Article by Stephen Battaglio.

Source: TV Guide, February 11-17, 2008.

Everything you need to know about your favorite postapocalytic drama.

If I haven't watched the show before, what do I need to know?

Jericho is a small Kansas town spared in a terrorist nuclear attack that wiped out 23 cities across the country. Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich), a local bad seed who did some nefarious work for a military contractor in Iraq, returns home just as the attacks occur. He emerges as a leader of the town, which is targeted for its resources by neighboring burg New Bern. Jericho is also where covert agent Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) has taken refuge with a nuke that was to be used in the attacks (which he tried and failed to prevent). Someone wants it back.

Season 2 is pretty short. Is that going to charge the way the story is told?

Yes. With only seven episodes this time around, the series is focused almost entirely on how the town deals with the newly formed federal government operating out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. "The restrictions we inherited with Season 2--fewer writers, less money and less time--were challenges," executive producer Carol Barbee says. "But they gave us license to day, 'We're going to do the show that we want to do.' "

Does the new flag raised at the end of Season 1 offer any clues about what's coming up?

It represents the Cheyenne government, also known as the Allied States of America. President Tomarchio (George Newbern) is its shady leader. "The legitimate heir to the democratic government is in Columbus, Ohio, but they don't have the number of military bases on that side of the fence that the Cheyenne government does," Barbee says. Esai Morales plays Army Major Beck, who is brought in from Cheyenne to restore order in Jericho after its skirmish with new Bern. But over time, Barbee says, "He'll ask himself, 'When do I stop being a military man and start just being a man and doing what I think is right?' "

Have we seen the last of Ravenwood, the mercenary army that rolled into town during Season 1?

You'll have to watch, but we can tell you that Ravenwood's parent company, Jennings & Rall, will play a very big role. "Think Halliburton," is how Barbee describes the government contractor that sets up shop in Jericho. The producers have even created a realistic corporate Web site (jenningsandrall.com), detailing the company's holdings, "I thought for a moment that it was a real company," James says. "i wondered if they were going to be concerned about how they were portrayed in the show."

Is there any time for romance?

Jake has hooked up with hometown sweetheart Emily (Ashley Scott), and his brother Eric (Kenneth Mitchell) is still with barkeeper Mary(Clare Carey). But the only relationship that really develops in the second season story is between Mimi (Alicia Coppola), the high-strung IRS auditor from Washington, D.C., and laid-back Jericho farmer Stanley (Brad Beyer).

What do those two see in each other anyway?

"It started out as being circumstantial as Mimi had nowhere to go," Coppola says. "All of a sudden, Mimi's with a man who doesn't give a crap about any of the things that she used to care about. He's got character. He's got strength, He's probably everything she always wanted, but never knew she did."

Several characters were killed off last season. Any casualties this time around?

Only one, but it's big and it kicks the main story into high gear. Barbee says, "We really felt that something had to happen that was so heinous, the town would rise up against the Cheyenne government." Get ready to duck and cover.

Article is a two page spread.