Previously: Goetz killed Bonnie, the guys from New Bern killed Goetz.
Beck is on the hunt for the men who killed Goetz, but not for the New Bern guys who strung him up; he’s looking for Jake and his crew. He’s searching their homes, the hospitals, the bar—all the likely places, but with no luck. The guys are hiding out, and Stanley is ready to give himself up. Jake, however, won’t let him and tries to just turn himself in. Beck tells him it’s a start, and there’s a funny little moment where Jake tries to take the blame saying, “It’s my fault; I’m the sheriff…” and Beck cuts him off saying, “you were the sheriff.” Skeet Ulrich has this great wounded puppy dog look, like he can’t believe he totally got fired just because he was involved in a little murder of a government official.
Jake, however, still seems to think Beck likes him and tries to set the terms of his surrender. Basically, Beck gets him if the rest of the rangers are granted amnesty. Beck thinks about it and basically says, “Yeah. That’s not a bad idea. You want to hear an even better one? How about I accept your surrender, and take all of your guys too? Jackass.”
So Beck seems to have a “reliable source” who saw exactly what went down with Jake, the Rangers, New Bern and Goetz. Jake tries to feed him a story about how it was he who killed Goetz, but Beck calls him out for lying. Not only does he know that they had a shootout with Ravenwood, but he knows that the New Bern guys were there, that Jake tried to arrest Goetz, and that Stanley shot him in the head. So, Jake. What’s your next story?
Beck cuts to the chase and demands that Jake gives Stanley up. Jake, of course, refuses. Russell from New Bern is dragged into the room; apparently he wouldn’t give Stanley up either. Beck straight-up tells Jake that he’s going to torture him until he breaks. We never see Russell again, so uh, maybe he’s dead.
Hey, Hawkins still has kids! We haven’t seen them all season, so I figured they just walked up the stairs and never came back like the younger sister on Family Matters. Of course, that actress went on to do porn and go on the first season of Celebrity Rehab, so I’m happy for these actors’ sakes that Jericho managed to find the budget to have them on for an episode.
Chavez evidently made it to Texas and gives Hawkins a call. Texas is on the verge of joining Cheyenne, but is willing to hear their case. Chavez tells Hawkins to grab the bomb and meet him in San Antonio, but warns him about all of the checkpoints along the way. Hawkins says he can get around that. He reaches into his box o’ fake passports and grabs a J&R badge. Now that’s handy.
So the rangers decide that since they’re already party to a murder, breaking another law or 10 can’t hurt—and that’s when they decide to hijack an Army truck. Beck finds out about this little stunt via a stack of Polaroids and a note that says, “We have your gas, guns and ammo. Will trade for Sheriff Green.” Beck tries to get Jake to sign a letter rejecting the ranger’s tactics, but he spits on it. That mark of saliva leads Beck to dub Jericho an open insurrection until the men are apprehended. This means that all power and food supplies are being shut down.
John Smith calls Hawkins and tells him not to go to Texas. He says he’ll find a safe place where they can look over the bomb. He agrees, but then immediately tells Lady Hawkins that he’s taking his stolen J&R shirt and truck and going to San Antonio.
Oh my God. Jake has the longest scene ever in which he hallucinates a conversation with his grandfather. It’s a lot of blah, blah, but the basic gist is: “Revolution.”
Beck continues to try to break Jake, but Jake basically tells him to suck it. He predicts Jericho residents are going to take the town back. Meanwhile, there are men throwing Molotov cocktails at the J&R building.
Oh, so John Smith found out that Hawkins is heading to Texas despite their agreement. This makes him very unhappy, so he goes and sells him out to Beck. Beck immediately sends a chopper and a truck after Hawkins the terrorist. Like any good car chase, this one ends with Hawkins crashing and taking off on foot. He appears to have left the bomb behind in the truck.
The next morning, John Smith calls Hawkins. Hawkins not only accuses him of putting a tracking device in the bomb, but also of masterminding the September attacks. Smith calls himself an innocent whistle-blower—who happened to take out 23 American cities the last time he decided to “blow the whistle.” He says his motive was to rid the government of the cancer that is J&R. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. Now, however, J&R and the government are both located in Cheyenne. Smith is planning on getting Hawkins’ bomb and blowing the whole city up, getting rid of J&R and the corrupt government once and for all.
Jake’s mom comes back and the soldier guarding Jake lets her in to see him, ostensibly so she can make him surrender. After the visit, she immediately goes back to where the rangers are hiding and tells them what she knows about where Jake is being held. The clues that she was able to pick up while blindfolded lead them to figure out that Jake is being held at a hog farm. The rangers storm said hog farm and grab Jake out of his cell.
Jake is in Hawkins’ safe house when Hawkins returns. He tells Jake that he lost the bomb and that his cover is blown. He and Jake make a pact to stop the bomb from going off and save the country. Apparently, they shot two endings, so whether or not they’re successful depends on the ratings.
Next week: The season (series?) finale. It’s the next American Civil War.
