The Newsroom 1.10: The Greater Fool

[marymary]

Brian's magazine piece puts Will in a dangerous state, then Mac in a right tizzy, then me in a sort of open-mouthed stare. (They didn't think the guy who thought Mac cheated on him with Will would write a scathing piece? Okay

Comments

[marymary]

LOVED:

- Sloan and Don. THAT'S what I'm talkin about. Ok, a little too on the nose ("You never asked me out."), but both of them had the right tension, a realistic reticence, and great timing. It was sort of thrilling! I felt that, you know? And for maaaybe only the second time in this series. *slow clap

[canarymburns]

I thought he only bought the engagement ring recently? In the episode where he first meets the new therapist, the therapist said something like "So when you found out about [something] you had an intern run over to Tiffany's."? Then towards the end of the episode he ripped up the receipt?

I may of totally misread that timescale though :-)

[marymary]

No, you're right, I was just being silly and expressed myself badly. :)

When I say, "she's learned from Will," I'm taking Mac's POV. Will sort of tricked her into thinking he'd actually had that engagement ring for years. And that, apparently, it lives right there in his drawer. We knew it was bought recently, and of course Will knew, but Mac didn't.

So I was saying maybe she's learned from Will the habit of keeping sentimental items close all the times, because she thinks he does. :)

[elinorigbe]

SHE HAS IT IN HER HANDS?

I know it was well past AS's time, but that reminded me of Josh pulling out his folder of Donna's quotes from the drawer RIGHT BEHIND HIS DESK--he could reach for it without looking, when she came in for an interview.

Who does that?

[marymary]

One more thing... I'm so torn on the sorority girl being Thomas of Warwick. Any Arthurian reference makes me happy, and Will employed it well. That was the intent of the Arthur character - to "seed" someone with the story and the ideals, so they would live on.

It was just too much for me, that she'd come back and look for a job, that Will would then yell at her A SECOND TIME, and then hire her and assume she'd be the vessel for their whole vision.

But overall, I liked it.

[aunt_deen]

Sloan and Don. THAT'S what I'm talkin about. Ok, a little too on the nose ("You never asked me out."), but both of them had the right tension, a realistic reticence, and great timing. It was sort of thrilling! I felt that, you know? And for maaaybe only the second time in this series. *slow clap*I did throw a piece of popcorn at the "you never asked me out" line

[marymary]

On the other hand, I'm calling a certain amount of bullshit on the idea that Don never asking her out means she's single. Still. After over a year of Don/Maggie. She is hot and smart and funny and she would have all kinds of quality men asking her out.

Yes, absolutely, and I had that exact same thought when I heard that line too.

I decided to see it as more of a provocative comment. Like, I can imagine myself saying something exactly like that, just to be disarming. I decided neither Don nor Sloan thinks Sloan is single because she's been pining for Don -- it was just a way for Sloan to say, "Oh and by the way, I like you." *

She is a grown-ass woman and she deals.Yes, this is an excellent point. IMO this works ONLY with Sloan, because she's the only one in that newsroom with any kind of poker face. I believe she could have been attracted to Don and no one would have known

[elinorigbe]

Not for nothin, but this is very reminiscent of Aaron's "I buried the lede" speech in Broadcast News

it's also very reminiscent (reaching VERY far afield) of two reveals in "4 Weddings & a Funeral": first where Fiona tells the Hugh Grant character that she had never coupled because the object of her adoration (he) was not available, and the second where Mathew,(John Hannah) reads that heartbreaking W.H. Auden eulogy at the funeral of his here-to-for secret lover Gareth.

[marymary]

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/08/why-i-love-the-newsroom-a-defense-of-imperfection/261598/

[tomfoolery815]

Love it. :) I know you and I agree with him about the brilliance of Don's trashy-news tutorial. I think he's right about Olivia Munn -- it's fun to see an obviously smart person figure out, right in front of us, how to be a better actor.

He makes a great point about the early episodes of SN -- Mac's shrieking has its origins in Jeremy's build-to-a-crescendo yelling in his job interview. What made that moment even more painful was the laugh track telling us just how hilarious that moment was.

Mary, even given your reasonable criticisms of the Mackenzie character, I think you'll agree that it is fun to hear EM say "douchebag." :)