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Original air date: September 27, 2006

Opening Morse Code Translation:
Jericho Fallout

Synopsis: With only an hour before the fallout from the nuclear blast in Denver hits Jericho, Jake rushes to get the townspeople inside and away from the rain so that they won’t get radiation poisoning. When Jake and the others find that the official shelter is in disrepair and unusable, they have to come up with other protection fast. Meanwhile, Emily and Bonnie are held hostage by two escaped convicts posing as police officers.

Episode recap: As weather from the west begins moving Jericho’s direction, the town must scramble to find safe refuge for the residents. It is estimated that the town will have about two hours before the storm arrives, bringing with it the fallout from Denver. The town has two fallout shelters; one below town hall and one below the medical center. Neither has been serviced recently and they are ill-stocked to handle the situation. Townspeople start going to Gracie’s Market to get supplies to stock the shelters.

The shelter under town hall is functional but it is soon discovered that the one at the medical center has a ventilation issue. Jake and Heather try to figure out a repair for the shelter’s malfunctioning ventilation system but with limited time and resources they finally give up. The town hall shelter is not large enough to house the entire town. People are advised to go to their basements and to seal them as completely as possible with plastic sheeting. It is soon decided that the salt mine would be a safe place for some to wait out the storm.

At the town hall, Robert Hawkins is manning the radio and receives a Morse Code message. He tells Gail Green that he has not received any communication on the radio. Gail finds Johnston, who has been suffering from a cough, passed out on the floor of his office. He is moved to the town hall shelter where he recovers.

Dale goes to Skylar Stevens' house to try to convince her to go to one of the shelters. She refuses to go but asks him to stay with her. Together they wait out the storm and forge a friendship.

Meanwhile, Emily starts the walk back to Jericho after leaving her broken-down car by the roadside. A Sheriff’s car stops to pick her up. It is then that she finds out about the explosion in Denver. They ask her if she can direct them to a place to get gasoline. She directs them to the Richmond farm. Emily becomes uneasy about the deputies when, as they are driving toward the farm, she notices part of an odd tattoo on the driver's neck and sees a bit of blood on his shirt. Unknown to her, the two deputies are actually escaped prisoners from the prison bus. They have tied up two Sheriff deputies (Jimmy and Bill?) and placed them in the trunk. They reach the Richmond farm, where the deputies try to use the fuel pump, but find that it is locked. (Stanley, who is at a nearby cousin’s farm, has the key.)

While waiting in the car, Emily hears a conversation over the police radio and suddenly realizes that the two men are convicts.Emily and the convicts wait with Bonnie for Stanley to come home. Emily manages to signal Bonnie that they are in danger, and the two women play along with the charade that the convicts are deputies. Emily sees a collectors display of a gun and bullets in the Richmond's living room, and during a diversion, she manages to secretly get the gun and ammo. She later escapes out a bathroom window and uses the police radio in the car to call for help, which Jake hears. Emily doesn't realize that one of the convicts has a radio on him and is going to hear her call for help.


After setting off a small explosion to seal the entrance to the mine, Jake races to the Richmond farm to save Emily, Bonnie and the deputies. A shoot-out ensues with Jake and Emily killing the convicts, then freeing the deputies from the trunk. Just then, the storm blows in and everyone races to get down cellar. Emily is distressed over shooting one of the men so Jake begs her, and finally convinces her, to join them in the cellar.

The episode ends with Hawkins alone in his secret room in the basement. He has a large map of the US and is placing push pins in at the points of many cities.

Possibly Important Notes:
Hawkins picks up a Morse code message on the radio stating the extent of the attacks, which he later records on a map in his basement office.

Both men who may have murdered the Sheriff were shot and killed.

Mayor Green starts to show that he is coming down with the flu.

Skylar and Dale Begin a Friendship:
Funny thing; I didn't expect Skylar to welcome Dale into her house, him being the town weirdo. Why is it that everybody hates the people with decent ethics? Oh well, Skylar and Dale do have something in common. In Fallout, one of the last scenes shows Skylar in the hallway with her head bowed sadly. The hallway is dark, of course, and rain is heard in the background. Dale walks into the hall and leans on the wall. Skylar was worried about her parents, he knew. Dale opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates.
"I think my mom died last night," he said at last.
Skylar looks up. Her face is tear-stained. "I think my mom died last night, too."
The scene fades.

Questions:
Q- Why did the convicts kill the Sheriff but not the two deputies?
Q- Who sent the Morse code message that Hawkins received?

Quotes:
Skylar: You are NOT in my house. Get off my property right now. And my property goes all the way down the hill.
Dale: You need to get back to town. Radiation's coming from Denver.
Skylar: I'm not leaving here! My parents are on their way back.

Jake: Emily...
Emily: Why are you here?
Jake: Trying to keep you safe.
Emily: I'm never safe around you.

Trivia:
The song played at the end of the episode when Robert Hawkins is pushing the tacks into the map was written and composed by the crew of Jericho to compensate for not having the budget to put the desired song on in the first place.

Cast:

• Guest Starring: Alicia Coppola (Mimi Clark), Beth Grant (Gracie Leigh), Vic Polizos (Shep Cale), Clare Carey (Mary Bailey), Richard Speight, Jr. (Bill Kohler), Darby Stanchfield (April Green), Bob Stephenson (Jimmy Taylor), Jonno Roberts (J.P. Achor), Candace Bailey (Skylar Stevens)
• Co-Starring: Aaron Hendry (Simon), April D. Parker (Darcy Hawkins), Julia Flint (Mrs. Dawson), Kristen Rodriguez (Lisa Whalley), Chris Foreman (Orderly), Musashi Alexander (Roy Hinkley), Jeff De Serrano (Biker), Todd Giebenhain (Biker #2), Sterling Ardrey (Samuel Hawkins)

See also:
Music of Jericho
Morse Code
Plot Theories
Fallout Transcript

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