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.

Tonight is pretty empty, now that Sarah Connor, Kyle XY, Heroes and Chuck are all gone until fall. However, CBS has a new episode of nerd-com The Big Bang Theory at 8 PM. And Fox has a new New Amsterdam at 9 PM. Our immortal-ish detective investigates the death of a homeless man, and remembers joining a 12-step program in 1964.

Tuesday has the final episode of Jericho on CBS at 10, with things building to a (slightly contrived) climax. Jake and Hawkins make their way to Cheyenne to try and avert another nuclear holocaust. This show has grown from a slightly clunky soap opera to an irresistible thriller with a very science-fictional critique of a future corporate-dominated dystopia. Even if you haven't watched every episode lately, you should still catch the action-movie conclusion, which should be pretty easy to follow. Here's the first few minutes, to get you started. (Sorry about the streakiness and jerkiness, they were in the source video.)

Also on Tuesday, the History Channel has two repeats of The Universe at 8 and 9, dealing with unexplained mysteries and the rings of Saturn. And USA has K-PAX at 2 PM. Is Kevin Spacey an alien or a mental patient? Can't he be both? And Encore has Alien 3 at 3:05.

Wednesday sees a new Futureweapons on the Discovery Channel at 8 PM. This is actually the second episode to deal with Israel, and this time around we get to know the embattled country's missile shield, known as "Iron Fist." (But there's no weapon system called "Power Man," for some reason.)

And then at 10 PM, there's a new UFO Hunters on the History Channel, dealing with "UFO Vortexes." Similar to last week's focus on UFO Gateways, this is all about areas of the planet that seem to lend themselves to mysterious activity... like the Bermuda Triangle. And an astrophysicist suggests interdimensional travel using these vortexes (vortices?) may be "entirely possible" under Einstein's Theory of Relativity. It's pure science!

And the Sci Fi Channel has Sean Connery's classic Meteor at 3:00 AM Thursday morning.

Thursday's Smallville sees Clark finally learning how to fly, in preparation for his battle with Brainiac. And there's some kind of key thingy that leads to all sorts of Kryptonian secrets, and the wrong people have it. Here's the trailer:

Also, if you missed the acclaimed TV movie Rock Monster on the Sci Fi Channel this past weekend, you have another chance to catch it this Thursday at 9 PM. It's about a student, visiting Eastern Europe, who pulls a sword out of a stone — and then the stone goes on a murderous rampage. And yes, you're not alone in making a silly B-52s song out of the title. But if you'd rather stick with something you already know is good, FX is showing X2: X-Men United starting at 8 PM.

FX has the 2002 remake of Solaris, with George Clooney, at 10 AM. Ditch work and join the select club of people who appreciate the Soderbergh revamp.

Friday, two new half-hour specials about Battlestar Galactica are airing on the Sci FI Channel at 10 PM. Battlestar Galactica: Revealed is a clip show that retells the first few seasons of the show. And Battlestar Galactica: The Phenomenon is a fluffy look at how much celebrities like Seth Green and Joss Whedon adore the show. If you can't wait until Friday, both shows appear to be on Youtube and various other video sites in their entirety already. Here's a chunk of celebrity BSG love:

Also, Encore has the wetter of Kevin Costner's two post-apocalyptic loner movies, Waterworld, at 2:30.

Saturday morning, the CW has the penultimate episode of Legion of Super Heroes at 9:30 AM, followed by Spectacular Spider-Man at 10. LSH's episode is part 1 of "Dark Victory," featuring Imperiex (who I think was a Superman villain in the comics.) Part 2 airs next week. Meanwhile, Spider-Man meets Flint Marko, who becomes the Sandman, probably with worse special effects and better pacing than Spider-Man 3. And then at 10:30, there's a new Transformers: Animated. The Decepticons begin their invasion of Earth, and Optimus Prime worries that he's not a great leader. Aww.

And then at 9 PM, BBC America has a new (to Americans) Torchwood. It's the absolutely horrible one about the evil circus performers who get trapped inside an old movie from the 1920s. I don't know how to convince you to stay away from this one. This isn't just random Torchwood bashing — this episode is like three weird old Roger Corman movies mashed up, with the Torchwood stars heads randomly stuck on some of the characters. Actually, when I describe it that way, it sounds kind of great. But sadly, it tries a bit too hard to be serious, and ends up being awful and boring. I feel like I have a holy duty to keep you from watching this episode.

Luckily, there are many other options around that time. IFC is showing Austin Powers twice in one evening, at 5:30 and 10:45. Sci Fi is showing the first two Resident Evil movies back-to-back. TBS has Jackie Chan's vastly underrated Tuxedo at 8, followed by Spider-Man at 10. (Okay, The Tuxedo isn't that great. But it's got a few great bits, including the weird James Brown sequence.)

Sunday, Comedy Central is re-running the Futurama movie "Bender's Big Score," if you were too cheap to buy the DVD. That's at 7 PM. And Disney Toon has a random episode of Superman: The Animated Series at 10:30. That's all I can come up with, unless you think there's some kind of brain-eating virus involved in all those women desiring Brett on Rock of Love.

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.

Tonight is the season finale of Kyle XY on ABC Family at 8. It's all about the senior prom, which looks chock full of heartwarming, judging from the trailers I've seen. At the same time, this show about a superpowered teen mutant has done a really great job of keeping a sinister undercurrent lately, and Kyle's female counterpart Jessi just gets more and more entertainingly psycho. So if you haven't checked it out yet, you may want to grab your last chance tonight. After all, the episode will also teach us that looking forward to your prom too much will turn you gay:

Also, the History Channel has a new Modern Marvels, about whiskey, at 8 PM. (Not really very science fictional, but maybe the whiskey is sentient?) And then a new Cities of the Underworld at 9 PM.

And Encore is showing Mission To Mars at 9:45, just in case you want to relive Gary Sinise's life-changing encounter with a cheesy CGI alien.

Tuesday night has the next-to-last episode of Jericho season two, on ABC at 10 PM. Sadly, this is looking more and more like the next-to-last episode of Jericho, period, unless the Sci Fi Channel decides Jericho is a better investment than another season of Ghost Hunters. As you'd expect, Major Beck is not terribly happy about the drastic actions that Stanley took at the end of the previous episode, and he's not willing to blame everything on New Bern. Here are the first five minutes of the episode. (I apologize for the streaky video, this is the best source I could find.)

Also, the History Channel has a rerun of The Universe, all about the possibility of life on Mars.

And Encore has back-to-back Aliens and Waterworld, starting at 11:40 AM.

And at 2:10 AM Wednesday morning, Encore has Ultraviolet, the second-best movie featuring Gun-Kata. (The first being director Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium, of course.)

Wednesday, the Discovery Channel has a new Futureweapons, "Hard Target." Subjects include new inflatable armor, shoulder-fired grenades, and the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack plane. Good times! And at 10, the History Channel has a new UFO Hunters, "UFO Gateways." The Hudson Valley in New York has hosted more than its fair share of UFO sightings — could this area be an interstellar gateway, used to travel across time and space, or even between dimensions? Another possible gateway area is Sedona, Arizona.

And at 10:10, Encore has Alien 3, while FX shows Batman Begins at 5, followed by The Core at 8 and 11.

Thursday there's a new Smallville on The CW at 8. Lionel Luthor has Clark abducted, and there's some crazy prophecy about how The Traveler will change the Earth for ever. But the main reason to watch this episode is to see just how crazy Chief Tyrol has gone since a certain revelation at the end of Battlestar Galactica season three. Here's a clip:

And then there's a new Lost, on ABC at 9, where we find out what Michael's been up to all this time. And Ben tries to convince Alex to flee the Others' camp before a coming assault. We posted a couple of preview clips the other day, and here's the episode's promo:

As for movies, at 12:15 Friday morning, AMC has The Thing

Friday is pretty slow, except for a bunch of Stargate reruns on Sci Fi. Also, at 1 PM, USA has Timecop, the greatest time-traveling Jean Claude Van Damme movie ever.

And at midnight, A&E has The Matrix, while Encore has 12 Monkeys. Try flipping back and forth between the two movies to create a single, crazy-paranoid narrative where nothing is real. And at 1:30 Saturday morning, TBS has Mars Attacks!, followed by Eight-Legged Freaks at 3:45.

Saturday morning, The CW has Legion of Superheroes followed by Spectacular Spider-man (featuring the debut of the Lizard), starting at 9:30.

And then at 9 PM, there's a new Torchwood on BBC America. It's Gwen's wedding day, but unfortunately, she's got a little surprise on the way. Zany wedding-pregnancy action, plus creepy monsters. You can read our recap of the episode here.

Sunday has the first hour of the broadcast premiere of Futurama: Bender's Big Score, in case you didn't already get the DVD. That's on Comedy Central at 8.

The dark secret of Quintet is that it's sort of a crappy game. Here Newman is, having lost his entire family to the postapocalyptic Rottweilers and stab-happy Quintet players, and he's finally killed his last opponent in the game. And it only now occurs to him to find out what the prize is. Which is, basically, bragging rights. You get to hang around the crappy parlor with the guy in the zany felt hat and talk about all the people you scragged. I would at least want a sticker, or maybe a slice of blueberry pie. With whipped cream.

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.

Monday night now has a Sarah Connor-shaped hole. (And a Heroes-shaped hole, and (sigh) a Journeyman-shaped hole too.) But there's still Kyle XY on ABC Family at 8, for another couple of weeks, and I'm going to explain to why this show is way better than you give it credit for. For one thing, it does the teen-with-superpowers thing better than any show since Buffy. And you can tell the characters care about each other. Plus, even though it's supposedly family friendly, it actually gets pretty raunchy, as in one recent episode where Kyle's stepsister Lori had to deal with her ex-boyfriend wanting to still have the occasional booty call. And this season features a female version of Kyle named Jessi XX, who is crazy and sadistic. Last week, she made Kyle's stepbrother do pushups with an evil leer on her face. But mostly, you should watch for Ally Sheedy, who just started playing Jessi's mom. We featured an awesome clip of Ally in action the other day. Ally Sheedy! I would watch her in anything.

Also today, the Sci Fi Channel is showing a marathon of the underrated show Odyssey 5 all afternoon. Probably right now, as you read this. Ditch work and go home to check it out. It features a car in space. And it did mental time-travel long before Lost.

And FX is showing The Day After Tomorrow at 5:30 PM, in case you saw 10,000 B.C. and want another hit of Emmercrack right away. And there's a new episode of Modern Marvels called "Strange Weapons" on the History Channel at 8 PM. Strange weapons are definitely the best kind.

Tuesday, there's a new episode of post-apocalyptic drama Jericho on CBS at 10 PM. As you can see from the five-minute preview clip below, it picks up right where last week's shocking episode left off. The military contractors that were put in charge of running the plucky town that survived a nuclear attack are openly treating Kansas like Iraq now, and acting as though they're above the law. It's hard to believe there are only two more episodes left after this one — and they may be the last, unless you can convince a few million people to tune in. Check out the first five minutes of the episode, and then start bugging your friends:

Right before Jericho, there's a new episode of The Universe on the History Channel at 9 PM. It's called "Colonizing Space," and it sounds pretty fucking trippy. It explains how we will grow food on Mars, and how we will recycle wastewater (read: drink our own pee) and introduce greenhouse gases to "revive" the red planet. It sounds totally demented, and I bet there will be CGI animations showing how greenhouse gases will make Mars semi-terraformed.

Also on Tuesday/Wednesday at midnight, there's Cherry 2000 on Encore. Robot sex, plus Melanie Griffith doing Mad Max. Come on, you know that's better than sleeping.

Wednesday, ABC Family is showing Pleasantville, which is sort of slipstream, except it's not all that great. But it does feature Joan Allen masturbating and causing a nearby tree to spontaneously combust. Plus Reese Witherspoon is the school slut! (Somehow I doubt ABC Family will show this film uncut.) There's also a rerun of UFO Hunters on History at 10 PM.

Thursday at 8, there's a new Smallville on The CW. The show's back after a brief hiatus, and Pete Ross returns for a guest appearance. Remember him? Clark's best friend? And now he's got superpowers from — I wish I was kidding about this — meteor-laced chewing gum. It's that extra flavor stripe that gives you the power to stretch and sort of teleport your hands, apparently. Actually, I'm not clear on what Pete's superpower is, but it seems to involve a weird noise. Here's an unfinished preview clip from the episode:

And then at 9, there's a new Lost on ABC. If you average out the quality of "The Constant" and "The Other Woman," you get a pretty good couple of episodes. In general, the consensus seems to be that the show's improved a lot this season. And this week, you get to find out who the last two members of the Oceanic Six are (which should surprise nobody.) We also deal more with that "pregnant women die on the island" thing, which always weirds me out. Here's the trailer for the episode, and check out the two preview clips we posted on Friday:

Or if you're over Smallville and Lost, you can watch 12 Monkeys on Encore at 8, and daydream about the days when Terry Gilliam was still great.

Thursday/Friday at 3:00 AM, there's a TV movie called Alien Abduction on Sci Fi. A woman gets abducted by aliens and then winds up in a mental institution. Where the quality of the anal probes is much lower.

Friday night, there's a rerun of a House episode about a boy who claims that he's been abducted by aliens, and he has a tracking device in his neck. Is he right? Are alien abductions going to become part of the ongoing storylines in the hospital? I won't give away the twist ending, but someone on IMDB calls this the "worst House episode ever." Based on the full synopsis, the episode is definitely science fiction in any case.

Also, the Disney Channel has Sky High at 8 PM. Sci Fi has a couple of Stargate: Atlantis reruns at 9 and 10, and Encore has the original Alien at 9:50.

Saturday, there's a new Torchwood at 6 and 9 on BBC America. I'm not sure which episode we're up to in America, but it scarcely matters. The major character who died a while back is still dead, and angsting about it. That goes on for about three episodes in a row, and you may not actually be able to tell them apart even while watching them. Here are our recaps of the most recent episodes. Actually, Torchwood was doing a lot better for a while there, and the main reason to keep watching is to hope it pulls back up again.

Also, on Saturday morning, there's back-to-back Legion of Superheroes and Spectacular Spider-Man, starting at 9:30 AM on The CW. And then at 1 PM, The CW is showing Solaris, the Soderbergh/Clooney remake. At 3:10 on TMC, there's Free Enterprise, the weird movie about Star Trek fans that helped turn William Shatner into the self-mocking figure he is today. And Disney has The Incredibles at 9 PM.

Sunday evening, G4 is showing a bunch of reruns of Wired For Sex, which is worth checking out if you haven't seen it. Find out about that whole cybersex thing the kids are into.

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.

Here's the production notice which Fox sent out along with the casting call for Dollhouse, Joss' new show:

The drama stars Dushku as Echo, a member of a group of men and women who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. In between tasks they are mind-wiped, living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. A group of people, known as "Actives" (or "Dolls"), have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas and hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies and occasional good deeds. When not imprinted, the Actives live, childlike and unremembering, in a hidden facility nicknamed "The Dollhouse". Although the Actives are ostensibly volunteers, the operation is highly illegal, and under constant threat from a determined federal agent on one end and an insane rogue Active on the other. The story hinges around a greater and more subtle threat: Echo, a female Active, begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware.

More spoilers:

• In the March 20 Smallville, Lex's dad has Clark kidnapped and puts him in a kryptonite-lined cage. But the crafty Lionel throws suspicion onto Lex when Chloe and Lana confront him. So Chloe and Lana take Kara to Jor-El so he can restore Kara's memory. Because Kara is the only one who can help Clark. [Kryptonsite]
• Heroes may not feature Claire too much in its first couple of episodes, due to Hayden Panettiere's commitment on a movie. But the producers are still hoping to include Kristen Bell, as long as they can work out contract issues. [E! Online]
• Jake and Hawkins clash over whom to trust, in this new clip from tonight's Jericho.


• In a couple of weeks on Lost, we'll find out that the final two members of the Oceanic Six are Jin and Sun. And our big important death will be one of those two... during a flash-forward. Which means we'll still see them in the "present" and any flash-forwards that take place before that death. And episode eight, the final episode before a five-week break, brings back Michael (and maybe Walt), and Michael has some scenes in NYC where he meets up with Mr. Friendly, the guy Sawyer killed at the end of season three. [SpoilersLost]
• Towards the end of this Lost season (after that five-week break) we'll learn why FutureSayid is an assassin for Ben, and why FutureJack is hooked on booze and pills. We'll see more of Kate-Sawyer, but there won't be any resolution of their situation (duh!). And the season ends with the Oceanic Six getting off the island. [DocArzt]
• Episode nine of the current Lost season will partly take place at a fancy apartment building in Tunisia. Plus here's a wacky theory about whether the EMP at the end of season two affected people's ability to leave the island. [E! Online again]
• And here are two more preview clips from Thursday's Lost, to add to the two we showed yesterday.

Tonight, there's a new episode of the family-friendly superteen show Kyle XY at 8 PM on ABC Family. Kyle and his adoptive brother Josh get caught up in a nasty cheating scandal at school. There will probably be some kind of heart-warming lesson. And Jessi keeps trying to expand her freaky powers.

Also tonight at 8 PM, the final two episodes of the Terminator TV spinoff Sarah Connor Chronicles season one air on Fox. Cromartie, the Terminator who followed Sarah and John forward in time, closes in on them. And there's some drama about Summer Glau being a freakin' big liar, and a sinister new traffic light system, judging from these preview clips:

Tuesday, there's a new episode of post-apocalyptic Kansas drama Jericho at 10 PM. It pretty much picks up where last week's episode left off, with a mysterious caller who claims to be on Hawkins' side. Plus someone is embezzling from Jennings & Rall, and Goetz the Ravenwood thug is still acting as though he's above the law.

In movies, early Tuesday morning Encore has Ultraviolet at 1:30, and Space Jam at 4:30 AM. Two movies totally worth staying up all night for. Space Jam also airs at 8 PM, followed by Mission to Mars at 10 PM. And TMC has The Truman Show at 8 PM.

Wednesday, there's a new UFO Hunters on the History Channel at 10 PM. With a title like "Cops vs. UFOs," how can you not be excited? My money is on the UFOs, unless the cops have tasers. Or if Robocop shows up. There's also a rerun of Futureweapons on the Discovery channel at 8 PM.

In movies, AMC has Terminator 2 at 8 PM, in case you need to refresh your memory about the plot points the Sarah Connor Chronicles keeps harking back to.

Thursday is all about a new Juliet-centric Lost at 9 PM on ABC. Those island castaways should have learned by now not to trust any freaky strangers they come across... even if they have really cute hair. Which almost everybody on this show does, except maybe that Farraday guy. Expect some forward movement in the Jack/Juliet flirtation, and some head-thumping, judging from these new preview clips:
The CW has a Smallville rerun at 8 PM. And in movies, early Thursday morning, Encore has Edward Scissorhands at 5 AM. And IFC has Human Nature at 8:45 PM, in case you just saw Be Kind, Rewind and want to dip into the earlier glories of Michel Gondry. The Sci Fi Channel has Stargate (the actual original movie that spawned a zillion TV episodes) at 9 PM.

Friday at 10 PM, you can apply all the Stargate knowledge you gained from the movie to watching a new Stargate: Atlantis on the Sci Fi Channel. A time-travel disaster has stranded one of our heroes 40,000 years in the future... and it hasn't been a particularly great 40,000 years, according to a message his team-mates left behind for him. (Although, has there ever really been a just totally awesome 40,000 years? With no shitty moments in there somewhere?)

Saturday, BBC America has a new Torchwood at 6 and 9 PM. A major character died at the end of the previous episode... which means it's time for some random crotch-groping and necrophilia jokes. Oh, and projectile vomiting. Because this is the sophisticated spin-off from Doctor Who.

And in movies, TNT has the criminally underrated Judge Dredd at noon.

Sunday at 8 PM, the Cartoon Network has a new Ben Ten, a show I have never seen. Here's the official description: "Ben, Gwen and Max battle the Forever King, who has assembled a team of villains to steal a powerful energy source from a plumber base at Mt. Rushmore."

Right before this clip, the town has managed to fight off a wave of bikers with crazy hair and makeup. But they rejoice too soon — the bikers call in their corporate security guard brothers, who shred the town's defenses so the bikers can build a giant ramp and jump in.

I really can't possibly do 2020 Texas Gladiators as much justice as the master, Joe-Bob Briggs, in his write-up. (In a nutshell, it starts with zombies attacking nuns in a Texas monastery, only to be rescued by rednecks, then it leads to bikers attacking the plucky little town, with the help of the guys in jumpsuits. Fight fight fight fight fight. The end.) But here are a couple of observations:

• The brief scene, between the zombie-monastery attack and the biker/riot cop attack, where the bearded guy keeps the town's refinery from blowing up and then gives a little speech, totally reminded me of Jericho. For about 30 seconds, you think this might actually turn into a post-apocalyptic survival movie, instead of just a big spaghetti Mad Max kung-fu battle in Texas.
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• How awesome is it that the riot shields are basically just a flimsy frame with a giant hole in them? And then there's a "force field" effect added in post. The movie ends with the bald guy walking down the street, alone, with one of those riot shields. Everybody's shooting at him, to no effect. And then one guy tosses a hatchet from a rooftop. And somehow, that gets through. Why? We'll never know.

• Here's another source repeating the rumor that the Battlestar Galactica finds Earth... but it's Earth in our 22nd. century. And there will be a twist of "M. Night Shyamalan proportions." And someone important, maybe Starbuck, dies (again.) Take this with a grain of salt, especially since the source believes Tricia Helfer played Xena. (I'm glad it wasn't us making that mistake!) [SpoilerGeeks]
• In Journey to the Center of the Earth, Brendan Fraser's character (Trevor Anderson) has lost his brother, who believed absolutely that Jules Verne's book was true. And so Fraser takes his nephew, the missing brother's son, on a quest for the missing Max Anderson, using the book as a guide. [IESB]
• Another day, another batch of Lost spoilers. Kate and Sawyer don't patch up their recent quarrel any time in the next few weeks. Next week's episode is a Juliet-centric episode, in which all of Juliet's flashbacks take place on the island... and the actor playing Charles Widmore guest stars. Also, Juliet has to make a dangerous trip to the Orchid Station, a facility conducting "highly volatile and potentially dangerous" research. She has to trek through a field full of skeletons. And Juliet initiates a kiss with Jack! [E! Online]
• More Lost spoilers: season four is about who gets off the island. Season five is about why the Oceanic Six have to go back to the island, and season six is about what happens when these characters get back to the island. And one of the Oceanic Six will die while off the island. [Spoilerati]
• And here's another clip from this week's Lost episode:
• On Jericho, Major Beck will feel betrayed by both Heather (whom he has some romantic tension with) and Jake (whom he hand-picked to be sheriff.) In the case of Jake, the Major may break out the Guantanamo-style interrogation techniques to get the bottom of things. But when it comes to Heather, there will probably just be pouting. [E! Online again]
• Here's some dialogue from the March 7 Stargate: Atlantis episode, "The Last Man": Sheppard: Somebody turned up the heat. Hello? If this is a surprise party, it's not my birthday. Sheppard (cont'd into comm): This is Sheppard, anyone read? I repeat, this is Sheppard, anyone on this channel?. Sheppard (cont'd): All right, this is either the most elaborate practical joke of all time, or I'm in serious trouble here. Sheppard (cont'd into comm): This is Sheppard, anyone on this frequency? McKay (v/o over comm): Sheppard, is that really you? Sheppard (into comm): McKay? McKay (v/o over comm): I can't believe it. It actually worked! Sheppard (into comm): What are you talking about? What the hell is going on here? McKay(v/o over comm): Iimagine you're a little confused right now. God, for you, like, what, five minutes has passed? Sheppard (into comm): Rodney! [Gateworld]

The formerly comics-focused Wondercon was much more about movies and TV this year, especially with DC being tight-lipped, Marvel skipping it and Image canceling at the last minute. And many of the most popular narratives had to do with war and political upheaval.

Conspiracy theories: Anti-establishment paranoia is back, and X-Files 2 is its harbinger. We still don't have a clear sense of what the new X-Files movie will be about, but writer/director Chris Carter said the show's conspiracy-mania had gone out of fashion after 9/11, but now it was making a comeback. We already know the movie won't be about the show's overarching "mythos," but that doesn't mean it won't feature government cover-ups and conspiracies. After all, it'll be competing with the new Indiana Jones movie, which apparently is about Area 51 and Roswell. Cover-ups are cool!
And then there was the Jericho panel, where producer Carol Barbee said the show's writers "don't talk politics" — and then proceeded to talk about politics for an hour. Besides the way Jericho's evil government contractor Ravenwood was a direct metaphor for Halliburton and Blackwater in Iraq, Barbee also talked about the ripped-from-the-headlines terrorism plots and Homeland Security paranoia on her show.
The war machine: And meanwhile, the direct-to-DVD Starship Troopers 3 turned out to be a satirical war movie, in which weird government propaganda for super-bombs jostled with Fleet recruiting ads, in a war that's gone on too long and lost public support. (Sound like anything in real life to you?) And speaking of war movies, the new Iron Man film keeps the comics' backstory about Tony Stark being a high-tech weapons merchant who has a crisis of conscience after he's taken prisoner. And Iron Man is serving as a metaphor for the military-industrial complex in the comics as well, according to Douglas Wolk, author of Reading Comics. Wolk dropped some science about how World War Hulk and Civil War are metaphors for the backlash against the government crackdown after 9/11.

So where were the right-wing narratives, about evil terrorists, weak left-wing governments and cultural elites repressing everybody else? We didn't run across them as much. My guess is, wait until year two or three of an Obama or Clinton presidency, and suddenly you'll have all the conservative space fantasies that you could ever want, from the likes of Frank Miller. We can't wait!

Monday, there's a new Kyle XY on ABC Family at 8 PM. Kyle starts suffering mental problems. This show is a weird blend of Seventh Heaven and Jake 2.0, among other things. Sometimes, the treacly moralizing is almost unbearable, but other times, it's actually sort of creepy and fascinating in its portrayal of a teenager with aspergers and amazing powers. Here's a clip from tonight's episode:

And at 9 PM, there's a new Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Summer Glau does ballet! We have more questions about whether Glau's Terminator, named Cameron, can be trusted. (I personally don't trust any Terminator who has a name. But that's just me.) Here are three clips from the episode, which show Sarah Connor freaking out and Summer dancing like a cat:

And at 1:40 and 9:45 PM, Encore has Kevin Costner's slow-as-snail-mail post-apocalyptic drama The Postman.

Tuesday at 10 PM, there's a new Jericho on CBS. Those military contractors who nearly killed half the town in season one are back, and now they're in charge. We saw this episode at Wondercon, and it totally ruled. Here's a clip:

Also, Encore has Steel, the second worst scifi movie starring Shaquille O'Neil, at 4:40 PM.

Wednesday, there's a new UFO Hunters on the History Channel, at 10 PM. With a title like "Military Vs. UFOs," how can you lose? (My money is actually on the UFOs. But it could be a near thing.)

Thursday, there's Lost, on ABC at 9 PM. Desmond is on the chopper, flying to the freighter, but things don't go quite as smoothly as he might have hoped. Here are a couple of clips:

And as far as movies go, the Sci Fi Channel has The Arrival at 7 PM, starring Charlie Sheen and Ron Silver.

Friday there's a new Stargate: Atlantis on Sci Fi at 10. The team comes across a village whose leader has the ability to protect against Wraith attacks. And here are some promo pics:
In movies, Encore has Independence Day at 9:20 AM. At 1 PM, AMC has Enemy Mine, the classic wartime bonding movie with Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. And AMC has back-to-back Species and The Matrix, starting at 6.

Saturday has a new Torchwood, at 6 and 9 on BBC America. A certain former sidekick from Doctor Who turns up, except that she's now ten times more kick-ass than before. Here's our recap of that episode and one other, complete with a clip.

And in movies, ABC Family has Sky High, the superhero comedy, at 2:30 PM. Sci Fi has Pitch Black at 6:30 and Species: The Awakening at 11.

Sunday is once again a bleak no-person's-land of television, in which you are left to fend for yourself.

Jericho seems to have gone from being a pretty conservative narrative to a much more radical one. The first season revolved around a vision of the American heartland pulling together after the cities vanished — plus a "clash of the patriarchs" among mayor Johnston Green, his rival Gray Anderson, and Phil Constantino, the sheriff of neighboring town New Bern. And now, in the second season, the rival patriarchs have vanished and the show is much more about the younger characters and their distrust of all authority. And the over-arching plot arc seems to revolve around an arch-conservative government that's lying about the reasons for the nuclear explosions, to cover its own involvement.

So I asked Barbee whether there had been a conscious shift in the show's politics between the first and second seasons.

Barbee responded that "We don't talk politics in the writers' room. We talk characters." The main reason there's less focus on rival patriarchs this season is because Johnston Green, the main characters' father, died in the first season finale. "Johnston Green was always meant to die," Barbee said, calling the show a remake of The Lion King. "Johnston Green had to die so that Jake could step up," and his generation could be faced with having to live up to Johnston's legacy. But there was no intention to change the show's politics, she insisted.

Still, it's no coincidence that the show is alluding to the Iraq war during an election war. "We read the papers," said Barbee. "We are influenced by what goes on."

Because the season is only seven episodes instead of the 22 Barbee and her fellow producers had planned, things move at a much more breakneck pace and "there's no time for treading water." She gave a bit more detail about what a 22-episode second season would have looked like, with storylines taking place in Cheyenne, WY (the capital of the new government, which controls the Western U.S.) and New York City. One character would have left New York to travel across the country to Jericho, and we would have seen more of the country through that character's eyes. The three storylines would have come together at the season's end in Cheyenne. But now there won't be any New York stuff.

Barbee also repeated what she'd said before, that the first season was about saving the town, the second season was about saving the country, and the third season (if any) would be about saving the world.

Oh, and Lennie James, who plays badass CIA agent Robert Hawkins, said his character could kick Jack Bauer's ass

Monday, there's a new Kyle XY (ABC Family, 8 PM). Judging from the trailer below, Kyle will actually start using his awesome powers to beat up other kids, which seems like a step forward. And Jessi will master telekinesis and looking hot on an exercise machine.

And then there's a new Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox, 9 PM). We have two clips below, one of which is sort of good and one of which... isn't. Honestly, watching these two clips, I feel as though I've spotted a crucial flaw with this show: there's too much of Summer Glau's Terminator standing around talking. It was sort of cool at first, but it's starting to get a bit monotonous, especially since they keep playing the "she's a heartless machine" card. Plus, they're not called Talkinators.

Also on Monday, AMC has Terminator 2 at 3 PM, in case you want to compare Sarah Connors. (Probably a bad idea.) And HBO has Star Wars: Episode III at 2 PM.

Tuesday, there's a new Jericho (CBS, 10 PM). A very important person decides to make a surprise visit to the embattled post-apocalyptic town of Jericho, and gives Hawkins an unexpected opportunity to learn something about the bombs. It's the most political episode yet, and the one that made me decide Jericho was on a roll this year.

Also on Tuesday, there's a new Nova (PBS, check your listings.) Learn about the differences between ape and human minds, and what apes can teach us about people. Here's the Nova online companion for the episode. And in movies, TMC has Godsend, in which Rebecca Romjin-Stamos' genes are so important that we must resort to cloning to preserve them. That's at 9:35.

Wednesday, there's an all-new UFO Hunters (History Channel, 10 PM). Turns out they have UFOs in Mexico as well. Who knew?

Thursday, There's a new Lost (ABC, 9 PM). In the future, Kate is an assassin... and she's working for Ben! Oh, wait. Actually, if you want to know all about Future Kate, click here. And here are two new preview clips:

Also, ABC Family has The Incredibles at 6 and 8:30. And TMC has Aeon Flux at 5 and Futureworld at 6:40.

Friday, there's a new Stargate: Atlantis (Sci Fi, 10 PM). A new disease is spreading throughout the Pegasus galaxy! And meanwhile, Teyla believes the father of her child is trying to communicate with her.

Saturday, there's Torchwood (BBC America, 6 and 9 PM). Someone new has joined the Torchwood team, but everybody seems to believe he's been there for years. Here's our exciting recap of the episode, complete with a clip. It's actually a pretty good episode, and made us wonder if Torchwood is actually going to become watchable.

Also on Saturday, there's My Super Ex-Girlfriend at 10:10 AM on Cinemax. And the original Planet of the Apes at 11 AM on AMC. And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, back to back on ABC Family, starting at 5.

Sunday is a TV wasteland. Sorry.

The same fast-paced political focus that made us excited annoyed Marc Vera with Entertainment Weekly, who missed all the soap-opera stuff we were glad to be rid of:

The show I loved has changed, and not for the better. Character development vanished, the pacing was off, and there seemed to be no passion or caring in the Kansas town.

One interesting tidbit from today's Jericho coverage: If the show's second season had been a full 22 episodes, we would have gotten to see the seat of government in Cheyenne — and life in New York, which survived the attacks thanks to Hawkins' intervention. Now we'll just have to be happy with one truncated second season, and nothing after that. [Hollywood Reporter]

Jericho season one spent way, way too much time on the soap-opera aspects, including Eric Green leaving his uptight physician wife for a cool bartender. And there was a surfeit of clash-of-the-patriarchs moments: first Gray Anderson challenges Johnston Green for the mayorship, and then Anderson and Green have to face off with Phil Constantino, who rules a neighboring town with an iron grip. The only cool female character, the gearhead Heather, disappeared for several episodes.

Getting canceled may turn out to be the best thing to happen to Jericho. After a crazy peanut-mailing fan campaign, the network agreed to bring the show back for a seven-episode mini-season. The writers had to cram a whole season's worth of plot and character development into just a third of a normal season, which left a lot less room for noodling. And the scripts were completed long before the writers went on strike, so you'll actually get a fairly satisfying conclusion.

Despite the much shorter season, Jericho's second season actually has a much grander plot arc. The U.S. government has splintered into two different regimes, separated by the Mississippi river. To the East is the remnants of the original federal government, but the West is under the quasi-fascist Allied States of America. The ASA is revamping the U.S. flag and rewriting the history books to criticize the "weakness" of post-World War II America:

Not only that, but the new government depends heavily on private contractors for administration and muscle... including Jennings & Rall, the military goons for hire who trashed Jericho's neighbors and wreaked havoc in Iraq. The new government has lied about the reasons for the nuclear bombs that destroyed two dozen American cities, pinning the blame on Iraq and North Korea. In fact, we soon find out that domestic terrorists were responsible, and some of the ringleaders are now helping to run the new government.

So instead of being about small dramas within a post-apocalyptic town, Jericho season two is about the race to uncover the truth about the fascist bastards who nuked America and then mounted a takeover bid. In the next seven weeks, we'll get to see if they get away with it.

Monday there's a new Kyle XY on ABC Family at 8. Amanda asks Kyle to stay away from her, while Adam orders Kyle to stay close to Jessi. What is it with Amanda anyway? First she totally gets him in trouble by sneaking home and sleeping in his tub, then she's all like, "Don't talk to me." She should really go back to New York. Oh, and here's a scene from the episode, involving exciting smoothie action:

And then there's a new Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. That guy from 92010 is around, and he's from the future but has some trouble remembering stuff. And that annoying cellphone store guy? The one with the chess-playing computer? He's around, and there's some computer-chess action. Here's the preview we showed you the other day:

Also, TMC has back-to-back Aeon Flux and Star Trek: Insurrection, starting at 8.

Tuesday sees the return of Jericho at 10 PM on CBS. When season one ended, the townspeople were just about to square off with the evil town of New Bern in a battle to the death. As season two begins, the hostilities with New Bern are settled, but not everybody is willing to let them drop. Here's a trailer:

Also on Tuesday at 9, the History Channel has a new episode of The Universe, all about supernovas. A supernova can release as much energy as our sun would emit over 10 billion years, creating destruction on a galactic scale. The show includes sexy computer graphics of supernovas, plus interviews with people who chase supernovas for a living. Also, Nova has a new episode on "Astrospies." Check your PBS listings for time.

Finally, if you don't already have the DVDs, FX has the original X-Men movie at 8, and Cinemax has X-Men: The Last Stand at 6:30. AMC has Species at 6, and Encore has Mystery Men at 8.

Wednesday, you can relive the awesomeness of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Encore has Universal Soldier at 6:15, and Cinemax has Universal Soldier: The Return at 6:30.

Thursday sees a new Smallville episode. Lex finally tracks down Kara, but he may have bought more trouble than he can afford. If that makes sense. Here's an unfinished scene from the episode:

And then at 9 on ABC, there's a new Lost episode, centered on the awesome Sayid. Just how far is Sayid willing to go to escape the island? Here are a couple of clips from the episode:

As for movies, FX has back-to-back The One and Batman Begins, starting at 6.

Friday at 10, there's a new Stargate:Atlantis on Sci Fi. Teal'c comes to Atlantis to counsel Ronon. But then word arrives that the Wraith have discovered the fully operational Midway Space Station. Here's a clip:

On Friday at 10, TMC has Deep Impact, the less-crappy space disaster movie from 1998.

Saturday sees a new episode of Torchwood, "Meat." Some unscrupulous humans are putting an alien visitor to Earth to an ingenious, and disgusting use that has nothing to do with sex. And Rhys learns what Gwen really does for a living. You can read our recap of the episode here.

And at 8 PM, Encore has Independence Day. Remember when Will Smith went around kicking aliens' butts? That was cool.

Sunday sees the return of Knight Rider in a TV movie that execs are hoping will be a "backdoor pilot." (And many of us are hoping that backdoor will actually lead to a scary little basement, where a nasty man with a knife will be waiting and nobody will ever find the body.) So KITT's back, but he's a Mustang, and Val Kilmer is doing the voice. And there's a secret organization dedicated to building really great cars and fighting evil dudes. It's sort of like Bionic Woman, only with a car instead of bionic limbs. Its on NBC at 9 PM. Here's a clip:

Also, AMC has Terminator 2 at 7 PM and the Cartoon Network has Zathura at 8.

• TV Guide has some new Lost spoilers: there's a helicopter taking people off the island, and Desmond demands a seat on it. You'll see Charlie again, even though he's dead. The freighter crew are Jeff (Lawnmower Man) Fahey, Jeremy Davies, Rebecca Mader and Ken Leung. We'll learn where Michael has been all this time, and he'll play a crucial role in episode eight. [SpoilersLost]
• More Lost spoilers: One of the freighter people has a connection to Oceanic Airlines, and they know something about Penny. [LostSpoilers]
• Someone who appeared to die in the Lost season finale will turn up alive and well in the first new episode. [Ask Ausiello]
• Adam/Kensei will definitely get dug up by another villain in Heroes, and it sounds like he is related to Nikki/Jessica somehow. [SuperHiro]
• In Smallville episode 7.12, Lois plays a role in finding Clark's missing cousin. And Clark has to probe Lex's mind telepathically to save Lex's life. [TheMediaCritic]
• The final Chuck episode on Thursday introduces two new recurring characters: a female enemy agent who works at the Pita Pit near BuyMore... and a hunky male CIA agent who wants to "take Chuck into custody." [BuddyTV]
• The catty mom on Jericho didn't have her contract renewed for season two (yay!) but she will make an appearance in one episode (bah). [E! Online]
• A spy for JoBlo.com snapped these set photos from X-Files 2, which seem to indicate Mulder and Scully will face a crazed wolf-man. Or maybe someone put on a cheesy costume for Chris Carter's birthday? [JoBlo]

Says producer Carol Barbee, Jericho season two is about saving America and our way of life. A possible third season would be about saving the world. Not too ambitious, then. Luckily, Jericho season two is very newbie-friendly. In fact, you may like the show even better if you missed the sometimes slow-boiling season one. So we're keeping our fingers crossed for a ratings surge. [Sci Fi Wire]

Tons of people have already watched the next few episodes of Jericho and posted their reports: As we expected, Esai Morales' character Major Beck declares the war with New Bern over. He convenes an (off-camera) tribunal about the towns' hostilities, and finds New Bern at fault. But he wants the towns to put the matter behind them. Jake and Eric almost go after Constantino seeking revenge for their father's death, but Jake changes his mind at the last minute. Jake becomes sheriff, and Beck also asks Heather to be a mediator between Jericho and New Bern. There are two U.S. governments: the legitimate one based in Columbus, and a Cheyenne, WY government made up of the people who launched the nuclear attacks. The Cheyenne government, the Allied States, blamed the attacks on Iran and North Korea and leveled both countries in retaliation. The Eastern government is barely holding on, and if the independent state of Texas goes with the Western government, it's all over. Hawkins and one of his fellow spies struggle to get proof of the Western government's involvement with the bombs to Texas in time to sway its decision.

There's an evil corporation, Jennings and Rall, contracting with the Allied States government, and it tries to screw Stanley out of his crops in exchange for vague promises of tax amnesty (which it turns out he doesn't even need.) Speaking of evil corporations, Ravenwood is working for the Allied government too, and a Ravenwood merc comes to Jericho searching for that stray nuke. (The government thinks Sarah Mason killed Hawkins and took the bomb, so they're searching for Sarah, not Hawkins.)
Also, the president of the Allied States stops through Jericho on a whistle-stop tour. Hawkins has his wife Darcy (who is now an equal partner in his spy game) create a distraction so he can access the government's files for proof it lied about the bombs. [SpoilerGeeks and TurkeyWhisperer

And here are some non-Jericho spoilers:

• A few new Lost snippets: We'll meet some new characters in season four, including Russell, a mathematician, Arthur Stevens, a ruthless corporate recruiter, Charlotte, a smart twentysomething who has bad people skills, and Chandley Price, a messed-up therapist. Jin and Sun will have a little girl baby named Jiyeon. Libby appears in episode eight, which also sees Mr. Friendly crossing paths with Michael in NYC. [Wonderday]
• More Lost: fans found some blurry hidden images on the game server, which show a submarine, Locke on a dock, the number 108 in a lot of places, and Sayid smashing some Virgin Mary statues. Make of those clues what you will.
• Heroes volume 3 will be less about the Company, and we'll know right away what giant disaster the good guys are racing to prevent. It'll be something to do with things we already know about.
• Here are some pics of Brian Austin Green in his guest-starring role in next week's Sarah Connor Chronicles. [TV Addict]
• Kyle XY's version of Seven of Nine, Jessi XX, will play a huge role in season 2.5 as she butts heads with Kyle over her misuse of her powers. Poor old Emily will fade into the background. And Jessi will make loads of bad choices in her effort to find someone to love. [SliceofSciFi]

• Cilian Murphy's Scarecrow will be back in The Dark Knight, and we'll get to meet Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. Also, there will be at least one fake Batman, as we reported a while back. The movie also includes Boss Maroni, the crimelord who scars Harvey Dent into becoming Two-Face in the comics. And Harvey's journey is the real backbone of the movie. [IESB, Empire]
• The live-action Dragonball movie is filming in Mexico, and HoyCinema has a set report and some ultra-blurry photos. Nothing too exciting, but you can glimpse some hot-pink costumes and a fight scene being shot. [HoyCinema, via IESB]
• A few new details about Stephen Chow's CJ7 (plus that pic we posted a month ago): Even though Chow's character is a poor laborer, he saves up to send his son to a private school. When the son brings his new alien "pet" to school, chaos ensues. [Slashfilm]
• Tons of people saw Cloverfield last night, so it's going to be pretty easy to find spoilery write-ups. Here's one. And here. And here.
• Everything comes together in the Feb. 2 Flash Gordon: Terek the deviate launches a revolution, Aura confronts Ming about her bloodline, Ming orders Rankol's execution for being a celetroph, and Flash makes a "shocking discovery." Oh and we meet a Queen of Mongo, who probably wears really cute slit skirts. [SpoilerTV]
• The Master Chief will be a "supporting character" in the Halo movie, says a screenwriter. [CHUD]
• If you really want to be the sort of person who reads text-based summaries of movie trailers, here's someone's synopsis of the new Star Trek teaser trailer. [Slashfilm]
• Episode 11 of Torchwood season two will be a super-dark story in which Gwen's old police colleague Andy asks her help in solving a missing-children case. [SyFyPortal]
• Jericho season two will reveal more about Jake's five years in Iraq, including an ugly secret that comes back to haunt him. Also, someone unwelcome comes back (I'm guessing Emily's dad, the bandit who helped Jericho take out New Bern's mortars) and an important person visits the town. Emily learns about an important change that affects America's future, and Eric gets an awesome job offer. [Ask Ausiello]
• Here are those new promo pics for next week's Sarah Connor Chronicles. Sarah begins investigating a possible threat, involving a guy named Andy, while a Dr. Fleming does an experiment for the newly reassembled evil Terminator. [SpoilerTV]