The Cold Open (Plot)
JD (Jim’s New Replacement) further investigates the lead on Genoa and finds a source who confirms to Mac the whole operation. Maggie goes to great lengths to hide the Youtube video from Lisa, but Lisa discovers the video anyway and downgrades their relationship from best friends to landlord-tenant. This, along with her situation with Jim, causes her to express interest in following a lead in Uganda. Speaking of Jim, we begin to see him fancy another reporter, a competitor, who is also venturing alongside him on the Romney bus. Neil gets arrested for trying to report on a Occupy Wall Street rally and Don gets invested in the Troy Davis execution.
The Lead Anchor (Top Performance)
Jeff Daniels huge speech to the police officer when picking up Neil from the police station is by far one of my favorite Will McAvoy speeches. Daniels brings so much passion, humor, and life to this character, it’s impeccable. I’m crossing my fingers and toes for an Emmy win this year. He deserves it.
Today’s Top Story (Favorite Part of the Episode)
This week, we see the real reason why the move to disinclude Will from the 9/11 coverage has been weighing so hard on him. In the scene, two producers watch a young Will McAvoy, a then ACN legal correspondent pulling an all night binger reporting on September 11, 2001. It was moving and it gave a little back story on an anchor, who at one point was very much focused on money and ratings. It was the BEST scene this episode and totally deserving of the opening credits sequence playing in the background.
The Human Interest Piece (Little Thing We Loved)
Neil and the Occupy Wall Street movement has been one of my favorite storylines this season. I’m excited to hopefully see Neil taken seriously as a real journalist. It always seems like he is a huge joke amongst his ACN peers.
They Could’ve Buried This Lead (Worst Part of the Episode)
I’m a huge Maggie and Jim fan, so for me to see this other girl come into the picture, it’s frustrating. It’s one of those “I get why it’s happening but does it really need to?” situations. Plus, this new love interest happened so quickly. It almost never happens that way in real life.
Episode Thoughts
This episode was probably the most imperative of the season, however, it’s probably going to be the least memorable one for the viewers. This is because there was a lot thrown at us, in the midst of the love triangle taking full circle. This is the farthest thing from what the viewers want to see, but in Sorkin’s defense it can’t go from what the Newsroom was in Season 1 to journalism 100% of the time. There has to be that backstory, that extra umph in order for the storylines in this season to progress.
That being said, I think that in comparison to last week, this episode was sub par, but it needed to be done. We needed to see the real reason for Maggie to get so invested in Uganda and the process it took to get there. We needed to see Sloane get involved because if Maggie’s out of the picture, it’s one step closer to Don (this storyline hasn’t been revisited yet but I hope it will be). This all may be just fluff but it’s imperative fluff.
The main thing I really disliked about this episode was that Sorkin threw too much, too fast. Genoa should have definitely been further developed, but the rest of it all could have waited a few episodes. I didn’t expect Neil to get arrested so soon nor did I expect Maggie’s Uganda plan to happen so quickly. My thought process throughout this whole episode was essentially, “Whoa, don’t we have a handful of episodes to go?”
There was a lot to take in this episode, so if you got distracted by all the fluff, watch it again and take some mental notes. This Genoa story is going to be a HUGE HUGE player and it seemed to get lost in the shuffle this week. I’m really excited to see how Sorkin will further develop this and the rest of these story lines. There’s a lot to take in right now and it’s really only just the beginning.
