HBO’s The Newsroom, created by one of the finest writers of our time, Aaron Sorkin, is about to enter its third and final season. With only 6 episodes to air then it’s gone forever, it’s hard to tell what will happen in its final hours.
Now I have a love/hate relationship with The Newsroom. On one hand, I adore the reporting element of the show. Sorkin’s take of real world events and the characters that scramble to deliver a coherent and honest news story is an enthralling watch. Though there is an element of “Hindsight is 20:20” in the actual content, the show still highlights a need for an unbiased news desk in the American media and has created some spectacular and heart-wrenching moments. The ‘story of the week’ motif coupled with a bigger, more complicated season story arc, like with the Genoa plot in season 2, make The Newsroom monumental television.
However, amongst all this incredible storytelling lies a torrent of inane bullshit. This might be due to the fact I have a hate-encrusted cinderblock where my heart should be but all the love story and human interest wankery is nothing but an irritating distraction from the main plot. Before you say anything, Yes, I understand that reporters are not robots and yes, I know that romance in the work place is common but the degree it goes to in The Newsroom, as well as the delivery of this soap opera guff-fest, greatly diminished the impact of the show. The exception to this being the back and forth between Will and Mac, purely because it is so well done, however I could not give a flying fuck about the shitmunchers.
Writing a season catch-up for The Newsroom is tricky. Since the show covers global events, the reporting side of the plot has little impact on the overall story, it’s the character development that’s important. Well, I say development, it’s more like something out 90210 where we figure out who has a crush on who and who said this about them but didn’t really mean it because they are secretly in love with these people. Uch. Since the Genoa story arch came to a natural close last season, this catch up will mainly focus on the characters. So, here is all you need to know going into season 3.
First off, let’s look at Don and Maggie. Throughout season 1 they were having issues and at the start of season 2, they break up. Why? Because Don was emailed a YouTube clip of Maggie essentially confessing her feelings for Jim to a bus load of strangers on a Sex in the City tour. A bit too coincidentally, Jim just happened to be on the bus. Embarrassed, Maggie runs off, Jim catches up with her and they kiss. Awww *throws up into bucket* However, Jim returns to the bus and Maggie returns home.
Back to the present, where is Jim when all this break-up occurs? Unable to handle the sugar-sweet couple antics of Don and Maggie he flees the office and is touring the country, covering the Romney campaign. He meets Hallie Shea, a fellow reporter, and following a sequence of events more predictable than counting from 1 to 10, they hook up. So when season 3 starts, they should still be together.
But wait, it gets stupider. Jim was still going out with Lisa when Maggie shouted at the tour bus, so Lisa is blissfully unaware of Maggie’s feelings for Jim. However, if Lisa saw the YouTube video then it would fuck up her and Maggies friendship. In perhaps the world’s most inane storyline, Maggie uses the magic of Foursquare and Twitter to track down the woman who uploaded the video and beg her to take it down, which she reluctantly does. But it’s too late, Lisa had already seen the video and ends her friendship with Maggie. How a show that deals with war crimes, global catastrophes and corrupt political agendas manages to cram in all this idiotic nonsense is beyond me.
But enough about them. The real character development in season 2 focus’s around Will and Don. You could argue Maggie had went through some major stuff too but it was so annoying and poorly done, it was hard to care about her.
Right, about Don. Throughout the first season, we were sold the idea that Don is a douchebag. He is arrogant, sleazy and generally unlikable. Then as soon as season 2 starts, Sorkin just flips the likeability switch on Don’s character and all of a sudden he is this great guy, one that has outstanding judgement, morals and is nothing but a good friend and a stand up guy. While I understand that people can change and characters do develop, Don’s sudden turnaround was so fast it almost gave me whiplash.
That said, Nice-Don was a welcome addition to cast. Take the episode with Troy Davis, Don’s emotional attachment to both him and his case and the inevitable conflict that arose when he fought for an honest portrayal of the facts made for some spectacular watching. Throughout the season Don and Sloan became closer and closer, especially during the episode “News night with Will McAvoy” but more on that later.
Now, saving the best until last with Will and Mac. Since episode 1 these two have been sparring with one and another with an eloquent back and forth that only Sorkin can write. The dialogue between them is almost poetic and never fails to charm. The last season really put both Will and Mac through some tough times with the death of Will’s abusive father and the slanderous reporting of the black op Genoa. Despite this, they came through the other side and in the season finale, after 19 episodes, Will accepts that he is still in love with Mac and proposes. Halle-fucking-lujah!
BUT, also in the same episode, following many flirtatious hours of screen time Don and Sloan get together. Now, this really bothered me as it was just joy overkill. Don and Sloan hooking up completely stole the thunder from Will and Mac’s plotline. It was like when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize right after getting elected president. You are left thinking “Oh, okay, that’s nice. I guess”. Without time to digest the huge event of Will and Mac’s proposal and by force feeding you Don and Sloan’s story, you are left feeling ironically underwhelmed due to the over load of plot points.
As for the others, well, Maggie is pretty fucked up having gone to Africa to become the ‘Go-to-Gal’ regarding the continent. But by just being there, she managed to get some kid shot leaving her understandably distraught and disturbed. This may seem like a gross over-simplification of a harrowing and major development in Maggie’s character but the whole plotline was really quite patronising and portrayed the entire continent of Africa as just one predictable hot mess, full of thieves and killers.
Neil is still running around, pitching semi-moronic storylines like a puppy that just learnt how to talk.
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Oh, and Charlie is still a fucking legend.
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