r/Jericho • u/traveledhermit • 10d ago

Observations from a first time watcher in Kansas

Have made it to S02E02 over the past few days and wondering if there are any fellow Kansans out there rolling eyes at the same things I am? If not, might be interesting to non-Kansans?

  • Lawrence KS as the most unlikely of targets. Either the writers wanted to remind viewers why they know something about KS besides Wizard of Oz, or they remembered/paid homage to Lawrence from the OG nuclear war series, The Day After (1983).
  • The geography of Jericho. Western KS really is as flat at you imagine it to be. Eastern KS has a lot of wooded hills, followed by about 100 miles of the Flint Hills, but 2/3 of the state is Wizard of Oz levels of flat. Elevation rises as you cross into Colorado, but the Rockies don’t come into view for a couple more hours. The view from Stanley’s porch makes it appear that they start right at the border lol.
  • Stanley calling himself a Jayhawk was perhaps most disorienting since, as owner of the area’s largest farm, he would certainly be a Wildcat. KSU has one of the top agricultural programs in the nation, and is several hours closer to home to boot (but still a slog).

I multitask while watching tv so there’s probably more I’ve missed?

ETA that of course my favorite characters are Hawkins and Jake, and I am loving Dale and Skyler‘s journey from being the new Bonnie and Clyde to Jericho’s new power couple lol.

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u/AmericanNinja02 10d ago edited 10d ago

Stanley played football, presumably at college. That's what he was doing when his parents passed and he had to come home to take care of Bonnie.

He might have been a walk-on, but I always assumed he was on scholarship. Either way, I could see his path to Kansas football being easier than his path to K-State. There's no telling how good of a player he was.

I also always assumed he had career plans following college that didn't involve immediately taking over the ranch. Of course most of what I've said involves assumptions, so I don't really know.

Edit:

BTW, I love this type of engagement. Jericho is my absolute favorite series, but there's not a lot of genuine discussion around it. Thanks for posting!

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u/traveledhermit 10d ago

I just got to the episode where Stanley’s college situation is explained, and it’s plausible. They actually state that he gave up his scholarship to come home when their parents died.

Sidenote - a friend of mine at KU came from a small town about 40 miles from the Colorado border. Colby was the nearest “big town” which I believe is the equivalent to Jericho in the series. Jericho’s prosperity was kind of unrealistic, but I do think they did small town dynamics pretty well.

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u/AmericanNinja02 10d ago

I've watched it so many times that I've probably just glossed over the scholarship part.

That's one of the things I love about the show is the dynamics of the small town interactions. I came from a very small town (pop. 200) where the nearest "normal" small town (pop. 1,780) was twelve miles away and they nearest "large" town (pop. 18,800) was 26 miles away.

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u/traveledhermit 10d ago

Just got to the big shootout and the drama‘s ramped up to 11! I wonder if they had killed off some of the ensemble earlier in the series, if they’d have garnered more viewers a la walking dead.

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u/AmericanNinja02 10d ago

I hate to think about that, but I love to think about the show continuing. Some of those TWD deaths were brutal. 😭

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

[deleted]

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u/traveledhermit 10d ago

On the map in the show? I read somewhere over the past few days that Colby was the real life inspiration, but I can’t recall where, or if that was just fan speculation. Bogue has a population of 155, and Bogue is 14. Colby is at 5,500 which does seem more equivalent from a size standpoint.

Edit - actually, strike that, Bogue might be closer to the right size than Colby, but it makes the thriving downtown seem even more unlikely.

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u/tonkledonker 10d ago

Spoilers: IIRC, Lawrence wasnt the original target, but the bombers got caught and detonated the nuke early

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u/SpezMechman 10d ago

Jericho is one of my all time favorite, off the radar shows.

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u/Magnolia14 10d ago

Yeah I've never been west of Kentucky but I was for sure that Kansas was flat. When my husband walked by while the scene was Stanley's house, he laughed because it looks more like California. I've seen Stanley's house in several other productions including ads. Maybe the producers thought most of us wouldn't notice. Unrelated: I was considering a rewatch today because Jericho is one of my cozy shows and the temperatures are dropping just a bit in Central VA. Other people have gilmore girls and such, I have Jericho lol.

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u/SpezMechman 10d ago

I’ve heard that Stanley’s house in Jericho is the same one used as Dwight’s house in The Office.

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u/concerningfinding 10d ago

Best seen in the "The Farm" episode (at the end).

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u/traveledhermit 10d ago

Big if true lol

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u/SpezMechman 10d ago

I noted how nice it was as Stanley’s house and how creepy it was as Dwight’s house.

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u/AmericanNinja02 10d ago

Okay, I'm going to watch The Office again because I have to see that.

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u/Magnolia14 10d ago

So the house is not in Kansas or Pennsylvania lol.

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u/AmericanNinja02 10d ago

😂 The utter deception!

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u/traveledhermit 10d ago

Holiday weekend, too. I bet you could blow right through it!

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u/Overlord_1776 9d ago

The house also in Southland and The Rookie. I’m guessing it’s actually in LA county somewhere with how often it gets used. I didn’t watch it but I think someone said Sons of Anarchy too?