Robert Hawkins has always been one of those characters who is equally comfortable whether taking the offensive, or hiding in the background and executing a flanking maneuver. Let's remember that for all his experience in spying and infiltrating, this is also the man that derailed an entire train with an American tank.

So, while Hawkins was content to hide at the Green cabin for the first two episodes, making a move only while others' backs were turned, in Episode Three he's compelled to come out into the open and be aggressive.

In this episode, Deputy Jimmy returns to work, only to find Wanted posters with Sarah Mason's likeness. Realizing it's only a matter of time before Jimmy helps Major Beck connect the dots between Sarah and Hawkins, the spy takes a bold step by marching into Beck's office and demanding the major stay out of his FBI investigation. Of course the only thing FBI about Hawkins is that fake badge, but ironically the division of the country between the Cheyenne and Columbus governments helps him pull it off. When Beck can't find records of Hawkins' FBI tenure at Cheyenne, he calmly retorts that he's with Columbus, and that when he finds Sarah, she'll be his prisoner, not Cheyenne's.

While Beck and Hawkins are trying to get the measure of each other and figure out exactly what kind of men they're dealing with, Jericho has its own new set of problems. The Hudson River Virus is a growing epidemic that continues to move West despite denials by the Cheyenne-controlled media, but it's a relatively treatable one. There's a life-saving vaccine that needs to be taken prior to infection - and Jennings & Rall is the only authorized supplier. And since the official administration policy is that the HRV isn't a threat, Jericho ain't gettin' no virus.

That determination is made by new J&R administrator and Ravenwood thug Goetz, whose arrival pushes all of Jake's buttons at once. The situation is made worse by Goetz, who reveals he has personal knowledge of Jake's past. You know, the one we only know about through Jake's delirious rambling to his now-deceased father. Forced to reveal the truth to his brother before Goetz does, Jake explains that Ravenwood is J&R's private army, and that as a former J&R contractor, Jake was involved in a firefight at an Iraqi village that quickly degenerated into a bloodbath. A child died, and Ravenwood avoided all legal liability. (If anyone hadn't made the connection between Ravenwood and Blackwater USA yet, now is when it's made clear.)

The presence of Trish is a reminder that J&R isn't your typical evil movie megacorporation. Overruled in her efforts to help Jericho by Goetz, Trish offers the town more subtle help. News of HRV's approach accompanied the return of local merchant/gangster Dale, who has also naturally acquired thousands of vaccine doses from the black market. But Goetz gets (no pun intended) wind and confiscates them. Evidently Cheyenne is about as fond of generic vaccines as our FDA is of Canadian pharmaceuticals. Or maybe it's because J&R doesn't want its profit margin cut into. An unfortunate side effect of giving a for-profit corporation with its own set of interests control over town administration.

Trish, however, obliquely points out that the vaccines could be stolen from the truck transporting them out of Jericho, as long as the containers with the bar codes on them make it from Point A to Point B. Naturally Dale and his hired men use this information to get the drugs back. Naturally Goetz finds out. He leans on the weak link in Dale and Jake's chain - Dr. Dhuwalia, survivor of the slaughter Ravenwood perpetrated in Rogue River whose medical expertise is necessary for proper administration of the vaccines. Goetz strongarms the location of the vaccines out of the doctor, but arrives only to find Jake by himself. A Mexican standoff ends only when J&R receives reports that the vaccines were in fact destroyed at Cheyenne. Goetz has to leave empty-handed while the doctor and Emily help save the townspeople from the fate of quarantined towns farther east.

Huh. Only way the records could show that the vaccines were destroyed is if someone altered the records. In case people couldn't figure out who, we see Trish shredding files.

Meanwhile, Hawkins has been known to risk his own safety to protect Jericho, such as when he allowed his computer to be traced by Cheyenne in order to locate the train New Bern was using to send reinforcements from behind. But the HRV isn't even on his radar here. Jake is willing to sacrifice his badge to get the vaccines out to the people, but Hawkins needs Jake to remain sheriff just as strongly. With Darcy asked to leave Beck's headquarters, Jake is the only one with access to Beck's reports. (Well, there's Heather, but she's not a part of the Hawkins-Green alliance yet. I would imagine that's a resource they'll want to tap sooner or later.) Hawkins "discovers" that Sarah's fingerprints, as well as those of an "unidentified" man who tried to kill Hawkins in Season One, are classified by the government. Shocked to discover that his quarry is probably a government spook, Beck asks Valente on Hawkins' suggestion if it's true. Valente denies it, not knowing Beck has caught him in the lie, or that Hawkins is starting to believe he can get Beck to switch sides.

If Valente doesn't have Beck replaced in a few days first.

1. Besides the first Hawkins-Beck interactions I've been waiting for since Episode One, Beck's relationship with Heather continues to evolve. We learn that Beck has a wife out there who may or may not be alive, but that may not matter if sparks keep flying between the two. That Jake-Emily-Heather triangle has appeared to be dead since even before she came back, so the way certainly looks clear for her. She's already turning into the "angel on his shoulder".

2. Dale was seen more and more in Season One as opportunistic and power-hungry, but his return marked the reemergence of his decent side, as he proves to be a trustworthy ally in Jake's vaccine liberation plan. And since Skylar will apparently return in Episode Four, judging from previews, Dale could be maturing into a more sympathetic figure this season.

3. It was a great episode for the American Sign Language community, since Trish was trying to convince Bonnie to visit Cheyenne to see what's happening in the outside world. (Apparently there are more people in Cheyenne in this continuity now, then there are in all of Wyoming in the real world.) Stanley and Mimi continue to get plenty of airtime as Stanley tries to hold onto the sister he's raised for years. And there's a TON of signing going on. Trish (Emily Rose) continues to be the sympathetic side of J&R, and already I'm looking at characters on the show and trying to figure romantic possibilities for her if she becomes a long-term character. Which I wouldn't be opposed to.

4. It's ironic that both J&R and Hawkins could be accused of the same thing - putting their own interests ahead of the safety of the town. J&R is willing to endanger Jericho if it means protecting their business interests in the vaccine business. (Although I also suspect it wouldn't break Goetz' heart if the town that successfully told him "NO" last season was ravaged by an epidemic.) Hawkins was willing to do the same if it meant preserving his investigation into the Cheyenne conspiracy. The difference is that J&R was doing it for the money. Hawkins has decided that the needs of the many - the American nation - outweigh the needs of the few - the people of Jericho. (Of course, his wife and children are three of those people. Doesn't he want to see them vaccinated" Jake never bothered to explain about the virus to him, so we don't know.)

5.  Does Deputy Jimmy remind anyone else of Hurley from ABC's "Lost"?

6. Apparently things are going to get "deadly" next week, according to the preview. Now, this could be like one of those Desperate Housewives commercials where the dead person turns out to be the neighbor who's been on twice, or the annoying guest-star who everyone wanted dead anyway. But it could also be for real. And if I had to put money on it, I'd wager that Skylar is going to die. Goetz would be my second choice. Don't know how I'd feel about that.

We're going to blow past the halfway point in Season Two next week. After four episodes. Man, that's depressing. But it's seven more episodes than I expected six months ago. That in and of itself is a victory.