The Cold Open (Plot)
The details of Maggie and Gary’s trip to Africa come to light. Will embarasses Shelly, Neil’s Occupy Wall Street friend, in an on-air interview, which causes her to withhold information she’s heard regarding Genoa. Jim gets taken off the Romney campaign by Mac for passing a 30-minute interview to his new crush/competitor Hallie (Grace Gummer, aka Mini Meryl Streep).
The Lead Anchor (Top Performance)
Without question, Maggie (Alison Pill) is the top performer. I never thought I’d ever say that up until this point because Maggie has been the most annoying character of the show, but she did a phenomenal job portraying Maggie post her traumatic Africa experience. Pill could have really blew this from the moment Daniel was shot off her back, but she really rocked this new fraggle Maggie that will now be brought to light over the next couple of episodes.
Today’s Top Story (Favorite Part of the Episode)
I loved the scene where Will visits Shelley at her school and apologizes to her for his behavior. We never see Will apologize for anything, especially the people he brings and berates on Newsnight. It was a moment that not only made us laugh but helped the viewers see this new vulnerable side of Will.
The Human Interest Piece (Little Thing We Loved)
Charlie Skinner is my absolute favorite character on the show and the little bits and pieces of goofiness from him this episode was exactly what we needed in the midst of all of the drama. I especially loved the scenes where he pressed his body up against the glass window to scare the team or when he yelled at Don and Elliott at the end of the episode. I think I can speak for everyone when I say it’s impossible to dislike Charlie! He is seriously one of a kind!
http://youtu.be/WYqTWgzvzlE
They Could’ve Buried This Lead (Worst Part of the Episode)
This episode was phenomenal but I guess if I had to pick one thing it would be the kiss between Hallie and Jim. It was kind of gross! Maybe it’s because I’m a diehard Maggie/Jim fan, but whatever. I’m hoping after this we see less and less of Hallie and this kiss is a one time thing. She’s seriously the driest guest character we’ve ever seen on this show, which is surprising considering who her mother is!
Also, I hate hate hate everything about JD! He must be the worst journalist in the world. Every week I feel like I’m yelling at him for being wrong. He’s starting to drive me crazy!
Episode Thoughts
Last season, there were three episodes where after watching it for the first time, I said “Wow, that was amazing.” I haven’t felt that way about any of the episodes this season up until this point. Maggie and Gary’s experience in Africa was completely impossible to forget and I felt I was in a complete out of body experience just watching it all unfold. It is now the star storyline of the show and I can’t wait to see how this affects Maggie’s character development.
Also, I love how there was a ton of very necessary moments of comic relief in this episode. This was mostly brought on by Will humiliating OWS Shelley, in addition to Charlie Skinner and Sloan Sabbath’s typical antics. The witty remarks of those two never get old!
I’m more excited about seeing what unfolds in terms of Genoa and Africa more than anything else this season. These are the two storylines so far that are about to get really interesting. I’m also dying to know which news stories will be included for the rest of the season. We are officially in 2012, my friends, and next week, we also get to see how the Trayvon Martin case gets introduced on Newsnight. I’ve been kind of waiting for this story to come to light and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds!
all photos credit to hbo
VASSAR FOR THE WIN | And just as I am afraid that I won’t be able to make fun of anyone or anything in this episode, along comes Jim. God bless you and your floppy haired, misguided do-goodery, Harper! Romney’s people have now thoroughly cut ties with the Jim, Hallie and Stillman (formerly known as Reporter Horatio Sanz), which means the trio is forced to share the only room left in a hotel and chase the campaign bus in a compact car. While in that car, Jim and Stillman overhear Hallie’s boss berating her for missing a lame-o speech story that all of the other Romney reporters got, and he finishes off her verbal beat-down with, “Unless you wanna put on heels and f—k me for an hour, you need to stop being a little bitch.” Poor Hallie, champion of women’s issues, is cowed and embarrassed; you can tell because her permanent lemon-sucking face is a little less pinched than usual.