Reports surfaced weeks ago that CBS had asked the producers of "Jericho" to film two separate endings for the Season Two finale. One would be more of a cliffhanger ending, in the event that Jericho was renewed for a third season. The other would have more closure, if Jericho earned the dubious distinction of being canceled twice in two years by the same network.

Even before CBS aired the latter ending this past week, the news had already leaked out that Jericho had been cancelled. Fans immediately began speculating on how the alternate ending differed from the one aired, in which Jake successfully flies the last nuclear bomb to the Texans while Hawkins barely survives a gunshot wound. In interviews executive producer Carol Barbee has already revealed that in the alternate finale, Hawkins forces Jake to leave him behind in Cheyenne so he can delay the pursuing troops. Hawkins lives but is taken prisoner, and one of the major storylines of Season Three would have been the rescue mission.

The following is the actual dialogue between Jake and Hawkins at the Cheyenne airport, right before Jake boards the plane carrying the package.

JAKE: I'm not leaving you! You're getting on that plane with me and we're going to San Antonio, and once you're there . . .

HAWKINS: Jake, you're not going to San Antonio.

JAKE: I'm not?

HAWKINS: Jake, I think it's time I let you in on the real secret I've been guarding. You're not taking that to Texas. You're taking it to Los Angeles, California.

JAKE: But Chavez - the Texans - the bomb!

HAWKINS: It's not a bomb.

(JAKE hesitates. Long pause.)

JAKE: Then what is it?

HAWKINS: Something much more valuable. Some nuts, some lists of signatures, a few scripts with some of the best goddamned writing this side of Kansas, and a little something called hope. You know what hope is, Jake? Hope is defying the odds. Hope is being told you're wrong, and telling them back that you're right. Hope is believing that the good and the right will triumph over the stupid and the lazy.

JAKE: Hawkins, what are you talking about? This is war!

HAWKINS: You're damn right it is. It's like every other war - it's a war for the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans. Do you realize that fewer people are interested in our struggle, than they are in watching reruns? Jake, they'd rather watch a rerun they've already seen, about a murder case that's already been resolved, and a mystery that they already know the ending to. Now you explain to me how that's more compelling than our nation's battle for survival.

JAKE: I - I can't.

HAWKINS: Exactly. That's because you're from Jericho. A real town, with real people. In that other world, your town doesn't exist. Or at least, it'll be something you won't recognize. In that world, Stanley and Mimi's marriage won't last a year. Mimi will have a drunken, pointless affair with that deputy no one likes. Mary will leave your brother at the altar. Dale will get top billing because he's under eighteen. A serial killer will begin preying on the town. And Darcy - sweet, beautiful Darcy - will suddenly look a lot more like that Monique woman who does that crap on VH-1.

JAKE: You make it sound like Kim Kardashian will be making a guest appearance.

(HAWKINS gives JAKE a meaningful look.)

JAKE: No!

HAWKINS: Jake, our nation is under attack. It's being attacked by things like "celebreality" and Tom Bergeron. There's a bigger disease out there than HRV, and it's called TMZ. But you can stop it, Jake. You can get that "bomb" to Los Angeles, and you can find executives who make Jennings & Rall look like philanthropists. And you can speak for the people, Jake. Let them know that real Americans don't want a world where you can't watch compelling drama without having David Caruso in the picture. People have to be made to understand!

(Sounds are growing louder. JAKE looks up. A horde of DANCERS, CELEBRITY JUDGES, MEN IN SUNGLASSES, COMMITMENT-PHOBIC BACHELORS, and SEX-ADDICTED DOCTORS are coming. They look happy. And hungry. For human flesh.)

JAKE: Oh my God. They have to be stopped.

HAWKINS: I'll buy you some time. Just be careful when you reach the skies. They'll be patrolling for you. I hear that Trump is a mean shot. When you get to Los Angeles, I have friends there. Dexter Morgan, Jack Shepherd, Charlie Crews. They'll help you. It's their lives on the line too.

JAKE: I won't let you die. I'll come back for you!

HAWKINS: Just give me a gun. If I'm dying, I'm taking that Bruno guy with me.

JAKE: I'd give that a ten.

(JAKE and HAWKINS shake hands. Then JAKE runs for the plane and is able to taxi onto the runway before the arrive. HAWKINS presses a hand against the gunshot wound and turns to face their enemies. He raises his pistol.)

HAWKINS: Say nite-nite, Flavor Flav.

1. That would have been so much better.