The Newsroom “112th Congress” Review


Is it another strong episode or does this series start to fail?  Read on to find out.

The official description from HBO:

In an on-air editorial, Will apologizes for past newscasts and promises a new era of integrity for News Night. Will’s new approach rankles CEO Leona Lansing, who warns Charlie that Will’s stance will not be tolerated. Jim soothes Maggie during a panic attack; Don charges Elliot to get in the game; Will parades a string of arm-candy dates in front of Mac.

The formula of The Newsroom is thrown away a bit as the series moves beyond its established conventions.  The quirky dialogue is there, the strong acting is present, but unlike the pilot and the second episode, we get a story that does not focus on the formation of a cable news program.  Instead, we get a narrative that unloads months of information in a single episode.  It’s a bold and creative attempt that succeeds more than it fails.

Aaron Sorkin and his team of writers bring the magic this week, as each of the characters progress rather nicely.  There are times where the script gets a bit heavy handed but the actors are more than up to the challenge of ballancing out grandiose ideas with sensible timing.  The result is an hour of television with a mostly successful plot.

It goes without saying that Jeff Daniels once again delivers a strong performance, but as good as his portrayal is, it’s the back-up players this week that succeed in selling the authenticity of this experience.  Kudos to Olivia Munn and Sam Waterston, who do more than hold their own with their beefed up screen time, they’re not perfect but they are very entertaining nonetheless.

Overall the latest episode of The Newsroom is very strong but it still suffers from some minor kinks that prevent it from being a truly great series.  Despite the growing pains, I still whole-heatedly recommended this engaging show.

4/5