Review: 'The Newsroom' - '5/1': We got him
Chaos reigns on the night of Bin Laden's assassination
"The Newsroom" staff debates when to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden.
A review of last night's "The Newsroom" coming up just as soon as I go to WebMD to look up some symptoms...
Last week's "The Newsroom" panel at press tour turned into an agree-to-disagree moment between Aaron Sorkin and the show's detractors, particularly on the question of the way the show depicts its female characters. One of the reasons I find press tour sessions like that so valuable is that, depending on what the showunner says, I can either give myself license to keep hanging in there and wait for the show to improve, or license to bail, knowing that he or she doesn't think anything needs improving — or, at least, that we don't agree on where the improvements should be. (It's the reason, for instance, I more or less dropped "2 Broke Girls" after the far more contentious panel with Michael Patrick King in January.)
But I was already sticking with "The Newsroom" in spite of my various objections, because even when Aaron Sorkin lets his worst tendencies fly, he still writes snappy dialogue, and he's still capable of crafting beautiful emotional moments — of which "5/1" featured several, in the scenes where characters got to tell people in some way tied to 9/11 (the pilots, the cops, Kaylee) about Bin Laden's death.
And I will say this, in the interests of absolute fairness: though I disagree with Sorkin that the men and women have been portrayed as equally buffonish over the course of the season so far, "5/1" gave us an hour where Will was a repeated screw-up deserving any and all mockery, while Mac was unquestionably in charge from beginning to end, and at no point did anything necessitating an apology. So that's a start.(*)
(*) For that matter, I appreciated how last week's episode (which went unreviewed while I was busy at press tour) finally let Will recognize how much of a bully he can be, even if the structure of the hour was lifted wholesale from a "West Wing" episode, and even if that flashback to the ugly interview still made sure to give Will the last word (because even when he's being a bully, he's still right).
On the other hand, Maggie remains unsalvageable as a character, and all of the romantic comedy business involving her and Jim and Don and Lisa makes my teeth hurt. (It's a situation where even the characters — whether regulars like Sloan or strangers like the other passengers on the plane — are complaining about how stupid this all is, and yet Sorkin can't stop himself from doing it because he finds it all charming and/or funny, of which it is unfortunately neither.) That doesn't seem to be going away, and while Sorkin has effectively written romance before ("The American President," for instance), for the most part that material has never been a strength even on his best shows (let alone the horror that was Matt/Harriet and Danny/Jordan on "Studio 60"). And the longer, commercial-free structure of a cable show has let Sorkin indulge both that material and other questionable running gags (Will being baked) in a way he wouldn't have been able to on "West Wing."
But Don stopping his tantrum when he made the connection between these pilots and the ones who died on 9/11 got me. Kaylee trying to avoid ruining the party got me.(**) Charlie addressing the staff, and Will (improbably) getting his act together to refer to the events of 9/11 got me.
(**) More Natalie Morales, please. This should be a rule not only for Sorkin, but the TV business as a whole.
It may be just my associations with the day itself (just as my memories of watching the real Gabby Giffords coverage played a large role in how I responded to the end of the fourth episode), but at the same time, it would be so easy for this material to feel like shameless trading on a national tragedy, and it didn't. So good on "The Newsroom" for all of that. And that's why I'll be sticking around, even if Mac goes back to groveling at Will's feet next week, even if it takes Jim seven more seasons to break up with Lisa and start dating Maggie, even if the show never fixes the various things I consider broken about it.
What did everybody else think?
Trending Now on HitFix Boards
| Topic | Started By | Latest Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|---|
| sepinwall |
5 days ago
|
2
|
|
| sepinwall |
15 days ago
|
1
|
|
| Discuss Scripted Dramas on HitFix Message Boards » | |||
News From Our Partners
-
The Telefile - The Most Heinous Person on Reality TV This Week
The Telefile - Does Someone Have to Go?: Work Sucks.... If You Are On This Show
The Telefile - Save Me: Lightning Strikes NBC
-
Weekly Ketchup: Fox and Marvel Both Courting Quicksilver for Comic Blockbusters
Critics Consensus: Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh
Red Carpet Photos with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and More
-
Baz Luhrmann Passed on Directing 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'
Someone Just Paid $1.5 Million to Sit Next to Leonardo DiCaprio in Space
Tim Curry Is Fine After Suffering a Massive Stroke: Report
-
Would You Rather… Hang Backstage with One Direction or the Jonas Brothers?
Watch Kesha Perform 'Machine Gun Love' Live
See Pictures of Your Favorite Celebrity Couples Now + Then
-
Hear This: “Second Best” reflects a pivotal moment all serious bands face
Watch This: The wages and the fear remain high in William Friedkin’s Sorcerer
Cannes Film Festival: Cannes 2013, Day Nine: James Gray and Joaquin Phoenix reteam for a compelling period drama
-
What to Watch This Weekend: Orphan Black, Behind the Candelabra, and Arrested Development's Netflix Debut
Do These Four New Arrested Development Clips Get You Excited for the Show's Return? (VIDEO)
Arrested Development Q&A: Alia Shawkat on Maeby, the Return of the Show, and the Canonization of Mitch Hurwitz
-
'Fast & Furious 6': The Reviews Are In!
'Return Of The Jedi' Turns 30: Secrets Of Ewok Language Revealed!
'Fast & Furious 6' Expected To Lap 'Hangover III' At Box Office
-
Will Smith Raps 'Fresh Prince' Theme with Jaden, Dances "Carlton" and "Apache" with Alfonso Ribiero
'Sons of Anarchy' Season 6: Kurt Sutter to Launch 'Talking Dead'-Style Companion Piece?
The CW's 'Cult' Returns from Cancellation June 28
Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching
Latest Posts
-
Steven Soderbergh biopic about Liberace is HBO's best movie in yearsFriday, May 24, 2013
-
Will gets lost in a case, and Lecter tries to protect Abigail HobbsThursday, May 23, 2013
-
Announcing this summer's blog rewatch seriesThursday, May 23, 2013
-
The Dunphys and Pritchetts head to Florida for the funeral of Phil's momThursday, May 23, 2013
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login Signup- 1
- 2
Next 101 CommentsK
August 6, 2012 at 11:35AM EST Reply to CommentThis event happened on a Sunday! Would these people really be working on the weekends?
sepinwall They weren't. They were at a party, and got called into work, just like most of the other news anchors did that night. (Though not everybody made it, as I recall.)
August 6, 2012 at 11:45AM ESTMark Did not seem like much of a party as Will seemed to be the only one there having some fun and getting a buzz on.
August 6, 2012 at 11:51AM ESTGWBiscuit @K: Did you watch the episode? A comment like that makes one think you didn't bother to watch.
August 6, 2012 at 12:15PM EST@Mark: People were playing drinking games, Guitar Hero, actual guitar, being loud and having fun. Seemed like a party to me.
KobraCola @GWBISCUIT: Not to mention eating pot brownies...
August 6, 2012 at 6:56PM ESTRoy Munson K - Maybe you should pay more attention
August 7, 2012 at 12:54AM ESTmcm99
August 6, 2012 at 11:37AM EST Reply to CommentI am really starting to think the Maggie character is verging on unreedemable. Which is too bad, Allison Pill was so good on In Treatment.
The scene with her forcing Jim to break up with her roommate was terrible. Really awful.
lztouchthedream For me, Maggie is ONLY redeemable because of how good Allison Pill is, and how much goodwill I have towards her from In Treatment, Scott Pilgrim, Milk, etc. Even though the character is ridiculous, she plays the shit out of it, and that's really all you can ask for.
August 6, 2012 at 11:46PM ESTrainman90 For my money, Maggie is the worst female character Sorkin has ever written. And I watched every minute of Studio 60.
August 7, 2012 at 12:26PM ESTjack_is_laughing I agree with Rainman90: Maggie is Sorkin at his worst, absolute worst. But I also agree with LZTOUCHTHEDREAM that Alison Pill is working her ass off and trying to make this crap material work. She's an excellent actress and deserves better, but she's doing pretty good with what she's being given.
August 7, 2012 at 4:03PM ESTEfernand
August 6, 2012 at 11:40AM EST Reply to CommentDid I miss the episode where it was revealed that Maggie is actually Jim's mother? I must have because there is no other explanation for why episode after episode Jim puts up with her scolding him and treating him like a child. Her character is unbearable and its funny that they decided she should be the female in a love triangle because I can't imagine one guy being able to put up with her let alone two. Apart from that I thought this was the weakest episode they've done so far. The scenes in the plane did not work for me and neither did the whole Will getting high storyline.
Scott Rosenberg It makes sense if he has strong feelings for her, and he knows she's only doing it to help bury her own strong feelings for him. Which is the point, even if ruggedly made.
August 6, 2012 at 7:45PM ESTGroo
August 6, 2012 at 11:43AM EST Reply to CommentTo be honest, I thought the behavior of Don was further evidence of Sorkin's problem with female characters. He calls the flight attendant a "crazy lady" when she is attempting to enforce FAA regulations, and it is not until the male pilots emerge from the cockpit that he suddenly offers the flight crew the respect they deserve. Let's not forget that many flight attendants gave their lives on 9/11, and Don should have been equally deferential to the one on his plane on 5/1.
sepinwall This is a fair point as well.
August 6, 2012 at 11:46AM ESTSara YES! This, exactly.
August 6, 2012 at 11:52AM ESTsepinwall And if the moment had built to Don telling it to the flight attendant first, rather than the pilots, it would have felt like a legitimate payoff to all the nonsense involving her earlier in the episode, rather than portraying her as a power-mad crazy woman from start to finish.
August 6, 2012 at 11:59AM ESTjlrepka Agreed. When she first appeared on camera, the flight attendant was frowning and giving the "welcome to LaGuardia" spiel that was so monotone that it was pretty obvious that we weren't supposed to like her.
August 6, 2012 at 1:19PM ESTWhen she's enforcing what seem like arbitrary rules to the detriment of the protagonists she's going to seem overbearing, that's a given. But I never hear attendants making even the most rote announcements that can't summon up that cheerful voice that, even if you know it's not real, sounds like she/he is trying.
SeattleDave I thought it would have been cool if Don had let the flight attendant announce the news to the passengers over the PA. Redemption for Don, the panicking and confused passengers get a payoff, and the flight attendant gets to be a hero.
August 6, 2012 at 2:30PM ESTSharon For better or worse, I was on the flight attendant's 'side' all the way through. These days flying means having to comply with the FAA regulations, many of which I find to be ridiculous and unproductive.' Don typified travelers today who take out their frustrations on the people like this flight attendant who have the least to do with creating the rules yet are tasked to enforce them. I also get why it took the sight of all three crew members to bring Don out of his self-important haze and connect the dots from the story he was covering to the real-life impact on the people on the plane. Reporters/producers normally aren’t around to see the impact of their stories on their audience, so it took him a while to look beyond his tunnel vision and consider what this news would mean to real people.
August 6, 2012 at 3:22PM ESTScott Rosenberg Aaron Sorkin's characters are annoyed by and place blame on flight attendants to the same degree and for the same reason as the public at large, I feel. It's one of the first things we see in the Pilot of The West Wing
August 6, 2012 at 7:47PM ESTFMT My good god guys this is going too far with your issue about gender on this show.
August 6, 2012 at 8:09PM ESTIt is a dramatic moment moved from frustration with regulations to a realisation based on all that is going on in his spinning mind and a captain's uniform.
Too much
natx yeah i think this is a case when the flight attendant just happened to be a woman and don's treatment of her was more about how frustrated passengers in those situations would take it out on any flight attendant - male or female
August 7, 2012 at 1:09PM ESTjack_is_laughing I see both sides of this and think both have merit. Don's final comment, referencing her as a "crazy lady" while announcing the news is piggish behavior from Sorkin, but Don's whole childish need to get off the plane comes as being bratty, immature, and disrespectful while the flight attendant comes across as mature, responsible, and intelligent.
August 7, 2012 at 4:07PM ESTSorkin overdoes it, but Don doesn't come off as right or reasonable anywhere in that episode.
mike Yeah, I never got that Don was the "hero" in this situation. Even in the crazy lady comment.
August 7, 2012 at 7:00PM ESTThat said, this is exactly the same behavior that Josh would engage in on the West Wing, but Bradley Whitford was able to make it charming and funny. Thomas Sadoski doesn't have that skill.
cgeye It was too much, and a sop to United for the product placement, no matter how macabre...
August 7, 2012 at 7:00PM ESTWhat really stung was how the newsboys completely ignored how their behavior resembled that of terrorists -- defying FAA regulations, ignoring the instructions of authorities, to the point of open contempt. Also, it illustrated, from Charlie's anonymous source to that on-plane defiance, how this newsteam believes itself above everyone's rules -- its corporate bosses, security consultants, the NYPD, as well as one beleaguered air hostess. (Which, again, was the most unrealistic part of that arc -- more than one flight attendant would be ordering Don to sit down, *because* of the security culture created after 9/11.)
Sorkin can't lick the boots of the icons of that security culture (to the security man previously treated like his own personal boot black in regard to the secret: "Why don't *you* tell them? Please....) while at the same time mocking it. He's not that good a satirist, nor, right now, that good a plotter.
John
August 6, 2012 at 11:45AM EST Reply to CommentI've been a big detractor of the show so far, but I really enjoyed this episode. I think it cut out a lot of the problematic issues that have been plaguing the series (in my opinion) and did a very good job bring us back to that Sunday evening.
jack_is_laughing Completely agree with you, John. I've been cringing through the last few episodes and criticizing the show, but this last episode was a big improvement. Still has some very sore spots, but this was a big improvement.
August 7, 2012 at 4:09PM ESTevolution1085
August 6, 2012 at 12:00PM EST Reply to CommentI felt the show, even though it was less overtly groan inducing this week, still went through way too many machinations (ie working the Rock's tweet into the narrative) to try and be true to the historical events. It's just more of the "jim has not one, but TWO sources inside BP who are willing to throw their company (and maybe their careers) under the bus".
Bix I think the problem was more Charlie knowing that The Rock's cousin is a Navy SEAL than the idea of mentioning The Rock's tweet. The Rock's Tweet was a weird, interesting part of the story that was widely reported on in the subsequent days and it's not exactly a stretch for Kaylee to be one of his millions of followers.
August 6, 2012 at 12:40PM ESTevolution1085 That's the whole point though Bix. People started talking about the rock's tweet in the subsequent DAYS after... at that moment, anybody who would have read that tweet's first thought is "what the hell does a professional wrestler know about classified intelligence operations"
August 6, 2012 at 12:57PM ESTBix That wasn't the immediate reaction, which was basically the same "Huh?" that everyone in real life uttered when they read the tweet. MCharlie eventually took it in the context of the available information to reach the conclusion he did.
August 6, 2012 at 3:07PM ESTKeith Urbahn's tweet went out within a minute of The Rock's, and that's when the connection was made publicly while the news outlets were waiting on President Obama's speech.
Hatfield
August 6, 2012 at 12:07PM EST Reply to CommentI think these last two have been the best episodes so far. I see your point about Will getting the last word in his interview with the Santorum staffer, but I was ok with it because it gave us one more shot of Damon Gupton--so excellent here and on the late, lamented Prime Suspect--expressing about four things at once. And last word or no, I feel like we were supposed to take Will as an asshole in that moment.
I was equally concerned as most of the reviews I've read after four episodes, but these last two have given me hope.
Oh, and from the predictable objectification department: Lisa is a babe, so drag it out as long as you like, Sorkin! (Just maybe kill Maggie or something.)
Jim Dwight Schrute was a big Lisa fan as well.
August 6, 2012 at 1:00PM ESTboxjohnson
August 6, 2012 at 12:14PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, you've talked a lot about how the magic 8 ball nature of the show can make it painful at times. Have you become desensitized already? Charlies first guess is Bin Laden? Amazing!
I also can't make the connection between the story that had resulted in deaths during the Iraqi war and breaking the OBL story. Charlie might tip off OBL? He wasn't that high.
Finally, with so many writers indulging in pot, how can they continuously get it wrong when it comes to how characters act when "high"? He can barely function until it comes time to do the news. If he can do things he's very comfortable with, why does he lose the ability to TIE A TIE, something he's likely done more times than the news?
GWBiscuit If you listened to what Charlie said, he wasn't concerned about tipping off OBL. He was concerned about the safety of the US soldiers that did the mission, they still might not be out of harms way.
August 6, 2012 at 12:18PM ESTWill was also hopped-up on Vicodin as well. I have never taken a strong form of medicinal marijuana (they established that Kaylee's dealer friend said it was pretty strong) and had a Vicodin (probably with alcohol), but I would think that it might mess you up if you take too much. And based on Will's bragging about how his body can handle a lot, I'm guessing it can't and that was his ego speaking.
Mike I actually had the same visceral reaction to Charlie making that connection, but then I thought about it a bit, and as long as you accept the fact that 70 year old Charlie Skinner knew the Rock's cousin was a SEAL (which is the more far fetched part of it to me), it's really the only call you can make since there weren't any Somali Pirate type situations at the time of Bin Laden's death that would have necessitated a SEAL mission that the President would be reporting at 10:30 on a Sunday night outside of Bin Laden. Once you know the SEALs are involved, that's pretty much the only call given the circumstances.
August 6, 2012 at 9:16PM ESTespo
August 6, 2012 at 12:18PM EST Reply to CommentEven though this was the best episode of the season besides the pilot, as long as the Jim/Maggie/Don/Lisa storyline is ongoing then chunks of every episode will be awful. If Don and Sloan had hooked up in last week's episode it would have brought something interesting into that dynamic.
And BTW, didn't they talk about how Sloan lit someone on fire? When did she turn into the female version of Bobcat Goldthwait?
DJ Doena > And BTW, didn't they talk about how Sloan lit someone on fire?
August 6, 2012 at 2:33PM ESTYep. The treasury secretary.
Patrick Sloan setting Timothy Geithner on fire and not losing her job for it was another implausible event. Its not something a reporter could just shrug off. It would have been be all that she was known for from then on (despite her looks and intelligence). It's another forced attempt to make her seem socially awkward. I'm a big fan of olivia munn, but I don't know why Sorkin insists on hammering home that she can't deal with people socially. It just doesn't seem real, like many other things on the show
August 7, 2012 at 6:35PM ESTmike Sloan setting Timothy Geithner on fire wasn't supposed to be realistic, it was just supposed to be funny, and I thought it succeeded at that.
August 7, 2012 at 7:44PM ESTJMacQueen
August 6, 2012 at 12:55PM EST Reply to CommentMore Kelen Coleman, I say.
And can Jim pull off the Roommate Switch? Seinfeld said it was impossible.
George P Somehow i dont see Maggie been flattered by a menage-a-trois suggestion... >;)
August 6, 2012 at 1:20PM ESTRalph Sloane
August 6, 2012 at 1:29PM EST Reply to CommentKind of a cool, strange coincidence that this week's episode of Breaking Bad was called "Fifty-One" and this week's episode of The Newsroom was called "5/1".
Mojo CoCo
August 6, 2012 at 1:34PM EST Reply to CommentI have a pretty large personal investment in these events, so last night's episode hit me pretty hard. When they started the reveals, all I could think was "we are all new yorkers".
Dwayne Mendoza
August 6, 2012 at 2:36PM EST Reply to CommentHaven't seen the show yet... and now that I see it's about 9/11 (the events that gave us Sorkin's fabulous special episode of THE WEST WING), I probably won't.
The thing that is striking about this is (a) Alan couldn't even work up the energy to file 750 words on this (unless I count the subhead), and (b) it currently has 24 comments. The BREAKING BAD review has over 200.
Yeah, I know it got filed a lot later. There were more updates to the BREAKING BAD review in the same time. The other day, Mo Ryan eviscerated the show again. Days later, it had 19 comments. Even the TV Club review of the show had only 2,800 comments (OK, 280).
I've seen more buzz generated by comb covered in wax paper. It;s the same pattern that occurred on STUDIO 60.
ghoti You decide what's worth watching by "buzz" and number of comments underneath internet reviews?
August 6, 2012 at 6:35PM ESTDwayne Mendoza No, you're conflating two different paragraphs.
August 7, 2012 at 12:23PM EST1. I'm no longer watching the show live because BRAKING BAD is on against it. I looked at the review to see whether it would be worth my time to watch. Now that I know the show is about 9/11, I know it is not worth watching.
Aaron Sorkin has demonstrated repeatedly that he is a complete moron about 9/11. I'd prefer to see a show where the featured news story was about feminism, rather than listen to Sorkin talk about Islam and Arabs again.
I can get as much sensitivity and insight about the topic by watching PAWN STARS or SPORTSCENTER.
2. The clearest illustration of the low quality of the show is how quickly and completely it has turned off its audience.
Seven episodes ago, Alan posted a detailed assessment of the show's strengths and weaknesses and a host of viewers posted strongly-held views.
Now we have a very brief reviews that says "I've given up hope for one of the characters-- and all of the personal subplots. And perhaps I've let my personal feelings about the event cloud my perception that this wasn't too bad." And we have 60 comments-- mostly one-liners.
If I worked for HBO, I would be upset.
Ricardo The show is not about 9/11... it is about the Bin Laden's killing. Though there's obviously a connection, there are very different stories.
August 7, 2012 at 7:09PM ESTDwayne Mendoza I finally worked up the energy to watch. It didn't have the stereotypes about Islam (that could be applied to any religion), or how terrorism that hits Americans is way worse than any other type.
August 11, 2012 at 9:16PM ESTThe "This Kill Is For You!" wasn't a big trade up. Not one person bothered to even ask "Why didn't they try to capture and try him?." That's an issue that would provide some substance and conflict... As opposed to the tired "Will they get the show on the air" or "Is it OK to air a leak?" tropes.
They made two big advances in realism. 1) Demonstrating that a producer can just cut off a segment. That's something that could have been done half a dozen times before, but hasn't been.
2) We finally have a scene where people don't effortlessly move through Manhattan traffic. A small issue, but annoying when characters need to be in a place at a specific time and always are.
Of course we get more Alison Pill being a pill. If the point is that the right woman can turn even Alan Alda into Sam Kinnison (and have men cheering for him), it's working.
Not Bad Dwayne, youhave to put the timeline in perspective. The discussion of why not capture and try emerged the next day. At the end of the episode they did not know how OBL was killed. What it in action or an ordered strike? The media had no idea at that point. The realism is getting better, but as a woman in a male dominated industry, the romantic triangle-rectangle square thing just had me rolling my eyes. You would be at home fired if your lovelife annoys or distracts co-workers from productivity.
August 12, 2012 at 12:52PM ESTKevin
August 6, 2012 at 3:02PM EST Reply to CommentMore wonderful Sorkin technology knowledge...Lisa talking on Facetime with Jim while walking the streets of NY in 2011 -- Facetime goes cellular later THIS year.
chrispepper haha it's not that bit of a deal but still funny
August 6, 2012 at 6:17PM ESTGajic That was Skype. She called his PC desktop. You can camera Skype from any smartphone.
August 6, 2012 at 10:22PM ESTBix Gajic, Lisa specifically said "I have FaceTime on my phone."
August 6, 2012 at 11:18PM ESTThe Noble Robot Yeah, it was meant to be a timely reference specifically referring to Facetime.
August 7, 2012 at 1:58AM ESTOf course, the other problem with that is the fact that by May 2011, everyone was already bored with Facetime. It wasn't even a novelty anymore.
mike He did get right all the stupid people on their devices walking into one another, though.
August 7, 2012 at 7:47PM ESTFistOSalmon Clearly Lisa has a jailbroken iPhone and has downloaded a tweak to let her bypass the restrictions put on FaceTime by her carrier. That she moght know how to jailbreak her phone is something she'd toss out to her computer using semi-boyfriend to show how "cool" she is, particularly if she emphasizes the my in "I have FaceTime on My phone".
August 8, 2012 at 3:17PM ESTNot that it should help her much, she 1/2 a foot taller than Jim, something that would seriously bug both of them in real life. Also Lisa is hot? She kinda has a giant Mr. Potato head. It's probably just my own tastes but I don't find her the slightest bit attractive and the whole point of her character is that Jim is sleeping with her because while uneducated and shallow (in Sorkin's world everyone that didn't go to an Ivy League school is) she's superhot and the lesson Jim learns at the end of the episode is that she has hidden depths despite being some rube that went to a state school to study dressmaking. It just seems like a miscast to me.
Blink Didnt she need WiFi in order to use FaceTime?
August 10, 2012 at 4:31AM ESTrowan729
August 6, 2012 at 4:08PM EST Reply to CommentAnyone else catch that Will being high was a call back to John King's on air appearance that night? We know that Sorkin is lifting directly from history for this show, and John King was on CNN that night slurring his words and acting like maybe he had taken an Ambien before being called into work or something, which is basically what happened with Will. Pretty sure King's on air reports are available on YouTube for anyone who wants to see what I'm talking about.
Really liked this episode, and like the FA who was giving Don tha hard time back that he was giving her. She was soooo calm and droll, it was perfect. Probably the best episode so far of the series, definitely going to keep watching.
nic919
August 6, 2012 at 4:33PM EST Reply to CommentI was happy that for once Mackenize seemed like the excellent producer that we kept being told she was. I think there is hope for her character. As for Maggie, I just want her to go away. Why is she getting so involved in Jim's love life and why he is taking it? She was so annoying and even wanted to force Jim to deal with a relationship he's put off for six months on one of the most important news events in the last few years. If she was an actual journalist, I think she would understand the importance of working on the bin Laden story now and breaking up with casual girlfriend later.
I also agree with Alan that there needs to be more Natalie Morales. She has made her character far more interesting than most of the main characters have so far.
The Noble Robot The entire joke abut the relationship stuff was that "there are more important things to worry about right now." It was brought up a few times in the episode.
August 7, 2012 at 2:02AM ESTNelson
August 6, 2012 at 5:13PM EST Reply to CommentI hesitate to say the moments where characters discovered Bin-laden's death felt cheesy to me, because it's an easy criticism. Maybe "not genuine" is the right way to put it.
There is a good chance I'm being a cold cynic, but the "West Wing" had many similar moments in its first four seasons and they usually worked for me. On the other hand, The melodrama of this episode made me groan at what, to me at least, seemed like cloying sentimentality. And yes I'm aware Sorkin likes the sentimental, but it just didn't feel earned, which could have something to do with its basis in real-world events.
I was also in a bad mood due to allergies and lack of sleep, so maybe a re-watch is in order.
Nightwing I had the exact same feeling. I get why this episode is so dear to everyone's heart, but in all honesty, from a TV watcher standpoint this moment deserved to be much more. The way the characters reacted did not seem genuine at all. It's not enough to know they're all Americans and it's not enough to know they're all New Yorkers. Drama needs to be earned and I need to know the story of these people before I believe any of their emotions or at least sympathize with them
August 6, 2012 at 6:23PM ESTCNNLA DAVID It's not just that they're Americans, or even New Yorkers: they're journalists. As noted in the episode, they've prepared for this, producing OBL obits and other background pieces, doing monthly rehearsals, etc. Now all of that pays off, as they get to report the biggest story in, if not "a generation," at least a decade. As a journo, it rang true for me.
August 8, 2012 at 5:25PM ESTNelson CNNLA,
August 8, 2012 at 6:02PM ESTI can see your point. I think if the show was more appealing to me as a whole, the moment would have worked better. It's hard, for me at least, to accept those moments when most of the characters feel under-cooked and/or manic.
KobraCola
August 6, 2012 at 6:56PM EST Reply to CommentI'm still watching and enjoying The Newsroom, despite its flaws. As you mentioned, Alan, I still consider its highs to be far greater than its lows, though the negative portions of the series are definitely there. I didn't totally understand why Don suddenly became quiet(er) when the pilots came out, but I suppose your explanation made sense. It seemed like Don saw something on the pilot's name tag? I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into that part or not. I was too young and too far away when 9/11 happened for it to have a large emotional impact on me emotionally, but I still thought they handled the callback to it deftly here. Will eating pot brownies was a bit gimmick-y and felt a bit strange for a series that usually tries to be serious, but I guess it was somewhat funny. The relationship stuff was annoying too. I, personally, want more Dev Patel/Neal Sampat (as long as they don't write in more racist-related things for him or make him seem too hung up with extraterrestrials/Bigfoot (seriously, for an internet-savvy guy who seems to like logic, why does his character get caught up in such things?)).
Ara We saw an extreme close-up of the United Airlines logo on the pilot's name-badge. That's the moment when it hit Don that the 9/11 hijackers were also on United flights.
August 7, 2012 at 10:57AM ESTAndrew Y No one else found it funny that a guy with a 10pm hour news cast on a major network and his producer along with the high priced talent Sloan all flew coach and two of them had middle seats? Really? I seriously doubt that on a business trip.
August 7, 2012 at 1:44PM ESTKobraCola @ARA: Ohhhhh, great point, I missed that (and I think Alan did too? Wow).
August 8, 2012 at 4:18AM EST@ANDREW Y: Now that you mention it, was there even a first class? It seems like Don, Elliot, and Sloan were all at the very front of the plane, if I'm remembering the set correctly. When Don was raising a ruckus at the end, the pilots just came through that door in the background, they didn't walk through first class or anything. So perhaps the front of the plane was the most first-class it got on that plane? They definitely wouldn't have middle seats though, haha.
Andrew Y Ted may have been a possibility, but they went out of business 3 or 4 years ago. Which was a shame because it was a good alternative to United's normal service. But in terms of the show, this seems like an oversight.
August 8, 2012 at 8:36AM ESTKobraCola Eh, if it was oversight, it was pretty minor IMO.
August 8, 2012 at 12:08PM ESTJim Perhaps that`s the only flight they could get back from D.C. there could literally be a thousand viable reasons why they are in coach
August 9, 2012 at 8:42AM ESTAndrew Y Seriously. A thousand viable reasons? Name ten of them. I work for a large company and we have our own travel group and I can always get a first class seat if I need one. And they are talking NYC and DC where there are a lot of daily departures on 5 airlines. And I make nowhere near what those 3 people would be making. This is petty stuff but you were the one who perpetuated it. I am a business traveler and no way they would be sitting in coach unless they had an emergency and even still their corporate travel people would have found a way.
August 9, 2012 at 10:19AM ESTScott Rosenberg
August 6, 2012 at 7:53PM EST Reply to CommentEasily the strongest episode to date. It was incredibly moving while, at least for the first half, largely being laugh-out-loud funny as well. Perhaps the one drawback is, of all things, giving all the men their turn to be dippy.
While I'm not here to say Sorkin's right and Alan's wrong in the press tour debate, it seems to me that every character on the show is a bumbling idiot when viewed from the right angle - Will with women, Neil with conspiracy theory's, Don's vulnerability, Sabbath's semi-autistic sense of human relations, etc. - and we just got more views of the women then the men in early episodes. When properly balanced, the dramedy generated is one of the things that make Sorkin's writing a dimension better than most other showrunners.
Mike
August 6, 2012 at 9:20PM EST Reply to CommentDear God Sorkin, you're just so close to getting there. The scene with Don and the pilots (leaving aside the asinine Flight attendant crazy lady piece of it), Will and Terry Crews and the police officers, Natalie Morales on the balcony (and you know scenes are always money when people are on a balcony) were all exceptionally done, but the Maggie stuff was just horrendous. I adore Allison Pill, but that character is as Alan put it, unsalvagable. Every time the relationship quadrangle came up in this episode, it was horrible, and everything else was pretty excellent.
The Noble Robot
August 7, 2012 at 1:53AM EST Reply to CommentI don't really understand all the hate on Maggie. Yes, she's a bit twee and the "lady disheveled" meter is set to high, but I don't think that she's stupid or clueless or overly submissive or any of the things Alan seems to find irredeemable about the character.
I strongly think Mackenzie is working too hard to regain Will's trust (when she should be more aware of how much better she is at her job), but I don't feel the same anti-feminist vibes from Maggie.
I'm thinking that Alan just got soured on his first-impressions of the character because she filled an "anti-Jeremy" role in the pilot.
Am I just missing something?
mo Yes, you are missing plenty when it comes to the Maggie character. From a male perspective, Maggie is awful bc her character reinforces every terrible stereotype of a mid to late 20s single female that most guys want no part of - she's frantic, cant mind her own business, is in a relationship w somebody she doesnt even really like, not honest enough w herself and her feelings to properly address the Jim situation, etc. The character simply does not have any emotional stability. She's walking drama, and that's the bottom line. That's why she is awful. She reacts to everything like it's the end of the world, things of which are none of her business. Nobody wants to deal w that. Nobody wants that drama. She is portrayed as "dumb chick", which is wrong and horrible. Not dumb as in not book smart, bc she is good at her job and knows her stuff w that, but dumb when it comes to real life/interpersonal relationships. Just very emotionally immature. Nobody wants to deal w that drama, trust me on that.
August 7, 2012 at 10:58AM ESTThe Noble Robot Ha! I did catch all of that, but you seem to miss the fact that you are also describing Liz Lemon, Roger Sterling, Josh Lyman, John "JD" Dorian, Annie Edison, George "GOB" Bluth Jr., Matthew Brock, and dozens of other characters, both male and female, on shows (and in movies) across all genres.
August 7, 2012 at 11:11AM ESTMo that's a fair retort.. but I think the difference is that because of what Maggie does for a living, we (I and other posters who have same complaints) expect more from her character. We have higher standards for her than say, Liz Lemon. Liz Lemon is supposed to be those things bc that can be portrayed positive/funny. We are not meant to take Liz Lemon seriously, but with Maggie we are. We are supposed to believe that somebody in her position, who at least has her shit together enough to be where she is, is a complete moron when it comes to her personal life, like a teeny-bopper or something. It's just hard to believe that somebody in her position at her age is still acting like a 16 year old teenage girl, and lends further support to what seems to be the general opinion that Sorkin sucks writing for women.
August 7, 2012 at 2:56PM ESTHatfield And then here we have a wonderful contrast to the above thread. Way to engage in reasonable debate about the shortcomings of a female character without it devolving into sexist drivel.
August 7, 2012 at 7:58PM ESTAnd for what it's worth, I agree with Mo. She drives me crazy, and that's without adding in the airhead touches like "Sorry for your loss. LOL" and the like that Sorkin thinks are funny. It doesn't help that they make Lisa seem much more reasonable, at least in her dealings with Jim last night.
Clare OK i get why Don is unwilling to ask Maggie directly about Jim because he doesn't want to hear an answer he thinks he will get. I don't entirely get why a bloke like Jim who whilst besotted with this woman is willing to put up with her openly manipulative behaviour and bossiness, and on a professional level, openly and over the top dramatically in the middle of all the staff. I am surprised no one senior has stepped in to have a word either with all 3 of them, or at least Maggie..it is not acceptable behaviour particularly in a work environment. And yes, I really dislike how this character is written. Doesn't add anything to this show which is starting to come good.
August 8, 2012 at 11:27AM ESTmo
August 7, 2012 at 10:45AM EST Reply to CommentThis is not, what we have all come to know, an "HBO show." It's just not on that level. The story lines, the "romantic" buffoonery, characters unrealistically acting like idiots, etc. are all indicative of a network show. Just very cheesy stereotypical plots, reactions, etc that you would expect out of a Sunday night show on NBC/ABC/CBS, not pay cable. Sorry, but everything about this show falls well short of the standards set by shows like The Wire, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Game of Thrones, etc. Even shows like Curb or Girls have *something* about them that makes them feel like they belong on HBO, *something* that this show just simply does not have.
mmcb105 two words - True Blood.
August 7, 2012 at 1:36PM ESTPatrick Yes, True Blood is also weak and not up to par with HBO shows. And HBO has had a few misses over the past few years. However they still set the standard. I don't think The Newsroom meets that standard. Part of the problem is that the show bills itself as being great. True Blood is awful, but I don't think their producers take it too seriously
August 7, 2012 at 6:24PM ESTashok
August 7, 2012 at 12:11PM EST Reply to CommentI was surprised to find that Alan liked this episode. It came across as absolutely insufferable to me. Maybe it's because I'm not American but the gung-ho 'our Special Forces killed him FOR YOU, sir' nonsense came across as really clunky and cloying. The way they folded in the cops and the pilot and non-journalist outsiders felt really contrived. And really, we all hated bin Laden and I get that it was a moment of catharsis for the nation but the all out chest-puffing that pervaded this episode over killing one dude in a cave (which really made no difference at all to the geopolitical situation I don't think) made me uneasy and rubbed me the wrong way. There was no nuance to it at all. It was the usual deifying of anyone associated with the military/law enforcement professions, the usual lack of nuance but - generally, some of the characters do see the other side of the prevailing mood on this show. That didn't happen this time. Everyone was acting like the news was that they had cured cancer or built a colony on Mars. What actually happened was the vengeance killing of a largely irrelevant coward. I get why it would be cathartic to a lot of Americans but to this foreigner...it felt cheap, manipulative and jingoistic.
John Benjamin You're comment is exactly correct and I'm an American. The show was not only terrible this week, it was also really unrealistic. There is no way that with that many highly educated and seemingly lefty people, that WOOHOO would be the only reaction, save the one woman sitting outside who still thought that the reaction was ok. What did most of the people I know (educated lefties) say? 1) so what? Al Qaeda is still around. Bin Laden is now irrelevant. 2) Was that legal? 3) thank God that we can stop using the idiot phrase "war on terror"! Bush's reign is finally over! And 4) I guess Obama won't lose now!
August 8, 2012 at 12:08AM ESTNow I am not saying that we were correct about everything, or that we weren't cynical, but come on....... The chest thumping is for people who think there were three wars: Iraq, Afghanistan and Terror.
Finally, the excuse that they feel it differently cuz they're NYers doesn't hold up either: 1) the people I am talking abut all live in the NY area and many work in Manhattan. 2) Take any group of
NYers with these kinds of jobs requiring high qualifications and you can bet that most of them are not actually from NYers. They are from Boston and went to Columbia, or from LA and went to Berkeley before moving to NY. The youth elite in NY all grew up somewhere else.
Dwayne Mendoza I had the same reaction. It's an illustration of how Sorkin isn;t the ultra-leftist he's so often portrayed as. Real liberals wanted him caught and put on trial, as was done with the Nazai and Japanese war criminals, with Saddam Hussein or Pinochet (who died before the trial began).
August 11, 2012 at 9:31PM ESTAs evidence that Sorkin's views tend to pretty jingoistic, this show occurred on May 1, 2011. On February 17, 2011, Congress re-approved three provisions of the so-called "Patriot Act", which were due to expire. Sorkin chose not to address it.
ashok
August 7, 2012 at 12:15PM EST Reply to CommentAlso, the 'major character trying to do important career/personal stuff while hilariously high' trope is the cheapest, most ridiculous sort of pre-2000s sitcom trope. Terrible.
natx
August 7, 2012 at 1:46PM EST Reply to Commenti stick with this show for a few reasons. whereas most tv (even great tv) is escapist in nature, i like that sorkin's shows always takes on some aspect of current events, current society directly.
What i also really appreciate about his work is that he is a real fan of process and sees the natural drama in showing how things work, are put together, or are created. The Social Network somehow managed to dramatize a legal deposition and computer programming. Moneyball manages to dramatize statistical analysis. The West Wing centers on the White House staff and dramatized things like people writing speeches, negotations to secure votes, giving press conferences, etc.
Thinking about how must successful TV rests on some combination of sex, crime, violence, action, romance, etc.
In the Bowling for Columbine movie, Micahael Moore interviews a TV producer about why there is so much violence on TV. The obvious answer was because it sells and attracts the most viewers. He said if he could figure out how to create TV shows that were just as popular without using violence he would do it in a heartbeat. But creatively its just so hard.
I cheer on Sorkin and will go at greater lengths to support his work because he i think he takes on this challenge. I'm glad movies like The Social Network and Moneyball were popular because that just means he will be given more opportunities to do work.
So with the Newsroom, the only place right now that TV watchers have to think critically about issues of the media, news, current events is to read non-fiction books and magazines, watch stupid cable tv news, or watch interesting but very dry documentaries. Dramatic storytelling through TV or movies can be such a great forum to address these issues, but it is so hard to do well.
The West Wing remains one of my favorite shows of all time and as a political science student i felt like i learned more about politics and how our government works from that show than i did from any book that i have ever read or class that i ever took.
I keep watching the Newsroom, despite its flaws because when you get the moments where things click - where you get the perfect storm of gripping subject matter, good dramatic plot, strong characters, great dialogue, emotional resonance, and yes even a dash of that sorkin idealism, there is nothing else like it on television.
Ireneinidaho
August 8, 2012 at 1:22AM EST Reply to CommentSo Sunday there was "5/1" on Newsroom and "51" on Breaking Bad. Coincidence? I think not. But what does it all mean? Send the crack investigative team from Newsroom to find out, eh?
Kathy
August 8, 2012 at 3:14AM EST Reply to CommentThis is starting to look like Studio 60 re-visited quality wise and that is sad, for even in the bad episodes of this show, there are 5-10minutes of damn fine TV.
I do not appreciate my intelligence being insulted on non-minor things: We are supposed to believe two National News personas, and an Exec. Producer are flying Coach vs. First Class? Nope. Not believe-able. Obviously, the story-line needed two aisles of 3 seats to make the story work but I lost interest before I saw why Sorkin needed them in Coach.
"We just killed OBL for YOU..." oh please.
The long lingering on the uniform of the two pilots, cue music - this isn't reality TV, do that much better.
I will confess to being surprised Ms. Munn has some talent in this role.
Will I keep watching it ? Most likely; but IF Mad Men and Top Gear were back on Sunday nights, I would not.
Summary: 5 minutes of wtf-bad, 5 minutes of impressive and filler in-between.
jim Is it at all possible they did`nt have a choice as to their seating? Are`nt there a ton of reasons why someone would end up in coach? Is it possible the flight they were booked on had mechanical issues and they had to get something quick to get back to N.Y.? Is it really that much of an issue?
August 9, 2012 at 8:54AM ESTHaynie
August 8, 2012 at 9:46AM EST Reply to CommentConsidering the Josh/Donna, CJ/Danny, and even some of Charlie/Zoey were awesome parts of "West Wing," do you think you're underrating Sorkin's ability to write romance?
sepinwall I liked CJ/Danny, sure, but was never nearly as big a Josh/Donna fan as many others. I would need to revisit Charlie/Zoey, to be honest. It's been a while since I've even thought of that relationship.
August 8, 2012 at 9:51AM ESTTina Josh and Donna (and I loved both characters) was at times another example of the woman meddling in the man's business. It was just much better done by the actors. Charlie/Zoey was wisely kept as a supporting plot, not shoved in our faces. CJ/Danny was also not allowed to dominate the episodes, and anything played by Allison Janney gets made better.
August 8, 2012 at 10:09AM EST
August 8, 2012 at 12:04PM ESTJoe W The romantic relationships on West Wing worked because they weren't shoved down our throats on Episode 1. West Wing let its characters grow and let their relationships and attraction build organically. It would be better if the show wasn't always trying to make every single episode "the most inspiring hour of television you've ever watched". Let your episodes build be building blocks for a great finale - don't try to hit it out of the park every single week.
August 8, 2012 at 1:19PM ESTHaynie
August 8, 2012 at 12:01PM EST Reply to CommentAnyone else find it funny that "Jim Harper" is basically "Jim Halpert" on this show in terms of the love triangle? Does that make it weird that he's dating Pam's cousin?
Hunter
August 8, 2012 at 1:05PM EST Reply to CommentRegarding last week's episode, Sports Night also had an episode with the same structure (Dan at his therapist).
- 1
- 2
Next 101 Comments