What I’m Watching: The Newsroom

The Newsroom: Season 2, Episode 3 “Willie Pete” (B+)

This episode was equally about ideology and characters, and it worked well in both arenas. Jim’s quest to get actual intelligible, substantial answers from Constance Zimmer’s robotic press liaison was all about nobility and the pursuit of open politics, which was an awkward but admirable aim. And he did manage to get his steely competitor and the turkey sandwich hoarder to join forces with him, and I’m sure their subsequent adventures will be amusing at the very least. I’m glad to see that Neal is still fighting for Mackenzie to take Occupy Wall Street seriously, and I’m sure that Will’s interview with one of the group’s non-leaders will prove extremely exciting. Will’s fury at the news of someone leaking the fact that he didn’t have the flu was funny, but it did lead to two rather serious revelations. After telling Will that he admitted to still loving Mackenzie in his deleted voicemail, Nina opted to accept Will telling the truth as reason enough not to run her story and to lie to Mackenzie about the contents of the voicemail, but still decided to spend the night with him. That’s an interesting romance I do hope goes further. Reese returning with a vengeance was more worrisome, though it means we get to see more of Chris Messina, which is definitely a good thing. Maggie freaking out immediately after taking her medicine was entertaining, and I liked every bit of the interaction between a guilty Sloane and a technically incompetent Don, who tipped over in his chair not once but twice. On a more serious note, Jerry’s story seems to be very much true, and that’s sure to lead to serious controversy soon.