One If By Land (Jericho episode)

"One If By Land"
Jericho episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 20
Directed by	Seith Mann
Written by	Joy Gregory
Original air date	April 25, 2007
Episode chronology
← Previous "Casus Belli" Next → "Coalition of the Willing"

"One If By Land"^[1] is the twentieth episode of season one of the CBS drama Jericho. The title is a reference to the signal system used during Paul Revere's Ride.

Synopsis

Morse code	·-- · ·--· ·-·· · -·· --· ·
Translation	WE PLEDGE

Having made a secret deal with Dale and Skylar for salt from Jericho's salt mine, a group of New Bern residents shows up at the mine to complete the deal. Mayor Anderson and other Jericho residents discover what's happening and prevent the deal from taking place. In the scuffle that follows, shots are fired, and several people from both Jericho and New Bern are injured, although nobody knows who fired first. Shortly thereafter, one of the injured from New Bern dies. Johnston Green grows impatient waiting for Eric and Jake to return and heads to New Bern to see what's going on.

Meanwhile, Jake and Eric are still in the New Bern jail, and they are subjected to torture by the New Bern police, who are trying to learn more about Jericho's defenses. Jake and Eric soon find themselves sharing a cell with Maggie Mullen, one of the fake Marines from Semper Fidelis. Maggie says that their group decided to split up after leaving Jericho, and she ended up getting arrested in New Bern after attempting to steal some supplies. She mentions to Jake that if he had access to somebody on the outside that she could bargain for her freedom and then return for him and Eric. Hearing his brother's screams of pain during a torture session in an interrogation room, Jake gives Maggie the information about Hawkins that she believes will earn her freedom. She reports to her captors that "his name is Hawkins" and gives them his likely location, at Ted's cabin. They order her to return to her cell, but she pleads that according to the original deal she was to be taken along to verify Hawkins' location and then set free if the tip checked out. Begrudgingly she is taken to Ted's cabin along with three armed officers of New Bern's police force.

Meanwhile, Johnston Green arrives and demands to see his sons. Constantino tells Johnston that both were caught attempting to sabotage the windmill factory. Johnston points out that this story makes no logical sense, but nevertheless Constantino holds to the allegation. Constantino tells Johnston that they are in prison but that he will not allow Johnston to see them until all of the New Bern residents still in Jericho are returned. Johnston refuses his terms, and says he will not leave until he sees his sons.

Maggie is taken out to Ted's cabin, where Hawkins is still in hiding, by the New Bern police, but Hawkins is ready for them and manages to disable all of them. (In the next episode, Jake says the New Bern body count is 6. Hawkins states that it is actually 8. This confirms that Hawkins had killed the 2 officers in the cabin.) Hawkins then makes his way back to the center of New Bern along with Maggie and Ted, where he steals a truck full of mortar shells recently made in New Bern's factory. He uses the truck and its payload to cause a huge explosion as a diversion. Realizing what's happening, Johnston commandeers a truck and drives to the New Bern town hall to investigate and attempt to retrieve his sons. Constantino has Jake and Eric brought out from the jail, intending to use them as human shields, but instead a gunfight ensues during which several New Bern police officers are killed and Hawkins and Maggie are wounded. Hawkins, Jake, Eric, Maggie, and Johnston all escape in a truck. They drive it until the gas runs out, and then walk the rest of the way to Jericho. They realize that now, given everything that has happened, a battle with the citizens of New Bern is inevitable.

Back in Jericho, Gail and Mary move closer to reconciliation. After the incident at the salt mine, everyone becomes angry with Skylar. One woman in particular implies that Skylar is selfish like her father, who was well-known and liked in Jericho before the bombs. This deeply affects Skylar, who tells Dale that the woman's family and her father's had been longtime friends. Dale warns her that many people might have just acted friendly to Skylar's father because he was powerful. At his store, Dale raises prices arbitrarily, particularly on those whom he does not like. He trades food for other goods, rather than for currency, which is useless. The same woman who insulted Skylar's father earlier in the episode comes in to trade grain for a quarter-pound of meat. Dale leaves it up to Skylar to decide what to do. Skylar says to the woman "My father was a good man", and the woman agrees, saying "Yes, he was". Skylar then completes the exchange.

References

1. ^ Listings - JERICHO on CBS | TheFutonCritic.com

• "One If By Land" at CBS.com