There are things I am geeky about — movies, tv, comic books — but anyone who knows me knows that the thing I am most geeky about is politics and history. And so The Newsroom, to me, is like pornography.
And Aaron Sorkin’s writing is a decadent chocolate sundae that makes me proud to be a thinking human being and a an American.
And quite frankly, Sundays have seemed very empty since Game of Thrones ended, and Mad Men was barely a methadone fix to satiate my habit for Sunday-evening geekiness that Downton Abbey, Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones have filled for the last many months.
But is it really geeky? From tonight’s episode:
Charlie Skinner (Sam Watterston): “You know, you make nerds look bad.”
Sloane Sabbith (Olivia Munn): “No, I make nerds look really good.”
Yes, Olivia Munn. She of Attack of the Show and the original hot geek girl. And she plays an awkward economics double PhD who really does make the nerds look good. She makes the show all sorts of geeky, awkward awesome, even if she’s not covering Comic-Con.
Dear Sloan Sabbith, Can we just hang out and discuss the problems of Austrian school economic theory?
Second, we have Allison Pill, who you may remember from Scott Pilgrim as Sex Bob-Omb’s drummer Kim:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdWrdJb0KWU
And because it’s Aaron Sorkin, you have writing that is so full of pop culture references that any geek worth their salt will enjoy. For example? during tonight’s episode Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) recites the lyrics for Rebecca Black’s Friday during a commercial break and makes a reference to The Who.
So, yes, Geek Approved.
Our season begins with the fallout from the end of season 1, wherein our Don Quixote Will McAvoy called the Tea Party “The American Taliban.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGAvwSp86hY
Because of this, the President of the network is shut out of a meeting about SOPA (Remember SOPA?) by its Tea Party sponsors who don’t like being called Taliban. So the corporate suits running the network (especially its owner, played by the amazing in this role Jane Fonda) are really unhappy. Because they want SOPA. So very badly.
There is also fallout over the confrontation Jim and Maggie that’s been bubbling up in my personal favorite will-they-or-won’t they couple on TV. I’m both rooting for Jim and a little in love with Maggie.
We also see Neil has graduated from Bigfoot to a new obsession: a nascent group of starry-eyed millenials meeting in Zucotti Park calling themselves Occupy Wall St planning for a full-on invasion of the park in several months. Yeah, so we have that to look forward to.
This is a good first episode back, but not as great as the season finale it’s attempting to play off. Perhaps it’s because The Newsroom is best when it’s talky and preachy and sure of its moral judgment, and in this one its subject matter (drone strikes) is murky and ambiguous at best. Still one of the best shows on TV (for me, the best show on TV)
For those who want to jump in, HBO has this handy recap show:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pxsN_373sM
And for those of you, like me, who are addicts, we’ll see you next Sunday.