Anyone who knows Clarke Ingram knows that he’s a huge Heather Lisinski/Sprague Grayden fan. But, first and foremost, Clarke’s a Jericho fan. He had the good fortune to be on the set for the filming of episode 5, “Termination for Cause,” and he graciously agreed to recap that episode for us.

Enjoy:

Thanks to Amy for letting me blog here this week. This is as much of an opinion piece as a recap, as I had a unique perspective: Last September, I spent several days on the set watching this episode being filmed. To see the pieces assembled into a final product is fascinating (and an incredible amount of work). So here’s my view of “Jericho” episode 2.5, the first of the “final three” for this second season.

“Termination for Cause” opens in the aftermath of the tragic events at the Richmond ranch at the hands of Ravenwood leader John Goetz (D.B. Sweeney). Bonnie (Shoshannah Stern) is dead, Stanley’s fiancée Mimi (Alicia Coppola) is wounded, and Stanley (Brad Beyer) has seen his life changed forever. Despite concern from Dr. Kenchy (Aasif Mandvi), it’s clear in fairly short order that Mimi will survive.

Jericho commandant Major Beck (Esai Morales) is conveniently moved out of the way early in the show, dealing with a crisis in nearby New Bern, and giving strict instructions to Jake: “Goetz is off-limits. No threats, no retribution, no exceptions. Do you understand?”

Does anyone doubt that Jake would have trouble following those instructions?

Mimi has the goods on Goetz (he’s been embezzling money from his employer, corporate behemoth Jennings and Rall), but Goetz burns the evidence—only to find that Mimi is alive at the Medical Center, a potential witness to his incriminating activities. It’s a matter of minutes before Goetz and his goons show up at the Med Center, and there’s an armed standoff outside the front doors. Jake: “It looks like it’s going to be a long night.”

Meanwhile, Hawkins (Lennie James) continues his Sprint cell phone conversations (fabulous product placement!) with mysterious informant “John Smith.” We learn that President Tomarchio — the unelected head of the new Allied States of America — is in the pocket of Jennings & Rall. “That government and this company,” Smith tells Hawkins, “are one and the same.”

Returning home, Hawkins encounters two men from Ravenwood who claim that his wife is in danger at the Med Center. Hawkins quickly determines that they’re up to no good, breaks the neck of one of the men, and takes the other hostage. Rule #1 in Jericho: DO NOT mess with Robert Hawkins!

Then comes a series of heartbreaking scenes. Mimi, after regaining consciousness, learns about the death of Bonnie. Stanley, in the morgue, signs to Bonnie’s lifeless body: “Mimi is alive because of you. … Tell Mom and Dad I love them.” Later, Stanley comes to Mimi and speaks of Bonnie: “Wherever she is now, I swear … she’s glad she did it.”

Much like the scene between Johnston and Jake last season in “Heart of Winter,” this is an Emmy-worthy performance from Brad Beyer.

Hawkins approaches the Med Center in a Ravenwood uniform, arousing the curiosity of the clueless man at the door: “What are you doing here? Are we switching posts?” In “Star Trek” terms, this guy is clearly a redshirt. [Amy note: LOL! Absolutely!] Hawkins dispatches him, though we don’t see it onscreen. (This scene, a little over 15 seconds in screen time, took almost 90 minutes to film.)

From there, it’s a fight to the finish as Ravenwood tries to reach Mimi and the Rangers try to stave them off, no thanks to a traitor in their midst who has become a mole to save his farm and his family. When his identity is revealed, Jake sends him home.

With Hawkins’ help, Mimi is able to recreate the information that was in her ledger. Hawkins draws a favor from “John Smith,” while Mimi phones a sympathetic J&R employee, Trish Merrick (Emily Rose) and walks her through the computer system to find the evidence that will incriminate Goetz. Trish e-mails it to Ravenwood headquarters.

Goetz gets word that the Rangers are moving Mimi from the Med Center to the Richmond ranch for protection, but it’s a trick — Jake and his team are hiding in the Med Center until Mimi can be safely moved. Taking his posse to the ranch, Goetz is confronted by the regional director of Ravenwood (who confiscates his rifles and redeploys his troops) and then by Trish, who hands him a piece of paper from his supervisor. “You’re fired,” she tells him. “I hope you rot in hell.” Turning to the trucks behind her, Trish yells, “Leave ‘em here! They can walk back!”

I like Trish already.

But things aren’t over yet: it turns out Jake and the Rangers are hidden in the trees, ready to ambush Goetz and his men. Jake: “Remember, we need him alive!” Goetz: “No way.” There’s a shootout — Goetz and his allies still have handguns. Outmanned, outgunned, Goetz surrenders, just as a group of men from New Bern approaches from the other direction. They want him too.

As Jake and Russell argue over Goetz’ fate, we see a truck pull up in the background, and a familiar figure casually walks up and holds a gun to Goetz’ head.

It’s Stanley.

Will he? Won’t he?

Have you ever seen the end of “Se7en”?

Hawkins to Jake: “This (just) became a whole different deal.”

Cut to Major Beck returning from New Bern to Jericho with his convoy. As they reach the line between the two towns, the Humvee stops, and Beck looks up at a body hanging from a tree.

Next week, Jake clearly has some ‘splainin to do.

Fan favorite Heather (Sprague Grayden) wasn’t in the “A” story of this episode, but nevertheless had some intense scenes with old acquaintances Russell and Mike from New Bern, who inform her that Sheriff Constantino has placed a bounty on her head and that her efforts as Major Beck’s liaison have cost lives in her former hometown. Heather stands her ground, pledging to continue to help Beck. Russell: “It’s not going to be me who Constantino sends after you next.”

Whoa.

Some things you didn’t see in this episode:
• Skeet Ulrich getting stuck in the doors of Jericho Medical as he attempted to back through them after his faceoff with Goetz (I’m sure this made the blooper reel).
• Lennie James singing selections from the chorus of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” between takes, and Skeet asking him, “Do you know any Aretha Franklin?”
• Low-flying airplanes interrupting outdoor shots, and children yelling in Spanish across the street from the set (I thought “Kid Nation” was invading).
• Skeet ad-libbing, “What you talkin’ about, Mister Drummond?” during his scene with turncoat Fred Drummond (Patrick Rowe).
• Sprague Grayden doing take after take of her final scene with Russell (David Meunier) and ending the scene differently each time, including one take where she forlornly sat down at the table and burst into tears.
• Skeet pointing his gun at Deputy Bill’s head for no apparent reason.
• Me. I’m only a few feet off screen in several scenes, along with the director, the producers, the sound mixer, the script supervisor, and a small army of people making sure everything plays as it should.

The experience of a lifetime. Being there, watching this episode, sharing it with you.

Five down. Two to go.