In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
After Beck and his men break down the doors of nearly every house in Jericho looking for Jake and all the Rangers, Jake turns himself in and takes the fall for Goetz's execution. Of course, Beck's not that much of an idiot, and he already knows that Stanley's the one responsible. How does he know? Because dumb-ass Russell from New Bern is too much of a pussy to withstand Beck's interrogations. Lucky for Jericho, Jake is not only made of much sterner stuff, but he has his dead grampy communicating to him from the great beyond, telling him to hang tough and spark a revolution.
Hawkins finally gets the all-important phone call from Chavez in Texas and is on his way down to the Lone Star state with the bomb when John Smith calls him up and asks, all stalkerish, why he's taking the bomb to Texas. Hawkins is cornered by John Smith's personal SWAT team, but it's in the dead of night, so Hawkins crashes his stolen J&R truck and escapes. The bad part is that he leaves the bomb behind. When John Smith has the nerve to contact him the day, Hawkins learns that John Smith didn't just author the J&R report that was used as the blueprint for the attacks, he acted on the report. So, John Smith, not Valente, carried out the September attacks that killed millions of people across the country. Yeah, you're not the only one completely and utterly confused.
After untold days and nights in a dirty, well-lighted place for torture, Jake finally gets a visit from Ma Green. She pleads with her swollen, dehydrated son to give Beck whatever he wants, but then she hisses -- sort of scarily, actually -- in his ear to tough it out, since Eric and the Rangers are about to bust him out, which they do. The people of Jericho also wreak havoc on J&R's headquarters with homemade Molotov cocktails (you just know they lit them with their never-ending stash of candles), which makes Beck very sad.
Now that John Smith has Hawkins' bomb, he's going to finish the job he started by taking out all of Cheyenne. Totally and completely freaked -- combined with extreme rage at being played -- Hawkins meets up with Jake, barely notices that he's been through his own hell, and tells him they need to get their asses to Wyoming to stop that nuclear attack.
Will week be the last Jericho ever? Only time and CBS executives will tell. Sigh. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
I've had the hardest time beginning this recap, and I think I know why. I'm now trying to draw my recaps out as long as possible, because that means Jericho will last longer. Somehow. I don't know. It makes sense in my head.Okay, so Beck has definitely not cooled off in the week that has passed for us between episodes. Quite the opposite, in fact, because he has mobilized his men to go out looking for the Rangers. On a bulletin board are posted index cards of every Rangers' "last known" address. Uh-oh, Beck is really serious. He's using index cards. Eric has a different address from Jake, but presumably, that's because he lives with Mary at her place. Even though he drinks at Jake's place. I wonder who's living in Emily's house. Trish? There's a yellow sticky note on Emily's address, but I can't read it. It looks like it has Russell's name on it, though. Huh, Bill's last name is "Koehler." Ooh, and Jericho has three streets named for founding fathers, we've got Adams, Washington, and I caught a Jefferson for some guy named Richard. Oddly, Bill lives on "Flora Street," which manages to crack me up through my tears. Obsess, obsess, obsess. Delay, delay, delay.
Beck and his men bust into the Green house but find no one. Beck picks up a photo of Ma Green holding a baby. It's not drooling, so it's probably Jake. Beck's men also bang through the hospital while Mimi watches with concern from her hospital room. Mary's all indignant when Beck and Co. swarm through her bar and she insists she hasn't seen any of the Rangers since Bonnie was killed. A solider comes out to report a locked door in the kitchen. "It's a pantry," Mary insists. You can't be too careful, Mary, there might be some insurgent pickles in there, or, at the very least, some rebellious squash. Plus, I've heard that grapes like to ferment trouble.
Somewhere, the Rangers load up their weapons. Jake glances up to look worriedly at Stanley, who is sitting hunched over with his hand over his eyes. Jimmy passes through, fretting that his kids must be freaking out because he's not home. Eric reminds him that Beck is already watching their houses and getting arrested isn't going to help his family. Bill thinks they should plead their case to Beck. Goetz was a murderer and he had to be killed. Jake reminds them that Beck specified there were to be no revenge killings, so they're SOL. This makes Stanley get up and stride purposefully across the room. He's going to take responsibility for Goetz's murder. Jake tackles him against a wall, Stanley shoves him back, and there's a fair bit of yelling. Aw, guys, we're all upset about the cancellation, but there's really no need to fight! Quickly, the Rangers are at Jake's side to help hold Stanley back, while Jake informs Stanley that he's staying there with them. Period. Hawkins then bursts in, and he and Jake have a little tête-à-tête. Hee, when they do this, I sort of imagine them telling the others, "Okay, go and play quietly, the grownups need to talk now." Jake and Hawkins are the My Two Dads of the Rangers.
According to Hawkins -- who isn't being hunted by Beck, apparently -- Beck doesn't have a complete picture of the events. He knows the Rangers were involved, but he doesn't know that Hawkins was there. Yeah, and that's something I actually have a hard time swallowing. Hawkins continues that it appears Beck doesn't actually know who actually killed Goetz. Hawkins counsels Jake that he understands about protecting Stanley, but Beck isn't going to give up and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. Jake nods, staring at broken Stanley, "There's only one thing to do." If ANY of you out there thought FOR A MOMENT that Jake was going to turn Stanley in, you obviously no NOTHING about this show. And I pity you for that. PITY!
Beck bursts out of City Hall and his face hardens when he sees what's going on in the square. Escorted by armed and aiming soldiers, Jake is walking with his hands up, to Beck. Jerichoians gather to watch and wonder at the scene. "This is a good start," Beck tells Jake. Heather has arrived on the scene and she looks quite perturbed. When Beck asks where the rest of the Rangers are, Jake just says, "It's my fault and no one else's. I'm the sheriff --" "You WERE sheriff," Beck interrupts. Jake pauses but goes on that he's the only one to blame and his terms are simple, "My surrender for the amnesty of the other Rangers." Oh, Jake. I don't know why Hawkins didn't tell you this, but, dude, you're already surrendering! You have lost all bargaining capabilities now! If you had this conversation with Beck, say, over a phone or radio where he couldn't find you, then you'd have power, but here? Beck's not going to give you anything when he's already got you. Sure enough, Beck says, "I accept your surrender. But not the terms." Jake is roughly handcuffed, and a black hood is pulled over his head. Bad move, Beck, bad move. First of all, I assume the idea of the hood in this case is to keep Jake from knowing where he is taken, but doesn't Beck realize that there's not one corner of this eensy-weensy town that Jake couldn't find blind? Furthermore, putting a scary, black Gitmo hood over Jake's head in front of all these Jerichoians doesn't scare them as much as it will galvanize them against Beck. This is Jake, the prodigal son who proved himself worthy of the fatted calf. This is, Jake, the son of their beloved and essentially martyred mayor. This is Jake, who saved the town's ass time and time again, at great expense to himself and, often, in total disregard for his own life. (Don't you think those townspeople are still talking about the time Jake threatened to blow himself up to protect Jericho against the asshole who murdered Bonnie Richmond?) This is Jake, the other half of Team Awesome. Hell, I'm sure Jake has even had his bum powdered by all the old ladies in town. (When he was a baby, god!)
Jake takes to the hood as well as he did to seeing Constantino after the war. He roars. A lot. He also thrashes a fair amount. Thank god, the town and Heather are appropriately horrified because the scene made me giggle. What? Oh, stop being so missish! You can't really think me devoid of proper emotion, can you? I'm not horrified for the very good reason that they are taking Jake away. If it was anyone else -- aside from Awesome Hawkins, of course -- I'd probably be a bit more worried. But the fact that I know Jake will get out means I can giggle at his roaring and thrashing.
Tonight's Morse code message is, "Goddammit, CBS!"
Jake is tied to a chair in a darkish room. Beck rips the hood off of his head and throws it contemptuously to the ground. Jake squints up at a round light. Oh, dear, my Star Trek sense is tingling. He drags a chair to Jake and straddles it, finally proving my torture theory of how chairs have to be straddled, not sat in conventionally. Beck wants the truth from Jake. Jake sticks to his story that he's the one who killed Goetz. Beck reveals that he knows an awful lot of what went down that day. He knows they had a shoot-out with Ravenwood and killed some Goons in self-defense. He knows that they subdued and disarmed Goetz. Finally, he knows that Stanley killed Goetz himself. How does he know all of this? "I have a reliable source," Beck tells him. Jake reminds Beck how awful Goetz is and that he needed to be dealt with. Beck tells Jake, "You're not a judge. You don't get to make that call." Beck again asks where Stanley is. Jake shakes his head, his lips clamped, "I'm not giving him up. If that's what you're waiting for, you're going to be here a very long time." Not taking his eyes off Jake, Beck yells behind him, "Bring 'em in!" The door to Jake's room slams open and a wriggling, straining Russell is shoved in. "Your friend Russell," Beck points out, "He said the same thing, but everybody breaks." Beck, when are you going to learn that Jake isn't "everybody"? Beck informs Jake that until he breaks, "These four walls are going to be your entire world." Doesn't look too bad, because look! Someone left him a curio chest to play with! Beck stands up, "You will not sleep. Unless I let you. You will not eat. Until I feed you." Beck leans into Jake's face, "You will give me what I want." Jake turns his face way in disgust. Beck leaves, saying he'll check back in a day. Soldiers knock Jake off the chair and onto the ground and close the door. A bright light burns on over Jake's head. Okay, if Russell was the informant, how was he tortured to the point of giving up Jake and Stanley and the Rangers, but he convieeeeeniently doesn't mention Hawkins -- the one black man around for miles? I could wank it as Russell just giving Beck the barest facts, knowing that Hawkins needed to be protected because if anyone is going to save the world, it's going to be him, but I just don't have that much faith in Russell's strength or intelligence.
Heather runs into the Rangers' hide out and breathlessly announces that Beck took Jake somewhere. "Jake tried to surrender and they put a hood over his head and they dragged him away," Heather chokes out. Bill announces, "I don't think it's safe for us to stay here!" "He isn't going to talk," Emily sneers. Wow, what a total lack of concern for the love of her life. Heather's way more concerned about Jake than Emily is. I guess Emily's used to men being dragged out of her life and not really caring once they're gone. Heather says that it doesn't matter whether Jake talks or not, Beck will soon find their hideout. Jimmy wonders if maybe they should turn Stanley in. "Nobody's turning Stanley in!" Emily says, irritated. Eric adds that they aren't giving up on Jake, either. All they need is leverage against Beck. The Rangers get their gear and head out.
Hawkins' Happy Hunting Hut. Darcy and Hawkins arrive with their kids and the little one -- what's his name, again? It's been so long -- is all skeptical about their living arrangements. "We're...camping?" he asks. Hawkins tells him it's just for a few days. "This place smells funny," Sam says. Sam, honey, that's the smell of Awesome. Allison just looks around and eyes her dad as he takes a phone call. She doesn't even get a line! Chavez is calling to say that he's safely in Texas. He reports that Texas is willing to listen to them, but they are still on the verge of siding with Cheyenne. Also, the Texans are impatient people, so Hawkins needs to get the bomb down to Texas ASAP. Chavez texts the coordinates. He's in San Antonio. Hawkins says he'll be there as soon as he can and starts rummaging around a cabinet. Chavez informs Hawkins that it's not going to be so simple to get down to Texas, what with all the checkpoints. Hawkins says, "I think I might have a solution to that." He opens a box and sifts through the contents, finally pulling out a Jennings & Rall I.D. with his photo on it, identifying him as a Robert Moore. I really wish this show could feature a stolen space shuttle so we could watch Hawkins know how to be an astronaut.
Eric has put Project Rescue Awesome into effect. Doodling down the country roads, some army trucks find their way blocked by a bunch of other soldiers. Impatient and annoyed, the driver of the first truck tells his partner to check that shit out. Barely giving his partner time to talk to the other soldiers, the driver finally yells, "Hey, aren't you guys going to get that thing off the road?!" The blockading soldiers ignore him. "Hey, I know you can hear me!" the driver shouts. A soldier turns around. It's Bill! He looks at the driver blankly, before throwing up one congenial hand and saying, "Hey, there!" all happy. He grins and rambles up to the truck. Another soldier, revealing himself to be a nervous-looking Jimmy, follows Bill to the truck. Bill steps up on the driver side running board, and says, "Listen, we need you to do us a favor." On the passenger side, Jimmy points and cocks a gun at the driver. The driver looks over at him. "Sorry about this," Jimmy says with all sincerity. Hee! Aw, Jimmy is so round and cute -- he's like a great big Cabbage Patch kid! The rest of the Rangers -- posing as soldiers -- subdue the other soldier, and Bill pleasantly tells the driver, who now has his hands raised, "We need your truck." He waves his arms and yells, "All clear!" Behind him. A long line of army trucks are set upon by other armed Rangers.
One of Beck's underlings walks into his office to say they know why the resupply convoy is late. He holds out an envelope and explains they found it on the hood of a dismantled Humvee. Beck opens it, shuffles through enclosed Polaroids of the supply vehicles -- who even has a Polaroid camera any more? -- and finds a note that says, "WE HAVE YOUR GAS, GUNS, AND AMMO. WILL TRADE FOR SHERIFF GREEN." What about the soldiers? Are they being held hostage as well? Beck reads the note out loud. Hee, he's like Eric in that way! He angrily crumples up the note.
In his cell, Jake coughs and sweats under the light. Given that he's wriggled himself to be leaning against a wall, I'd think he could wriggle himself to a place in the room that is slightly shadowed -- we can see one right behind him! The hot light goes off and Beck enters. "Get 'em up!" Beck orders his soldiers. Jake is dragged to his feet. Beck wants him to sign a letter from him to his Rangers, rejecting their tactics. Beck holds out a clipboard. Um, his hands are tied, dude. Beck goes on, "Your friends have been escalating this to a level I will not tolerate. They're putting their lives in danger out of loyalty to you." Beck crouches down until his face is level with Jake's. He tells Jake to end this all now and give him Stanley's location. Jake squints at him out of one eye then spits on the paper. THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS! Beck rises and announces, "The offer for amnesty in exchange for Stanley Richmond is rescinded." Dude, WHAT?! You never even offered that, so how can it be rescinded? Beck's going soft in the head. Beck goes on that the Rangers are now considered fugitives and he tells his soldiers, "I want all of them." "Good luck finding them," Jake sneers. Beck informs Jake. "Until they're found, I'm declaring Jericho to be an open insurrection." You can probably put some Bacitracin on that. Clear it right up.
More army trucks ramble into Jericho. Soldiers pile out with blockades. They slap up a "closed until further notice" sign on Bailey's bar.
"Lights, power, food supplies. Nine PM tonight, I'm shutting it all down," Beck tells Jake. "We've lived without that stuff before, we'll do it again," Jake retorts. Beck steps closer to Jake and asks, "You really want to test me on it? You want to see how far I'll take it?"
Soldiers march in formation and push back thronging, protesting crowds. It's just like any other day in San Francisco.
Beck leans down to Jake again and whispers, "Whatever happens from here on out, never forget, you caused it."
Hawkins loads up the back of an SUV and gets a phone call from John Smith. "What's this I hear about Texas?" John Smith asks. Hawkins plays dumb. John Smith tells him he has contacts in the Texas government, "You promised the bomb, didn't you?" Hawkins denies this and says he hasn't promised anything to anyone. "That bomb is the key to bringing down this government, and they know it. They'll never let you get it to Texas," John Smith goes on. Still loading the car, Hawkins asks what John Smith suggests he do instead. Well, Smith found a "secure destination" closer to home that will not necessitate any border crossings. There they can examine the bomb and prove their case to some people friendly to their cause. However, Smith doesn't have it all worked out yet, so he wants Hawkins to sit tight for one or two days until he contacts him. Hawkins agrees and snaps the phone shut. Darcy comes out and asks when Hawkins is leaving. "Now," Hawkins says, without hesitation. YEAH YOU ARE! Darcy steps off the porch to say goodbye. Hawkins wants her to keep the kids at the hut until everything blows over. Darcy looks at the bomb in the back of the SUV and pleads with him to tell her that he has a plan to get the bomb to Texas with no one checking his trunk. In response, Hawkins unzips his jacket and shows off his powder blue Jennings & Rall polo shirt. Darcy looks wonderingly at him and says, "You stole a shirt?" with a "that's your grand plan?!" tone. Hawkins chuckles and says, "No" He slams up the tailgate of the SUV. It's emblazoned with the Jennings & Rall insignia. "I stole a truck, too," Hawkins says and explains that J&R gets a free pass at checkpoints. Darcy asks him to please tell her he has a plan to get back to Jericho as well. Hawkins' face drops and he moves in to kiss his wife tenderly, not making a promise he can't keep. Hawkins slams the hatchback shut and prepares to move out.
Waving a piece of paper, Heather storms into Beck's office and demands to know what this Wanted sign is all about. Beck thinks it's pretty self-explanatory. The town will be squeezed out of power, food, and water until the Rangers are brought in. "I've been defending you!" Heather protests angrily. "How long or how much this town suffers is up to its citizens," Beck says, "Someone knows where those men are." Heather retorts, "The Rangers where saving lives back when you couldn't have found Jericho on a map." Heh, that's the post-apocalyptic version of "before you were born!" response. Heather goes on, "They kept order, fought off raiders, organized the fight against New Bern -- people aren't going to just give them up!" Well, if there are more selfish weaklings like Farmer Fred out there, they will. "Whatever their reasons," Beck says, walking around his desk to get closer to Heather, "This government will not tolerate insurrection." Heather steps closer to Beck, "You remember the question you asked me when you offered me this job and I didn't want it? You asked me if I couldn't tell the difference between you and Phil Constantino." Beck cocks his head at her, waiting for where this is going. Heather curls her lip with disgust, "Right now, I can't." Beck takes a breath and a step back, not able to meet Heather's gaze any more. He looks down at his desk. Heather follows his gaze and looks down at Beck's upturned helmet. Inside is a photo of what must be his wife and kid. Yes, yes, we all read The Things They Carried. Heather looks slightly sorry for what she said. Beck catches her looking at his helmet and turns it over. "Then help me," Beck pleads, "Talk to Jake yourself." Heather looks sorrowfully at him. "Get him to realize what he's doing to this town," Beck goes on. Heather's face hardens, "You've had him in custody three days, he's not doing this. You are." Beck shakes his head and looks away. "I don't know if I can keep defending you," Heather says softly. Beck snaps his head up to look at her, but she's already backing away from him and walking out. Beck sits there, troubled and looking like he might break into "Reason to Live".
POLL: Loose end that won't be tied up by the end of week's episode:
A. Whether Branch Rogerian will ever rise again.
B. Why Jake finds Emily at all attractive.
C. The location of Jericho's secret candle factory.
D. The EMP, DAMMIT!
E. What the deal was with those freaking handcuffs and the bloody mattress!
F. The air date of Jericho's spin-off: The New Chronicles of Jake and the Black Man
The light switches on over Jake's red and swollen face. We get close-ups of his squinting eyes as he lapses into unconsciousness. Suddenly, he's with Grampy Green at the Happy Hunting Hut, and Grampy is commenting that there aren't many deer out there any more. Jake says, "I don't know how much more I can take, Granpa." Grampy is unruffled and tells him, "They're just trying to soften you up. A man's mind doesn't work very well without sleep. Break a man's mind, he'll give you anything you want." Is this a cue for Leadbelly's "They haven't broke my miiiiind, they haven't broke my body, and they haven't broke my spirit!"? "Like they tried with you at Anzio," Jake realizes. Grampy says the Germans captured over four hundred of them in that ambush, and he survived by thinking about home, about Grammy Green, and how the lives of his men in his unit depended on him. Grampy reminds Jake that people are depending on him. Jake flashes back to consciousness (such as it is when you're being Gitmo'd).
Mary hangs out with Mimi in her hospital room. Edgily, Mimi asks, "Have you seen Stanley?" Mary nods and carefully says that he's with Eric and Emily. Mimi struggles to sit up and quietly asks how he is. Mary looks at her sadly, "He's not talking. To anybody." Mimi stands up and insists that Mary take her to him. Is Beck not smart enough to put a tail on these two women? Maybe he was never able to learn the Jericho gossip about who was sleeping with whom, but given that Mimi was shot at the Richmond farmhouse, Beck should be able to put two and two together.
Jake flashes into another conversation with Grampy Green. He wants to know why he got a second chance when he hurt everybody close to him. "But Stanley..." he trails off, "Stanley never hurt a soul in his life and he --" Jake can't go on. Grampy nods wisely, "And he lost everything." "How is that right?!" Jake demands. Grampy begins, "Life doesn't --" "Life doesn't work on a balance sheet," Jake interrupts, "I know, but it should!" "And your punishment is to sit in this hole and die," Grampy says, "How does that bring back Bonnie? Or the Stanley you knew? Or the little girl in Iraq." "It's a start!" Jake insists, getting up and walking away. "It's an ending!" Grampy calls after him. Okay, now I'm totally confused about what Grampy's advising him to do. Jake demands, "What choice do I have?" Grampy says, "The answer is --" Blowing in the wind? "Beck," Grampy finishes. Jake doesn't even know where to start with him, "And he's too stubborn to listen." "Your father said that about you once," Grampy remembers, "And you turned out real nice." Okay, so Major Beck is no longer the new Major Dad, because Jake is the dad and Beck is now the son? No wonder this family is so dysfunctional. Jake says it's not a matter of convincing one man that he's wrong, "It's a whole system!" "You think it's impossible?" Grampy asks and then adds that it's all happened before, "If the names weren't Jennings and Rall, they would be names like --" Halliburton? KBR? George W. Bush? "The British East India Trading Company," Grampy goes on, "If it wasn't Ravenwood, it would be --" BLACKWATER! "The Hessian Mercenaries. It all comes down to the same thing." Jake looks up at his grandfather. "Revolution," he realizes. Grampy nods, smiling. "Revolution" echoes as we flash back to Jake's cell. He squints at the lights again, but not with pain. He squints with resolve. Wow, Mayor Dad can't visit Jake even in an unconscious afterlife. How grudgey is he?
Hawkins drives to Texas through the dark night. His dashboard clock hits 9:00 and he drives past the lit sign that says, "Welcome to Jericho." Behind and unseen by Hawkins, the twinkling lights of the town beyond are snuffed out.
Stanley stares off into space. His face is blank. Mimi walks in. He barely reacts. Mimi kneels on the couch to him. She picks up his hand and kisses it. Stanley sort of recoils from her. "I love you," she informs him. "Don't," Stanley orders, shaking his head. "I do," Mimi insists. "Don't," he says again. Mimi lays her hand on his chin and asks him to look at her. He won't. "We're going to get through this," Mimi tells him. Stanley doesn't want to get through it. "What am I going to do? Am I going to go back to the farm? We're going to feed the chickens, plan our wedding?" Stanley shakes his head disgustedly. Mimi's eyes plead with him, but he still won't look at her. "Bonnie's dead and I killed a man," Stanley reminds her, "And nothing's going to change that. Nothing."
Hawkins speeds through the night. Must be nice not to have highway patrols or speed limits. His phone rings. It's John Smith. "I thought we had an agreement," he says. "Oh, we did," Hawkins agrees. "Then why are you on your way to Texas?" Smith asks. Gasp! THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE CAR! Suddenly alert, Hawkins searches outside of his windshield and asks how Smith knows that. All Smith says is, "I'm well connected." He goes on that Hawkins can't do this without his help since he knows the ins and outs of J&R better than everyone. "So, turn the car around," Smith orders, "We can make history together, you and I." Hawkins smiles tightly in the dark, "I am sorry to disappoint you." He looks out of the windshield up at the sky, searching for something. Smith says, "I was hoping we could work together, but I'll just have to find another way." He hangs up. "Yeah," Hawkins says belatedly and slaps the phone closed. He keeps driving.
Still sitting to Stanley, Mimi says, "When the September attacks happened and D.C. was destroyed along with everybody and everything I ever knew, I didn't think I would ever live through it. I couldn't breathe and everything went black. And then I found you." Stanley points out that the attacks happened to them; someone else pulled the trigger. "And Goetz killed Bonnie," Mimi reminds him, "Everybody understands what you did." Stanley leans forward, still not looking at Mimi and recounts, "His hands were tied, he wasn't going anywhere. He looked at me and I remember thinking to myself, 'This is just some guy.' I mean, all the build-up, the tracking down of Goetz, Goetz the killer. He was just some guy." Not really Stanley, he was some evil guy. Stanley goes on, "Everything just washed out of me. I wasn't scared. I wasn't angry." Mimi presses her hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing out loud. "I just pulled the trigger. And that's what I did." Mimi puts her hand up to Stanley's face and her chin on his shoulder. Stanley still won't look at her.
Beck sits in Jake's cell with a cup of water to him. He looks up from a file and reads about Jake's father and grandfather, both Army Rangers. "Both your father and grandfather were great soldiers," Beck muses, "Mine too. I know how hard it can be to live up to someone else's legacy." Beck reads that both Greens became mayor and wonders if they would have supported the citizens of Jericho taking the law into their own hands. Jake is silent.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Jericho rush into the town square and hurl Molotov cocktails at J&R. Beck's soldiers impotently run at them with guns raised.
"Never would have let it get back that far," Jake mutters. Beck turns around, "Excuse me?" "They would have never handed over this town to a mercenary," Jake tells Beck. Beck slams the folder shut and crouches to Jake, whispering, "They didn't have to do what I'm doing -- stopping Americans from killing Americans. Getting a country back on its feet." Jake chuckles mirthlessly. "Open your eyes," he sneers, "It's not a country, it's a company and you're just middle management." BURN! "The people of Jericho are going to take this town back," Jake goes on, "You're going to have a revolt on your hands."
In the town square, a soldier yells, "Halt!" But J&R is already ablaze. I want Beck to go outside and exclaim, "Those aren't the Northern Lights -- that's Jennings and Rall!"
Outside Jake's cell, Beck tells a soldier that Jake's digging in, and their tactics aren't working. "steps," Beck says. The soldier yessirs and tells him there's a call for him. Beck picks up a bagphone. Ooh, they're in somebody's kitchen. This must be a repossessed farm. Smith's voice tells Beck, "I have some information on a terrorist you're hunting." "Who is this?" Beck demands. Smith just says, "I know you think you're searching for Sarah Mason, but she's been dead for a few months." Beck continues to demand, "Who am I speaking with?!" Poor Beck, he's coming unraveled and doesn't know whether to wind his butt or go sailing. Smith tells him to look at his fax machine. An address is coming through. "The terrorist she worked with killed her," Smith goes on as Beck rips the fax out. "His name is Robert Hawkins," Smith says. Beck is gazing down at Hawkins' face above his address. "And he has a nuclear bomb," Smith adds. Beck lets the phone slide down his face.
Jake stares into the hot light. "Jake?" comes Ma Green' voice. Her head blocks the light. She kneels to her son, fussing over him. Jake asks what she's doing there. "I heard you were in a little bit of trouble," Ma Green says, smiling. She looks behind her at the soldier standing guard. The guard hands her some water, and she helps it down Jake's throat. Ma Green whispers that he can't keep this up and she can't stand to see him like this. She tells him to tell Beck whatever it is he wants to know. "Please," she says, "And then he'll release you." "No, Mom," Jake mutters, shaking his head blindly, "No." Ma Green looks back at the soldier again. She leans in suddenly and says, "I love you son." Once her mouth is to Jake's ear, she hisses, "Eric and the boys are coming. Stay alert. Don't give up." She looks Jake hard in the eye and leaves. "Mom...?" Jake mutters, seeming to pass out. I don't know why I found Ma Green's hissing tone creepy, but I did.
Hawkins keeps driving. Suddenly, bright headlights illuminate the back windshield of the SUV. Hawkins looks around in concern and speeds up. The flatbed Humvee gives chase. Soon, the Humvee is joined by another pursuing vehicle. Oh, shit, now there's a helicopter! Okay, there might be two helicopters, but it's hard to tell. Hawkins yanks his SUV off the road and heads into some trees.
Ma Green arrives at the Rangers' hideout and says she needs to look at a map. She was blindfolded but she thinks she can reconstruct the route. The reconstruction of the route takes a decidedly Sneakers turn when Ma Green says, "It smelled terrible." Jimmy and Bill look up at once and say in unison, "HOG FARM!"
The shot has us looking at pigs through some binoculars belonging to Eric. He assesses the situation and whispers to the Rangers that it's definitely where they're holding Jake. Jimmy rejoins them and gives a run down of what sort of enforcements the hog farm has. Bill says, "Well, what are we waiting for?" Eric nods, "Let's go get him."
Hawkins is still trying to outrun his pursuers, but they're closing in. And then the helicopters start firing. DUDE HE'S GOT A BOMB! Aren't those things sort of, I don't know, EXPLOSIVE?! The helicopter launches a missile. Hawkins drives the SUV into a ditch and, being protected by the Shield of Awesome, doesn't get thrown through the windshield. As the soldiers close in, Hawkins wrestles with something in the backseat. A rifle? But it's wedged tight. He pulls out a handgun and gets out of the car. By the time the soldiers get there and find the bomb, Hawkins is gone.
In his cell, Jake moves slightly at the sound of gunfire. Eric and Jimmy burst into Jake's cell. "Don't," Jake says weakly. "Jake, come on!" Eric yells. Um, Eric? He's sort of, you know, not feeling well. Sigh. Eric's just so dumb. Eric dashes over to his brother and works at the plastic cuffs, yelling, "Help me!" to Jimmy. The two of them walk Jake out of Hogitmo while the shots fire out of the dark. They all pile into a car. Eric is the last one in, and as he clambers through the back window, in an awkward Dukes of Hazzard way, he yells, "Go! Go!"
The morning, Hawkins is trudging down a road. His phone rings. John Smith's voice tells him, "You escaped." "You know you should have waited for daylight to try and burn me," Hawkins retorts, "I might not have been so lucky." Smith regrets it has come to this, but he had little choice. Hawkins sits down and says, "You got a problem now because you tipped your hand. You didn't just know where I was going, you knew exactly where I was. And that means you were tracking me." Smith plays dumb, "How would I have done that?" "I think that's where it gets interesting, because this phone is secure and the car was stolen, so the only way you could have done it was to have a tracking device inside the bomb," Hawkins determines. Well, if that's the case, then why didn't Smith just go and seize the bomb weeks ago? Smith says, "You sound paranoid." Hawkins laughs, "Yeah, well, that's as may be, but fourteen years ago, it was you that wrote the report detailing how a massive nuclear terrorist attack would decapitate the federal government, right?" (Have I ever mentioned how irrationally I love it when Lennie James says, "that's as may be"? I don't know why.) As we flash to a CIA report on Project Red Bell, Hawkins goes on that the report said that one individual with enough access could mastermind the entire attack. "See, it makes sense that whoever put those bombs in the field would have tracking devices in every single one of them, so he would know when they were in place," Hawkins goes on. Smith had the ax to grind, Hawkins says. Smith knew the system. Smith wrote the plan. "And then, I think, it was you who put that plan into practice," Hawkins says, shaking with anger. We flash to a bulletin board with red pushpins stuck in all the struck cities. "You're not just some innocent whistleblower, are you?" Hawkins demands. Smith believes that he is. "Only the last time I blew the whistle," Smith goes on, calmly, "I took out twenty-three American cities." Hawkins looks sick with rage. So...how does Valente fit in? I'm still confused.
Beck comes back from wherever he was -- hunting Hawkins and the bomb down, maybe? -- and gets out of his Humvee. He looks around the square at the smoking face of Jennings & Rall. Doesn't look like too much damage was done to the stone exterior, but whoever parked out front is going to need a ride home. Beck glares at the sight. Inside his offices, a soldier trails Beck and says there's no sign of Jake Green or the Rangers and also no serious casualties from the raid on the farmhouse. "What about the rest of the town?" Beck asks. "Three dead, all civilians, another fourteen wounded, three of them are ours. We got twelve guys in lock up for various acts of arson and --" But Beck has gone into his office and slammed the door shut behind him. That poor abused soldier. Beck is always cutting him off. Beck sits on his desk, his helmet off. The music builds. Beck stares down at his helmet. Finally, he makes a face and hurls his helmet at the plate glass window that separates his office from the outer office, cracking it like a spider's web. The soldiers jump and look up, startled.
Beck paces around his office and finally picks his helmet off the floor, breathing hard. He puts the helmet on his desks and leans over it, shaking his head slightly. I think it's time for more, "Please tell me whyyyyy, so many people have to diiiiiiiie? You and your friends are at your warring games again!"
Stalking down the road again, Hawkins tells Smith that he killed tens of millions of people. "Why?" Hawkins asks, rather helplessly for Hawkins. "To liberate this country," Smith says. Going on Smith says that when he worked for J&R, he saw just how corrupt the relationship between the company and the federal government had become. "No bid contracts, a private army, a corporation that wrote legislation...J and R was a cancer grown deep into the bone of this government, so I decided to remove that cancer in one fell swoop," Smith says. Hawkins tells him he failed, "Because J and R are more powerful now than they ever were." "They're also more vulnerable," Smith reveals, "J and R and the Cheyenne government are now centralized in one city, so when I strike the final blow, the disease should be gone for good." Hawkins stops walking. "You're going to attack Cheyenne?" Hawkins breathes in disbelief. "With your bomb," Smith agrees. "But you don't have it," Hawkins insists, "The Cheyenne government does." Smith knows how to get it back from the Cheyenne military and then he'll finish what he started, "I'm just sorry we couldn't do this together, Mr. Hawkins." "You listen to me," Hawkins growls, "I told you what would happen if you ever lied to me, if you ever tried to play me! I am going to bring this TO YOU! The we speak it WILL NOT BE ON THE --" Smith hangs up. "IT WILL NOT BE ON THIS phone!" Hawkins finishes, impotently hanging up the phone. Breaks my heart to hear Hawkins trailing off like that. Hawkins paces back and forth in the road. He stops. The camera zooms up to his face, now hard and determined. Seriously, Hawkins, get your Awesome together and go raise some hell!
In the Happy Hunting Hut, Emily crouches to a sleeping Jake. Where's Hawkins' family? Jake jolts awake, muttering something and slapping the wall. Emily shushes him and tells him to go back to sleep. Jake opens his eyes and asks how long he's been out. "No long enough, it's nice seeing you look peaceful for a change," Emily observes. Jake hauls himself to a sitting position. Emily whips her gun out as Hawkins bangs in, his gun also out. He holds out a "calm down" hand to Emily. They both lower their guns. Hawkins asks if Jake is okay. "Yeah," Jake mutters. "Darcy and the kids okay?" Hawkins asks automatically, barely seeming to hear the answers. He bends over the table and grabs a glass of water. Jake watches this narrowly and asks Emily, "Can you give us a minute?" Emily walks out. Hawkins goes over to Jake and, not looking at him, confesses, "Jake, I lost the bomb." This is the first time that Hawkins has been in the position of screwing up in front of Jake, isn't it? Jake looks at him with horror but doesn't say anything. "The army's got it," Hawkins goes on. Jake makes a face and painfully drags himself to his feet. Hawkins tells Jake the bomb is on its way to Cheyenne. Jake walks over to the table and asks what that means for Texas, "Can Chavez hold them off?" Hawkins approaches Jake and looks him in the eye, saying, "It's not even about that any more. Jake, the man behind the September attacks is out there and he's pretty confident that he can get that bomb back and use it to destroy the city of Cheyenne."
We cut to a shot of army vehicles driving the bomb.
Jake realizes there's over a million people living in Cheyenne. "Yeah, a million innocent people, because you can bet that his target -- Valente and the others -- they will not be among the dead. And this will just give them the excuse to do whatever the hell they want to do," Hawkins says. He says if that bomb goes off they will lose the country forever. See, this is what I don't get -- how does crazy John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith not realize this as well? Jake is silent. Hawkins crouches down to him and says, "Jennings and Rall, the Cheyenne government -- they know who I am." Jake is still silent and gobsmacked. "So, uh, I need you to be okay," Hawkins says, "Because I can't do what I gotta do alone." Jake shakes his head ruefully and sticks his hand out to Hawkins'. Relying on Hawkins' strength, he slowly pulls himself to his feet and says, "When do we leave?"
The bomb is driven into the Cheyenne city limits.