In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
This is the most Awesome episode that ever Awesomed! Full stop. End of story. Thank you, Cleveland, and good night.
Following Bonnie's death, Beck takes off to squelch some issues in New Bern, and Jericho -- or should I say Goetz? -- is left vulnerable. Learning that Goetz is still at large in Jericho and lying about his actions to Beck, Jake immediately sets up a Ranger guard around the Med Center and Mimi.
After Goetz and his Goons close in around the Med Center, they start dragging out anyone who is related to those inside the Med Center. They make an Awesome mistake when they knock on Hawkins's door, and the ensuing scene is probably the best one in the entire show. One thing leads to another, yada yada yada: three Goons are dead, and Hawkins has made his way inside the Med Center to team up with Jake in order for the Awesome Squared to happen. Eventually, Hawkins and Jake figure out that they have a mole among them -- and it's not Adrian --- and use that knowledge to send Goetz on a wild goose chase.
In other plotlines, Heather runs into Russell and learns that he's been stalking her for a bounty Constantino placed on her head. Russell, however, is not keen to collect on it. Instead, he wants to warn Heather off from continuing to feed New Bern intelligence to Beck. Heather refuses and learns that Russell's also in town to collect Goetz. New Bern is baying for his blood. Like, get in line, dudes!
The morning, Jake and his team watch Goetz get fired for embezzlement thanks to Trish's help, and once one of the Ravenwood bigwigs has cleared the area, Jake and crew start firing on Goetz and his six remaining Goons. They're not alone, however, because Russell shows up with his New Bernies. They all gather to argue over who will be given the supreme pleasure of meting out Goetz's punishment, but Stanley settles it by driving up in his truck and giving Goetz the toepick to end all toepicks.
Jake lets Russell have Goetz's body, which Beck finds strung up over the sign welcoming all to New Bern. Yeah, he's a bit pissed. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
And you thought last week was good? Please, that was just the warm-up.
Because we aren't emotionally wrung out enough, we pick up right where we left off last week. Kudos, by the way, to the writers and/or director for not leaving us hanging last week. They could have been like so many other shows and cut us off at the point where Mimi passes out, leaving us to nail-bite for another week before finding out Bonnie's fate. I'm glad they didn't, because not only am I an incredibly impatient person, but they capitalized on the emotion quotient.
To recap: Bonnie is dead, Mimi is critical, and Skeet is hot. Of course, the show does the recap much more poetically by clipping in shots from last week's episode. The flashing movement of the shots makes them feel like crime scene photos, and there's barely any sound, save for the building, throbbing menace of music. The first new shot we get is Bonnie's body covered in a white sheet. Her crimson life soaks through the sheet. Stanley takes one last look at that covered body in his house and turns away to walk out, barely catching Jake's anguished gaze as he does. Jake turns back to blindly survey the living room, his jaw jutted in anger. Jimmy and Bill walk in, looking sort of scared of their sheriff. Bill hesitantly asks if Mimi's going to be okay. "She's lost a lot of blood," Jake says, barely able to complete a coherent thought as the pulsing red light from sheriff-mobile stains his face. "What have you got?" Bill takes his moment in the sun: "The weapons were nine-millimeters. The tire tracks out front? Look like a Humvee." Further proof that Hummers are the vehicular embodiments of evil. "Ravenwood," Eric breathes to himself. (Eric has to say stuff out loud, otherwise his brain doesn't process.) (He's also one of those people who can't read without moving their lips.) Eric wonders what Ravenwood would want at the Richmond Farm. "Well, whatever they wanted, Mimi wasn't supposed to survive," Jake mutters angrily, breathing and thinking hard. He orders all the Rangers to the Med Center. "She needs protection," Jake explains, "Ravenwood does not get near her!" Jimmy and Bill leave. After putting a consoling, mayoral hand on his brother's shoulder, Eric follows. Jake nods his acceptance of Eric's sympathy and bites his upper lip to calm himself down.
In the scene, Jake bursts into City Hall. He's all fired up! It's awesome! Unfortunately, he'll have to cool his jets, because Beck and all his men are suited up and shipping out to New Bern to quash some rabble-rousing. When Jake tells him about the shooting, Beck just says shortly, "I heard from Goetz already." Oh, reeeally? And what did the little shit say? "Said he went out on J&R business, someone opened fire on him, killed three of his men," Beck reports. Dude. I had myself convinced that Goetz would have scarpered, but this is even worse! He's totally counting on his Ravenwood amnesty to protect him. Well, you know what, Goetz? You didn't count on Jake and the Black Man. Jake is incensed that Beck believes Goetz. "Do you know something that I don't?" Goetz asks. "There's a survivor," Jake informs him. "All right? She's unconscious but --" A soldier interrupts them, saying it's time to head out. As Beck apologizes and starts to leave, Jake TOTALLY grabs his arm and demands, "WHERE YOU GOING?!" Dude, Jake. I know you're, like, justifiably upset, but try to remember how you felt a few weeks ago when everyone kept grabbing at you, okay? Now, I don't know anything for sure, but I have a feeling Beck isn't someone you want to roughly grab. (Unless of course, you're Heather. Rowr.) Beck tells him he's off to New Bern, where a pipe bomb went off outside J&R and killed six of his men. Beck tells him to keep his pants on until he's gets back, twelve hours from now. "It's not gonna wait twelve hours," Jake informs him. "Well, it's gonna have to -- things are coming apart at the seams in New Bern right now, and you have my word: tomorrow I'm going to get into this, but for tonight, I'm trusting that you can keep things under control here. That means Goetz is off-limits. No threats, no retribution, no exceptions -- do you understand?" Jake listens, but what he hears is, "Blah, blah, blah New Bern. Blah, blah, blah, twelve hours to kill Goetz." Jake nods at Beck. But his face? Yeah, his face is already seeing himself dancing with Goetz's head on a platter, biblical-style.
At the Med Center, Kenchy -- the Senior Gunshot Wound Correspondent -- feverishly examines Mimi. "One entry," he mutters and pulls Mimi off the gurney to look at her back, "No exit." Stanley looms over Kenchy and asks if Mimi is going to be okay. Kenchy looks up at him and just says, "I'm gonna need this room clear now." A Ranger with a shotgun stands guard in the background. Emily leads a protesting Stanley out of the room. Bill and the Ranger follow. Jake strides into the Med Center and announces that Beck is weekending in New Bern: "We're on our own." He drops a bag of guns on a counter and starts handing them out along with Ranger assignments. "Any sign of Goetz, you let me know before you do anything," he orders. Emily quietly says, "Stanley." We can see Jake looking over Stanley's shoulder at something. Stanley turns around to see Bonnie's shrouded body being wheeled in. Jimmy's with her. "Taking her to the morgue?" Stanley asks. "Yeah," Jimmy says quietly. Stanley's going with them. "He shouldn't be alone," Jake says with an intense look at Eric. Eric nods, "I'll keep an eye on him." Jake nods, glad he's still successfully keeping his brother busy while the rest of them to do the real work. Jake tosses rifles to the rest of the Rangers.
In a dark, evil room, Goetz looks over Mimi's ledger. He finds the page he's looking for, rips it out, and sets it ablaze with his lighter. Ah, dude's evil, so naturally he's a smoker, too! He's also not bright. Ripping out a single page in a ledger when you're not planning to destroy the whole ledger? Yeah, that will leave evidence behind. Like the ripped edges that always survive in the binding, for one thing. Goetz holds the flaming piece of paper for a strangely extended period of time before dropping it into a wire wastepaper basket. It's almost as if fire can't hurt him! So I guess that temporary buildings don't have sprinkler systems? A Goon comes in to break the news to Goetz that Mimi was just checked into the Med Center with a gunshot wound. "She was in the house?" Goetz boggles.
At the Med Center, Darcy picks up a prescription and notes the excess of guns and Rangers on her way out. She walks up to Jimmy, who asks what she's doing there. "Well, everyone in your house under the age of eighteen is running a fever --" Darcy says before being interrupted by someone yelling for Jake. Bill comes tearing in and bellows that Goetz and his men are out front. Jake, already coming at a run, speeds up and runs past Bill, handing him his rifle. Jimmy tells Darcy, "Stay here," and follows.
Jake bursts out of the Med Center doors and stops. Goetz and his Goons get out of their Humvees, leaving the motors running. Polluters are evil. Goetz saunters up to the bottom of the Med Center steps but doesn't go any further. He greets Jake and then says, "I understand Mimi Clark is inside. I'm gonna need to see her." Like HELL you are! Extreme close-up on Jake's smoldering eyes. In a fluid movement, Jake grabs his handgun from his hip holster and uses both hands to aim it at Goetz. Okay, I finally figured out what was bothering me about this move. I mean, I really shouldn't be giggling here, but there is something so...odd about it. It's not how fast Jake grabbed his gun or how he held it, it's that his legs are too close together. Like, he's in Mountain Pose, or something. It would seem more natural, tough, and stabilizing for his legs to be slightly spread apart, you know? Jake doesn't speak. Goetz tries to caution, "Jake, don't do something stupid." Because Goetz is the arbiter of intelligence. Jake is still silent. Goetz keeps trying to play this out: "Mimi Clark is a witness to killings of three of my men. She may have even been one of the shooters. [Oh, NO you DIDN'T!] She's got some questions to ans --" "You're not gettin' inside this building," Jake finally interrupts angrily. "Then I think we have a problem," Goetz says. Yeah, you do, and it starts with Jake and ends with Hawkins!
Tonight's Morse code message is, "Do you think Goetz would have been a nicer person if Jericho had loaned them some of their relaxing scented candles?"
Jake's eyes are doing some serious bugging as he holds his ground. Like, I'm getting worried Skeet might blow a pupil or something. Goetz warns Jake about killing a Ravenwood contractor: "Cheyenne will classify this town as an insurgent enclave. When they crack down, everyone suffers. You don't want that." Jake comments that it's going to be a long night. "Is this really a road you want to go down?" Goetz asks. Jake backs up to the doors, and Bill zips out, holding up his gun. Jake lowers his gun and says, "You come inside this building and you'll find out." Find out, Goetz! Find out!
And now for the B-story. Heather's in the police department, listening to reports on the army radio. She takes some notes and prepares to leave for the night. In the hallway, the shadowy figure of Russell hisses her name. He's there with another New Bernie. Heather whisper-demands to know how he got into town. It wasn't easy, apparently. Russell tells her pointedly, "Things are bad in New Bern, Heather. And you are making matters worse for us." Heather has no idea what he's talking about. The New Bern resistance has put a bounty on her lip-glossed head, and they were sent to collect it.
Hawkins's Happy Hunting Hut. Hawkins is talking to John Smith and supposing that based on the document, Smith is a former J&R employee who is desirous of exposing J&R's sins. "Something like that," is all Smith says. Hawkins wonders why he's even needed when Smith could blow the whistle himself. Smith explains that he doesn't need Hawkins, he needs the bomb. It's evidence that can't be easily brushed aside, and he's going to need it if he's taking on both J&R and the Cheyenne government. "And how high up is the connection between the two of them?" Hawkins asks. "How high do you think?" Smith toys. Hawkins starts to say something, stops, then says, "I think Valente." "Think bigger," Smith tells him. "You mean the President?" Hawkins asks. Smith explains that ten years ago, the Usurper President was a young star at J&R, and the company was a major donor to his first campaign for elected office. Not only that, but his cabinet and advisory board are lousy with former J&Rs. Hawkins starts to take notes. "At the highest levels, that government and this company are one and the same," Smith reveals. Oh, the Halliburton of it all!
Jake and the Rangers are standing around the waiting room when the lights go off. "Guess we knew this was coming!" Bill says, grabbing his gun. Jake wants the other barricades set immediately. Kenchy walks out of the OR and says he needs an extra pair of hands to hold the light. Jake shakes his head, saying all his men are on the doors. Kenchy looks around and sees Darcy sitting off to the side. "Excuse me -- Madam?" Kenchy gestures, "You're hired!"
Outside, Goetz has a conversation with a superior where he tells him about armed civilians and possible hostages. He says, "Four hours, copy that. Thank you, sir." Wonder who he's talking to, because we know he doesn't address Beck as "sir." In fact, he was downright rude to him when he first rolled into town. Goetz tells his Goons that it's just going to be the twelve of them for a while. "Should we start planning for a breach or should we just go to phase two?" one Goon asks. "By the time Beck gets back, this thing will be over and done with," another Goon adds. "Let's start banging on some doors," Goetz decides. The Goons deploy.
Inside, Kenchy works on Mimi while looking at an ultrasound image of the wound. Darcy asks if Mimi is okay. "Well, she has been shot," Kenchy points out in that dry British way and then gets all medical about where the bullet went and what it did. "I'm sorry," Darcy says on behalf of all of us non-doctors, "I have no idea what any of that means." "It means," Kenchy explains, "All things considered, this situation could have been a lot worse." He cuts into Mimi.
Down in the morgue, Stanley sits to his sister's body in his Bonnie-stained shirt. Eric, trying to be helpful in a boneheaded way, tells Stanley this isn't his fault. "What are you talking about?" Stanley asks sharply without looking at him. Eric goes on that when April died, all he could think about was how he hadn't done enough, that it was his fault. Stanley's all, "Been there, done that. Dead parents, remember?" Stanley shakes his head that he hated himself for being alive after his parents' accident, "But there was this little girl to take care of. I sort of pulled myself out of it." Eric nods that he knows this is harder, "Your parents -- that was an accident. An act of God." "Aren't they all?" Stanley asks bitterly. He looks up at the wall, "I don't blame myself."
Upstairs, we should all be nervous to note that Farmer Fred -- the turncoat from last week -- is a Ranger guarding Mimi. One of the Rangers calls Jake to the window to show him that Goetz is getting out of his Humvee of Evil. "He's got someone with him." The phone in the Med Center rings. It's one of the Rangers' wives. The Ranger takes the phone and tells his wife to calm down. He hangs up and tells Jake that his wife is outside: "They just went into the house and got her." Ranger Gary goes on, "Look, I'm with you guys, I am, but she's scared out of her mind." Bill is in full light, and he's just sort of looking concerned, but Jake? My god, Jake is way behind Bill, back by the wall, in almost complete darkness, and you can STILL see him emoting with his face! Like, I'm surprised there isn't smoke coming out of his ears! However, his anger is not aimed at Ranger Gary. He tells Gary he needs to go to his wife. "It's just that she's outsi --" Ranger Gary apologizes. "It's all right! Go!" Jake orders. Bill takes Gary's gun and tells him it's okay. Gary totally feels really bad. He looks back apologetically a few times. He leaves the rest of the Rangers wondering what will happen to their families. Jimmy suddenly pipes up like he just realized what this all means, "They're going after our families?" Jake clenches his jaw and barely nods.
OH YES OH YES OH YES! Here we ARE! I'm about to pee in my pants, I'm so excited for this scene! A door opens to a dark house. "D?" Hawkins calls out, flipping on a light. Yes! Yes! PLEASE knock on this door, Goons! PLEASE! Hawkins lightly shoves the door closed behind him and walks all the way in, calling out for Darcy. Two Goons step in, preventing the door from closing. "Mr. Hawkins?" one of them greets. Hawkins turns half around, "Can I help you?" Oh, he looks dangerous! He looks DEADLY! Seriously, check out his EYES! They're as flat, black, and emotionless as a shark's! "Sorry, can we come in?" one of the Goons asks. "Well --" Hawkins gestures with a mirthless laugh, indicating, "You're already in, so, you know, I'm gonna have to kill you." The talking Goon says they stopped by a half hour ago, "Guess you weren't home yet." Guess not. Hawkins shakes his head silently and asks, "What can I do for you?" Besides kill them, that is. The talking Goon takes out a piece of paper, frowns at it, and asks if he's related to a Darcy Hawkins. Hawkins' answering frown signs their death certificates. "Yeah," he says, suspiciously, "What's happened?" The talking Goon explains, "A group of armed men has taken control of the Medical Center and we believe she's among the hostages inside." "Really?" Hawkins asks, acting way more worried than I think he feels just to play along. He asks what he can do. The talking Goon says, "Well, we need you to come down and talk to her on the phone." Hawkins nods, understanding. "Just try to convince her to leave a very dangerous situation," the talking Goon overreaches. A hard look comes into Hawkins' eyes. He squints and says, "I don't understand -- if she's being held hostage, how can me talking to her get her out of there?" The talking Goon barely represses a condescending smile at this small townie's unnecessary questions and says they'll explain everything on the scene, saying, "But we do need to go now." Hawkins glances over at the silent Goon and says, "Okay. Okay, I'm parked out front, let me just get my keys --" He steps back into the living room, and instantly the silent Goon follows him threateningly. Oh, you dumbasses. You have NO idea how much you're going to regret menacing this man.
The talking Goon says pleasantly, "Sir, it'd be best if you just came with us." Seriously, why does one talk and the other not? Are they, like, the Penn & Teller of J&R? Hawkins looks with amused surprise at the silent Goon and just laughs, "Okay." Coiled like a snake, he waits until both Goons turn around before he lunges for the silent one, claps a hand over his mouth, SPIN-SNAPS his neck, throws him into a table, and has his gun leveled at the talking Goon's face all before the talking Goon can even react. THAT'S THE AWESOME I'M TALKING ABOUT! Mathra and I screamed our throats off and charged the TV set after this scene. Once we remembered we couldn't actually slap Hawkins on the back, we pounded a few tallboys and smashed the cans on our foreheads. He growls, "Where's my wife?!" I totally wanted Hawkins to hiss, "I SAID I wanted MY KEYS!" but I can't quibble with the Awesome already present. Man, Jake should THANK Ravenwood for getting Hawkins for him because NOW some shit can get DONE!
In her hospital room, Mimi hazily comes to. Darcy rushes to her bedside. Mimi looks around her and asks where she is. "You're at the Med Center," Darcy tells her gently, "You're going to be fine." "Oh," Mimi says, still trying to put her memories together, "Where's Stanley and Bonnie?" Darcy doesn't answer her and instead says that the nurse will be back in a minute. "Let me go get her," Darcy offers and turns to walk out. Mimi sits there for a minute, thinking. She calls Darcy back, "Wait, please -- where's Stanley?" Darcy resigns herself to being the bearer of tragic news to someone she doesn't even know. "Stanley's downstairs," Darcy says, walking back to Mimi's bedside. "And Bonnie?" Mimi asks. Darcy doesn't say anything. Mimi just stares at her quizzically until realization hits. She rears her head back in confusion and denial, the tears already coming. She shakes her head silently and then opens her mouth wide in horror as she turns to look sightlessly out her window. She turns her head back to look at Darcy and plead a whispered, "No!" Darcy chokes out that she's sorry. Mimi puts a hand up to her eyes and sobs. Darcy strokes her hair.
In a dark room in the Town Hall, Russell tells Heather what's been going on in New Bern. As soon as Beck determined that New Bern was the aggressor in the war, he put the town in a chokehold with curfews, military courts, and armed checkpoints. "The resistance came together soon after that," Russell explains. The other New Bernie sneers that they were one step ahead of Beck for weeks, but then all of a sudden he was on to them. Heather's jaw drops slightly. "Some of those 'tips' you've been giving Beck?" Russell clarifies. "They've been making things very difficult for us. They've cost us lives." Heather closes her eyes in reaction to this news. "The moment Constantino figured out it was you, he issued a bounty," Russell continues. Heather can't believe they're working with Constantino: "Russell, he's a murderer!" Russell knows that, but according to the other New Bernie, a lot of "reasonable" people are lining up behind Constantino, because Beck has left them no other alternative. "So, if you came to kill me, why am I still alive?" Heather asks. Russell says he came there to convince Heather to stop what she's doing for Beck. "And to bring back a little trophy," Russell adds. What? Her finger in a cotton lined box? Because I know how to fake that. "What kind of a trophy?" Heather asks suspiciously. "Goetz," Russell says. AW, YEAH!
Morgue. Stanley asks Eric to check on Mimi for him. When Eric suggests they both go up, Stanley says, "I'll be right up, just...give me a minute or two." Eric nods silently and claps a hand on Stanley's back. "Just a minute, okay?" Eric says before leaving. Stanley stares down sickly at the sheet. He visibly steels himself and pulls it back to reveal Bonnie's face. I know that Shoshannah Stern is in the credits, but that looks like a wax doll. There's something about the hair that doesn't look real. Stanley draws in a shuddery breath and begins to sign. "You okay?" he signs, and then laughs out a harsh sob. He shakes his head and sign-says, "I know, I know. I'm an idiot. You definitely would be making fun of me, right?" He stops and stares at his sister's silenced face. Haltingly, he signs, "I just wanted to tell you Mimi is alive because of you. And I wanted to say thank you. Thank you." He reaches out to stroke Bonnie's hair back again. He signs, "I miss my sister. Tell Mom and Dad I love them." He strokes Bonnie's hair one last time and whispers, "I love you" before leaning over to kiss her as naturally as if she were simply sleeping. Stanley pulls the sheet back over Bonnie and puts one hand on her body. He sits silently.
"Two" Ravenwood men walk up to the back door of the Med Center. A Ravenwood Goon guard calls out to the talking Goon, "What are you doing here? Are we switching posts?" The talking Goon and Hawkins -- dressed in the silent and dead Goon's uniform -- walk silently up to the door. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" the Goon guard snaps. Don't be so impatient; death cannot be rushed, dude!
Inside, Jimmy and Bill have their guns trained on the door. There's a rapid knocking. "Who is it?" Jimmy calls out. Okay, what's hysterical and so very Jimmy about that line is how he calls it out. He's not demanding, all, "WHO is it?" He's sort of calling out as he comes downstairs to answer a knock at his front door when he's still not completely dressed and just buying time as he puts some pants on. Bill looks over at Jimmy, sort of, "And what do you expect the answer will be to that, Jimmy? Use your head!" Jimmy shrugs back a, "Well, I don't know!" look. Bill's been growing on me this season. Maybe it's because I keep hoping he'll morph into a trickster god and send all of Ravenwood, J&R, and Cheyenne to some hell dimension wormhole. "Jimmy, open the door," Hawkins' voice orders. "Mr. Hawkins?" Jimmy squeaks back. "Yeeawuh," Hawkins responds. Jimmy carefully steps over to the door and pulls it open slightly. He peers out of the crack and then looks back at Bill as he yanks the door all the way open. First in is the talking Goon, totally shoved by Hawkins. "I come bearing gifts," Hawkins says, his gun raised on the talking Goon. Jimmy immediately (but also sort of belatedly, if you know what I mean) aims his gun as well. Bill shoulders his gun, figuring that whenever Hawkins has a gun, his just isn't needed.
In the scene, Hawkins finishes duct-taping the talking Goon to a gurney. His mouth is duct-taped as well, so I guess he's done talking tonight. Jake briefs Hawkins on their numbers: "We've got twelve men. From the looks of it, they've got about the same." "They've got three less than they had before," Hawkins corrects him. Wait, shouldn't that be four less? The silent Goon in Hawkins's house, the two at the door, and this duct-taped one. Unless he means that three are dead, and this one -- still alive -- doesn't count? But he's still sort of incapacitated from fighting with Goetz, so...four. "And that one will come in handy if they try and threaten anybody else's family," Hawkins says, indicating Howard the Duct-Taped. Given that it looks like he's in a custodial closet with Drano at the ready, dude should be worried about his knees. Jake nods at a Ranger who takes up a station at the custodial closet door in response. "So they tried to use you as bait?" Jake asks. "Oh, they tried," Hawkins says, sighing over their deadly mistake, "Where's my wife, Jake?" Jake tells her she's helping with Mimi. "Tell me what the hell's going on here," Hawkins requests. I really hope the news of Hawkins' Awesomality never gets out, because it's so amusing to watch people underestimate him.
Outside, Goetz is in some sort of mobile command unit, looking at blueprints of the Med Center. I want to giggle at Goetz for breaking out a mobile command unit to fight twelve Jerichoians, because it's sort of like taking a tank to a fistfight. Of course, I cut myself off mid-"hee" when I think of Hawkins and realize that Goetz is gonna need a bigger mobile command unit. A Goon reports to Goetz that he just found two of their Goons outside the back doors, dead.
Mathra: "Why didn't they drag their bodies inside?"
Me: "Threat."
Mathra [nodding]: "Message."
Together [slapping hands] "HAWKINS!"
Goetz sort of gasps over this report and asks about the silent Goon and the talking Goon. Reporting Goon shakes his head that there's still no sign of them. Goetz orders another sweep: "I wanna know what's going on." Yeah, and I'm sure another sweep is going to tell you just that. You'll probably just find more bodies. Goetz flips open his SPRINTSPRINTSPRINT cell phone.
Inside the Med Center, Farmer Fred answers his vibrating phone. Funny, the phone is making the noise a cell phone makes when it's vibrating on something hard, like a table or desk. In your pocket, it doesn't really make that noise. Unless, of course, there's something Farmer Fred isn't telling us. Farmer Fred surreptitiously takes a peek at his caller I.D. and is about to go off to answer the illicit call until Emily comes up behind him, startling him. Emily hesitates and cocks her head, "You okay?" Farmer Fred breathes out that he is, stuttering, "Yes, ma'am." Emily tells him to go get some water. Farmer Fred thanks her eagerly and takes off.
Mimi lies silently in her bed, and Darcy watches nervously. Jake bursts into the room, bringing Hawkins to his wife. They embrace. Jake walks over to Mimi, who looks around him for Stanley. Jake tells her, "He's with Bonnie -- he'll be up soon." Mimi and Jake exchange inscrutable looks. Mimi seems to be asking if Stanley's okay, and Jake seems to say, "I don't know how to answer that." Hawkins walks over to Mimi and asks her if she has any idea why all this is happening. Mimi rolls her eyes at the futility of it all and says that she discovered that Goetz was embezzling money from J&R. She has the proof in her ledger. Jake grimaces bitterly, "Killing civilians they can excuse, but you put your hands in their pocket, and suddenly J&R is a lot less forgiving." "Zero tolerance," Mimi says, adding that she's sure Goetz has her ledger by now. Hawkins asks if there's any way to recreate the information. "If you had access to the system? Maybe," Mimi responds. Hawkins looks around at everyone, the wheels turning almost audibly. I half expect him to retort, "Access? Access is easy." Hawkins leaves the room, removing his stolen Ravenwood jacket as he walks. He gives John Smith a call. "I need your help," he tells him. John Smith thought that's what he's been doing. "Well, this is a little bit different -- it's outside the scope of our usual conversation." Smith says he has to be careful about sticking his neck out. "You listen to me -- I don't know what it is you want from me, but I know that you are not feeding me information for my own benefit, so I will promise you this: if you do not do this favor for me then our relationship will end, right here and right now," Hawkins informs him. And by "end," Hawkins probably means that he will hunt him down and kill him until he's dead.
Jake gives Mimi a cup of water. Hawkins walks back in and asks her if there's anyone at J&R she thinks she can trust. "Why?" Mimi rasps, defeated. "Because we need to reconstitute the information from that ledger -- now, is there anyone that can help you to do that?" Hawkins presses. Mimi thinks there's someone. "Good, make the call," Hawkins says quickly, thrusting his phone at her. Mimi asks what he wants her to say. "Tell her to gather all the information and send it to this address," Hawkins says, handing over piece of paper. Mimi looks at it and says, "But this is the personal email for the director of operations of Ravenwood -- how did you get this?" "Don't ask," Jake suggests grimly. Hee --he's so over wondering how Hawkins has a Key Hole satellite, nuclear bomb, shed full of bombs, and tank driving experience! He's achieved a Mayor Dad level of acceptance of all of it. Jimmy jogs in and tells Jake they have a problem.
Emily is helping one of the Rangers up off the floor. It's not Farmer Fred -- it's the one who was guarding Howard the Duct-Taped. Jake asks if he's okay. "He came at me outta nowhere," the Ranger says, rubbing his head. Jake looks into the custodial closet and sees that Howard the Duct-Tape has escaped. He even threw his gurney on its side contemptuously. Of course, how this Ranger didn't hear that sort of noise is sort of beyond me, but I guess if a guy spends his life behind the wheel of a loud tractor, you've gotta expect some level of auditory nerve damage. Jake lifts up the Ranger's jacket and sees that the Ranger's gun is gone. "Frank, where's your gun?" Jake asks with a tone that implies he knows it's a totally pointless question. Hawkins looks at the contemptuous gurney. Jake watches Hawkins's face: "There's no way he cut through that tape." Hawkins agrees: "Not without help." "One of us," Jake says. Hawkins nods.
Hawkins says they first have to find Howard the Duct-Taped and asks Jake how many men he has guarding the entrances. "Two at each," Jake says, "But if he starts picking them off, then Goetz can get in, and we can't afford to pull anyone off of Mimi's door." Emily looks over at Farmer Fred, who is acting fidgety. Hawkins says, "Jake we have got to find --" "Oh, we'll find him," Jake says, out-steely-eyeing Hawkins, "but after that, we gotta find a way out." Emily whispers to Jake and nods over at Farmer Fred. Jake squints and hisses, "Yeah? You sure?" Emily's "pretty sure." Hawkins says, "Well, there's a way that may become useful." Jake calls Bill and Jimmy over.
As much as I like Heather, I don't want to deal with this B-story. Maybe it's because somehow the guy playing Russell has lost all acting ability over the hiatus. Heather can't believe that Russell and friend are just going to yank Goetz off the street and execute him in cold blood. "Russell," Heather begs, "What happened to you?" He forgot how to act? Russell stands up, "Goetz executed three of my neighbors in New Bern a few months ago, and this government promoted him. Beck has been strangling my hometown for weeks, and this same government tells me that I'm in the wrong. I've had enough." He delivers all of this with such a lack of required passion or emotion whatsoever that it looks like Strega's zombie dream might come true after all. The other New Bernie leans forward and says that if they punish Goetz in New Bern, it will show Beck they're not going away any time soon. Heather knows that things look bad, but she tells them that the minute they threw in with Constantino, they gave up the high ground: "Beck's going to fight you. I'm sorry, but I'm going to be helping him do it." Aw, she's standing by her man. "I'm sorry to hear that," Russell nods. They go to leave, but Russell has one more thing to say: "Word of advice? Pray I can get Goetz, because if I don't, it's not going to be me that Constantino sends after you ." Wouldn't Constantino want Heather dead regardless of what happens to Goetz? He could always fake Heather's death the Snow White way and bring a small woodland creature's heart back in a jewel box. Heh, sorry, the mental image of Constantino preening in front of a talking mirror all, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall -- who's the meanest of them all?" is pretty hysterical. You know, I bet Lassie has one of those, except his question is, "Who's the detective-est of them all?" especially when Agent "Special" rolls into town.
In her lace-windowed bedroom, Trish is awakened by her cell phone. "Trish," Mimi says. "Mimi?" Trish says. "Trish, Bonnie's dead," Mimi tells her. Trish sits straight up in bed and breathes, "Ohmygod. What happened?" Mimi tells her Goetz and his Goons killed Bonnie for the ledger and now she needs Trish's help. "What can I do?" Trish asks immediately. I know I shouldn't be obsessing over where Trish is staying with the purple walls, Victorian lamp, and wrought-iron bed, but I am. Do the J&R workers get board with townspeople? Do they take over the houses of dead townspeople? Does J&R have an agreement with Crate & Barrel?
Somewhere in the Med Center, a lot of smashing is going on. No worries, it's just Jimmy and Bill. Well, it's just Jimmy hacking though a wall while Bill watches. Jimmy takes a breather and sighs, "God, I hope this works." Bill wrinkles his brow at the hole and says brightly, "It'll work!" He adds, helpfully, "You just...have to make it a little bigger." "That's too small?" Jimmy asks, frowning. Bill just looks at him. "What, you don't think I can fit through that hole?" Jimmy asks, all insulted. Well, Hoochie Mama, you did break the copier! Bill just says, "You're gonna wanna make it bigger." Jimmy rolls his eyes and keeps hacking. Bill makes a satisfied face. What are these two -- the comic relief? I mean, I totally appreciate it, but it's just sort of strange. I hope they keep it up.
In the J&R office with Mimi on the phone, Trish does stuff. Mimi tells her to find the backup folders in a directory, "That's where you'll find the numbers Goetz altered." Trish has them. Mimi says she's going to give Trish an email address with a code for the subject line. Trish says, "Mimi, I am so sorry." Mimi tells her it's not her fault. "Mimi, I'm the one who told Goetz," Trish confesses. Mimi pauses before saying, "I know." They're both silent for a moment. "Will you do this for me?" Mimi asks. "Yeah. Yeah!" Trish promises. Mimi thanks her and they hang up. Didn't she need the email address and code? Trish pounds away at her keyboard, shaking her head in disgust.
Mimi settles back on her bed, but looks up to see Stanley standing in the doorway. "Hey," he says and walks in. Mimi looks scared. "I'm so sorry," she chokes out. Stanley tells her to stop and shushes her. Mimi goes on that she never should have opened her mouth about the money. Stanley kneels by her bed and says that Bonnie did what she needed to do to protect Mimi, "Wherever she is, I swear she's glad she did it." Stanley continues to kneel Mimi, clutching her free hand. Mimi cries.
Elsewhere in the Med Center, Jake and Hawkins gun-skulk and look for Howard the Duct-Taped. They slide into one corridor and Howard the Duct-Taped opens fire on them. Hawkins and Jake take cover on opposite sides of the corridor and return fire. "What kind of gun?" Hawkins finally yell-asks Jake. "What?!" Jake bellows back. "What kind of gun did Frank have?" Hawkins clarifies. "Nine millimeter berretta," Jake yells back. "Seven!" Hawkins counts. More shooty-bang-bang. "Five!" "Four! Three! Two!" Howard the Duct-Tape fires an empty gun and pauses to reload. He stands up and prepares to keep firing. No such luck, Hawkins is already relieving him of his reloaded gun and is now aiming TWO guns at his head! The counting of the remaining bullets was Awesome, but even more Awesome was how quickly Hawkins got to his side. Jake yanks Howard around by his collar, slamming him into the wall. He's got his gun at Howard's head as well. "You're never getting outta here alive," Howard sneers. Jake digs his wrist into Howard's throat. "All the exits are covered," Howard continues. "Sure about that?" Hawkins asks, his eyes wide and confident and AWESOME.
In the scene, Jake and Hawkins are back in the waiting room, getting more ammo. Emily delivers her planned line, "What was all of that?" Jake says they got a fix on Howard and traded fire. "Did you get him?" Farmer Fred asks anxiously. Jake looks at him. "No, he got away," Jake lies. He goes on, "He's probably still inside -- let's pull Marty and Dave off the front entrance to help guard Mimi. Fred, take their place!" Farmer Fred hesitates. "They've been there all night," Jake insists, "The need their rest." Farmer Fred nearly falls over himself in his eagerness to comply. Jake looks at Hawkins who nods confidently. Jake nods cautiously back.
In Goetz's mobile command unit, Farmer Fred calls Goetz to tell him that the back door will be free in five minutes. Goetz is thrilled and yells to his Goons, "We're in!"
Inside the Med Center, Farmer Fred looks nervously around before moving the back-door barricade aside and letting the Goons in. They swarm the Med Center. Farmer Fred looks anxious. After some initial gun-skulking, Goetz finds Howard the Duct-Taped once again living up to his name in a desk chair. Goetz rips the tape off and demands an explanation. Howard the Duct-Taped says that Jake and crew escaped through some exit near the pharmacy. Goetz muses, "There are no exits over there" Another Goon comes up and tells Goetz he needs to see something. With his Goons, Goetz examines Jimmy's hole in the wall and asks what is on the other side. It's a farm equipment store because both buildings are all one structure. After Goetz muses that it doesn't make any sense when he's got the whole perimeter covered, Farmer Fred whines, "They didn't say anything to me about this." "No kidding -- they made you for the mole, genius!" Goetz snaps, finally giving me my use of "made." Howard the Duct-Taped says he overheard them talking about moving Mimi to her farm and hiding her until Beck comes back. Goetz orders them to mount up and redirect the reinforcements to the Route 23 junction, "We'll catch up with them on the move." Because it takes that long for them to get to the farm? Who are the "them" in this sentence? I assumed it was Mimi and co, but maybe it was the reinforcements? Goetz and his Goons take off, leaving Farmer Fred behind.
Farmer Fred sort of meanders around the Med Center, probably wondering what gave him away as Goetz's mole. He leans against a wall and covers his face with his hands, realizing that when word gets out, no one will want to buy his Brussels sprouts at the farmer's market any more. "Are they gone?" Jake whispers, crouched at the other end of the hall with a gun aimed at Farmer Fred. Farmer Fred immediately raises his hands and says, "Jake, wait --" "Are they gone?" Jake whispers again.
The entire group -- a few Rangers, Mimi, Stanley, Kenchy, confused nurses, and Emily -- wait in the morgue. Dude, is Bonnie in there, too? Or does a place this small have two, um, autopsy rooms? Bill comes to the door and nods the all clear. They rustle out with Darcy holding Mimi's IV bag. Couldn't they even find a wheelchair for Mimi? She's sitting on the coroner's stool! Sheesh -- glad it was a quiet night at the clinic.
Upstairs, Farmer Fred is trying to explain his actions, "He said he'd take my farm. He threatened my wife, he --" "Go home, Fred," Jake tells him with weary anger. Farmer Fred continues to protest. "Go HOME, Fred," Jake says again with an edge more intensity, "Go home." Farmer Fred looks ashamedly around at the gathered crowd and walks away. He turns back to redeem himself, "Jake, they've got reinforcements coming. They said they're meeting a hundred Ravenwood men at the crossroads. Eight AM at Route 23 and Cherry Valley Road." Jake nods, taking this in before ordering, "Let's go." Normally, I'd say that twelve men against a hundred-plus is a death wish, but when two of those men are Jake and the Black Man? Well, I just pity Ravenwood.
It's daylight, and Ravenwood are speeding down the Kansas country roads in their evil black Humvees. Jake and his team (including Emily), crouch in the relatively exposed areas of trees and stuff. One of Jake's men moves a bit restlessly when the Goons get out of their Humvees, but Jake holds him back. A large, black covered truck zooms up to meet Goetz and his Goons. It bears the Ravenwood seal. Jake watches. Ravenwood men pile out of the truck. "Are those reinforcements?" Eric asks. "No," Jake says, "Watch this."
Mathra: "Ah, so Jake's knowledge of Ravenwood is so finely honed, he can tell just by looking that these aren't reinforcements!"
Keckler: "No, silly -- Jake's in on the Hawkins-Mimi-Trish plan!"
Mathra: "And they didn't tell Eric?"
Keckler: "Honey, we don't tell Eric anything."
Suddenly, Trish appears behind one of the Ravenwood men. Both approach Goetz. "I'm Director Jamison, Ravenwood Regional HQ," the Ravenwood man announces. Goetz nods at him. "All you guys saddle up -- we're moving out!" Jamison orders. Goetz whines that he's in the middle of an operation. Jamison looks at him, "No, you're not." YEAH YOU AREN'T! Jamison yells and gestures, "Take their rifles!" Goetz looks concerned.
As Jake and Hawkins watch the proceedings from their hiding places, both grin slightly. Aw, it's nice to see them smile for once.
After the rifles are repossessed, Jamison yells out, "Let's move!" "Where're we going?" Goetz asks. Trish steps up: "They're being redeployed." Goetz looks at her. She tips her head and says, "You're fired." Something in me really wanted her to say, "You're so fired." I don't know why. Goetz sneers that she can't fire him. Trish agrees, "Well, I can't, but he can. In fact he already did." She hands over a piece of paper. So, Ravenwood wouldn't also arrest him for embezzling? Goetz looks at the paper and bravados, "Feel better?" "I hope you rot in hell," Trish tells him sincerely. She turns to the rest of the group and yells, "Leave them here, they can walk back." Walk back where? To Jericho? Also, they all still have their side arms, which totally confuses me. So what if they lost their rifles; they're still armed. The truck and Humvees take off, leaving Goetz and his six men. Okay, so are the six men fired as well, or just Goetz? They stand around in the dust of their repossessed vehicles, looking like fools.
Up in their hiding place, Eric hisses, "Now?" You think, Eric? I don't know, it's a tough call. "Yeah, now!" Jake agrees and they move in. As they clear the trees, Hawkins starts yelling, "Goetz! Goetz, I wanna see your HANDS!" (SO HE CAN SHOOT THEM OFF!) "Remember we need him alive!" Jake yells at his team.
Goetz looks confuddled before commenting, "No way!" WAY! Goetz and his men pull out their guns and start firing. See? Why? Stupid. The Jerichoians drop for cover, but at least Hawkins gets a Goon before he takes cover. Goetz starts to run away with his men providing cover fire. Another Goon goes down after being hit in the chest -- wouldn't these jackholes be wearing vests? -- and Eric looks in surprise at a group scampering down a hill, also firing. "Who is that?" Eric yells. Goetz runs to hide behind a tree and keeps firing. Jericho keeps up their attack of the tree, and suddenly Goetz is out of ammo. Too bad, so sad. Hawkins yells at everyone to cease fire. Jake echoes this order. Goetz makes a rueful glare before coming out from behind his tree, his hands out to his sides. Note that he isn't actually holding them submissively over his head? "Hold your fire," Goetz says. The Jerichoians hold their fire, but they also hold their aim. Jake pulls out another gun and trots toward Goetz, the gun aimed. Goetz walks down to meet the Jerichoians. He looks down at his men, all dead, apparently.
The New Bernies also run toward Goetz. Jake finally catches sight of them and points a gun their way, yelling, "What the hell are you doing here?!" Russell yells that they came for Goetz. They've been tracking him all night, waiting for their chance to make their grab. "Thanks," Russell tosses to Jake. "No way, Russell, you can't have him!" Jake yells. Doesn't Goetz feel popular? So many people want to kill him! "Wanna bet?" Russell challenges, pointing his gun at Jake. Oh, Russell, you so don't want to go there! Jake insists that they're handing him over to Beck. "Handing him over?!" Russell boggles. Seriously, Jake should have just let Russell take Goetz. They could have just said that New Bern overpowered them and been clean of all blame. Meanwhile, Stanley's truck pulls up. Jake argues that if Goetz ends up dead, Beck will wreak havoc on both towns. "He has three killings to answer for in New Bern!" Russell exclaims. "Yeah, well he's in Jericho!" Jake yells. Ah, falling back on county lines. An oldie but goodie! By the way, hi Russell! Jake hasn't seen you in awhile -- how're things? "He's under arrest for Bonnie Richmond's murder," Jake continues. Aw, would that be Jake's first arrest? How cute! "We are fighting an army that has more guns than we do, more men than we do!" Jake yells. Meanwhile, Stanley strides up to the scrum. "What we need is resolve!" Russell says. Not to nitpick, but does he mean, "resolution"? Meanwhile, Stanley's getting closer and reaching into his pocket. "And Goetz? He's the fuel for that resolve!" Russell goes on. Oh, that sort of resolve. I still think he means something other than resolve. Meanwhile, Stanley's pulled a gun and has it against Goetz's head. "Stanley!" Emily calls, nervously. Hawkins looks over. Okay, that's not fair to Hawkins's character. Not only would Hawkins have heard the click of the gun cocking, he would have been paying attention to Stanley's arrival when his truck was a mile down the road.
Everyone's looking at Stanley's shaking hand holding the gun at Goetz's eye. Russell looks over all, "The hell?" Of course, they would have known each other during Stanley's time in New Bern, so Russell should have made the Richmond connection. Jake calls out sharply to Stanley. Stanley glances over at him, but looks right back at Goetz. Jake lowers his gun away from Russell and starts to approach Stanley. "Stanley --" he half-whispers. Stanley closes his eyes and squeezes the trigger. TOEPICK! Guess this is what the 10:00 slot Goetz you. Russell jumps and then looks disappointed. Jake stares at Goetz's body. Stanley looks down, sickened. Hawkins crouches to check the body. Jake looks wide-eyed over at his childhood friend. The gun drops from Stanley's nerveless fingers, and he stumbles away from the body, retching on his knees in the dry grass. Emily rushes to his side. Russell drops his head all, "Shit! I wanted to do that!" When Emily gets to Stanley's side, Eric is already there, holding Stanley up by grasping the back of his shirt. Not to criticize, Eric, but you're pulling the fabric tighter around Stanley's chest and neck and probably making it harder for him to get it all the barf out. Russell and that other New Bernie walk up to the body, but Jake orders, "Stay back!" Hawkins stands up and says, "Jake, that doesn't matter -- whether Goetz goes missing or his body's found, Beck is going to put the pieces together. You know he will. The minute that body hit the ground, this became a whole different deal." Jake doesn't want to recognize this, but he knows Hawkins is right. He gives a bare nod to Russell, who nods back. Hawkins backs away from Goetz's body. Russell and his men grab Goetz.
At Beck's little campsite, Beck gets news on the phone bag that the New Bern sector is clear with no signs of insurgency. A solider walks in and says, "Sir, you're gonna wanna see this for yourself." How many times has that been said in this episode? Beck drives up to the New Bern county line with his men. There's a big happy sign that says, "Welcome to New Bern Home of the Panthers." Small print says, "And the Costco." Beck gets out of his army transport and looks up. We see two feet, then two legs dangling. Beck clenches his jaw angrily. The camera pans up to show a dead Goetz hanging from his arms with a bloody head. Again, um, not to nitpick, but at such close range wouldn't most of Goetz's skull be sort of gone? Pulling farther back, we get a creepy silhouette that shows how Russell and his men must've tied Goetz hands with a length of rope, thrown that rope over the branch of a tree, and manually hauled Goetz's body up into the air over the road.
week: Even more hell breaks loose!
Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic is a writer/editor in San Francisco. You can find other examples of her writing at The Grub Report and Bay Area Bites. Two of her biggest achievements to date are that she made a bread Jacques Pépin didn't hate while working on More Fast Food My Way and that she survived Enterprise and Jennifer Love Hewitt's breastages.