Originally posted by Flick:
My wife and I are currently watching the first season of the show "Jericho" one disk at a time from Netflix. I'd be curious to know what people here think is realistic and unrealistic about the show. For me, the most interesting thing is watching how stressful situations play on people's fears and cause them to turn on each other. Any observations?
In Jericho the catastrophe on the outside only comes to the town slowly, whereas in real life they would have been overrun with refugees on Day Two. The need for control of the routes into and out of town would have been forced upon Mayor Green almost immediately.
In Jericho, the organization of the Rangers takes a long time and is done without any pre-planning on anyone's part. This is ludicrous. A guy with Johnston Green's military and political experience (town mayors have to do a lot of planning for natural disaster contingencies which apply directly to the scenario) would have thought this through long before and worked out a way to implement a reserve deputy force (aka, mobilizing the unorganized militia) on Day One.
In Jericho, firearms are carried without bandoleers or web gear. They must have freaking deep pockets in those jeans. Also, at the end of the first season, Hawkins dips into his storage locker to hand out rifles and shotguns, but again, there is no provision for handing out ammo that matches the wide variety of weapons doled out. Nor any attempt to give the best weapons to the most experienced shooters. As in, "Were you in the servive? When? Ok, I'll give you what you know."
Also, the fighting positions which are constructed at the end of the first season in the big fight with New Bern are dangerously silly and laughably wrong. And these guys are supposed to be veterans?
And the final battle scenes are goofier than usual even for Hollywood. OK, let's forget about the idiocy of making a 120mm cannon on an Abrams accept and fire with accuracy an improvised mortar shell. But when Hawkins drives off the tank to meet the train, there's still a Ma Deuce .50 cal and an M240 (7.62 NATO) sitting on the top of it, supposedly without ammo. OK, but they've just hit the New Bern truck down the hill and the opponents have fled. Nobody thinks to traipse on down the hill and pick up the M60s and belted 7.62 NATO ammo that have been left behind? That would put the M240 back in action anyway. Arrgh!
On a positive note, in both seasons one and two, the character of young Dale, the grocery store stock boy who turns into an accomplished smuggler for the town is intriguing. No movement for liberty is complete without a competent smuggler, or class of smugglers. Reminds me of Hancock, Dr. Syn, Han Solo, Malcolm Reynolds, etc.
