The Newsroom - Episode 2.06 - One Step Too Many - Review

The Newsroom kicked off with a bang this week as the 'Red Team' was brought in and delivered all the fireworks I was expecting it to do. The stupendous looks on the faces of Sloan (played by Olivia Munn), Jim (played by John Gallagher Jr.) and Don (played by Thomas Sadoski) said it all. The conversation that followed, about Santa's reindeers, was simply hilarious. That made as much sense to the trio as the US using Sarin gas on civilians. 

I was glad to see the skepticism about Genoa, most of their evidence is indirect. With the exception being Hamni8, the witness or at least suspected witness based on his tweets. But since they can't find him, at that leaves is their indirect evidence. Then along came general Stanislaus Stomtonovich (played wonderfully by Stephen Root) who confirmed the Genoa story to Charlie (played by Sam Waterston) and MacKenzie (played by Emily Mortimer) and agreed to anonymously testify on camera. 

When reviewing the testimony later in the Newsroom, I liked that both Charlie and Mac question Stomtonovich's character after he forgot their appointment. To be honest I got the weirdest vibe from Stomtonovich myself, the devil is in the details. Sending Maggie out of the room for one, not being willing to confirm Genoa on camera  and insisting the basketball game on tv being kept, partially, in the frame during the interview. Charlie's revelation at the end of the episode of Genoa not being real, fuels my suspicion that someone is trying to take ACN down. It also explains all the conveniences of the leads on the Genoa story. Is there a pattern I am seeing here or am I just being reading too much into things?

As for Jerry (played by Hamish Linklater), I can understand, being so close to confirmation of a story he has been pursuing for months, that it creates impatience. I don't think Jerry expected there to be consequences for his editing, for at the time he made the edit he subtly pushed the story along a path that would lead to truth. The Genoa story would come out and no one, but Stomtonovich, would be the wiser. That I can understand a character doing such a horrible thing speaks for the excellent writing on The Newsroom and how it captured that moment, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a terribly wrong action.

The thing that stood out the most to me, about the Genoa story, was the debate about the subject 'when do you run a story'? The second 'Red Team' at the end highlighted this debate and still has me thinking about it.

Other than the Genoa story there was little news coverage, except for a fast forward through several Republican campaign stumbles which lead to Romney being the Republican nominee. This left a lot of room to show us the lives of the crew beyond the newsroom. 

First of all, I liked the return of Hallie (played by Grace Gummer) and the fact she is in a relationship with Jim now. It was a nice surprise and led to a fun scene at the dinner table. Hallie set up Neal (played by Dev Patel) for a blind-double-date with her friend Aubrey Lyons (played by Melanie Papalia) who works for MTV, is a fan of Ron Paul and was clearly intoxicated. Taylor Warren (played by Constance Zimmer), Jim's nemesis from the campaign, was also invited as she felt depressed over getting fired. Jim and Taylor arguing about Romney again, but in the end finding common ground was a nice and I felt sympathy towards Taylor because she got fired over it. 

After Jim and Hallies discretionary time got cut short, Jim found Maggie in the hotel bar on his way out. This scene really showed how far the Jim/Maggie relationship has come, or rather has fallen. Jim didn't give of any hint of being romantically interested in her anymore and showed more concern as a friend. Maggie on the other hand, clearly, has her mind occupied with other things and it is easy to see how she will accused during the aftermath of the Genoa story. Especially after she already botched the cutting of the 911-tape a while ago. 

There was a poignant scene with Mac and Don in the karaoke bar that deserves a mention. It felt like a real conversation two friends have and covered a variety of subjects. But the conversation was mostly about Sloan, he really should ask her out before that ship has sailed. 

Will (played by Jeff Daniels) was a bit on the back burner this episode, but this h but his crisis of confidence continued to escalate. Nina Howard (played by Hope Davis) wasn't particularly helpful here at all, encouraging him to go on ACN Morning. That Will was uncomfortable there was painfully obvious, when he revealed he hit light tree on purpose I smiled. The bits between him and Sloan were especially good, I like their big brother/little sister dynamic that has developed over this season. The quote Will told from Henry V (Shakespeare) might be an indication that his crisis might be over soon, just as it seems his "Goldilocks planet." is right around the corner. 

Overall it was a good episode, which set up the culmination of the Genoa story for next week, while also delving deeper into the lives of our favorite news crew. And half a bonus point for the excellent metaphors used!

8.5/10

Pascal Buijnsters Pascal's a Dutchman and has been a longtime commentator on SpoilerTV and started out as a writer for SpoilerTV last year. He is quite a TV addict and writes for a local, Dutch, newspaper. Next to that he's into soccer for his local team, a gamer and a fanatical swimmer. He writes previews and reviews for SpoilerTV for a variety of shows. Main Account - All Shows