First of all, the scene between Eric Green and Phil Constantino left me wondering if the two of them really were going to join forces. And whether that would make a good premise for a Jericho season three. When it comes down to it, Constantino is sort of right: when you're fighting a war against an enemy with superior numbers, you can't afford to be squeamish about taking lives. Jake and Hawkins definitely don't have any qualms about killing some Cheyenne soldiers in the course of seizing the bomb. And if "the next American Civil War" starts between the Cheyenne and Columbus governments, it will definitely involve killing American soldiers.

The fact that Eric decides not to go for the all-out guerilla warfare against Beck's soldiers makes it much easier for Beck to change sides a little while later, and bring his men with him. For whatever reason, I didn't quite believe Beck's change of heart, even though it had been built up for weeks. It just didn't quite ring true for me. And I couldn't help wondering: if it were that easy to convince him, why didn't Hawkins show him those papers before? The whole thing seemed a bit too convenient an ending, but then again miraculous changes of heart are a staple of television.

The other thing I couldn't quite make myself believe was the ease with which Hawkins, Jake and Convenient Cannon-Fodder Guy captured the nuke, and then got it out of the Allied States' capital and into Texas. The mid-air rescue by Texan fighter jets just felt a bit too well-timed.

A lot of my qualms about the finale probably stem from the rushed nature of the season. It was exciting and fun while it was going on, but it just didn't quite have time to lay the groundwork for everything that happened last night. A lot of the stuff that felt as if it came out of nowhere would have seemed a lot more logical with a bit more setup.

On the plus side: It was great to see Gray Anderson again. I still love Major Beck and would give a kidney to see him join the revolution against Cheyenne. The scenes with Stanley and Mimi were way, way more moving than I'd expected. And I was glad Eric got to step up and be a leader. All in all, a pretty good episode despite feeling a bit forced in places.

The other thing that was really nice about that scene was the fact that it showcased something Jericho had been missing for a while: the focus on the Greens as a troubled, but caring, family. Not only did we see Jake's mom for the first time this season (and she got to kick major butt, slipping a message to Jake and then giving directions to his prison despite having been blindfolded) but we also saw Jake's grandfather, in some hallucinatory sequences. And then Major Beck ties it all together nicely with his "what would Gerald McRaney do" speech, in our clip. I often stop and wonder what Gerald McRaney would do, when faced with a dilemma.

Anyway, once again, we got a sense that Jake's family is at the center of the story, and he has a legacy to live up to. If only Eric had gotten more than two lines last night, it might have felt like old times.

All of the scenes of Jake talking about revolution were stirring, especially the weird "East India Tea Company" moment with grandpa Green. Jericho has been trying a tough balancing act this season: the micro-story of Jericho dealing with the new government and the thugs from Ravenwood, and the macro-story of Hawkins trying to expose the coverup. It's always a tough balance, because Hawkins' story is so much more important, in the grand scheme of things, and yet the Jericho story is the one we really care about. Ideally, the Jericho story should help us understand why Hawkins' mission is so important, because he can't let the corporate bastards who bombed American cities win.

But that's where we get to the plot twist that didn't quite ring true for me. I'd been assuming the mysterious voice on Hawkins' phone was not really an ally, so I was happy to be proved right. But the idea that the mad bomber behind the "September attacks" was actually trying to destroy Jennings & Rall made no sense to me. Especially since he could have predicted it would do the opposite, putting J&R completely in charge. The revelation came out of nowhere and seemed a bit forced.

And then the bomber's threat, to destroy the Cheyenne government, seemed even more contrived. I just couldn't quite buy it. It felt as though the writers were grasping for something that would amp the crisis level to maximum in the final episode, but it was a bit of a stretch. We know this bomber is someone associated with J&R, so why is he so desperate to destroy them anyway? (I heard the explanation, I just didn't quite believe it.) And if 23 bombs didn't work last time, what makes him think one more will? This was the first time that Jericho's rushed pace made me feel as though the show was just taking wild leaps to get to its conclusion.

Also, I'm having a hard time seeing how the show will balance its micro and macro stories in the final episode of the season (or ever.) With Jake going off with Hawkins to stop the bomb, we're losing our main viewpoint character on the town's struggles. Will the town of Jericho be left out of the show that bears its name? Or are we finally going to see Major Beck coming around and rebelling against his paymasters? Either way, I'm still cautiously optimistic for next week.

One other note: I couldn't help noticing that the episode was sponsored by Sprint. And Hawkins' secret secure spy phone had the Sprint logo very very prominently displayed. Good to see product placement will continue long after our country is ashes.

So I guess it makes sense to get Goetz out of the way before the show's final two episodes, sort of like a movie polishing off the small baddie before we get to the big monster in the end. And once again, the cute girl is the one who turns out to have the stomach to do what's necessary. I wonder if the Ravenwood soldiers knew they were leaving Goetz and his buddies to die by stranding them like that. And then the whole sequence where the New Bern and Jericho guys argue over custody of Goetz until Stanley just walks up and pops him, is pretty classic. The wish-fulfillment overload comes somewhere around that time, and peaks when you see his desecrated corpse hanging over the front gate of New Bern.

He really did deserve it, though.

Hawkins' awfully convenient informant turns out to be even more convenient than usual in this episode, and then reconstructing the evidence of Goetz's misdeeds and getting it to the right person also seems to be a surprising snap. Most of all, though, the episode required Goetz to be kind of stupid — which I can accept, since his character was always portrayed as a bit of a moron. Why would he even want to embezzle newfangled paper money when he could take whatever goods and services he wanted?

Once again, the episode raised some fun questions about the legitimacy of government. Goetz is just a rampaging psycho with some military hardware when we first meet him in season one. And then in season two, he's suddenly the law, with the full force of the new government behind him. Until he screws up, when he goes back to being just a random psycho, except without quite so much hardware this time. It only takes a little pilfering, or a $10,000 sex worker, and your legitimacy goes poof.

So next week it seems like things will crank into top gear on the main conspiracy plot, and Beck will finally stop being such a softie. But I'll be sorely disappointed if there isn't some kind of surprise regarding Hawkins' miracle helper.

I have to admit Stanley the square-jawed farmer, his girlfriend Mimi the brassy accountant, and his deaf sister Bonnie were probably my least favorite characters on the show. I often felt tempted to fast-forward whenever one of their heart-warming scenes of stoic tenderness and oatmealy love-saving-the-day-hood came on the screen. Seriously, Jericho has two different scores, especially in season two: tense and jaggedy action music for every other scene, and then suddenly a huge Englebert Humperdicnk thing whenever Mimi, Stanley and Bonnie are having a tender moment.

So how shocking was it that Bonnie was the one who just took out a whole squad of Ravenwood goons with her shotgun? Holy crap. In case you were one of the evil bastards who didn't watch, here's what happened: Mimi had discovered evidence that someone (almost certainly Goetz, the thug in charge of the town) had embezzled $10,000 and cooked the ledgers to cover it up. Mimi had her own private ledger which proved that the money had disappeared, so Goetz and his goons came out to her farm to seize it, and probably deal with her.

This was about the 500th scene of Goetz and the Ravenwoodies being psychotic fascists over the past couple of episodes, including seizing a vaccine for the deadly Hudson River Virus, shutting down independent businesses, trying to control the town's economy totally and arresting Dale the tousle-headed smuggler. Awww Dale. He looked kind of cute in handcuffs. Anyway. I figured the whole Goetz-must-be-dealt-with thing would be part of the show's finale. (And it still may be. We don't know if Goetz survived the shootout.)

Can I just get back to Bonnie the heartwarming kid sister suddenly turning into Rambo? I want to watch that clip over and over.

In other news, Major Beck is a patsy. I know, according to all the hints the show's producers have dropped, at some point Beck will figure out quite how much everyone has been playing him, and will have some kind of Abu Ghraib-esque response. But for now? Total patsy. Practically a teddy bear. Heather plays him, Jake plays him, and most of all, Hawkins plays him. My favorite moment is when Beck makes a big speech about how he's not a total sucker... and then Hawkins suckers him. Hawkins practically has Jedi mind powers! Oh, and the secret informant who keeps feeding plot info to Hawkins? I really hope there's a twist coming there, because it seems way too convenient. Of course, I know they only have three more episodes to wrap this up. But still.

Oh, and meanwhile... some bad news. After a nice ratings surge last week, Jericho didn't have such a great time last night. The title of this report pretty much says it all: "Jericho is toast." Sorry. Let's hope the producers do manage to find a cable network to pick it up.