Near apocalyptic letdown

JERICHO FINALE SPOILERS BELOW...

Know what? I want to be really hard on Jericho for its season finale. I want to, but I can't.

Seriously, I was annoyed after watching last night's episode. But I'm not sure who to blame for the fact that after ramping up so energetically, they ended with no payoff -- and without showing the big battle they've been hinting at for weeks now. I think it may be the show's creative team, but it could also be the family-friendly police over at CBS.

One of three things can happen now: We'll see the fight in September, we'll see it in flasback form later next season, or we'll never see it at all.

I can only expect we'll never see it -- only the aftermath of the massive attack New Bern was seconds from launching and the arrival of the "military." But maybe the show's creators have a reason to hang viewers up; they could be planning a payoff for early next season. If so I'm fine with that. I'll just stew about my cliffhanger-itis for a little while and drown my sorrows in some summer shows until September. Or they could blow right past the entire plot point.

That's where I'll get really angry and blame the continuous, unnecessary attack on television violence and the complete lack of (I'm trying to think of an appropriate word here...) backbone of television executives telling the show's creators "you can't do that! You'll alienate our family-values audience!" (Answer to that: Watch the subplot, dummies. This show's all about family.)

I'm getting off track. Why I can't hate the show... that's the more important part. For one, it gives Heroes a good run for its money in the best-new-show category. Jericho would not have been the first serial I'd have predicted to catch on -- I was really worried after two weeks that it wouldn't make it (but I also thought 20 Good Years WOULD make it).

And the finale's payoff, while not what it should have been, is Heather's resurfacing and the honorable, sad death of Johnston Green. They set up some new storylines too -- the 17-star flag and the search for "terrorist" Hawkins. Heather will be back to complicate Jake and Emily's connection. And there WILL be an aftermath ... whether or not there's a battle.