DJariya

Synopsis:

Will is distracted during his telecast by a phone call and an unflattering Twitter post. Charlie (Sam Waterson) gets a visit from a longtime friend at the Office of Naval Intelligence, who has knowledge of Operation Genoa. Sloan (Olivia Munn) phases from humiliation to rage following a revenge posting. The newsroom traverses the slippery slope separating fact from fiction.

Written by Aaron Sorkin; directed by Alan Poul


Episode 5 of 9


Only 4 more weeks left. Sometimes these short seasons suck.

dex14

Art imitating life for Olivia Munn, eh.

Shannon Nutt

Another "meh" episode for me...even when the storyline SHOULD focus on Will, it doesn't. Season 2 has been a HUGE letdown for me.

One question: When Will says "I guess it's just us now" does he mean him and Mac, him and his sister, him and the audience at home, or something else? Or is it intentionally vague?

boogieman03

I did like the concept of this episode, having it all take place during an episode of News Night.

Seeing the hair on Maggie threw me in regards to the timeline. I guess she didn't immediately cut her hair after Africa? She needs to kit rock bottom via drinking, first?

I had the same question.

dave-o

I took it as a reference to Will and his sibs.

Kal-El

This entire season seems to be missing a sense of fun in the workplace. The whole tone feels too somber which I guess is a little unavoidable given the Genoa story arc and what happened to Maggie. I guess I'm just looking for something akin to the "Rudy" moment from last season.

As for Will's last comment, I thought it was directed at his remaining family. Can't remember if his mom's still alive or not.

DJariya

That's the way I looked at it too.


I personally liked this episode. A few observations:

1) Even though the episode was called "News Night with Will McAvoy" it didn't necessarily mean the whole episode had to be about Will. This was an instance where I thought him as a supporting character worked. It showed more of the behind the scenes rumblings of his show.

2) I liked the most of the episode took place during the course of the newscast.

3) at how Maggie screwed up the edit on that Zimmerman sound bite. Did she not think that people could take that completely out of context the way it was edited? I can't stand her, so I liked seeing her fail in this episode.

4) The Sloan subplot made me Didn't know about the dirty Olivia Munn photos that leaked onto the internet. I just googled the story and she did and said some really whorish stuff.

at Sloan beating the shit out of the ex. Seems to me they are setting her and Don up to be a couple.

5) Thought Will's delayed reaction to his father's death was very moving.


A couple of my friends were actually credited in the episode. They were graphics operators.

Kal-El

In the HBO Inside the Episode, Sorkin actually says that the comment from will was to the audience. That apparently all his life, he's been looking for approval from 2 fronts: his father and the audience. When the dad dies, it's just him and the audience.

Shannon Nutt

That would make sense since Mac was telling the gay kid that Will doesn't have the same relationship with the audience that the audience has with him.

Was anyone else bothered by the fact that there wasn't much of a debate as to whether to cover the Treyvon Martin/George Zimmerman story? Last season they spent a whole episode debating whether or not to cover Casey Anthony because they believed it was 'tragedy porn' - the Zimmerman story would seem to be the same type of story Will wouldn't want to cover on his show. It's doubly bothering since Leona told Will and Charlie last season they could run with the stories they wanted to run with, as long as they didn't screw it up (which we all know they're about to do with the Genoa stuff).

Cellar Door

The storyline involving Maggie's misleading edit of the Zimmerman 911 call is based on NBC actually doing the exact same thing to the Zimmerman 911 audio in real life.

Shady12

So this was my second least-liked episode of the series. Worst was last week. Disappointed in this season.

Dan

I enjoyed this episode, but I feel like I need to go back and pay more attention to all the Genoa stuff that's going on. This season, so far, feels like they're pushing the non-linear aspect a little too much. What worked (mostly) for Arrested Development's 4th season doesn't really work as well here, as it is confusing. With Maggie's hair being blonde again, I just assumed enough time passed for it to grow out, and she "fixed" it to appear more "normal" after being questioned by that lawyer for an entire episode. I guess that's not right... and it's actually BEFORE that sequence?

Anyway, I liked that the Zimmerman stuff was mostly in the background and not really a big deal until the 911 call was trimmed and aired. That said, I hope that that's all that gets mentioned about it on Newsroom. I was concerned about what spin Sorkin was going to put on it, but he and his writers don't seem to be overly concerned with that story anyway. It was a backdrop for everything else going on in the episode.

SuckaMC

Except that I think it's dodging the issue making it a drunk slip-up.

wmansir

They also added a severe time limit, which wasn't a factor in the real event. NBC didn't use the bad edit until several days after the tape was publicly released. In Sorkin's fantasy version the studio caught and corrected the error on air almost immediately. NBC used the edited version repeatedly for more than a week and never issued an on-air correction.

JeffTheAlpaca

It was ok but now I realize Season 1 was a lot better and had more of a cohesive storyline and easier to follow.

chuckd21

Still firing on all cylinders for me.

SuckaMC

Yeah, it reeked of revisionist ass covering. Oh well, other than that, still enjoying it.

lamphorn

Good episode, aside from that pandering pathetic attempt to apologize for NBC's successful attempt to scandalize and race-bait a tragic incident where a man was attacked by a young guy because he didn't like the way he was looking at him and had to defend himself so as not to have his brains spilled all over the sidewalk.

I am liking Jeff Daniel's character more this season. He's finally toned down the Olbermann and turned on a little nuance. As usual, the writing and acting are great in this show.

DeputyDave

I'm disliking most of this season so far. It sucks because I very much liked the last one.

dave94

Wow. I know this isn't the place for this debate, but it's nice to see you figured out exactly what happened that night!

Shannon Nutt

From many online discussions, I'm finding that people who loved Season 1 (of which I was one) dislike this season, and those who loathed Season 1 (but have stuck around) think this season is much better.

I enjoyed the witty back and forth dialogue, the focus on Will's character (what DID happen to his bodyguard and stalker issue, BTW?!), and the way the newsroom worked to get a story on the air (or keep it off) in Season 1. Season 2, to me, just seems like any other well-acted TV drama. It's lost both its spark and its willingness to be controversial this year.

mike7162

This season seems to be operating at a lower energy level than last season. I can't say I'm not enjoying this season, because I am...but the storylines seem kinda scattershot and don't crackle like they did last season.

DeputyDave

Yes.


...and yes.

lamphorn

Well, I WAS there after all.. like everyone else.

JuryDuty

Disliked this episode, except for the punch at the end.

I thought the first three episodes were an incoherant mess, then enjoyed the fourth episode thoroughly...then this. I'm hoping the final three will be good again.

This was one of my favorite shows last year. Sure has fallen.