‘The Newsroom’ Episode 2.03 "Willie Pete"
“Not because of me, I’m delightful.” From now on this is my response when and if anyone should ever start to indicate that I could be the problem. I’ve read that some detractors feel that Sorkin doesn’t know how to write women and that’s a fair complaint. He either get’s them right or wrong. Although in his defense, speaking as a woman, I think most writers only write for women in any real type of way half the time and that includes women writers. And there is a good reason for that, it’s because all women are different. Hell we can change from who we are in the morning to who we are at night so I imagine writing a well-rounded female character is the equal to standing at bat and pointing to the outfield. It’s a rare feat that often ends in failure but when it ends with a home run it is a sight to behold.
And as long as Sloan continues to tell a man who had the gall to lead her by her wrist that if he ever did that again she was going to take his knuckles out with a ball peen hammer I am going to continue to give him the benefit of the doubt. Plus for a second there I was worried that he dragged out the Josh Lymon chair gag one too many times to be funny, until Don fell for a second time. I laughed. Out loud. I must say I am enjoying the slow burn that is Don and Sloan and even though I know where they are headed it’s a relationship that isn’t grounded in drama. Unless of course you count stocks and drone strikes, which I don’t.
What I am not enjoying is Jim being stuck in a retelling of “20 Hours in America” and although I am enjoying the parallels that you can draw from this episode to that I want Jim home where he belongs. Don’t get me wrong I adore Constance Zimmer and having her around for a few episodes will help to make this storyline more appealing, but I want Jim back. Other than Jim being a beacon for what all went wrong with the journalist who were covering the Romney campaign, which we already know, I don’t see the point to this storyline. Is it meant to be a wrench in what will eventually become Maggie and Jim? Or maybe it is meant to show the American public what lazy journalism looks like. Was that rallying speech Jim gave at the end meant to be anything other than a means to get him kicked off the bus? Enough. Bring him home.
What we can leave in the past is MacKenzie acting like a giggly, flirty school girl. Let’s never have her ask about that stupid message or try to flirt with Will again in any way that could have her mistaken for a middle schooler. Will may be an ass, but he’s right in the fact that MacKenzie did cheat on him and it’s mean to constantly bring it up in the hopes that one day he will laugh it off the way she is hoping he will. He won’t, move on. He is. Straight to Nina. Not that I blame him, she’s hot and smart and cagey and she doesn’t put up with him being an ass the way MacKenzie does.
When it comes to Mac and her personal life I could go the rest of the series without knowing anything about it, but when it comes to every other aspect I adore her and believe she could wipe the floor with whoever steps to her and her $1200 shoes. I’d say it was a fair-minded point she was making to Neal about the OWS movement. In an odd kind way the OWS movement and the Romney campaign were quite similar. Neither had any idea what they wanted to do other than they wanted to do it. There was no real leadership and the more they tried to regroup the more chaotic it became.
It may just be me, but Jerry gives me the impression that he was the kid in the class who wanted everyone to know how smart he was. What better way to prove to everyone that he is the guy then to break the story of the century wide open? Thanks to reports we know that Operation Genoa is based on Operation Tailwind, which was falsely reported on by CNN in 1988, but what we don’t know is if any part of it is real. Mac and Charlie seem to think it’s all bunk, but even so I find myself leaning towards the story being true. Every part of my brain is screaming that it didn’t happen and yet the urge to want to believe it is true is extremely strong so I can understand why Jerry is having a hard time seeing it as anything other than the story of the century. It will be interesting to see where this story goes and how it gets there.
Story bites from “Willie Pete”
Neal is the Rodney Dangerfield of News Night.
It’s always great to see Reese Lansing.
When comparing yourself to a movie character it probably a good idea not to choose one who gets gunned down by their enemy.
I’m worried about Maggie and Gary. Something wicked this way comes.