'Jericho' less hokey, still hacky
February 20, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN
Chicago Sun-Times
Sarah is privy to serious intel. She looks at a list of cities scheduled to be destroyed by nuclear bombs. Philadelphia. Denver. Chicago. There are others, but this is the glimpse she gets during this week's "Jericho," which isn't as hokey as it usually is.
It's a flashback episode where we see what everyone was up to before America got pulverized. If you haven't set aside time to watch "Jericho," who can blame you? It's reminiscent of the mentally challenged, 1984 scare film "Red Dawn."
The difference is "Red Dawn" fictionalized a town reacting to a Cold War invasion by the Soviets, while the bad guys of "Jericho" are terrorists or some other mysterious, nefarious villains.
Wednesday's installment, the first new one since November, is better than others, because the storytelling is tighter dramatically. Sarah is a new character. She is dating ... well, I won't spoil fans' surprise.
But suffice it to say, there is at least one scene where we see children playing innocently in the streets just hours before they get nuked. Someone, please! Save the children!
I have kind of, sort of detested the show when I've tuned in before. The series can seem like a paranoid delusion about nuke survivors in Hayseed, Kan., issuing platitudes about love and community and watch-out-he's-got-a-gun scenarios.
Apparently, lots of viewers want to be scared and cuddled, though, since "Jericho" has outlasted many other new dramas this year.
"Jericho" offers its fans an unlikely combo of:
• Present-age fearmongering (terrorists are out to get us).
• Old-fashioned TV elements (budding romances, two-dimensional hero-victims, paint-by-numbers dialogue).
• And intrigue. (Who's behind the bombs?)
I might be fine with "Jericho" if it weren't for the hacky lines. "These are the faces of the men who will change the world." "Innocent people died, Freddy. Innocent people. I see it every time I close my eyes, which isn't too often these days." "I have a bad feeling about all this."
Who talks like that? I suppose you could argue this is the discourse of the desperate trapped in traumatic situations. Maybe I'd say phrases like these if, like the characters in this flashback episode, I attended a sleeper cell or got beat up by covert soldier types.
It's definitely the economical language of old-school TV fiction, which may appeal to people who prefer traditional TV.
Conversely, it may turn off people who are fed up with overcooked TV tropes and turn instead to series featuring the style and language of youth, such as "30 Rock" and the grittier "Veronica Mars."
Here's my test. In "Jericho" on Wednesday, a guy swears "on a stack of chili dogs." He's being earnest. If Veronica Mars swore on a stack of chili dogs, it would be an ironic snark, making fun of the guy on "Jericho."
Which kind of chili-dog experience would you prefer?
BY DOUG ELFMAN
Chicago Sun-Times
Sarah is privy to serious intel. She looks at a list of cities scheduled to be destroyed by nuclear bombs. Philadelphia. Denver. Chicago. There are others, but this is the glimpse she gets during this week's "Jericho," which isn't as hokey as it usually is.
It's a flashback episode where we see what everyone was up to before America got pulverized. If you haven't set aside time to watch "Jericho," who can blame you? It's reminiscent of the mentally challenged, 1984 scare film "Red Dawn."
The difference is "Red Dawn" fictionalized a town reacting to a Cold War invasion by the Soviets, while the bad guys of "Jericho" are terrorists or some other mysterious, nefarious villains.
Wednesday's installment, the first new one since November, is better than others, because the storytelling is tighter dramatically. Sarah is a new character. She is dating ... well, I won't spoil fans' surprise.
But suffice it to say, there is at least one scene where we see children playing innocently in the streets just hours before they get nuked. Someone, please! Save the children!
I have kind of, sort of detested the show when I've tuned in before. The series can seem like a paranoid delusion about nuke survivors in Hayseed, Kan., issuing platitudes about love and community and watch-out-he's-got-a-gun scenarios.
Apparently, lots of viewers want to be scared and cuddled, though, since "Jericho" has outlasted many other new dramas this year.
"Jericho" offers its fans an unlikely combo of:
• Present-age fearmongering (terrorists are out to get us).
• Old-fashioned TV elements (budding romances, two-dimensional hero-victims, paint-by-numbers dialogue).
• And intrigue. (Who's behind the bombs?)
I might be fine with "Jericho" if it weren't for the hacky lines. "These are the faces of the men who will change the world." "Innocent people died, Freddy. Innocent people. I see it every time I close my eyes, which isn't too often these days." "I have a bad feeling about all this."
Who talks like that? I suppose you could argue this is the discourse of the desperate trapped in traumatic situations. Maybe I'd say phrases like these if, like the characters in this flashback episode, I attended a sleeper cell or got beat up by covert soldier types.
It's definitely the economical language of old-school TV fiction, which may appeal to people who prefer traditional TV.
Conversely, it may turn off people who are fed up with overcooked TV tropes and turn instead to series featuring the style and language of youth, such as "30 Rock" and the grittier "Veronica Mars."
Here's my test. In "Jericho" on Wednesday, a guy swears "on a stack of chili dogs." He's being earnest. If Veronica Mars swore on a stack of chili dogs, it would be an ironic snark, making fun of the guy on "Jericho."
Which kind of chili-dog experience would you prefer?
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