What I’m Watching: The Newsroom

The Newsroom: Season 2, Episode 6 “One Step Too Many” (B+)

There’s no denying that the dialogue on this show is excellent. Part of the credit is of course due to the actors who utter the words so quickly and cleverly, but it’s the words themselves that are so brilliant. It’s evident most in conversations between people who don’t typically interact, like Don and Mackenzie, and whose interactions are the most compelling. The best dynamic is that between Sloan and Will, whose banter is absolutely terrific and whose sentences are literally completed by the other in the back-and-forth moments between the two intellectual newscasters. It’s jarring to see Will in his tranquil home life, and, while productive, Nina’s idea did not turn out well, exemplified by Will’s poor sportsmanship and his even worse sports abilities. There was plenty of relationship drama in this hour, and my favorite was the pairing of Neal with the very drunk, very passionate Ron Paul supporter. The newly unemployed Taylor was a great unforeseen crasher of Jim’s double date, but it wasn’t even that or Maggie’s presence at the bar that got in the way of his night. The way Jim speaks to Maggie about being so worried about her is definitely going to drive her closer to her eventual frenzied state, and we’re getting nearer to that event every week. Despite Don and Sloan counting reindeer, Charlie and Mackenzie running over garbage cans, and Stephen Root playing the sports-watching general, it seems that this Genoa business is no laughing matter, and hearing Charlie confirm to the investigatory committee that it isn’t true is extremely worrisome, even though we knew that all along.