9:02

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Jericho episode
“9:02”
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Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 6
Writer(s)	—
Director	—
Production no.	106^[1]
Original airdate	October 25, 2006
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"Federal Response"	"Long Live the Mayor"

Opening Morse code
`- ···· · · -- ·--· ···· ·· - ···`
Translation
“THE EMP HITS”

"9:02" is the sixth episode of season one of the fictional CBS drama Jericho.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

1 Plot synopsis
2 Safety of the crop?
3 Hawkins chat input
4 Title meaning
5 References

[edit] Plot synopsis

The episode picks up with everyone standing outside Bailey's watching the ballistic missiles fly outbound. Some residents speculate that the United States is launching a retaliation against the perpetrators of the nuclear attack on American cities. The mayor comments that the nearest missile silos are in Wyoming, 100 miles away, and that the missiles may not be American. Hawkins goes home, tells his family to enter the basement, and uses his computer to enter a chat presumably with another member of his confederates, who states that he cannot speak freely as he has been compromised. A large explosion is seen in the sky and at that time the lights go out. Hawkins hands his family chemical lights and confirms that there was an electromagnetic pulse. The possibility that officials were beginning to respond to the crisis with the restoration of electricity, the telephone message from Homeland Security, and the potential television address by a federal official appears to have been a false hope. Eric questions whether or not help is actually coming, but the mayor tells him probably not.

The episode then picks up two weeks later. The ability of Jericho's residents to maintain some semblance of "normalcy" with functional modern technology in the first days after the attacks has been almost completely lost. The clocks are all locked on 9:02 and the kids are playing in the street using their now worthless cellphones as baseballs. One flies through the window of the grocery store and Dale confronts the kids who broke the window. He tells Jake the same teenagers have tried to steal from the store twice in the last week. A previously unseen teenager, "Sean", identifies himself as a friend of Dale, who looks uncomfortable but does not dispute him.

Hawkins works as a police officer more to help maintain order, as everyone now realizes they are living in a vastly different world. The small police force is overwhelmed with complaints such as trespassing and a broken water main on Ash Street flooding property. Mary is upset about Eric and discussing the situation with Jake when Mitch walks into Bailey's. Mitch and Jake obviously have a bad history with each other, but before the situation can escalate to violence, Hawkins intervenes.

The mayor's flu worsens and the antibiotics have little effect. April says she is going to get something stronger from the clinic, but she does not know if that will work. There is still obvious tension between April and Eric.

Stanley and his sister are working on their now inoperable tractor. Stanley states that perhaps with a new starter it will be operable. Mimi shows up and states that she will reduce his outstanding tax bill by the cost of room and board as she is now unable to stay in the hotel. After reacting to an insect, Stanley checks the corn and discovers an infestation.

Hawkins reads Mitch's arrest record, which includes armed robbery and gun trafficking. He also learns that Mitch lives with other "survivalists" in a compound outside of town. Eric alludes to the history between Mitch and Jake.

Jake and his mother, Gail, are at the ranch tending to the horses when they stampede because of two unidentified rustlers. Gail's arm is injured but not broken. Jake decides to go look for Mitch, but the mayor takes his pistol. We learn that Jake's sudden and unexplained departure from town involved Mitch and a third male individual who was killed. Mitch had been arrested at about the time of Jake's departure.

Stanley realizes that he needs pesticide for his corn, and goes to Gracie's with Mimi. Gracie says that she is willing to give him the pesticides for half his harvest after Stanley offers 20 bushels. Stanley and Mimi then storm out of the store.

Eric and Jimmy learn from Mary about Gail's horses having been sold to an individual out by the airport. They head out to the compound but Jake has beaten them there. He follows the hoofprints to an area that has several small planes and outbuildings.

Stanley goes to the mayor and tells him of the problem with corn worms in his crop. Stanley has to harvest the crops and the mayor tells him that he needs to share with the town. Stanley resists giving his entire crop to the town and leaves.

As Jake examines the horses, Dale sees him and tries to apologize before Mitch comes up and knocks him out. When Jake comes to, Mitch is pacing around him with a shotgun. He tells Jake he went to jail when Jake left him and "his best friend", who was shot in the head during an armed robbery. Jake threatens Mitchell, who then says "that's the Jake I know". Jake attacks Mitchell. During the struggle, Mitchell loses his gun, but just as he recovers it, Eric and Jimmy arrive. Mitchell escapes on horseback, but Dale and Sean are taken into custody.

Jake and Hawkins discuss the situation. There is little they can do as there is no judicial system in place. Nobody knows where the nearest judge is. With the Sheriff and half the deputies dead, there is no one to protect the town from raiders like Mitchell. Hawkins tells Jake that to properly interrogate the suspects they need to be separated. Hawkins then volunteers to "extract" the information from Sean.

Gracie notices that the pesticide was stolen and reports it to the police. Bill then goes to Stanley and searches his property for the stolen pesticide. Mimi tries to calm Stanley, but he is still upset that an old friend like Bill doesn't trust him. Dale and Jake discuss Mitchell being bad news when Skylar shows up to bail out Dale, even though she has no money. Dale is allowed to leave with Skylar. Dale then agrees to show Jake where Mitchell is.

Allison seeks out her father in his safe room. She uses a chemical light to examine the room and discovers a map with pins stuck in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver, Seattle and San Diego. She also finds a pistol in a case and his still-functional laptop with Jake's profile shown.

Allison now fears that all of those cities suffered nuclear attacks. Hawkins confirms that those cities were what he heard from the ham radio transmission and his computer-based communication, and he believes Allison is correct. She also tells her father that she thinks he is a "spy" for a federal government agency. Hawkins does not directly confirm this, but his response encourages her to believe she is correct. He says his computer still works because it is "ruggedized"; he says the government issues them. Allison is upset that he knew the attacks were likely imminent and that is why they were moved to Jericho.

Bill finds nothing, but Stanley is still deeply hurt that he is no longer trusted. Stanley is preparing to burn the field to protect what is left of the crops when Mimi confesses she traded her Rolex to some kids for them to steal the pesticides. Mimi says this is the way things will go from now on.

Gail and April then discuss the situation in their lives. Gail confides that she also had a rough go in her marriage.

Dale leads Eric and Jake to a barn that the food was kept in. It is now empty. Jake then sees Mitchell walking near the barn and and circles around to get him. Jake begins punching Mitchell to learn where the food is. Mitchell is detained and placed in a holding cell.

Stanley shows Gracie where the pesticide is hidden in the alley beside her store. Hawkins teaches his daughter Allison how to shoot so she can develop marksmanship skills; they use CDs as targets. He tells her that in this new world, she will have to be able to defend herself.

Stanley is again preparing to burn the crops when the townspeople show up to harvest. Dale apologizes to Gail for everything that happened. Mimi is even forced to help with the harvest under threat of having to sleep in the barn. Gracie also shows up to give Stanley the pesticide he needed. Allison asks Hawkins if Jake is a "good man" or a "bad man" and he says there is no such thing.

April and Eric have a conversation about the divorce plans.

This is the photo on Hawkins' laptop showing him with a military or paramilitary group.

Hawkins is sitting at his laptop with a digital photograph loaded. The photo appears to be of Hawkins standing to the left and in front of a military or paramilitary platoon. He horizontally inverts the photo, making himself appear at the right, and then copies himself out of the image and pastes himself into another photo of his wife and children

Mitchell notices that on the bench in the holding cell the phrase "Screw this town - Jake Green '92" is carved. Jake then goes and takes the lantern by the cell. Mitchell then warns Jake that "he" will come looking for him.

[edit] Safety of the crop?

It has been repeatedly mentioned that the "fallout" was rained down over Jericho (suggested by the "slush" around the town hall). If radioactive fallout was indeed carried to Jericho via rain, and not simply washed away before the fallout reached the town, and more likely by other methods, then it is likely that all soil, open water, and vegetation growing in the affected area would be radioactively tainted, as crops in the area would have some uptake of radioactive material. If Jericho were somehow isolated from the fallout, it is likely that the crops would be safe to eat.

[edit] Hawkins chat input

Hawkins apparently sees the missiles being launched, frantically goes online, and attempts to find out where they are being sent, typing in "what is the target?". Ominously, the reply seems to be "ours or theirs?", followed by "I'm compromised". Then the EMP hits, and the chat screen displays "End transmission". Because the first two lines are shown together with the prompt below them, but typing is heard only briefly beforehand, it is unclear whether Hawkins typed one or two lines.

[edit] Title meaning

The time 9:02 represents when the EMP device explodes over Jericho, stopping all clocks in the town.

The title may also allude to the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, although it took place at 9:02 a.m. and the EMP event was at 9:02 p.m. (The two gates leading into the Oklahoma City National Memorial read "9:01" and "9:03", referring to the event that happened in the minute between: 9:02 am. Pictures of the gates can be seen on the memorial website.^[2])