Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
After coming off two rock-solid installments, it was only natural that The Newsroom hit a somewhat muddled, exhausting episode. “The Blackout Part I: Tragedy Porn” is the first of a two-parter, and much like the first few episodes of the series, it crams enough plot for two or three episodes, and rarely slows down enough to breath.
“The Blackout” is a bit repetitive, treading over stories that have already played out in previous episodes, while adding a convenient conspiracy that makes the show feel more fictional that it would otherwise be. And, once again, the relationship dynamic of the show seeps directly into the core story, infecting a subplot about Will hiring a reporter (Parks and Rec alum Paul Schneider) to write a piece about News Night. This reporter also happens to be the man Mackenzie cheated on Will with.
Let's start off with the negative portrayal of woman in this week's episode. Every single female character flew off the handle, or displayed petty behavior. Maggie (Alison Pill) got furious about how her faith was being hijacked by the likes of Michele Bachmann, and was made to feel bad for getting angry about it. When Neal (Dev Patel) approached Sloan (Oliva Munn) about trolling her to gain him access to the trolling community, she threw him against a wall. When Mackenzie was told that News Night would cover the Casey Anthony story, she had to be put in her place. She was also made to feel terrible about her past decisions throughout the episode.
It's almost ironic how the New Night team mocks Nancy Grace's expertly manipulative dissection of the Casey Anthony case, but then follows it up by suggesting the Anthony Weiner sexting controversy was spawned from one woman's desire to make herself famous, and get vengeance on a man she was flirting with (on a side note: that woman was played by Alison Beck, who played a love interest of Paul Schneider on Parks and Rec). Was it meant to be ironic that the show was offering up a similar petty judgement?
The only negative male character here was Will, but his flaws were allowed to be dissected in a more positive manner. And at his weakest point in the episode he sought the advice of his therapist (David Krumholtz).
Aside from the negative portrayal of woman in this episode – which is a common criticism of Sorkin's work – "The Blackout" never quite seemed to find it's footing, dancing around issues and skirting past subplots. The episode felt too fast and too jam-packed. Why not introduce the journalist in last week's episode? Or why not spend one week focusing on the wire-tapping/hacking conspiracy story. If Sorkin wants to go there, he should spend some serious time with it.
Or why not spend the whole episode dissecting how we viewed the Casey Anthony case – mocking how news journalism resorted to tabloid fodder for almost a month. While the episode does spend some time with this issue, it would have been fascinating and fun to see Sorkin mow down the public narrative. The same goes for the Anthony Weiner sexting subplot, which tied in nicely with the Casey Anthony material, but never quite got enough screen time to fully develop.
Naturally, some of these issues will be resolved in the episode's second part, but it seems like next week will focus more on the blackout itself, which abruptly ended this episode.
Regardless, the first half of “The Blackout” was a mixed bag of sorts, and not a very satisfying episode. It repeated the “we're going to get Will fired” story over again, and basically drew much of the same conclusions. Admittedly, this arch was more about how easy it is to fall back on old habits, but traipsing through that mud just isn't nearly as fun or moving as where the show has been progressing these last few weeks.
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
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