For the finale, we have a return engagement by our beloved Edna and Margie, co-guest bloggers and Jericho’s eldest residents.

Name: Margie
That nice Amy wants my bio.
Age: Nobody’s business.
Where you live: Well, dear, I was born and reared here in Jericho.
Personal: I have one sister, Edna. Married 5 times, but I won’t mention the name of the jealous hussy who ran them off. I don’t have any children.
More about me: I was the town librarian because I enjoyed contact with everybody in town. I garden (I’m president of our gardening club), read, crochet, cook, collect recipes, watch soap operas. Pay visits to the sick. I believe we should all do our civic duties and help the less fortunate.

Name: Edna … oh my, I don’t think I want to give you my last name, you never know what kind of ruffians might be lurking, just waiting to steal your identity.
Age: A lady never tells, dear.
Where you live: Jericho, KS, where I was born and raised, and where I will be buried.
When you started watching Jericho: Well, I’ve been watching the town and the people of Jericho all my life. I’m not really sure what you mean by this question, dear. You really should be more specific.
Your favorite character on the show and why: Show? What show? You know, I myself have been called quite a character by many people. My sister Margie calls me much worse, but I try not to listen to her.
What about Jericho makes it so special to you: The sense of community and belonging that you get in a small town like Jericho. You just can’t find that very much any more, especially in these trying and harrowing times.
Anything else you want to tell the readers about yourself: Well, I like to embroider and cook, and Margie and I grow our own herbs and vegetables in the garden. I’m also a mean pool player, just ask anyone down at Bailey’s. But don’t you believe that Eric Green if he says I cheat, he’s a dirty liar.

Even though it’s only been five months since that fateful day when the bombs exploded, it is sometimes hard for the citizens of Jericho to remember happier times. However, there are two elderly townspeople who have no such trouble. Margie and Edna, two of Jericho’s oldest residents, have a nose for gossip and information. And even now, when there is so much to be done simply to survive, they often take the time to reminisce over past times. It is how they keep some sense of normalcy to their lives in times of great upheaval. Plus, they’ve spent many, many years of their lives gossiping about the goings-on in Jericho, past and present. It is second nature to them, as automatic as breathing.

Bailey’s Tavern, six years ago: Eric’s and April’s wedding day

Margie: Edna, look who just sat down behind us.

(Jake, Emily, Stanley and Jake’s grandfather are sitting in a booth at Bailey’s, right behind Margie and Edna.)

Edna: Those rowdies! Margie, I don’t know why we keep coming here, when they let just anyone in.

Margie: What is that old fool saying? Why doesn’t he speak up so I can hear him?

Jake’s grandfather recalls the story of a World War II U.S. Army commander who was out-gunned and outnumbered by surrounding Nazis. The general was offered to surrender or fight; his response was, simply, “Nuts.” When asked what it meant, Jake’s grandfather said it meant, “Go to hell.”

Edna: I think he said something about nuts; has Mary Bailey started serving bar snacks again? I thought the health department put the kibosh on that. Uh-oh, here comes Gail Green, looks like fun time is over.

Margie: Let’s go, Edna. She looks mad.

Edna: Don’t make eye contact with her, let’s just get back to the reception before she spots us.

The Wedding Reception:

Margie: Edna, I wonder how they got Jake to be Eric’s best man? I’m sure Eric didn’t want it that way.

Edna: Well, you know it wouldn’t have looked right if it hadn’t been Jake. Even if poor Jake is a troublemaker, he’s still Eric’s brother.

Margie: Look at that dress Gail Green is wearing. I wouldn’t be caught dead in that rag.

Edna: Margie, you have the taste of a groundhog. That dress is lovely; you’re just being contrary because Gail didn’t sit you in the front row like you wanted.

Margie: I heard Gail wrote the speech Jake gave. Guess she was afraid of what he’d say. That boy is nothing but trouble.

Edna: Now, don’t you be so hard on him, he’s just finding his way like all young folks do. He’ll get there eventually.

Back to present-day Jericho, in more uncertain times…

The neighboring town of New Bern has declared war on Jericho. They’ve demanded that several of the town’s farms be handed over, but Jericho has refused — they won’t give in without a fight. New Bern already has seized control of one of the farms on the list, and they are preparing to advance into town. Jericho is readying its own resources, which means gathering fighting men and women together to take their stand at the Richmond Farm.

Jericho Town Hall:

Margie: Look, Edna, Jake’s back. Oh no, we’re outnumbered? What are they going to do?

Edna: Pay attention, Margie! That nice Mr. Hawkins says he’s going to use his satellite thingy to track New Bern’s forces. Great-grandpappy would have approved of that kind of reconnaissance. I wonder why he doesn’t want anyone to know about it though?

Margie: Oh my, Edna, Johnston said we’re going to war with New Bern, which has the nearest Costco.

Edna: Well, he also said the day was already about as weird as he could handle. Such slang these young people use! But I couldn’t agree more.

Richmond Farm:

The leaders of the fight — Mayor Anderson, Johnston Green, Jake and Hawkins—none of them knew that Margie and Edna planned to fight right alongside them. At the farm, Margie and Edna have positioned themselves up the hill from the road, where they have a bird’s eye view of the battle, and can rush in should they be needed. Margie has her pistol, and Edna is armed with … a sword?

Margie: Edna, you never could shoot straight.

Edna: That’s why I have a sword, you idiot. It’s kind of rusty, but still serviceable. Great-grandpappy would be proud that it’s being carried into battle once again — even if it hasn’t been used since the Civil War.

Margie: Edna, don’t you swing that sword or you’ll just end up cutting your own head off.

Edna: Don’t worry, I know what to do. Come to think of it, though, I wonder why they didn’t want us out here on the battlefield. That big old sweetheart Jimmy tried to make me go back to Town Hall, but I just reminded him about that time I caught him drinking the altar wine after church when he was a boy. He quieted right down after that.

Margie: That’s good, Edna. Always keep some good information handy.

Meanwhile … Margie and Edna were good friends with Darcy Hawkins, so they knew Darcy and Robert were keeping secrets. What they didn’t know was that Robert was one of the last surviving members of the conspiracy. If only they’d known that Hawkins had a bomb that contained uranium that could be traced back to the bomb’s makers — which put him at risk from some very dangerous people.

While the townspeople were gathering at the Richmond Farm, Hawkins was using his satellite connection to track the movements of the New Bern invaders. Unfortunately, the satellite hook-up was also being traced by the corrupt Thomas Valente. When Darcy realized what was happening, fearing for her husband, she insisted Hawkins cut his connection before he was located. Hawkins complied, but not before Valente’s trace was close to completion.

Margie and Edna would certainly have needed extra heart pills if they’d known Hawkins had spotted hundreds of New Bern men in trucks and on a train heading for Jericho.

Edna: Oh my good gracious, is that a tank??

Margie: It’s sure not a Greyhound bus coming for you, Edna.

Edna: OK Margie, be ready in case they need us to charge down the hill with them. My goodness, this shooting is loud!

Margie: Oohhhhhhh! I haven’t heard an explosion that loud since Daddy ate all those prunes thinking they were plums. Edna, is that a tank? Quick! Jump in front of it!

Edna: Oh no, Margie! Johnston Green’s been shot! Somebody better go get Gail.

Margie: If you think I’m going to go tell Gail her husband is dead then you’re NUTS!

Edna: I think Emily went to get her. They’d better get back here fast.

Richmond Farmhouse:

Johnston was critically wounded in the first firefight between Jericho and New Bern; he knows how seriously he is hurt, and he realizes he only has a short amount of time to pass on some last wisdom to his boys. He tells Eric that he is stronger than he thinks he is, and that he loves him. He asks Jake to tell Gail that he loves her, and says that he realizes how hard he was on Jake while he was growing up. Johnston tells him that he’s glad Jake came home, and the last thing he says before dying is to tell Jake that he’s proud of him. He has told both of his sons not only what he wanted to say, but also what each of them very much needed to hear from their father.

Jake and Eric take a moment to grieve privately, then Jake comes out of the farmhouse and tells the assembled townspeople that Johnston has died. With his father’s passing, he has now taken on the mantle of leadership and authority. He is not the same man who came back to Jericho five months ago — that man had the skills to be a leader, but not the self-confidence. Everything that has happened since the bombs went off, and all of his selfless actions to keep Jericho safe, have created a fierce leader in Jake Green. If only it hadn’t come with such a price.

Margie: That poor Jake. He’s gone and lost his daddy. I’m glad Emily is here to comfort him because they surely do love each other.

Edna: Hmm, you think so? They sure did get into all kinds of trouble when they were kids, I just don’t know how good they are for each other. Still, you take your comfort where you can get it I suppose, especially at a time like this. It’s just a shame that that little Heather Lisinski never came back from New Bern.

Of course, Edna thinks Heather is dead — she has heard the scuttlebutt about what happened to her in New Bern. However, Heather is very much alive. She was found in car wreckage by a military patrol. She woke up in an Army hospital tent at “Camp Liberty” in southwest Nebraska.

Heather knows a battle is brewing back in Kansas and she begs the commander, Col. Hoffman, to break up the fight between Jericho and New Bern; but he says he has other orders. Hoffman does pass the report to his superiors, and Valente tells him to go stop the fight there because a terrorist has been located within 200 miles of Jericho. Hoffman is instructed to stop the fight, then find the terrorist.

Hoffman had already told Heather that a federal government had been restored with the capital in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Heather watches the troops leave for Kansas and notices that an altered version of the Stars and Stripes flying over the base. (Margie: Great-grandpappy fought in the Civil War and I’m telling you he could set them straight about that flag! Edna: You hush and let them finish telling their story, you old fool!) Heather is taken aback by this symbol of such profound change. This is not the American flag she knows.

Back in Jericho, things are heating up for a final showdown with New Bern. Jake and his Jericho army are getting back into position when Constantino contacts him on the walkie-talkie. Although he expresses his condolences for Johnston’s passing, Jake is having none of it. Constantino urges him to surrender, stating that the town of Jericho will never withstand another attack from New Bern. Taking a page from his grandfather’s WWII story, Jake’s reply is one word: “Nuts.”

Jericho will not back down.

And neither will Margie and Edna.

Margie: What was that, Edna? Did he say klutz? Who’s a klutz?

Edna: Margie you fool, turn up your hearing aid. He clearly said nuts. Why he’s talking about party snacks at a time like this though, I’ll never know.

Margie: Party snacks? Well, I never.

On the battlefield, Margie and Edna are positioning themselves for the next fight.

Margie: Edna, get behind this tree.

Edna: Margie, if I have told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, you are not the boss of me. I’ll get behind the tree, but not because you said so; it just gives the best cover. We’re not as young as we used to be, you know — it’s not like that time in France with the freedom fighters …

Margie: Edna, quit lying. I saw that movie, too.

Edna: Is your pistol loaded? We don’t want some New Berner sneaking up on us and slitting our throats while you’re trying to load your stupid gun.

Margie: Edna, this gun has been loaded for more than 60 years.

Edna: What?? Margie, do you mean to tell me that there have been bullets in that gun all this time? Maybe you should have put fresh bullets in before we left the house. It’s just a good thing I have my sword.

Margie: Fresh bullets? Look at that old rusty sword.

Edna: It’s better when it’s rusty: if the stab wound doesn’t kill you, the tetanus will. Besides, that’s not all rust, some of it’s blood.

Margie: Good grief, Edna. It’s not people blood.

Edna: It most surely is! Didn’t you ever wonder what happened to that traveling salesman that kept sniffing around you while Daddy was alive? Daddy only told you that he left town, but I knew better.

Margie: You lie, Edna. You go on and move to New Bern.

Edna: Well fine, maybe they’ll treat me better over there. Now hush up, I think something’s happening.

The citizens of Jericho are readying themselves for the next skirmish. It’s important that they are prepared and ready to fight when Constantino and his men come back. The attackers from New Bern are shortly spotted entering the battlefield, and everyone scrambles to get into position. They stand poised to fire, and Jake, with his gun at the ready, holds up his hand.

“Wait …”

Edna: Margie, did you hear something?

Margie: Is that a helicopter?

Edna: A helicopter? Margie, have you gone daft? When was the last time anyone flew anything anywhere around here?

Margie: I guess it was when Mama threw that that bowl at Daddy. He sure flew.

But Margie is right; it’s a helicopter. Hawkins, who has commandeered the tank and sits on it high atop a hill outside of town, spots what appears to be a squadron of military helicopters, flying fast overhead. Are they coming to Jericho? Has he been located? What will this mean for his safety, the safety of those he loves?

Back on the battlefield, Jake continues to stand tensely, shoulder-to-shoulder with his brother Eric. Both are determined to avenge their father’s death and defend their town.

Jake is anticipating just the right moment to open fire: “Wait … wait … NOW!!”

Shots ring out, and the battle begins again.

Who will win?

Stay tuned for Season Two.

Thank you all so much for joining in thIt’s been so much fun to read and edit all your recaps and fan fiction and thoughts and opinions.

One note on this recap: Edna and Margie are the alter egos of Beth and Jane (I know, it’s heresy to admit Edna and Margie aren’t real, but these two women deserve tons of credit!), two of my very first volunteers for the Great Jericho Blogging Experiment. They’ve both been a joy to work with and have put tons of work into their recaps. They each did one on their own, then invented Edna and Margie for Casus Belli. I asked them if they’d write another installment on our favorite gossips for the season finale, and they graciously agreed.

Jane has gotten some great interviews with fans, cast and crew over at Jericho Monster (she also runs the Arabelle’s Alley and Jericho Central sites, each of which is dedicated to another aspect of Jericho). Beth is an active moderator on Radio Free Jericho. Both have been very active in the efforts to get Jericho a second season and to make sure it stays on the air beyond the initial seven-episode order.

Meanwhile, this brings our guest blogs to an end, for now.

I will continue to post news updates on Jericho and of course will be blogging on the show regularly once it returns (triumphantly!) to the airwaves. Then, besides my weekly recaps, we’ll have some guest bloggers from time to time as well.