SPOILER ALERT: You know the drill. Don’t read if you didn’t watch, etc. 

How on earth have they managed to pack so much into every freakin’ episode of Jericho this season?

First off, good riddance to bad rubbish in Goetz’s death. One thing that puzzled me, though, was why the Ravenwood/J&R folks didn’t take Goetz’s pistol from him when they took the other weapons. I guess there wouldn’t have been a shootout otherwise. But still, it was weird, I thought.

I wanted to jump up and kiss Trish when she got out of that truck with the other Ravenwood folks. Didn’t you think at first that they were the reinforcements that Goetz had called in? Heck, maybe they were, but turned into the “get rid of Goetz” patrol once the J&R higher ups found out the truth.

Loved Jake’s commentary on that situation: Killing people is OK, but just don’t steal J&R’s money. Then you’re in trouble.

I don’t blame Trish at all for Bonnie’s death. She did what she was supposed to do, and I don’t think she for a minute imagined that it was Goetz who was embezzling. Until he reacted the way he did, that is.

She more than made up for it by rebuilding the info in the system and sending it to the J&R honcho. She wins my award for heroine of the night. She really did care about Bonnie. I think she’ll only become an even more important friend to Jericho in the last two episodes. I hope we have her around for Season 3.

Speaking of the J&R honcho, John Smith sure came through.

I listened really carefully to his voice last night, and I don’t at all believe it’s Beck. In fact, I’m sure it’s not. I also don’t think it’s Valente. I definitely think it’s someone we haven’t met. Could be Tom Tooman from the game; we’ll see soon enough, I suppose.

The voice still is familiar; I just think it’s familiar in that the actor’s probably done a lot. I’ll be watching the credits for the final episode, though I bet they leave his name off the press release.

Whatever the case, he sure came through for Hawkins and Jericho last night.

But what now with Beck? Even though Goetz was embezzling and was fired from J&R/Ravenwood before he was killed, I think Beck will be really angry with Jake. He, in no uncertain terms, told Jake to keep it all under control until he got back from New Bern.

Now Goetz is hanging by his arms by the New Bern sign, a clear signal to the powers that be that New Bern ain’t gonna take it anymore.

The problem that no one is recognizing, I think, is that New Bern wasn’t, and isn’t, totally evil.

Look, I hate Phil Constantino as much as the next Jericho fan. But we still have to remember that he did what he did because he actually did believe it was the right thing for his people. He didn’t do it out of greed or evil for evil’s sake. New Bern suffered greatly when Ravenwood came through. And we don’t know that Goetz didn’t tell them that Jericho residents had given New Bern up to save their own town.

If the situation had been reversed, who knows exactly how Jericho would have reacted toward New Bern? Especially with Gray as the mayor.

Anyway, you can hardly blame Constantino and Co. for wanting Goetz, dead. Didn’t we all?

It is frightening, however, that Constantino wants Heather dead. This is where I no longer can see Constantino’s side of things. Heather is doing her best to keep both towns safe. She grew up in New Bern; she doesn’t hate the town. She hates Constantino, understandably, but she doesn’t hate the town.

Thing is, we know Beck is a good man. They don’t know that in New Bern; they see Beck and his soldiers as extensions of Ravenwood/J&R. They regard Heather as a collaborator. This is bad. All I can say is that they had better not kill Heather. YOU HEAR ME?? DON’T KILL HEATHER!

OK, I’m better now.

Stanley’s goodbye to Bonnie was beautiful. I liked that he could barely speak and you had to read the subtitles to “hear” what he was saying. That was a lovely tribute to Bonnie Richmond, a final sign-language scene.

I knew as soon as he got out of his truck at the site where Jericho and New Bern were arguing over Goetz that he was going to shoot Goetz in the head. I was only surprised that he hesitated. That was still in character, though, because shooting someone in cold blood like that is so unlike him. Jake, Hawkins —  they’d have done it in a second. But Stanley couldn’t.

His dropping to his knees to vomit afterward was also very realistic, I thought. For people who’ve never killed before (and fighting in a war like the one with New Bern is different, less personal), that’s a natural reaction, it seems.

Stanley is permanently changed now. The good news is that he doesn’t blame Mimi and recognizes that Bonnie wanted to protect Mimi, wanted Mimi to live and that’s why she died the way she did. He would never sully her memory or her death by blaming Mimi.

I felt so badly for Darcy, not really knowing Mimi at all, but having to basically break the news to her about her would-have-been future sister-in-law.

But I’ll tell ya, don’t threaten Hawkins’ wife. You’ll end up with a broken neck and a bunch of dead friends.

Kenchy’s really come through. His time in Jericho, I think, has been healing for him. He really has become a part of the community.

Lastly, even though Jake was all over this episode, I didn’t really feel like he did much of anything. That’s OK, though. He sure is purty.

Come back Friday for Clarke’s recap/analysis of Termination for Cause (he was on-set for some of the filming of this episode) and for the fifth Blackjack Fairgrounds Jericho blog carnival.

Photos courtesy of CBS.