We open, Constantino’s sitting at a table, twisting his wedding ring on his finger. Is his wife dead?

Jake walks in, leaps to attack him, the man responsible for Johnston Green’s death. Soldiers hold Jake back and we flash back to the battle.

Jericho and New Bern residents are shooting at one another. The train from New Bern is rushing toward Jericho. Hawkins is in the tank. Men pull wounded to safety. Hawkins moves to get the tank on the tracks to block the train. He gets it there just in time, climbs out, but the train can’t stop.

Horn sounds. Brakes squeal. Smash.

Huh. It turns out a tank can stop a speeding train.

Helicopters appear, bomb the crap out of the battlefield. Is the war over?

We’re back in the present, which just may be a few hours after that napalm was dropped. Constantino is accusing Jake and Jericho of the cold-blooded murder of eight of his deputies.

“Starving, facing a hostile neighbor, we had to take action,” he tells Maj. Beck, a no-nonsense soldier who’s bound and determined to make this peace stick, whether or not Jericho or New Bern wants it to.

Beck asks Jake his story.

“They held us hostage. Tortured my brother.”

He turns to Constantino.

“You didn’t want peace. You wanted everything we had!”

Beck declares the hostilities over. OVER. “In case you missed the message earlier, I have the means to make it stick.”

Beck (his uniform says “U.S. Army”) takes Jake outside for a chat.

“Help us rebuild this place,” he asks of Jake. “The nightmare’s over. Order will be restored.” They stand on a hill outside the farmstead, overlooking a tent city of soldiers that has sprung up almost magically.

I don’t know Morse code! What was the message over the opening credits?

Four weeks later.

Jimmy’s in the hospital, convalescing from wounds ostensibly received in the battle. He and Bill are watching TV, the station TSN. The crawl at the bottom says the Hudson River Virus is still contained east of the Mississippi. The E.U. chief is on screen, talking about whatever.

Then, it happens.

THE

CLOSEUP

OF

PEANUTS!

Bill cracks open a couple as he, Jimmy and now Jake chat. Quickie fill-in of what’s happened, John Tomarchio is now the president, a heroic young politician. Jimmy doesn’t want Bill to turn off the TV, even though they just keep telling the same stories over and over.

“I’m waiting to understand what happened with the flag,” Jimmy insists. Bill fills the audience in, reminding Jimmy that they’ve explained this on the TV news over and over, not all the states have falled in line under one government, etc.

Jericho lost a total of 65 men and women in the war with New Bern. Jake’s not sure what Beck has in store for the town that once housed the nearest Costco to Jericho, but “I’d like to be there when it goes down.”

Outside City Hall, the American flag is being taken down. Made me feel kind of uneasy.

Emily and Jake see each other outside. Smooch. Jemily fans rejoice.

The tent set up nearby is the temporary HQ of Jennings and Rall, which is helping Emily organize a community service program at the high school. J&R, she explains, is “getting people back to work.”

Jake doesn’t have such a benign view of the company; perhaps they’re connected with Ravenwood? We know Jake has a history with that military contractor. “I’ve seen what they do,” Jake says, ominously, to Emily.

A twitchy guy approaches a man on the street, pulls out a gun to shoot; Jake tackles him. Obviously some sort of blood feud left over from the New Bern war. Army folk take the would-be shooter into custody.

The new flag is raised on the pole outside City Hall. Emily and Jake gaze up at it.

It’s kinda creepy. (Or, to quote kricka: “Kind of weird and disturbing.”)

The Hawkins home. Darcy’s startled by her husband, who has appeared in the doorway. He’s been gone for four days, just got home. He’s been standing there just a minute or two. He set up a base camp not far away; there’s heavy military activity in the area, because the new government has been tracking the person with the nuke. But Hawkins is pretty sure they believe that person to be Sarah Mason. They don’t know she’s dead.

Darcy offers to help be his eyes and ears at headquarters. Beck asked her to stay on in the City Hall office, doing administrative work. Hawkins says no, but she pushes to do it. She wants to help, be more than an appendage.
At the police department. Jake sees the would-be New Bern gunman. Beck points out that he’s stopped as many guys from Jericho headed in the direction of New Bern to do no good.

A familiar face.

HEATHER.

Jake hugs her. She smiles, hugs back. Beck watches.

At the Richmond farm.

The J&R woman and Stanley are wrapping up whatever it is they were discussing. “These are the days I love my job,” J&R woman says. Mimi comes jogging up.

“Mimi, I own my farm again! J&R just set up a deal for me to wipe out my debt!”

They hug.

“Oh, Stanley! That’s so wonderful! Marry me.”

“What?”

“Marry me. I love you, the war’s over, the lights are on, I love you, life is good.”

Stanley stares. Mimi’s mortified, thinks Stanley doesn’t want to. It’s her worst nightmare.

After mortification on both sides, they get over themselves and agree they’ll get married, they kiss.

Yay!

Back at City Hall.

Power’s restored to 70 percent of the town and should be at full capacity by the end of the month. Jericho, he tells them, is “on the fast track to recovery.”

Gray looks happy. Jake knows better. “He hasn’t given us the bad news yet.”

Sure enough, Beck continues. In the spirit of reconciliation, it’s in the best interests of everyone for the hostilities between Jericho and New Bern to end. It’s over. Constantino’s been removed from power.

Jake and Eric are mad. Gray, for once, is right, pointing out that Beck has been protecting everyone.

Jake’s unconvinced. “There isn’t going to be any reconciliation until he’s dead,” he threatens, speaking about Constantino.

Now it’s Beck’s turn to be angry. “There will be no vigilantism in my jurisdiction. There will be no revenge killings. Period.” He asks Jake to step into his office.

He tells Jake about a moment, four years ago in Kandahar when he was “pacifying a hot spot.” He’s looking for “the guy.” Basically, the big dog, who if he falls in line, everyone else, pretty much, will follow. Beck laid his weapon down, showed him he understood his place.

Then he tosses a five-pointed badge on his desk and asks Jake to be Jericho’s sheriff. Jake, he knows, is Jericho’s “the guy.”

“Those people followed you on the battlefield. They respect you. Help me do my job. Help these people move on. Think about it.”

Cut to Jake and Eric. They’re going after Constantino.

Back from commercial, we’re back in City Hall. Darcy’s asked to photocopy wanted fliers with a terrorist suspect on it. It’s Sarah Mason. Hawkins was right.

Speaking of Hawkins, he goes to Jake’s house. He needs a safe house. Fortunately, Jake’s grandfather had a hunting cabin in the woods. They discuss where things stand. Jake can’t understand why the government would lie about North Korea and Iran being in on the attacks.

Hawkins is kinda pissed off for a moment, “Gee, I don’t know Jake.” Pause. A bit calmer. “I really don’t know.”

As someone watching the show, I just wanted to hit Jake for being so naive. But then I thought about it, and realized even after everything they’ve been through, it must be nearly impossible for Jake to believe the government could do something so dastardly and lie so baldly.

Jake tells Hawkins there’s a meeting at Bailey’s tonight after closing.

“If you’re still around, I need you there.” Hawkins doesn’t even pause. “Yeah? Then I’ll be there.”

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE THESE GUYS?

Cut to Heather eating a burger at Bailey’s. Mary’s amazed, “Do they not have food in Cheyenne?” Beck comes in and asks to have a word with Heather. The guy he arrested, it turns out, was one of the really bad ones from the town. The one who was supposed to take Heather out of town and execute her, she explains, was not.

Beck asks her to be the liaison between the two towns. Col. Hoffman requested it, in fact, because Heather “showed a lot of guts.” But Heather’s reluctant.

“I just came from a town where guys with guns made life very unpleasant.”

Beck responds: “And you can’t tell the difference between me and Phil Constantino?”

Mimi’s reading over the contract. Ain’t good. Basically, it has a lot of “untils” and “ifs” and Stanley could be forking over his crop for a good long time. Stanley gets upset. “You, look. I’m not stupid.”

Nighttime. In Bailey’s. Jake, Eric & Co. are going over plans for an attack on New Bern to kill Constantino, who’s working at the factory. Hawkins walks out. Jake is ticked off. But Hawkins is right: “If you were smart, you’d let three months go by and you would go in there quietly and kill Constantino in his sleep. … This is making a big show of it. … I can’t be a part of this.” Eric comes out after Hawkins leaves; tells Jake he should sit this one out. Beck pulls up, tells Jake to get in the car.

Back from commercial break. Beck brings Jake into a tent with body bags. He’d sent the bad guy from New Bern home earlier in the day; now he and three other men are in body bags, because they had tried to come back to Jericho, opened fire on soldiers trying to stop them.

“This man couldn’t put his vendetta to rest, so it was put to rest for him,” Beck tells Jake. “Sometimes the only way to end these things is to start removing elements from the equation. I think you need to ask yourself if your father would have wanted your story to end in one of these bags.”

Hate to say it, but Beck’s right.

Cut to town. Mimi’s crossing the road, striding toward the J&R tent, being all Mimi-ish.
Trish (the J&R woman) tells her the paperworks going through; Mimi orders her to tear it up. She rips into J&R and the deal. Trish quickly realizes she’s in over her head. “That sounds like something I’m going to need to raise with my boss.”

Mimi, being even MORE Mimi-ish, tilts her head and responds, rather snarkily, “It does, doesn’t it?”

Darcy is leaving City Hall. An Army guy named Parker is watching her.

Cut to the Green house. Emily is baking. The last time she baked, in home ec, she started a fire. But she’s doing this for Gail Green, who has been staying “at the ranch.” Emily thinks the cake is Gail’s favorite recipe, but Jake corrects her. It was his dad’s.

Even Emily’s right. Jake’s dad wouldn’t have felt good about him and Eric going after Constantino.

Uh-oh, Mary comes in; Eric took a gun and went out with some Rangers. Cut to Eric, riding at the head of an armed group.

Back from commercial; Darcy has come to Grandpa Green’s hunting cabin; she has copied everything that came through on the fax. Hawkins is annoyed that she’s risking herself, but it’s obviously good intel to have. They hear a noise and find a smoke bomb outside.

Jake catches up to Eric and the Rangers. (Sounds like the name of a ‘60s rock band.)

OK, I have to pause here, because there’s a major continuity problem with day and night scenes here. The action and dialog and characters are fabulous. But it’s going back and forth between day and night all willy-nilly.

Jake has finally accepted that Johnston wouldn’t have wanted his sons to risk this just to avenge him. Johnston wasn’t about revenge. It all comes out now, though.

“He was everything to me,” Eric yells, having told Jake off for not having been around for the past five years. “You have no idea what I’ve lost!”

Almost a fistfight, then, a helicopter’s overhead and humvees arrive, bearing army guys with big guns.

Cut back to Hawkins (see? It’s still daytime where Hawkins is).

Back to Jake & Co.Beck: “Somebody convince me this isn’t what I think it is.”

So Jake does. Eric and the Rangers were on border patrol; old habits die hard. Beck accepts it, even if he doesn’t believe it.

He pulls Jake aside: “Just so we’re clear; you just saved your brother’s life today. He’s not the last one who’s going to need that kind of help.”

Back to the hunting cabin. Parker gets the drop on Hawkins. But Darcy gets the drop on Parker. Introductions all around, cut to commercial.

Back with Hawkins, Darcy and Chavez. Hawkins, Chavez and Chung (was that the name?), who’s embedded in Cheyenne, are the only three who are left from their unit. Hawkins explains why he stayed in Jericho.

“These people needed my help and I couldn’t turn my back on them. And if you are here against me or them, well, then I may have to kill you.” Have I mentioned how much I love Hawkins?

They fill each other in; chat about Valente; look at a map. Darcy’s all in. No more secrets between the two. Where, by the way, are the kids?

Back with Stimi. Mimi rips up the original contract and fills Stanley in. She got it rescinded, his debt’s cancelled and he got the tractor, the seed and everything else.

“They also offered me a job, which I think was part self-defense.” Stanley agrees. “You’re terrifying.”

“I don’t like people messing with my family.” Awwww.

Now we get a whole adorable Stimi exchange with each apologizing for the way the proposal went down earlier, Mimi is babbling on and on and on about being very goal-oriented. Stanley pulls out the ring.

It’s my mother’s weeding ring, now please be quiet. I’ve never loved anybody the way I’ve loved you and I can’t remember my life before you and I (Mimi gasps) really don’t htink i could live without you (tears). Listen. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy, I swear to God. So, will you marry me?

She says no. JUST KIDDING. Of course she says yes. Happy happy joy joy.

Darcy, Hawkins and Chavez spread out their map. The western states have all fallen in with Cheyenne. Columbus, Ohio — aha! Hawkins’ target — is the remnants of the old administration. Everything west of the Mississippi is with Cheyenne and the Allied States of America. Except one independent territory. Texas. Leaders there haven’t decided yet, but they’re leaning toward Cheyenne.

Hawkins lays out the new mission: “Expose Cheynenne’s secret before they take over the whole nation.” He tells Chavez he has one of the bombs. Maybe the only one left.

Chavez has the understatement of the night: “Well, that certainly is a good start.”

Cut to Beck, in his office, on the phone.

With all due respect, we’re not ready for that. No, sir. No, sir. Yes, sir, I appreciate that. Thank you, sir.

Jake comes by. Beck tosses him the sheriff’s badge. He knew Jake’d take it. But he already has heavy news for the new lawman. The Allied States’ President’s whistle-stop tour? Jericho’s been added to the route.

“The president’s on his way.”

END.

Wow.

I’ve never done such a detailed recap, and I don’t want to promise anyone that I’m going to be this detailed from now on, but I should be able to for the next two episodes, which I have at home and can map out at my leisure.

But this was a special occasion anyhow. We’ve just finished watching the season premiere that wasn’t supposed to happen.

Other than the continuity issue between times of day that I pointed out above, I thought it was really excellent.

The first time I watched this, it took me a little while to get into it, because they were cramming so much exposition at us. But I thought it really hit a stride a little way in, and it really sets up the entire rest of the season very well. I like Beck, I like that Jake was able, finally, to accept that he was wrong. I like that Darcy’s character is fully involved. I like that Heather really will have a key role. I wish we’d seen more of her in this episode, but I know we have much, much more of Heather to come.

I think this was a very promising start to an action-packed second mini-season.

Here’s looking forward to Season 3.

P.S.: If you haven’t passed out by the time you finish reading this, head on over to Clarke’s Heather/Sprague website, which he promised to have updated by the end of tonight’s ep.

All images courtesy of CBS; Jericho “motivators” courtesy of kricka/Erika.