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'Jericho' too cynical for the times?
http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2008/03/27/jericho_too_cynical_for_the_times/
By Joanna Weiss
Globe Staff / March 27, 2008
In the series finale of the post-apocalyptic drama "Jericho," in an
offhand conversation, a couple of characters voiced one of the show's
underlying points: Don't mess with the Second Amendment.
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That's notable not just because it's a departure from typical Hollywood
politics, or because the episode aired shortly after the Supreme Court
heard a landmark case on the right to bear arms. It also speaks to an
ongoing theme of the show, the notion that the government can't always
be trusted.
And if that doesn't sound especially radical, think of how it was
received by viewers. Even amid an unpopular war, in a country with no
shortage of cynics, a show this doubtful of the government's intentions
can't seem to draw a mainstream audience.
"Jericho," which ended its run on Tuesday, did have a small, fervent
base of support, but it never managed to break through. The show was
canceled for low viewership by CBS last spring, then resurrected for a
seven-episode trial run after fans sent nuts to the network offices. (It
was a reference to a we-won't-back-down slogan in the show, as well as
to the Battle of the Bulge.) This season's arc - which drew even fewer
viewers than last year's episodes - played out as a cautionary tale
about the perils of a government that gains too much power. Like HBO's
brilliant "The Wire," which ended its fifth and final season this month,
it was one of few TV shows to take a decidedly cynical view of the
people in charge.
Most of the time, on TV, we get the opposite message. The detectives,
lawyers, and forensic scientists of the enduring "Law and Order" and
"CSI" incarnations are universally good. The fighting forces of CBS's
"The Unit" sacrifice greatly to save us all. Even the corrupt cops on
FX's "The Shield" are softies at the core, skimming off the top to pay
for family essentials, such as private-school tuition for autistic kids.
And though each season of Fox's "24" has its fair share of government
high-ups gone bad, the traitors are always exceptions, destined to be
caught.
To the end, "Jericho" made no such promises. If "The Wire" was a
real-time look at corruption and fatal compromise in Baltimore,
"Jericho" was a worst-case-scenario fantasy, spelled out with intriguing
detail. It began with a dread attack: 23 American cities destroyed by
nuclear bombs. It asked what would happen next from the perspective of
regular folks, represented by the good-hearted citizens of a Kansas town.
This season, the good people of Jericho were occupied by an army loyal
to a corrupt pretender government, which was intertwined with a
Halliburtonesque company called Jennings & Rall. The small-town heroes
had proof that the government was covering up the true source of the
attacks, and may have had a hand in the plot. (In a nice touch, they had
to prove their case to Texas, which had formed an independent republic
and revived its Alamo spirit.) Yes, there were elements of crazed
conspiracy theory here, but the premise wasn't entirely unrealistic; the
vision of an encroaching military was clearly built on fears of
post-9/11 government overreach in the name of national security.
Maybe because this season was so short, "Jericho" didn't fully live up
to its what-if potential. The show ended up going the easy "24" route of
fingering a single, dastardly mastermind. (Could it be an accident that
he was played by Xander Berkeley, who was prominent in the early seasons
of "24"?) And despite considerable pressure, the core of regular folks
got through with their principles intact.
Still "Jericho" didn't end on an entirely happy note. The finale offered
a hint of what would have come if the show had won a third season: a
civil war between the forces of good and corruption, and a decent chance
that corruption would still prevail. Perhaps it's no wonder it got so
few takers; on TV these days, we still prefer to focus on the good.
It's much easier, after all, to sell a show about charitable giving or
cheerful redemption, preferably set to uplifting music. On ABC's
"Dancing With the Stars" the other night, contestant Steve Guttenberg
gushed about how nice this show was for America. And on "American Idol"
this week, on-the-bubble contestant Kristy Lee Cook made a decent effort
to have save herself by crooning Lee Greenwood's uberpatriotic "God
Bless the USA." That song has a widely perceived Second Amendment
message, too. It's just a message that doesn't require quite so much
thinking.
Joanna Weiss can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more on TV, go to
viewerdiscretion.net
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