My initial complaint was likely the same as everyone else who saw the season finale, then this new premiere: Are you kidding me?  That’s all of the Battle of New Bern we get?  What the ever-loving hell?  I of course realize that they are compressing a 13 episode arc into 7.  I understand that they need to move forward very quickly to get us to the J&R/Ravenwood/US Army/Cheyenne storyline.  It didn’t change the fact that the first two episodes suffered greatly, though.  Knowing they were forced to compress time did not make me enjoy it more.

This week, though...the Jericho we loved was back.  Jake and the town against whatever may come.  This time it was like all the right notes were being played in the right order and they sounded good.  I even liked the soap opera out at the farm with Stanley and Mimi.  I was very happy to see that Dale has come into his own as the trader/store owner.  He’s like a mini Jake-in-training.

Speaking of Jake...not sure how I feel about what they told about his time in Iraq.  It seems forced, but then I also feel like it isn’t a newly-developed plot twist. I think it was always the plan.  I also think it’s not necessarily a negative, attack-style Hollywood storyline or anything.  That kind of things does happen.  They were pretty careful to let the viewers know that gunmen were the main targets and the four civilians that died weighed heavily on Jake’s conscience.

So what is it about D.B. Sweeney that makes you want to punch him in the face?  I can’t remember a character he’s played that I didn’t dislike.  In a good way, I mean I’m supposed to hate the guys he plays, and he’s good at it.  Looking forward to the inevitable two-bulls-clashing confrontation that will likely leave him dead at Jake’s hand.

What will Beck do when he finds out who Hawkins is?  You know he will.  I think it’s pretty clear that he’s a military man, sure, but he;s a decent man first, and I think he now knows that the Cheyenne government is rotten.  By the way, how great has Esai Morales been?  He’ll always be a combination of Paco Moreno and Raymi Rojas for me, but he’s come a long way since then…

Last question: Did the Cheyenne elements, led by Valente, plant the Hudson River virus?

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