It's A Small Crime

And it's only television.

But it's more than television. It was closer to reality than anything else that gets the praise of Nielsen Media Research. This is the appeal of post-apocalyptic drama.

The Jericho Rangers (that's the collective nickname for devoted fans) pulled some historical feats to even see the show get a second season. But, for all our passion, it was not enough to keep it going.

I hope the other Rangers will be kind, and join me in thanking the network for giving us at least those last seven episodes. I'm as sorry as all of them to see it go, but there is still possibility and some hope to hold on to.

Jericho was a show that could be real. Unlike all the crap that they call "reality TV," there was less fantasy here than even the popular cop dramas. That is why it rung so deep within us. If you watched the show with regularity, you know what I mean.

This week's final episode was rushed, no doubt about it, but still had us watching wide-eyed with smiles on our faces when Major Beck finally saw the truth, and Jake's pigheadedness paid off twice. It had us cheering when the Texas Air National Guard came to the rescue in the nick of time and when Mayor Anderson stared at the rolled up heap of the Allied States flag with the Gadsden flag flying high in its place.




We were gripped with emotion when Beck confronted Heather and later thanked her for her faith in him, and when Mimi had to ask for time to allow Stanley to bury his sister before being arrested, and then when Hawkins asks Jake (and all of us) "How does it feel, makin' history?" Leaving us with that hope that a good story, so hard to find these days, can still finish the way it was meant to.

I also want to thank the amazing cast, who came back for the second season because the fans wanted them. They made their characters people we cared about.

Now, the Rangers are left hoping that some other network will see this gem and bring it back. We may be small in number, and not counted by Nielsen, but we will follow Jericho wherever it may go. It's not for television, it's for the story.

"This is what fools people: a man is always a teller of tales, he lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others, he sees everything that happens to him through them, and he tries to live his life as if he were telling a story."
~ Jean Paul Sartre