hrough the first season of Showtime's Jeremiah, the title character had learned to look beyond himself and fight the good fight. Jeremiah (Perry) stood on the side of light in a world in which the Big Death had killed all adults some 15 years before, leaving behind an anarchic world filled with children who grew up in a darkness so thick it threatened to overshadow any hope for a better tomorrow. But more than anything, he wanted to learn the truth about his father's fate, and to see his father again.
And so it was that Jeremiah's freshman year went out with a bang, with Jeremiah pursuing leads on his father (Wisden) in the fabled Valhalla Sector, against the warnings of his half-brother, Ezekiel—even as his friends from Thunder Mountain, including charismatic leader Markus (Stebbings), Erin (Kavelaars) and Kurdy (Warner), separately pursued order amid the chaos in St. Louis, and were ambushed by Valhalla Sector forces in the process.
At the start of "Letters From the Other Side, Part I," we see that Jeremiah has successfully infiltrated Valhalla Sector and locked eyes with his father—before a lockstep military commander spirits Jeremiah away to a holding cell.
Meanwhile, separately, Kurdy is running from everything, including himself. Though devastated by the death of his girlfriend, Elizabeth, in the bloodshed in St. Louis, Kurdy is mourning his loss even as he blames Jeremiah for her death, and tries desperately to stay one step ahead of the foreboding black helicopters of Valhalla Sector's forces. As he's running, he literally stumbles upon the voice of God, as conveyed through the odd Mister Smith (Astin). Very much an everyman, Mister Smith has the gift, or curse, of being told things by the higher power, and it falls upon him to convey his message—which is eerily prescient enough to make Kurdy think twice before dismissing him.
Although the totalitarian regime at Valhalla Sector considers itself the government of the United States of America, Jeremiah knows better—and refuses to let his father be convinced to reveal the secret of the Black Death, even if it means enduring torture at the hands of the self-appointed rulers.
Kurdy follows the advice of Mister Smith, and allows himself to be captured by his pursuers—only to find out that there's more to Lee Chen (Byron Lawson), one of Markus' lieutenants, than he knew. By the start of Part II, Kurdy and double agent Lee have hatched an ambitious plan to rescue Jeremiah, his father, Markus and Erin from Valhalla Sector. Key to that plan is a woman named Meaghan (Suzy Joachim), a carrier of the Black Death plague that wiped out the adult population some 20 years ago.
Answering the dark and ambitious questions
As this two-part arc progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that series creator and screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski is going to resolve some big questions and ultimately redefine the direction of the series as it moves into the remaining 13 episodes of season two. While some of the characters continue to evolve across the two episodes, others stay stagnant. Kurdy, for example, broadens his perspective not only to consider what Mister Smith has to say, but to take a stand to encourage the survivors at Thunder Mountain to sign on to the rescue mission. Sadly, some of the scenes between Jeremiah and his father lack the depth and resonance you'd expect from the reunion of a parent and child separated for so long. But another scene is simply riveting: A battered Jeremiah implores his dad not to reveal the secret of the Black Death just to save him, because he wants "to go out clean."
The thing about Jeremiah that sets it apart from other treatments of the future is how thoroughly the series embraces its gritty reality. It doesn't slink away from the unpleasant, grungy side of anarchy, the fact that people die, that people play both sides of the fence, and that somewhere, buried in the darkness, is the very human hope for building a better future.
Director Martin Wood (veteran of numerous episodes of Stargate SG-1) keeps the pace throughout both episodes, with some particularly artistic cinematography during some of the battle sequences in Part II. The helicopter sequences are ambitious, as is the moody, dark lighting that sets the tone throughout.
Perry and Warner are still clearly the leaders in this cast, though their strong performances are backed up by a good group of supporting players. Perry plays his role with his characteristic acerbic tone, but has some emotional scenes as well, including the aforementioned sequence with his father. Joining the cast this season is Astin, whose character shows promise, but doesn't have much to do in these two episodes.
