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With all the hugs and pop songs, it's like The WB is still with us. Jake Green returns to his hometown of Jericho, Kansas after a five-year absence. He hugs half the town, and lies to them all about where he's been. We can only hope that this turns out to be a Grosse Pointe Blank spinoff. After arguing with Mayor Dad about an inheritance, Jake drives off into the sunset. Where a mushroom cloud has appeared over Denver. Jake manages to crash into the only other car on the road, and limps away. Then he comes upon a stranded school bus, which apparently went way off the road after hitting a deer. If the driver hadn't died in the crash, he'd be so fired. Jake performs a juicebox-assisted tracheotomy and prepares to drive the kids back to town. But uh oh, the bus is almost out of gas! It doesn't actually run out, though, so that part just makes you think that the writers couldn't even get one episode's worth of suspense out of a nuclear explosion. Meanwhile (and this show has almost as many "meanwhile"s as hugs), the sheriff finds another bus, but this one turns out to be a prison transport. Since Tommy Lee Jones isn't around, the sheriff and a deputy both get killed by an escaped prisoner. Back in town, the power's out, and people are freaked. The obligatory paranoid loon thinks they've been attacked by aliens, but lends Mayor Dad his ham radio for a small fee. The obligatory black guy is more useful than the entire police force put together. There's almost a riot at the gas station, but Mayor Dad turns up in time to speechify, calming everyone down. They're so calm that they take the news that something bad also happened in Atlanta pretty well, considering. At the end, Jake's potential romantic interest, who seems to have missed all the goings-on, literally runs across a flock of dead birds scattered across the highway. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Ooo, Jericho's title is all staticy. Spooooky. Skeet Ulrich rides a train to Denver. The Killers tell me about stuff they want to do. Skeet uncovers a car in a large, empty garage. He drives to Kansas, and passes through a town that has a "Guns Ammo & Gifts" store. Kansas doesn't believe in commas. Skeet gets tired of The Killers and changes the station to WPLT, your trusted source for major plot points, with traffic on the eights. Apparently the President has called an emergency session so that he can give an address about "the issue of global violence." As Skeet turns off the highway, WPLT continues, "Recent attacks have pushed this administration to take extreme action, raising more fears than it's alleviated." You wanna vague that up a little more?
Skeet pulls up at a large roadside stand and cuts off WPLT before the announcer is forced to say something specific. As Skeet steps out of the car, the guy running the stand gasps and runs over. His name is Stanley Richmond, and I have to give props to the CBS website for actually giving these people names, because otherwise I'd be calling him "stand-guy" for the rest of the recap. Although I'd at least have the first four letters of his name right if I did that. Stanley does his part by identifying Skeet as "Jake Green," and then lifts him clear off the ground in a hug. Once Jake escapes, he greets Bonnie, Stanley's deaf sister. Jake tells her, "You grew up!" and even manages to sign that much, since it's basically just pointing and raising a flattened palm. Stanley asks where Jake's been, and Jake shrugs, "Around." He eventually claims that he's been in the Army. By which he means, "prison."
Geese honk as a woman comes out of the farmhouse. Stanley explains that the woman is from the IRS. She's wearing a business suit that ends above the knee, spiked heels, and no stockings. An IRS agent. From DC. Maybe this is a hint that sheâs actually trying to seduce Stanley (or Bonnie). Jake asks, "IRS? Audit IRS?" No, the other one. Stanley says it's not going well, but quickly changes the subject by saying that he and Jake should get together. Jake explains that he's just in town to see his grandpa, and then he's leaving again. Stanley nods, asks Bonnie to get Jake a pie, then hugs him again.
Gracie's Market, a.k.a. the General Store. If you like, you can also follow Jake's progress through town on this map. For all the good that'll do you. In the window is a sign urging people to reelect Mayor Johnston Green. A kid named Dale Turner sweeps. Gracie Leigh, a.k.a. Kitty Farmer, a.k.a. Maude Pearson, chatters away at Jake. He feigns interest as she mentions that someone with a lovely wife bought "the old Thompson place" and paid in cash. I strongly suspect she is talking about Robert Hawkins, who we'll meet later on.
Elsewhere in the store, two girls experiment with makeup. The dark-haired girl tells the blonde, "That color looks really good on you." The blonde chuckles, "I know," and whines that her mother didn't take her along on a trip to New York. Then she spots Dale staring at them, and calls, "What are you looking at, loser?" Dale cowers away.
Back at the counter, Gracie asks Jake where he's been. Jake whispers confidentially, "I've been playing minor league baseball." You know, if you're planning to lie to everyone, including the town gossip, about where you've been, you should probably tell everyone the same lie. This seems like a good time to mention that Jake is wearing a T-shirt under a mint-colored button-down, under a blue hoodie, under a baggy jacket. He's certainly mastered the layered look. Or maybe he's wearing everything he owns, because he just got out of prison.
Jake exits the store with a bouquet, and sees a fluffy-haired blonde talking on her mobile as she rearranges the dry cleaning in her SUV. Her name is Emily Sullivan. She asks whoever is on the other line, "When do you get in from Chicago?" Jake stops to stare at her. She sees him, finishes up her call with a distracted, "I love you," and hangs up. I press the hotkey for, "They hug, and Jake explains that he's there to see his grandfather." After that ritual is taken care of, Jake says that he heard from his that Emily's teaching at the high school now. She says she just bought a house in "The Pines" and Jake marvels, "On the east side, on a teacher's salary?" This begins my quest to understand just how big Jericho is. It's in farm country, has one general store, and most of the inhabitants seem to know each other. But it's big enough to have a whole section of expensive houses called "The Pines." Emily awkwardly explains that her fiancée, Roger, is "in banking." This means that Roger is an international criminal. She asks Jake, "You got somebody?" Jake says no, and Emily awkwardly says that she's sorry. Jake chuckles, "No, you're not; you love it." I don't think that helped the awkwardness at all. As required by law, she asks where he's been, and he says, "The Navy." She looks away, and he sighs, "Why do I even bother?" An excellent question. She asks again, and before we hear Jake's answer, someone cues up the Goo Goo Dolls and we cut away.
Jake parks in front of a large, two-story house and gets out with his pie. The house door is seriously huge. Maybe this is the fabled east side. If it isn't, I can't wait to see the houses that make this look average. Jake goes around to the back of the house, where a cute dog is moping on the back porch. The dog runs over to Jake and barks happily, which I will translate as, "Where have you been for the past five years?" After playing with the dog for a minute, Jake enters through the screen door just as a woman turns around, startled. They hug, and Jake finally says, "You're choking me, Mom." A tall dorky guy with a beard marches in saying, "Thought I heard an annoying voice." His name is Eric, and he's got very sensitive ears. Then he greets Jake by saying, "Hey, brother," which keeps me laughing throughout their hug. Who does that? Jake looks over Eric's shoulder, and Eric moves out of the way to reveal Gerald McRaney looming in the doorway. He does not rush in to hug Jake, which solidifies the affection I still feel for him from Simon & Simon.
The Goo Goo Dolls finally shut up. The family has taken seats in the living room. Jake explains that he's not going to interfere with Dad's Mayoral campaign (by revealing that he, the Mayor's son, is an ex-con). He says that he just wants his dad's signature, and then he'll visit his grandpa and leave. Eric gets snippy about Jake's attitude, and Dad grumbles about "what [Jake] put this family through." Mom tries to calm things down, but Dad continues, "He coulda been a --" Contender? Jake interrupts, saying that he's apologized and made amends (by spending the past five years in prison), but he needs the money to make a clean start (by paying off his blackmailers). He argues that his grandpa left him the money for a reason. Dad says, "And he gave me authority over it for a reason!" Dad proof that Jake is leading "a productive life." Eric chimes in his agreement, and Jake snarls at him, "We were both born on third base; quit pretending you hit a triple." Eric glares around dopily like he's thinking, "In a couple of days I'm gonna figure out what you mean, and a few days after that I'm going to have a snappy retort, just you wait!" Jake turns back to his dad and asks, "When are you gonna realize I'm thirty-two-years-old?" Which is another odd thing to say. "When are you gonna realize I'm an adult" would sound more natural. I mean, Dad has, at most, eleven months to realize that, or it'll be too late and he'll have to start over. Anyway, Dad replies, "When you do," and stomps out of the room. After a second Jake chases after him, calling, "Can I talk to my mayor, then?" Jake, you don't live in Jericho. He's not your Mayor. Jake turns back to his mother helplessly, and she quietly suggests that they visit his grandfather.
Cut to a headstone reading, "Eric Jacob Green, beloved husband, father, grandfather, mayor." There might be another line or two hidden behind the flowers. Jake starts to say something, but Mom quickly says, "You'd have been here if you could." Jake takes a moment to manfully stifle his tears, and they walk up the hillside. Mom tries to offer him a handful of bills, but Jake declines. They reach Jake's car, which is parked in front of another car so I don't think Mom was stranded at the cemetery. Jake complains that his dad doesn't get it, and Mom says that's because he won't explain why he really needs the money. Jake insists, "He can never know." That he's being blackmailed by someone who knows about his crimes. They hug, and Mom slides the money into Jake's jacket pocket before asking him to stay one more day. Jake says that he's got to be in San Diego tomorrow. To pay off his blackmailers. He gets into the car and starts the engine, then calls his mom saying, "One more thing...." She leans in, and he holds up the bills, saying, "You have clumsy hands." She smirks, takes the money back, and watches Jake drive away.
On someone's TV, the Prez prepares to make his speech. A little boy sulkily asks whether they have to watch this. Two cops are sitting on the couch. One looks around toward the kitchen, then nods, and the boy and a young girl run out of the room happily. The cop is wearing a clip-on tie as part of his uniform, and it's unclipped so that the top has flopped down onto his chest. I thought that was a cute touch.
A Jericho Elementary school bus trundles down the road. On board is a teacher, Heather Lisinski, who's on her mobile explaining that they had to make a detour because the bus needed some repairs.
Emily hangs a "Welcome Home Roger" banner in the window of her house.
The IRS auditor sits down at a bar and says, "I feel like I'm back in DC" upon seeing that the TV is tuned to the Presidential address. Right. I do wish she had a name.
At the Green household, Mom and Dad are watching the speech, too. The Prez is talking about "the fundamental dangers posed by the threat of terror." Well, it's meaningless enough to be a real Presidential speech.
Jake drives along. Oh, the suspense.
The kids we saw a few scenes back are playing hide and seek outside. The girl finishes counting and starts to search.
On the bus, Heather talks on her mobile and says that they'll be back in an hour. Then the signal turns to static.
In Jake's car, the radio signal dies.
The little girl looks for (I'll just assume) her brother. In the bar, the TV signal turns to static. And in the Green's house. We see more TV pictures going out as the little girl spots her brother perched up on a rooftop. He stands up, facing away from her, and she whines, "You have to hide better!" The kid on the roof doesn't turn, and the camera slowly moves up to reveal that off in the distance, beyond some mountains, there's a fiery mushroom cloud.
After some important commercial messages, Bonnie stands on the porch of the farmhouse, staring at the explosion. Stanley hurries out of the house and yanks her off-screen
In her house, Emily glances at the clock, sees that it's now 6, and heads for the door. A Post-it reveals that Roger is arriving in Wichita at 10:30. It must be love if she's making a four-hour drive to pick this guy up.
On the school bus, the kids are exclaiming over a panicked deer racing alongside the road. Then we reverse, and there's a nice shot of Heather peering out the window. She's not looking at the deer, though. The bus window reflects the mushroom cloud in the distance. She leans over to boggle properly, and then something jolts the bus.
Dale walks to his home on what's clearly the Bad Side Of Town. You can tell, because there's litter, and the houses are smaller, and in the background there's an RV. Horrors! Dale walks into a messy house, and looks at the counter, where an answering machine is blinking at him.
At the Green house, Dad descends the stairs and calls, "Gail? What's going on?" In the foyer are the two hide-and-seekers, now crying, along with their mother, father (the clip-on guy) and the other cop. Mom is trying to comfort the kids, but looks up at her husband and says, "Oh, Johnston."
Cut to Dad hanging up the phone as we hear a fast busy signal. He says, "It looks like the explosion came from the west -- maybe Denver." He tells a cop to use their radios to get everyone to the sheriff's station. The little boy clings to his father, who gives him a hug and promises to be back soon. On the first viewing, I assumed that as a result of saying that, he'd be dead before the episode ended. I don't want to make it sound like all of my predictions come true. As the menfolk prepare to head out, Mom calls Dad back and says, "Jake...." They hug, and Dad insists, "We'll find him."
Jake drives along. He stares out the window to his right, and of course that mushroom cloud is rather eye-catching. Then we see a station wagon, loaded with luggage, coming the opposite way. The driver and passenger are similarly entranced. When you're rubbernecking, don't you sort of automatically slow down? I mean, isn't that why rubbernecking at accident scenes causes traffic jams? People automatically slow down to look. I guess we should all aspire to be more like these fine people, who keep zooming along at highway speeds even when they're trying to look at something that's almost behind them. So, the other car starts veering across the double-yellow line. Jake doesn't notice because he's hypnotized by the explosion. He looks up just in time to see the car about twenty feet in front of him. He tries to swerve, but it's way too late, so: bam! The cars smash into each other, and both cars are spun off the road.
Sheriff's station. Dad and Eric march down a hallway while two other guys pedebicker. Apparently, one of them owns a local mine, and the other one is a union leader. Dad hushes them both and orders everyone out of the mine. Because they'll need the mine later. When the zombies come. They reach the front room, and the Sheriff says that there's no fires or anything. He says, "The town's fine." Dad isn't so sure, and after a dramatic pause, asks, "Do we have any Geiger counters?"
Out on the streets, everyone's bustling about. The IRS auditor steps out of the bar and asks a passerby, "Did something happen?" The woman she's asking just walks on without even acknowledging her. Leaving aside my skepticism about that...the auditor was in a bar crowded with people. How could everyone else around find out what was going on without her somehow picking it up?
Eric dutifully says that the emergency plan instructs them to contact the Governor, the National Guard, and state troopers. That's not a plan! I suppose Jericho didnât get much Homeland Security funding. A cop asks, "Are we under attack?" Dad sternly informs him, "I don't want to hear that word again." Dad's emergency plan is to stick his head in the sand, apparently. He offers his own take: "It coulda been a test, coulda been an accident." And it could have been an attack. I understand that he doesn't want people to panic, but refusing to admit that it might be an attack is as stupid as assuming it's an attack. Dad goes on to mention that there are military bases around Denver.
Jake wakes up in his car. He's banged his head, and he has a mysterious puncture in the top of his left thigh. I have no idea how he got that, but whatever.
Sheriff's office. A cop enters with a box of Geiger counters. A bald guy named Greg enters, and as Dad picks up one of the Geiger counters he greets him with, "Good to see you, we can use the extra help." Greg asks what he can do, and then Dad gives him a look and says, "We'll let you know." So...when he said they could use help, he was just teasing. Dad's quite a kidder. Dad waves the Geiger counter around for a few seconds and announces, "Looks okay." That was thorough. As he puts the Geiger counter down, a few people rush in. Dad tries to reassure them, but one woman explains what she's upset about: "The school bus isn't back from the field trip with my daughter." Dad stares at her for sa second, and the woman snaps, "Do something!" Eric immediately heads out, and Dad tells her not to worry, they'll find the kids. The woman grumbles, "That's easy for you to say -- you don't have a child out there!" Dad bows his head under the weight of the dramatic irony.
Jake limps over to the station wagon, which appears to have a lot more front-end damage than his own car. Both passengers are dead. Sad music plinks. Jake starts to walk down the road, headed back toward Jericho. Um. Let's assume he at least tried to restart his car, okay?
The sheriff's office is now crowded with people. Dad's trying to sort out where the school bus might be. They've learned that it stopped for repairs, and a fireman guesses they went to "Wilson's garage, off 160." But Eric thinks that they might have been on Cedar Run Road, since Heather mentioned taking a detour. The sheriff says they should send two search parties, since "there's only so many places they could be." Greg loudly asks, "What about the parents?" and gets a chorus of supportive mutters from the crowd behind him. Dad gets everyone's attention, and urges them to stay where they are. He says, "What if, God forbid, you go out there, and you get stranded, and your child comes back an orphan?" Woah, that's a little extreme. How does getting stranded suddenly lead to certain death? But everyone seems sufficiently cowed. Maybe they already know about the zombies.
Jake limps along, and suddenly stops, confused by a distant noise. He turns, and we hear a voice shouting, "Mister!" He looks around and finally spots two kids hurrying toward him through a field. The kids run up and gasp, "I think they're dying!" and then run back the way they came as Jake follows.
Commercials. I must say that, while I'm not especially interested in watching Shark, the "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the courtroom" tag line made me laugh.
When we return, night has fallen. Cops and fireman are milling around in a parking lot. The streetlights are clearly working here, by the way. An SUV loaded with passengers drive up, and the sheriff orders a cop to go "calm those folks down."
In the sheriff's station, a cop is scanning her radio and tells Dad, "We have our frequencies, Sir, but outside...it's like there's no one there." Dad asks if they could contact the Governor with a ham radio. The cop says that she only knows of one ham radio in town. Dad sighs, "I was afraid you were gonna say that."
A man approaches the sheriff and introduces himself as Robert Hawkins. The sheriff politely greets him and points out that he's a little busy at the moment. Hawkins says that he wants to help, and explains, "I used to be a cop. St. Louis." Where he was a bad cop who double-crossed Jake, used his ill-gotten gains to buy the old Thompson place, and has been waiting there to blackmail Jake out of his inheritance. Possibly with the assistance of one or more escaped prisoners who might have staged a daring escape near Jericho. But that's just a wild guess. The sheriff asks Hawkins whether he knows the local roads, but Hawkins explains that he's new in town. The sheriff says, "Then I'm afraid you'd just slow us down." Hawkins then asks the sheriff whether he has any black spray paint. The sheriff's all, wha? Hawkins explains, "Y'know, cover that," and points to the sheriff's car, where "Jericho" is written on a black stripe on the car's side. He continues, "If it was an attack, Sheriff, and there's chaos out there, you might not want the wrong people knowing that Jericho is still here." Where exactly does he think the sheriff is going to be driving to? I mean, unless he goes on a road trip, wouldn't anyone who sees the car already know that Jericho is still there? Whatever, Hawkins. The sheriff sniffs, "With all due respect, Mr. Hawkins, this is not St. Louis."
Dad and Eric are visiting the Bad Side Of Town. Or so I assume, because I see some litter. Dad starts coughing, but assures Eric that he's okay. Foreshadowing! Dad raps on a door and a grizzled guy immediately pops up holding a shotgun aimed at them. Dad sighs, "Oh, Oliver, would you stop that. Oliver apologetically lowers the gun, but explains, "We're under attack! By aliens! Don't you know?" Dad genially says that they're aware of that, which is why they want to borrow Oliver's ham radio. Oliver sighs, "For you...fifty cents." Eric sighs, "Oliver," but Dad reaches into his pocket and pulls on a dollar bill. Oliver takes it and says, "Okay. I'll get your change." Heh. Getting the change almost makes up for the small-town wacko thing.
The lights are on dimly as Dale sits slumped over the counter, listening to the message on the answering machine. A woman's voice says, "Hi, Dale, sorry I didn't call sooner, angel, but we decided to stay in the city an extra couple days." In the background, a man tells her to put the phone down and come to bed. The woman laughs and says, "Stop that, it's my kid!" Then she says, "Baby, what are you staring at out the window?" The man tells her to come look at something. She says, "What is that?" There's a low rubble, she gasps, "Oh my God!" as it gets louder and then glass shatters and the message ends. Dale hits play, and the message starts again. He rewinds and listens to the first part over and over.
The Texaco station is crammed with cars. And then all the lights in town go out.
Some fireman discuss the situation. Someone speculates, "The bomb could have fried the relays." Hawkins wanders over and says, "It was probably just a drain on the system from Denver." The fire chief asks, "You a science teacher?" Hawkins grins and introduces himself, and the chief identifies himself as Chief Carroll.
The Sheriff drives along. The cop in his passenger seat watches the dial of the Geiger counter. Another cop calls in and says he hasn't spotted anything.
The kids lead Jake up to the school bus, which I think is in a dry riverbed, but maybe it's just a dirt road. A dead deer lays directly in front of the bus's right front tire. The girl sniffs, "The deer went crazy and started running all over the road!" Jake tells the kids not to look at it, which is kind of hilarious since the boy is aiming his flashlight straight at the deer as they all rush up to the bus. It's also funny because they're probably farm kids, right? Dead animals shouldn't be much of a shock to them. While Jake climbs aboard, let's pause and discuss a few things. First of all: if you're driving and a deer jumps in front of your car, don't swerve. You're just going to lose control, and you may well hit the deer anyway. Here ends the safety message. On to my first question, which is: how the hell did this crash happen? Clearly the driver swerved, but the bus didn't hit anything except the deer. And maybe some bushes, but it's not like it smashed into a tree. As we'll see, the bus works just fine. And the deer isn't, well, smooshed, so they didn't run over the deer and then hit something else. So apparently the bus swerved, went into this riverbed/side road, hit the deer somewhere along the line, and then stopped. With the deer neatly placed just under the tire, but whatever. Which sets up my final question: what happened to the driver? They only thing they hit was a deer. In a school bus. I'm not a physics genius, but is hitting a hundred pound deer in a five-ton bus really going to hurt the driver somehow?
Jake hobbles onto the bus and checks the driver. Heather asks, "Is he alive?" Jake gasps, "Yeah," and then lets the driver slump over as he was, turning his attention to the pretty schoolteacher. Nice. Heather says that she think she broke her leg. He asks her whether she can feel her toes, and takes off his jacket as she says, "Yeah, don't worry about me. Worry about them." There are about twenty kids sitting on the bus. Jake asks if anyone's hurt. A kid near the back raises his hand and announces, "Stacy's sick. She can't breathe."
Jake hurries to the back of the bus, where a very cute little girl is laying in her seat, clutching her neck with both hands. The kid behind Stacy explains, "When the bus stopped, she was like this," and rests his chin on the back of the seat in front of him. Jake asks the girl to move her hands so he can see. The kids in the bus watch raptly as Jake eyes the nasty bruise on Stacy's throat. Jake asks Heather if there's an ice pack he can use to stop the swelling. Heather instructs Lucas, the flashlight-holder, to fetch a first aid kit out from under the front seat. She thinks she broke her leg, the driver's unconscious, and she surely knew there was a girl in the back who'd been hurt, but until now, it didn't occur to her to get the first aid kit? I'm not too impressed with Heather. Stacy gasps squeakily as Jake takes one of those cold compress packs out of the kit and presses it to Stacy's throat. Stacy moans a little and shuts her eyes. Jake leans down to check her breathing, and the urgent music suddenly turns somber. D'oh. After a long moment of muttering "Think," to himself, Jake stands up and desperately asks for a pen. Lucas says, "We have pencils!" Heh. Jake says he needs a tube. A girl named Julie says that she has a straw, and hurries over with her juice box. Jake examines it and says, "It's too thin." He asks if anyone else has a juice box, and most of the kids raise their hands. If the kids brought them along for their lunches, why didn't they drink them already? Tsk. He tells the kids to get them out, along with some Band-Aids. "Make them into a circle!" he orders. While Julie collects the straws, Jake pulls out his pocket knife and wipes it with an alcohol pad. He asks the boy in the seat to hold Stacy down, "in case she wakes up." The kid reaches down and presses his palm against Stacy's forehead. "Don't look," Jake adds, and the kid obediently turns his head. Jake starts to cut into Stacy's neck. The kid holding her head kind of squints and peeks for a second. I swear, the kids on this show are so much more likable than the adults. Jake asks for the straws, and Julie hands them over. She watches like she thinks this is kinda cool, while the girl to her is obviously horrified. Love the kids. And I usually don't. Jake sticks the bundle of straws into Stacy's throat. The bundle looks like it's about dime-sized, which seems excessive. He leans over and begins puffing air through the straws. Stacy starts breathing. The audience yawns. Relieved, Jake collapses into a seat across the aisle. Shouldn't he maybe be holding those straws in place, or holding the puncture in her neck closed, maybe?
The sheriff radios in that he's spotted something. The roof of a bus is visible behind the trees. Another cop asks if they should come, but the sheriff says, "No, you keep looking for Jake." Two police cars pull over near the bus. So that's four cops at the bus. Just in case it matters later.
In the school bus, an overawed kid asks Jake, "How'd you learn how to do that?" Jake says, "Military school." The kid asks if Jake was a soldier. Jake laughs, "No, I was a screw-up."
The sheriff climbs onto the bus. Which seems to be empty. Isn't there a moratorium on ripping off that fake-out from Silence of the Lambs yet? The sheriff swings his flashlight around the bus interior and spots pair of cuffs draped over one seat. And a few bodies. The barred door separating the cab from the driver's seat should probably have been a clue, too. And the fact, even in the dark, it's clear that the bus isn't yellow. All things considered, maybe instead of worrying about radiation, the people of Jericho should test their water for lead. Outside, another cop clears some brush away and find something-"worth prison" stenciled on the side. He calls to the sheriff, "Come look at this!" It's difficult not to think that he might need help reading it. But he does at least add, "It's the wrong bus!" The sheriff calls, "Reilly, get over here," and leans out of the bus door. As he turns, a silhouetted figure in the foreground stands up, and then there's a gunshot.
Jake climbs out the bus and looks at the deer, trying to figure out much venison it'll provide. Or maybe he's checking the front for damage, I'm not sure. He groans, "Where's the damn rescue party?"
Mom opens the door to find Dale standing there. She invites him in and soothes, "We're all trying to get through this together." Inside, Dale finds the living room packed with about a dozen people, including Stanley and Bonnie. There are candles covering most of the available surfaces. Bonnie waves and calls, "Hi, Dale." Dale stands awkwardly, and then Mom spots a cassette in his hand. I have no problem with the fact that the answering machine uses cassettes. The fact that it's a regular-sized cassette, not a microcassette, seems slightly more peculiar, but maybe that's just me. Dale looks pained, and says, "It's my mom."
Cut to everyone listening to the message. Stanley signs to Bonnie that it's Dale's mom talking. The message ends with that crash, and then just a dial tone. Everyone gasps, and Mom shuts off the tape. She says, "Oh, Dale, I am so sorry. I didn't know your mother was in Denver." Dale stops biting his lip long enough to say, "She wasn't in Denver. She was in Atlanta." Hubbub, hubbub. Bonnie asks what's going on as Mom says, "I'm sure that they'll have some answers...." Dale exits as Mom's attempt to be reassuring fail miserably. She turns back as the door closes, but doesn't go after Dale.
Jake carries Stacy up to the seat to Heather and says, "We have to get her back."
Gracie walks to the front of her store with a flashlight, and finds Dale knocking on the door.
Jake hauls the driver to another seat. Julie cuddles with Heather and asks, "Are we going to have school tomorrow?" Heather says, "We'll figure it out." Julie mysteriously says, "I don't know." Huh? Jake hobbles back to the driver's seat and groans in pain, then checks the gash in his leg. Jake, my clueless hero, can I just remind you: first aid kit. I swear, whatever is wrong with these people must be contagious.
Gracie nervously asks, "Dale? What are you doing, honey?" She follows as Dale carries a pile of packages out of the store. Gracie says, "Please don't steal from me!"
Texaco station. Horns honk. I don't know why they're honking, because without power, the gas pumps won't work. Someone loads two cans of gas into his SUV, which I'll just assume he filled before the power went out. A man that we'll call the instigator asks, "You got extra there?" The hoarder chuckles, "First come, first serve." The instigator sniffs, "You filled up your truck -- you gonna mow your lawn, too?" Hoarder says that he's got a family. "We've all got families," the instigator says, and moves to grab the second can. They tussle a little, and gas splashes around. Oh, good.
Jake starts up the bus and tells everyone to take a seat. The kids yammer happily as Jake backs the bus up onto the road. Heather helpfully says, "Hurry!" Jake regains hero points for not rolling his eyes.
Dale and Gracie carry armloads of stuff out of the store, and put them in the icebox outside the door. Bags of ice are piled all around. Er. Maybe you should open some of those and put them on top of the food? Dale announces, "Food won't go rotten as long as the weather stays cool. Hopefully the power'll be fixed on by then." Gracie thanks Dale, and he bites his lip again and says, "Anything for you, ma'am." Seriously, kill off the adults, and let Dale rule the town of kids. I know, it's a little bit Jeremiah, and a little bit "Miri," but even so.
People are still honking at the Texaco station. The instigator tries to pull the hoarder out of his truck. Someone else tries to break up the fight.
Hawkins tells Chief Carroll, "You need to get some lights on before people start losin' it." Carroll says they've just got lanterns and flashlights. Hawkins asks, "But your town does roadwork at night, right?"
Texaco station. A woman walks out of the Texaco shop with a bag of stuff. A man follows her out and grabs the bag, and the woman says, "If your machine doesn't work it's not our fault!" So...she's saying that since she couldn't use her credit card, she should get stuff for free? The man, who I guess has experience dealing with the brain-damaged, patiently suggests that she pay with cash. As they argue, something glass falls to the ground and breaks.
Cut to lights coming on, as Hawkins personally cranks up a generator. Chief Carroll asks, "Sure you're not a science teacher?" In this town, he might qualify. Then a radio squawks as someone reports, "We got a little problem down at the gas station." Carroll says that he'll be right there, and Gary says he'll go along.
Sheriff's office. Dad listens to the report of a crowd gathering at the gas station. Dad sighs. Poor guy. In the kingdom of the dumb, the half-smart man is Mayor. Eric runs in and gasps, "Dad!" Dad says, "I heard, go," as he pulls his jacket on. But then Mom rushes in. Dad snaps, "I don't have time right now, some damn fool--" but Mom is firm. She explains, "Dale Turner's mom died tonight. In another explosion. Atlanta." Dad pauses to process that, and then hurries out with his arm around Mom.
Jake's having trouble staying conscious as the wheels on the bus go round and round. He drives past the prison bus, and we pan down to it. A radio squawks, "Sheriff? There's no sign of Jake out here, in fact, there's no sign of anybody." The cop says that they're headed back, and then asks, "Sheriff, you there?" One of the other cops is collapsed on the bus steps, with a bullet wound in his back. The Sheriff's arm is draped down above him. I guess we'll assume that the other two cops are also dead.
Jake mutters, "Stay awake...." People who talk to themselves are the writer's friend. He looks at the dash, and sees that the gas gauge is on empty. They were at a garage! You know what they do at garages? Sell gas. Oy. Jake asks, "Does this bus have a gas can?" Heather makes a gasping-fish face and shakes her head like she doesn't know. Jake says, "The bus...if it stops." Heather gasps, "Okay," and turns to face the kids. She tells them that if the bus stops, they'll need to walk back to town and get help. One kid calls, "I dunno where we are!" Jake says that when they get to the stop sign, they should turn left. But the kids don't know right from left. Jake sighs and puts his head down for a second, which cracks me up. Heather instructs them all to hold their hands up, thumbs out. "The one that makes the 'L' is your left!" Or you could let the kids who found Jake and then found their way back to the bus be guides. I mean, they seem relatively competent. But it's all moot anyway, since the bus won't run out of gas. It's just a stupid cliffhanger to keep people from changing channels during the commercials.
Fights are breaking out all over at the gas station. At least people have stopped honking. Sirens blare as the fire truck arrives. Fireman start into the crowd, and Gary takes in the situation and then climbs into the truck's cab. He pulls out the mike and starts to call out the names of the people fighting. The fighters stop and turn as Gary barks, "Stop it, right now!" The hubbub dies down as Gary continues, "Why are you turning on each other? Stealing from your neighbors? You are fighting the wrong people!" As the crowd turns to look at him, Gary lamely finishes, "All I'm saying is, I think we need to get organized." He drops the mike and proclaims, "I don't know where the Mayor is, but maybe we need to come up with a plan ourselves." Which is, of course, when Dad shoves his way through the crowd and mildly asks, "Are we making speeches?" Gary loudly says, "We have a missing bus, no police, firemen doing policeman's jobs...." Yeah, and it's almost like those things are related. Eric huffs, "How dare you politicize--" Gary snaps, "I don't care about the election; I care about survival!" Dad says that he's been to other countries, "but [he] will take the good people of --" A guy in the crowd finishes, "The good people of Jericho over any other city. We know, Mister Mayor." Dad asks if the heckler thinks he's been "asleep at the switch," and the heckler looks embarrassed. I note with interest that Stanley and Bonnie are in the crowd. I guess when Mom left the Green house, everyone else decided to go poking around town.
Dad explains to the folks gathered at the gas station that there was also an explosion in Atlanta. As the crowd erupts in more hubbub, Dad says he's been trying to contact the governor. He reassures them, "There is no report of anything happening in Topeka!" Which nicely avoids the question of whether there's any report at all from Topeka. The crowd starts shouting out questions, and Dad tries to answer, but the town meeting is interrupted by horn nearby.
Jake drives the bus up to the Texaco station, honking loudly, and pulls to a stop. He swings the door open and calls, "Help 'em!" Hee. Firemen march aboard. As they retrieve Stacy, Jake takes a moment to ask Heather's name, and introduce himself. Kids rush off the bus to their parents, and the firemen carry Stacy off and hand her to some EMTs. Another guy in the bus helps Heather stand up. On her broken leg. She's a big faker! Note to Jericho EMTs: this is why there's an emergency exit at the back of the bus. Mom and Dad go up to the bus and Jake lurches off as Mom tells Eric to help. Dad watches awkwardly. Okay, Gerald McRaney can rule the town of children, with Dale as his henchkid. Everyone else is food for the zombies.
Jake is loaded into an ambulance. Mom tells Eric, "Get April; we'll meet you at the medical center." Jake calls Eric back and tells him that there's an empty prison bus off of Cedar Run. A bus that may have been transporting one or more cons that Jake knew. From when he was in prison. Eric says he'll take care of it. Mom climbs into the ambulance and frets over Jake, who insists that he's okay.
Dad climbs onto the steps of the bus and looks around, dazed. He turns around and calls to his heckler. "You said earlier that you'd heard that speech before. You ever ask yourself why I say it?" The heckler, holding his little girl in his arms, wordlessly wonders, Is this a rhetorical question? Dad proclaims that he trusts the people of Jericho. He says, "Something happened in Denver and Atlanta, and it could be that we wake up and we find out that's where it stops. But until we know, are we gonna use our imaginations to solve problems, or to cause 'em?" "Cause them!" someone screams, and they turn over the bus and set it on fire. Okay, no. Dad goes on speechifying that if they have to, they'll fight, but they can't fight each other. And so on. He says that they'll meet at the town hall tomorrow, and concludes, "Don't you break my heart again." Hawkins, who I guess finished powering all the hand-cranked generators by himself, stares at Dad thoughtfully as everyone clears out. Dad tells Chief Carroll to keep everyone at their posts until the Sheriff returns, and then calls the heckler back to shake his hand.
In the ambulance, Mom tells Jake that she thought she'd never see him again. Jake says, "You think I'd let Dad have the last word." From the door, Dad says, "Hey, quit talkin' about me." After a second of staring at each other, Dad tells Jake that he did a great thing. Jake blearily thanks him. Dad adds, "Your grandfather woulda been proud." Then he says that he'll see what's taking so long with the driver, and moves away. Jake looks at Mom and says, "I go away for a few years and the town goes to hell." Oh, Jake. Don't quip. Mom isn't amused, either.
Chief Carroll stops by Hawkins and asks what he's thinking. Hawkins stares into the distance and says, "I was just wondering what it was all gonna look like in the morning."
Emily's epic drive to Wichita is interrupted by several thudding noises. She sighs, "Oh, darn, I thought the guy in the trunk was dead." Well, actually she just pulls over. Snow Patrol is cued up, and we watch her boots as she steps out of the car to find the highway littered with dead crows. She stares around and gasps, "What's happening?"