As I sat down to watch Jericho yesterday I almost did so reluctantly. CBS had officially canceled the show last week, so this is probably the last episode. The feeling was that I didn’t really want the show to end. There was too much story to tell and this whole second season just felt like rushed storytelling as it was. Gone was the character development, the small town values and much of the quaintness the show had built up during the first season. So watching a finale for a show that still had so much gas left in it just felt wrong.The finale only compounded these problems I mentioned. I could tell during the first 5 minutes of the show that this was an episode on borrowed time, rushing through scenes and glossing over stories that would have probably taken a whole episode to unveil during the first season. All told I would probably say the finale felt like 5 episodes crammed into one. Much of the suspense and drama was stripped out and replaced with breakneck, quick cut scenes that developed way too fast.

While there are other options for Jericho, like possibly finding another network for the show, odds are it’s probably done. I think this 7 episode run kinda irrepairably damaged the show if it were to find another network. While I do think there is enough story threads to go forward with a proper third season, it would just feel weird going back to the smaller storytelling of season one after 7 frantic season two episodes. I know there has been mention of organizing a second effort to revive the show by sending don’t tread on me flags to CBS. The first push to save the show was like catching lightning in a bottle. A second go around to save the same show feels like a lost cause. If the show was picked up by another network I’m sure I’d watch.

Other Articles on Jericho’s demise
‘Jericho’: Who — or what — is to blame?
Jericho Movie Possible?