Category: TV

After a first episode with heavy setup and a second episode with a lot of setup, season two of The Newsroom appears to be hitting its stride in the third episode. Most of the characters played to their strengths and turned up the volume. The lone exception was Don, who is disturbingly and frustratingly stuck in “Nice Guy Don” mode. Here are some assorted thoughts on episode three.

Ballers: Several characters got their balls back this week (metaphorically speaking). After two episodes of being an insufferable woe-is-me whiner, Jim fights back on the Romney campaign and even manages to charm Meryl Streep’s daughter. Slumdog Millionaire gets frustrated that his Occupy Wall Street coverage keeps getting shot down and uncharacteristically barks back at MacKenzie. Sloan, played by our not-the-least-bit beloved Olivia Munn, slices up her executive producer in a way that would be sexy if the character wasn’t being played by one of the worst people on Earth. There was a lot of fire in this week’s episode and it was quite enjoyable.

J.A.W.: Will McAvoy was at his best this episode — Jumbled Amazing Will (J.A.W.) — which is to say that he was all over the place. He gleefully tore apart the republican candidates for not sticking up for a gay soldier, irrationally terrorized the newsroom over a press leak, angrily laid into Mac over their turbulent relationship, charmingly asked Nina Howard (played by the awesome Hope Davis) to kill a story, and softly denied that he was still in love with Mac. To top it all off, the episode ended with him getting laid. He showed a wide range of emotions and got a lot done. This is why he’s the show’s hero.

Charlie Returns…Almost: Although the head of ACN’s news division had some funny lines in the first two episodes of the season, they lacked the bite and impact of his best lines from first season. Charlie had better moments in episode three. While they didn’t quite pack the punch of his best zingers, they were a step in the right direction. Hopefully this trend continues.

Don’s Regression: I’m still trying to figure out what the hell happened to Don Keefer. He used to be the Han Solo of ACN’s news division. This week he was Jar Jar Binks. He unsuccessfully put tire-like wheels on his chair, leading to a bit with physical comedy. His chair is way to low and causes him to fall if he leans back. Where is the roguishly dickish Don that ruled the show in season one?!? That guy ruled. Now we have this sensitive fellow that keeps falling out his chair. *sigh*

Maggie is a Mess: Things are coming to a head for Maggie. Don dumped her, Jim’s treating her “like a sister,” and her best friend (that she has to live with for financial reasons) isn’t speaking to her. To prepare for her trip to Uganda, she started taking meds that have lots of side effects — irrational fear, suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts, itchiness, etc. Never mind that these side effects aren’t supposed to show up for another week. Maggie is an emotional mess now and is using the meds as an excuse to act out. It’s very cute (though not cute enough to help you figure out why Jim fell for Maggie over Lisa).

The Salami Story: The investigation of Operation Genoa (the sail, not the salami) is ramping up. Mac and Brian Fantana Jerry Dantana met with a soldier that was allegedly part of the black-ops mission that involved chemical warfare. Jerry has the staff combing through Twitter to find a second source for the story. They’re using translated tweets from a random source? No wonder the crew gets in legal trouble over this coverage.

This week I’m posting my observations on The Newsroom after three viewings instead of the 11 I had for episode one. Ha! It was a decent episode, but far from one of the show’s best. There’s still a lot of setup going on. Still, there were some nice moments and an excellent song closed out the show. Here are some random thoughts on  the second episode of The Newsroom.

Anchorman: One of the things I forgot to mention last week was the first episode of The Newsroom season 2 made me think of Anchorman. Will was goofing off a bit and had some Ron Burgundy moments. The substitute senior producer is named Jerry Dantana, which sounds similar to Brian Fantana. Coincidence?!? Probably. Okay, moving onto this week’s episode….

Sloan Becomes Olivia: In this episode the normally brilliant-but-socially-awkward Sloan Sabbith was more like the wretched actress that plays her (Lisa Olivia Munn) — conniving and manipulative. She clearly wants Don and is helping Don’s ex-girlfriend Maggie move on. Her ulterior motives are thinly veiled, but Maggie is too frazzled and self-absorbed to notice. I hope this storyline develops to reveal that beneath Sloan’s formidable intellect and goofy charm, she’s a terrible person inside.

The Passion of the Don: Mr. Keefer spends most of this episode trying to get more coverage for the Troy Davis case. He cares deeply about the situation and the man. It consumes him and he’s frustrated that he can’t do more to help clear a man that he believes is innocent. Last week we got Nice Guy Don, which I wasn’t sure about. This week we got Passionate Don, which is an improvement. Still, I’m anxious for the return of Sardonic Dick Don. That guy rules.

Maggie Gets Caught: Everyone’s favorite flustered pixie (not mine) was in damage control this week. Her life has been rearranged because of a YouTube video and she’s frantically trying to cover her lying ass. It all backfires and she’s called out (by her much hotter roommate and best friend Lisa) for being a liar. I loved how coldly Lisa tore her up. Lisa was completely right…and so sexy when she’s angry. Also, Maggie gets her assignment to cover a story in Uganda, paving the way for her to get messed up by Kamala or something.

Jim Mopes: Captain Whiny is still running away from his problems on the Romney bus. He’s developing a strange relationship with another embedded journalist, played by Grace Gummer. She alternates between goofing on him and showing concern. I couldn’t really tell because I was distracted by Gummer’s resemblance to her famous mother.

Slumdog Millionaire Goes to Jail: The adorably earnest Mr. Sampat gets mocked for pitching an Occupy Wall Street story when the first wave of protests ends up being a trickle. He lucks his way into some awesome footage of cops getting violent with the protesters, ends up in jail, and delivers a funny line about prison changing a man (he was locked up for roughly one hour).

Will’s Mini-Explosion: News Night’s main man didn’t carry this episode narratively, but displayed the heart of the show. On the outside he’s gruff and obnoxious, but if you keep chipping away at the numerous layers of Will McAvoy then you’ll find a sensitive man the cares deeply about American and wanting it to change. It all comes to a head when he goes to the police station to bail out Slumdog Millionaire. He explodes on a police officers, mostly for reasons that have nothing to do with the situation.

Please Don’t Stop the Music: I’ve always loved the show’s use of music. I loved that it used Radiohead’s “High and Dry” in an early episode of season 1 (episode 2?). This episode is capped by Willie Nelson’s “You Were Always on My Mind.” It worked so well for the multiple storylines — a great song that helped improved an otherwise okay episode of The Newsroom.

Now that I’ve watched it more than 11 times, I’m ready to write some random thoughts about the first episode of season two of The Newsroom. In case you haven’t guessed, I’m still enchanted by the show, despite the fact that Bolivia Bunn is in it. Yes, she’s still terrible, but the show is still wonderful. Anyway, here are some musings on the first episode. Please chime in with your own in the comments section!

Salami Wrapped: The show kicks of with our hero, Will McAvoy, fielding questions from ACN’s lawyer, played by the fantastic Marcia Gay Harden. The crew is in legal trouble over the reporting of a black-ops mission called Genoa. Apparently genoa is a type of staysail. Since I have zero knowledge of sailing (other than that rich people and pirates enjoy it), the first thing I thought of was salami. Whether it’s salami or sail, the Genoa ordeal frames the season, with episodes revealing how the scenario developed, peaked, and went to hell. Writer Aaron Sorkin loves skipping around in time and he’s very good at it. Some see this device as Sorkin going back to the well, but as a fan I’m going to chalk it up to using an effective and time-trusted tool (like the parenthetical statements I’m so fond of).

MacKenzie McHale is a Hot Spaz: Sorkin was criticized for writing this character as a flustered nitwit that also happens to be the executive producer of the show. In the first ten minutes of the episode, Mac shows off her producer chops by fixing two potentially huge problems with a broadcast in a matter of seconds. In the hands of a lesser producer, the broadcast would have been ruined, but Mac saved the day (or night, as it were, since their program is called News Night). After that, she spends most of the rest of the episode being a flustered nitwit.

The critics that panned Sorkin for making McHale such a spaz are now accusing him of overcompensating. *sigh* I don’t know what the problem is; I totally believe that Mac is a sharp and capable woman that’s also romantically inept and sometimes socially disastrous. I fell in love with her character last year because Emily Mortimer made her strong, smart, and dorky (plus that accent). I don’t know why some critics have a problem with the show pulling back the curtain and showing (dramatically embellished) technical problems that happen during a news broadcast. I love that more people know what Avid iNews is thanks to the first season of The Newsroom. I love that this episode showed some of the behind-the-scenes issues a television producer has to deal with. And most importantly, I love that Mac saved the day.

Will McAvoy Sings “Friday”: This role has redefined Jeff Daniels to me. He owns it and crushes it in every episode — so much so that I have a hard time watching him in movies like Pleasantville and Dumb & Dumber. His portrayal of Will McAvoy is angry, vulnerable, insecure, gruff, endearing, and charming all at the same time. Will goes through the full spectrum of McAvoy moods in this episode, but also adds some outstanding comedy. While Mac was putting out fires in the control room during a commercial break, Will was singing Rebecca Black’s “Friday.” I’m amazed that he managed to make one of the most wretched and annoying songs of 2011 so entertaining. That’s simply masterful work.

Don Keefer 180: Wow. What the hell happened to Don? Arguably the coolest cat at Atlantis Cable News (which is secretly owned by Aquaman, in my head), Keefer started off last season as an angry dick and ended it as being an angry dick that you’d like to drink beers with. While he still had some of his trademark snarky zingers in the episode, he spent a lot of it being a dashing and sensitive ladies man. He resists the temptation of Bolivia Bunn’s character and deals with a major issue with his girlfriend Maggie in the most unimaginably considerate way possible. I mean, I know nice guys that would have handled Maggie way worse than Don did. While I still dig the character and am curious to see how he changes, the way he dealt with the Maggie/YouTube situation was just unbelievable to me — especially when you consider that he’s suppose to the “dick” of the group.

Maggie Goes Pixie: One of the early hooks in the show was Maggie interrupting Will’s legal interrogation. Her hair has been chopped off and she has a damaged aura about her. This is not the blonde, farm-fresh girl many viewers loved from last year. ACN lawyer Rebecca Halliday went as far as saying that she looked like “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Apparently something awful happened to Maggie while she was reporting in Uganda. When the episode flashes back, she’s still the farm-fresh girl the audience is familiar with. Viewers are going to be wondering what the hell happened to Maggie in Uganda. Superficial viewers are going to wonder why she chose to dye her hair red. Perverted viewers will be wondering if red is her natural hair color and if the curtains match the drapes.

Charlie Skinner Rules: Sam Waterston’s character seems like the coolest drunken executive that ever lived. He’s the hard-ass that you dream about working for. Viewers love the character for his show-stealing scenes and episode-stealing lines. In this episode, he had several snappy Sorkin-esque lines, but they merely seemed like better quips than what everyone else had, rather than those awesome Skinner showstoppers from last year. Still, the character and actor are brilliant.

Jim Harper Goes Emo: While Don was the character male viewers wanted to drink with, Jim was the one they wanted to beat up. After getting his heart vivisected by Maggie, James Tiberius Harper (not his actual name) is having a hard time getting over his heart’s desire and being her boss. He volunteers for a crap assignment as an embedded journalist on the Romney campaign. Mac, being all too familiar with heartache, agrees to let her senior producer do a job that’s suited for a freelancer. Between his mopey sadness and pussified fleeing, you just want to punch Jim (mostly because he’s behaving in a way you can totally identify with). A real man (Don) would have fired Maggie and/or slept with her best friend. Jim runs away on the Romney bus (like I would have done).

Neal Sampat: I’m awfully fond of this character. He’s a dopey idealist that’s also a tech nerd. He’s also brown. Oh wait, no wonder I dig him. Anyway, I’m glad that Slumdog Millionaire is getting an early angle with Occupy Wall Street. All signs point to him falling for one of the Occupy organizers and getting thrown in jail. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all pans out for young Neelamani (it means the blue jewel).

Where’s Tess Westin?!?: The biggest problem with this episode was that there wasn’t any Tess. Hopefully this changes. Fast. Margaret Judson’s so sexy.

Sloan Sabbith…I Guess: It pains me to say this, but Olivia is really good in this show. Her character is sexy, funny, genius-level smart, and socially inept. Remember, that’s her character. Never forget that Olivia Munn is one of the worst people in Los Angeles…and quite possibly the world.