival and destruction of the vaccine. "How?!" Goetz demands, seeking comfort in single-syllables. The Goon doesn't know: "But the books are saying that the load is accounted for." Well, if the books are saying it! Jake holsters his gun and sneaks out a sneer at Goetz. Goetz and his Goons head out, but not before Goetz stops to give Jake A Look.
Richmond Farm. Bonnie and Mimi sit on the porch and talk about farm stuff. Bonnie says that after stuff is taken care of, she'll head off to Cheyenne with Trish for a week or two to check things out. Mimi gazes at Bonnie and tells her she thinks it's a really good idea. "Maybe you can give me some pointers on how to take care of Stanley," Mimi adds. "I'll make a list," Bonnie says, raising her eyebrows. It's like he's a pet: the care and feeding of Stanley Richmond. Don't feed him more than once a day, give him a tablespoon of cod liver oil every night to make his coat nice and shiny, and don't give him fizzy drinks before bed, it just riles him up. "And I'll follow it to the letter," Mimi promises. Bonnie nods, her eyes shining with tears. Mimi fixes her with an affectionate look and signs, "Don't worry, I'll take care of Stanley." Okay, so the sign language for "Stanley" appears to be scratching one's cheek. That's rather appropriate. Mimi puts her arm around Bonnie. Bonnie puts her head on Mimi's shoulder.
In a dark alley somewhere, the folks of Jericho get their vaccine on. Jake reports to Kenchy that he heard from one of the other trucks that they're almost done. Kenchy says that they'll be done soon as well. He swabs Jake's arm. Jake starts to protest as Kenchy stabs the needle in, explaining, "They're going to need you." Jake pats Kenchy on the arm and walks over to his brother, who is already buttoning up his shirt from his own vaccine. I know it's totally irrational, but seeing that Eric already got his vaccine sort of pissed me off. It's like, we saw Jake do the noble protest because he wanted to save the vaccine for the herd, but we didn't see Eric do that, so I just assume he selfishly elbowed his way in to get his vaccine as well. Yes, he's the acting mayor and technically is as needed as Jake. Technically. But I don't like Eric. Jake walks by his brother and punches him in the stomach. No, not like that, sadly; just all, "Hey, bro!" Jake smiles at Eric and then exhales the Weight Of The World. He needs a window. Eric heard what happened with Goetz and the warehouse: "Sounds like we got awfully lucky." Jake says it wasn't luck, because J&R doesn't make mistakes with their books: "Someone on the inside changed the disposal facility log. How that happened, I have no idea." Eric smiles and says, "I think I have an idea."
J&R. A fax comes through with the corrected amounts of disposed vaccine. Trish pulls the fax and shreds it. Cool -- they have a crosscut shredder! You can do your credit cards in those. So, Trish must have had an accomplice on the other side, but why send paperwork back confirming the correction? Why not just enter it as 3840 received an 3840 destroyed instead of three lines with 960 received, 2880 corrected, and 3840 destroyed?
Trish isn't the only one working late. Beck is sitting at his desk when Heather steals into his doorway. Beck glances up, notes who it is, knows why she's there, and looks down again. Okay, the chemistry between them is sort of insane. Heather walks all the way into the office and just stands in front of Beck, not saying anything. He finally looks up questioningly. Heather says that she got a call from the chick in Fall River, MO. An army Humvee arrived in their town with vaccines and a medical officer to help administer the medicine. Beck continues to put on a questioning face: "That's good news." Heather gently teases him: "Uh, you went outside your chain of command." Beck looks at her again. "You put yourself at risk to help those people," Heather says seriously. "Why?" "Are you...upset that they received inoculation?" Beck asks, fiddling with his pen. Heather's simply trying to understand Beck: "You're a military man. Military men follow orders." "They also have families," says Beck, toying with a bare ring finger. Heather's face freezes slightly as she looks at Beck's finger. She either feels bad that she didn't realize he had a family, or she's disappointed that he's not single. Or both. "Um, where?" Heather asks. Beck says that his wife was in Santa Fe when the attacks happened. "After that, uh...." Beck trails off, shaking his head. Heather apologizes. Beck looks down briefly before adding, "So, I have to hope that she's okay. Until then, I do my job. And I trust that, wherever she is, some army major is looking after her the way I try to look after the people under my charge." Hey! That's the second Gone With The Wind reference! At least, movie-wise. There's a scene where Melanie simps to Scarlett that she's taking care of dirty Union soldiers because she hopes that some Northern woman is doing the same for Ashley and sending him home to her. If Stanley could get J&R to trace Mimi's family out east, couldn't Beck trace his? Beck looks down again. "Thank you," Heather says softly. Not looking up, Beck sort of nods his head in acceptance of her gratitude. He can't look her in the eye. Heather leaves. Beck sits at his desk with his folded hands pressed against his mouth. Beck is the new Mayor Dad, and since he's a major, you know what that means, right? He's actually the new -- say it with me -- Major Dad! Full circle, my friends.
Hawkins's Happy Hunting Hut. Unfolding the paper with numbers on it, Hawkins tells Darcy that he got it from Beck's fax. Darcy recognizes it and says that papers just like it have been coming through for days, but that she's been throwing them all away. That's what she was supposed to do, Hawkins explains; the numbers mean nothing to anyone else aside from Hawkins's team. If there was no other way to reach each other, the members of his team devised this way of contacting one another out in the open. Good thing Charlie didn't see the paper in Beck's office, because he'd have looked at it and instantly spouted, "Ooh, I can tell by this code that they're planning an assassination." Darcy wonders if it's Chavez, but Hawkins says that Chavez would just call. Darcy suggests Cheung. Circling stuff on the paper and writing numbers, Hawkins shakes his head: "I don't know, maybe." He picks up his cell phone -- is it the "clean" one Chavez gave him? -- and says, "Let's find out." He dials. Then he pauses and takes a deep breath. "What?" Darcy asks. Hawkins lets out another breath and smiles, shaking off his trepidation before hitting "send." The person on the other line answers, "You found my message in a bottle." Do you think this guy always answers the phone that way? I mean, yes, we can assume he has a dedicated line, but even on dedicated lines, you get a wrong number every so often. You get robo-calls or Stevie Wonder singing "I just called to say Obama." It's not like his caller ID would have said, "Robert Hawkins is calling you," because even if Hawkins isn't using Chavez's "clean" phone, he sure as hell wouldn't use a phone that had his real name attached to it. And it's a cell phone, so there's no Jericho, Kansas area code and exchange attached to the number. I think I'm going to start answering my phone "You found my message in a bottle" just to see what happens. At the very least, it might scare off the pollsters. Hawkins stands up and asks, "Who is this?" The voice says, "I can't talk now, but I know who you are, I know what you're trying to do, and I want to help." The line goes dead. Hawkins hangs up and looks confused. Okay, if Hawkins is confused, Jericho needs to be shitting bricks.