I know, I know the big premiere tonight was Breaking Bad, and my favorite comment on it was from Frank Conniff, aka “TV’s Frank” from MST3K,”Watching Breaking Bad & The Newsroom back to back on the same night is like listening to Coltrane and then Kenny G.” Ouch.
That being said, this was a good break back from last week’s uber-maudlin Africa-centric storyline, back to the normal tragedy-writ-large of the news with Will McAvoy. While tonight’s episode features some humor and less-serious storylines than, say, kids being shot by cattle thieves in Africa, it does end with both a literal and a figurative kick in the nuts.
Stories covered tonight include the unfolding story of the death of Trayvon Martin and the release of George Zimmerman’s 911 call, the suicide of Tyler Clementi, more about the ongoing investigation into the fictional Operation: Genoa, the bombing of a hotel in Syria, Jim and Maggie’s ongoing relationship and specifically Maggie’s downward emotional spiral (why can’t those kids make it work?!?!), a woman tweets something mean about Will, there are apparent naughty pictures of Sloan out on the web, and on top of all of that, Will gets a call at the top of the show from “Dad.”
Oh, yeah, the entire show takes place, more or less, in real time, as they broadcast the episode of Newsnight from March 16, 2012. By far the best and most satisfying arc of the show is Sloan’s and Don’s as they work together to solve each others’ problems, perhaps growing closer to one another? You just know those two are going to hook up. . .
Everything else unfolds with the feeling of dread of Greek tragedy and the pressured, frenetic pacing of working live television. And while the pace is brisk thanks to Sorkin’s scripting, it is actually quite un-Sorkin-y. No long diatribes or monologues. And Maggie actually makes some nice potshots at The Huffington Post about faux outrage and sexism.
Overall very satisfying. And at the end of it all, I wish I were there to take Sloan out for drinks at the end.
We’ll see how this falls out next week, with another Sorkin-scribed episode promised. Only two weeks left until “Election 2012,” which will be the subject of the two-week season finale.