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'The Newsroom Season 2': Smart, bold & always erratic
Emily Mortimer as MacKenzie McHale in the second season of The NewsroomNews Night crews experience the consequences of being bold in the sophomore season
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Emily Mortimer as MacKenzie McHale in the second season of The Newsroom
News Night crews experience the consequences of being bold in the sophomore season.
The Newsroom debuted last year with its biting criticisms of American politics and broadcast media. Will McAvoy
(Jeff Daniels), a republican and senior anchor at the fictional Atlantic Cable Network's News Night, decides to leave his old ways of running sensational news only to stay put with ratings.
Supported by his new executive producer and ex-girlfriend MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer), he is on a quixotic mission to be 'committed to simple truth' that will result in 'a well-informed electorate.'
'I'm quitting the circus,' he declares on air in the last season's third episode.
But he and the team join another circus, on and off air, for the rest of the season. Constantly criticizing the Tea Party on his show while cornering a black gay republican for supporting an anti-gay politician to run for president, Will becomes the enemy of everyone. He almost loses his job and faces a death threat.
The brain child of television auteur Aaron Sorkin (Sports Night, The West Wing), dialogue-dense Newsroom is an alternative way to see what was being covered on American TV news in the 2010-2011 period. A blend of office romance and comedy, it provides a glimpse into the country's most polarizing era, in which republicans were paranoid with Islam and almost everything else, accusing President Barack Obama with weak arguments.
On the other hand, the show also sets the straight record that Obama is not necessarily less supportive of the National Rifle Association of America than his republican predecessor.
There are also scenes where the newsroom covers international news'from the BP oil spill to the Fukushima nuclear reactor leak ' which show the more dynamic process in news producing. The crew 'and even Will ' are portrayed as striving journalists who breach ethics at times.
Over the top comedy seems to be the breathing space for the heavy topics covered in the series. BlackBerry-smashing to erratic characters yelling at each other are commonplace, which make you sometimes wonder if the team ever gets the news right in the first place.
MacKenzie looks continuously weary and fumbles despite being the marshal of News Night. She was even careless enough to send a private message revealing her past relationship with Will to everyone in the office.
A love triangle is another dramatic aspect of the series. Senior producer Jim Harper (John Gallagher Jr.) falls in love with Margaret Jordan (Alison Pill), a rising producer that dates Don Keefer (Thomas Sadoski), an executive producer for other ACN program. Margaret tries to encourage Jim to date her roommate Lisa Lambert (Kelen Coleman). Their chemistry is better than the MacKenzie factor, with our will-she-tell-him, will-he-tell-her questions in mind.
Another seasoning ' which can fall into sexist tinge ' added to the series is Sloan Sabbith (Olivia Munn), a financial news reporter that is described as smart, sexy and socially awkward. The character is often on the receiving end of sexist remarks made during the show, but it helps that she is less effeminate (and erratic) than the other female characters. Will once calls her 'Victoria's Secret' while Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterson), the news division president at the network, calls her 'girl' while talking to her.
In this coming season, the series features the last US presidential election, Occupy Wall Street, Qaddafi's downfall and US drone (unmanned aerial aircrafts) strikes. Unlike the previous season, there is one single story line that will guide all nine episodes.
The sophomore season begins with Will sitting with the network's lawyers due to news that puts the show in crisis mode. Margaret enters the room with short, red hair, a far departure from her long blonde hair in the previous season, another cue of many major events happening in the following episodes.
The network also experiences the consequences of Will's harsh remarks on the Tea Party that he made during the first season's finale.
For all bumpy roads that the News Night team has to pass in the second season, the network's CEO, Leona Lansing (Jane Fonda), puts it best when she says, 'the chips are falling.'
' Photos courtesy of HBO Asia
The Newsroom (Season Two)
Premiere on HBO
Aug. 5 at 8 p.m.
