Federal Response

Season 1, Episode 5, Aired
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Episode Summary

The children of Jericho start to return back to school. A power line that has fallen causes an accident on the playground when the power returns. Jake has an argument with his mother regarding a secret that Jake hasn't disclosed to his dad.
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Fan Episode Reviews (35)

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  • The power's back, but an unexpected spike causes more trouble than good.

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Evil_Insane, Mar 17, 2009 Report Abuse
    Jericho continues the treatment of a nuclear catastrophe in the same way that Lost showed us about being on an abandoned island: no power and no running water sucks. In this episode, the power comes back on, but a spike causes several fires to start around the town as transformers explode. It results in a series of "turn-the-power-off-oh-no-now-there's-no-water-pressure-turn-it-back-on-oh-no-now-the-fire-is-back" moments which would be comical if it weren't for the fact that the residents, despite their intricate knowledge of post-nuclear emergency situations, are completely useless when it comes to dealing with normal run of the mill emergencies, like, for example, house fires.

    Jake seems to know everything about everything along with Hawkins, which leads me to believe that their secrets are one and the same they are Joe 90. That, or they're in the Matrix and they loaded up every program into their heads before jacking in. This week, Jake turns the water back on without the grid, which makes me wonder why they didn't do that in the first place. Hawkins also has a nifty umbrella which doubles as a satellite dish to receive covert communications. Considering he was implanted in the town before the strike, we are to believe that he either knew about it or is just in the middle of another conspiracy when America went and got itself into a fight. Silly boy.

    All in all, it was a good episode, and at least it's slowly revealing plot unlike the aforementioned similar show Lost, which didn't tell you anything and instead just asked more questions. Thank you, Skeet Ulrich.moreless

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  • Ok,ok,ok. This episode rocks. Lots of stuff happens and the story is just starting to take a real nice shape. First there is this strange feed. Then there is a missile at the end of the episode.moreless

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By chippu, Jul 11, 2008 Report Abuse
    Jake's sees his brother Eric holding hands with Mary. And Eric says that he will tell April that he wants a divorce. As the power gets back on, the LAN phones everywhere starts ringing and as they pick it up they here a message from Department of Homeland Security that if they were safe to stay where they were and that help was on the way and the tv screen everywhere pops up with the massage "Emergency alert system, Stand by". This part is where that everything starts to get totally freaky! With the power lines going crazy and fires erupting everywhere. And what is Hawkins doing? He is there finding stuff about Jake and what did Jake do? Is Hawking and Jake like some sort of undercover guy or something. Anyways at the end is the great part where these missiles go off. This episode is full of thrills that's all i can say.moreless

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  • Fires break out around town as the citizens of Jericho struggle to keep a handle on their situation. We learn a bit more about Hawkins and Jake, explore the tangled triangle of Eric's doing and finally glimpse the federal response to the attack.moreless

    8.7
    "Great"
    By binary_spider, May 07, 2008 Report Abuse
    Up to this point, Jericho has had a steady rise in quality and realism. This episode outshines all of the ones previous to it, but you'd need to have seen the others to truly appreciate it.

    One of the complaints that I had about Jericho in previous reviews was the love story between Dale and Skylar. Here, their fawning is minimal and easily ignorable. That and the way that Jake seems to be the answer to every single problem ever always seemed to be what I fixated on. What drew my eye in this episode was the development of Hawkins and Jake, both of which had been major players, but both of which had also been so enigmatic that I felt like I was watching Lost. I also throughly enjoyed the way that the government angle was played. (possible spoilers ahead; I can't avoid it)

    When the power clicks back on and the phones start ringing, there is a sense that a sleeping giant has awoken and snapped into attention with cold, calculating eyes. Up to this point, we assume that the power structure was simply wiped out completely, and that all that was left was local governments degrading into anarchy, but now we get the impression that dark, vengeful eyes have turned to see the source of the wounds inflicted on America, and that the gloves have been taken off.

    This was a very good episode.moreless

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  • This show starts to suck me in more and more as characters are deepened and the plot finally gets a definite direction.

    8.7
    "Great"
    By Nissaxx, Mar 29, 2008 Report Abuse
    This episode had a lot of different elements in it: action, drama and suspense. But it all played out very nicely. It was good that they started to flesh out a couple of the main characters (as witnessed during the Jake-Johnston conversation and the confrontation between Eric and his wife April) which is something I felt the show desperately needed at this point. In the end I think this is what's going to keep me watching.

    They also still found the time to pack the episode with action and mysteries. I didn't really like how they approached the library fire (how is it possible that everyone, including a whole class of little children, was allowed to stand so close to a public building on fire?) but the overall plot was good. The ongoing suspense about the tv and its governmental (?) message made me sit on the edge of my seat. And the cliffhanger at the end? It definitely made me crave for more.

    All in all, a well-balanced episode that shows us that this series has a lot more in store for us!moreless

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  • Jericho receives their first message from the government and the restoration of electricity brings new problems.

    9.3
    "Superb"
    By whiteraven2005, Mar 10, 2008 Report Abuse
    The electricity is suddenly restored, every telephone starts ringing and a mysterious and incredibly annoying message appears on every television across the town. For the first time since the bombs went off, there appears to be government action or did someone just flip the wrong switch? Most people end up sitting staring at the screen, just like they did the last time satellite images came through.

    The electricity causes as many problems as it solves when fires start breaking out. The fire department is spread thin as it tries to fight fires across town, leading Jake to go to save Eric's house. But when he goes to check on the fires from the roof, he sees something else: Hawkins has a fold-up satellite dish! And to top it off, he sees Jake. There's a tense confrontation and interestingly, Hawkins seems to want Jake as an ally, trying to reassure him. (Of course, Hawkins is a really scary guy so reassuring doesn't work very well on him.) Working together, they put out the fire but Eric's house is trashed. Then the fire department, while Eric's neighbourhood is burning, are saving books from the library! Once Eric and April go home, Eric discovers he's not the only person who wanted out: April has divorce papers. Incredibly, like so many males would, he acts all shocked and wounded! Hello! You're having an affair!!!

    One of the highlights of the episode is that Gail nudges Jake to talk to his dad about what he's been doing in the five years he's been gone. This has clearly been eating away at Jake but he is touched and relieved when his father acknowledges that wherever Jake was, whatever Jake did, it changed him into a decent man.

    Just when things seem to be a bit more normal, the buildings start to shake: the government (?) has fired its missiles!!! Can you imagine how frightening that must be to witness? The question is: with the government presumably gone, who had the authority to fire the missiles, not to mention the codes?!

    An exciting and important episode, the world outside is taking action but as always, Jericho can only see bits of it.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Goof: When attempting to access an Internet web site by its IP address, Skylar enters "027.750.304.001". The numbers 750 and 304 could not be part of an IP address because they are greater than 255. Edit
    • Goof: In one shot, Hawkins turns his American Express card upside down to read the numbers upside. However, in the next shot, you can see the back of the card, with the magnetic strip on the top, meaning the cards is right-side up, not up-side down. Edit
    • Goof: When trying to put out the fire, they lose water pressure because the electricity in the area was cut, even though the hydrant was connected to a fire engine. The purpose of connecting the hydrant to the fire engine is to create water pressure. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • International Airdates: Australia: October 19 2006, Network Ten Belgium: July 9 2007 Denmark: October 31 2007, SBS Net Estonia: June 6 2007 Finland: September 19 2007 Germany: June 25 2007 Hungary: January 1 2007 Netherlands: June 2 2008 Slovenia: October 1 2008, on Kanal A Edit
    • Featured Music: Rewind by Paolo Nutini Takin' Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Lisa Whalley: I wonder what Lindsay Lohan is doing right now. Do you think she's still alive? Edit
    • Mimi: First thing I'm going to do when I get back to DC is burn these clothes. So what's on your agenda when things settle? Mary: No agenda, just, looking forward to living my life. Mimi: With Dudley Do-Wrong? Never gonna happen. Edit
    • April: Somebody has to go in there and help them! Fire Chief: Ma'am, stand back, please! Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • After Emily is electrocuted, one of the school children asks Heather if she'll wake up with super powers. In various comics many super heroes and villans get their powers from accidents or explosions similar to this. Although not alluded to specifically, both Spider-man's enemy Electro, who got the ability to create electricity, and the superhero The Flash, who obtained super speed, got their powers by being electrocuted. Edit

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