Episode 21 - Coalition of the Willing

I have been dealing with some internet issues that hopefully have resolved themselves, and so I return with my posting by talking about this weeks episode Coalition of the Willing.
First, I would like to say that I have not had any news of whether or not the return next fall of Jericho is official yet,

Now, on to what we saw this week ~
We see that Jake, Johnston and Hawkins have returned from the New Bern fight, and report what they saw and did to Gray. Next we see Stanley , Jimmy and a few others standing in the night, guarding the towns border, and a lone person walks toward them. Stanly calls out to him, asking who it is. Stanley then brings this person, a teen it looks like to Grays office in town, where he hands a walkie-talkie radio to Gray. On the other end is none other than Constantin, and he has demands! He wants Jericho to forfeit 7 farms, one of which is Stanley's Farm as well as 1/2 the salt mine; if this is not done good old Phil says New Bern is invading Jericho!
Meanwhile, Eric is at the Medical Center, and he is looking into the same room where April and their child died, and as he does he has a flash back ( I prefer to call it feeling guilty), then his mom shows up and takes him to be cared for and that ends.
Meanwhile , Gray is meeting with the towns people, and outside the office Dale makes arrangements with a local woman farmer, who says she is giving up on her farm because it is so far outside of town that Gray and the men can not defend it. Dale tells her he will defend it, she tells him if he can defend it he can have it! Dale then makes a deal with the refuges to help him defend that farm, he will then give them a stake in it. This means they now will have a place of their own, making them truly part of Jericho, as Dale puts it; they now will have a future.
Mary comes to the medical center and see Eric and they have a love filled reunion while Eric's mom looks on, and she finally sees that this is making them both happy so she is happy.
With the four hours up, Gray has a decision to make. Outside in the hall, Jake meets up with Emily, and as he is trying to break it to her that Heather is dead, the first round of mortars falls on Jericho! Jake rushes outside to find many hurt in the street, including his Mom. As he rushes to her , more mortars fall, and Jake tries to protect his mom.
Johnston rushes outside to help Jake with his wife, the devastation is huge. Gray tells everyone to get into shelters, when Constantine comes on the radio and gives him one more hour to comply. He also tells Gray that he will shell the town day and night for as long as it takes. Hawkins meets Marcy and tells her they should go to a safe house in Montana, but she tells him she wants to go home.
Meanwhile, Stanley radios that he has found the mortar site, that it is on a flat bed truck, and Gray tells him and his men to try to take the site. Jake and the others try to stop him from giving the order.
They wait and wait, until another mortar falls.
Later, Stanley and what is left of his men come back into town and tell Gray and Jake that the others are all dead, that they had met with a ton of planned resistance. Jake then tries to chock the life out of Gray, and frankly I don't blame him. This is where it becomes apparent to Gray that he is in way over his head.
Johnston tells Jake to do recon and Emily says she is going as well. They ride out on horseback, and as they are talking Eric rides up, say that Stanley spotted a truck coming. Jake ends up trying to get into the cab of the truck, but there is a surprise coming. Its Jonah and his men, and after some deal making with Emily, ( 50 percent of the take from New Bern's mortar site) they all go back into town.
Johnston has asked Dale for men to help fight, but little Dale wants to make deals for more farms! Johnston tells him this is about more than land, and that Dale already has half of a slat mine and some farms, that he needs to do it for Johnston.
All the men meet in the bar, and discuss what to do next, and in comes Jake, Emily, Hawkins and Jonah. Johnston ends up making a deal with Jonah for his help. They decide to go take the mortar site themselves, and Johnston tells Eric and Jimmy to go to Gray and stop him from making the deal to give away the farms to Constantino. Its barely a success, with alot of arguing by Gray, he is now losing it big time.; but they make it and convince him to use his business savvy to keep Constantino on the ropes.
Then we see Johnston in a truck driven by a New Bern man, and they are heading to the mortar site. Johnston has a gun on the driver, who tells him he remembers him from a race one year in New Bern.
Inside the truck is Jake, Hawkins, and others. They plan to get the drop on the New Bern men when they come to the back to open the truck. As they arrive at the mortar site, the driver tells the check in man that there is a barbecue venison in the back for them. Almost all the men who are guarding the site come to the back of the truck save a few. As soon as the open the truck Jake and Hawkins get the drop on them, and get them disarmed and in the truck, just at the driver gets away from Johnston, and screams "they're here!". This brings the other guards and there is a gun battle , that looks to be lost until over the hill come Jonah and his men. The battle ends quickly, and as Jonahs men are picking up the guns and searching the bodies for whatever they can take, Jonah comes upon the driver, he is hurt but alive. Jonah looks down at him, and then as Johnston screams NO!, he shoots him. Emily sees this, and is in shock ( this is strange seeing how there has been a nuclear war, and other things happen)
As Jonah and the others pack up the supplies they took from the mortar site, Jonah tells them he has changed the plans to split it 50-50, that he is taking all the guns and fuel and supplies. He tells Emily that she needs to stay away from him, she is a teacher and he is a thief.
Jake wants to stop him, but Hawkins tells him that he has guns, and later we see Hawkins and Jake at Hawkins storage building; where the entire unit is filled with guns of all kinds, enough for almost the entire town to at least have one gun each to protect themselves.
The meeting between Gray and Constantino ends with Phil calling him and telling him that he blew it and that this means war, as Johnston looks on; Gray breaks down and asks him for his help. They shake hands and Johnston takes over leadership once again.
Later in the town square, all the towns people are gathered. Johnston tells them basically that like it or not, war has come upon them, and they should pray for each other, and for those people of New Bern. He tells them this is more than a fight for their lives, its a fight for their very existence.
Then Jake tells everyone that is able bodied and over 16 to get in line for a gun. They begin handing the guns out, as Dale and his men, Marcy, Emily, and Hawkins daughter among others get their weapons. It is time to fight! While this is going on, Stanley and some men, all in dark clothes are heading over a hill, looking down on the city of lights, New Bern.