NEWSROOM, THE: THE GREATER FOOL {SEASON ONE FINALE} (TV)
Summary
The first-season finale in this drama series about arrogant news anchor Will McAvoy and his clashes with his staff at the New York-based Atlantis Cable News network. In this episode, Mac and the others search for Will at his apartment and find him passed out in the bathroom. At the hospital, he is treated for a perforated ulcer, exacerbated by his combination of anti-depressants and alcohol in reaction to Brian's scathing cover article. Eight days later, he reports on an elderly woman who is not allowed to vote thanks to the new anti-voter fraud ID laws, largely imposed by Republican candidates. A week earlier, Jim attempts to educate himself about "Sex and the City" in order to please Lisa, and in the hospital, Will continues agonizing over the article, which calls him "the greater fool," and tells a frustrated Mac that he may not return to work. Nina Howard reveals to Mac that she knows that Will was high the night of the bin Laden report, saying that she still needs a second source but admitting that she does not want to run it. Charlie realizes that the Lansings will use the story to finally fire Will, wondering who her source could be. Charlie then regretfully tells Solomon that he is not a reliable source, but Solomon maintains that he is being railroaded. He promises to give him proof of TMI's phone-hacking if Charlie first reports on the NSA's use of the Global Clarity program, but Charlie asks for the evidence ahead of time in order to help Will.
Sloan tells Don that she is leaving ACN for a higher-paying economic job, having realized that she is not making a difference in people's financial misconceptions with her reports. Don tells her that he plans to ask Maggie to move in with him, and she points out that he is just trying to prove himself to be a "good guy" even though he does not really love her, hinting that she herself likes Don. Jim visits Will in the hospital and Mac is annoyed to hear about the latest Don/Maggie/Jim/Lisa entanglement, warning Jim against ending up like her and Will. Mac warns Will about Nina's potentially catastrophic story, but Will maintains that his career is already ruined. Charlie is horrified to learn that Solomon has committed suicide, and later receives a package from him in the mail. Will reports extensively on the Tea Party again, pointing out that they are not true Republicans in any sense. Neal tells Charlie that he has more or less found the person who threatened Will, and Charlie allows him to inflame the situation to lure him out. He then visits Will and belittles Brian's article, and Will's no-nonsense nurse tells him about her great-aunt and her voter ID troubles, giving him an idea. When Will mentions that he left Mac a phone message while high, Mac says that she did not hear it, and Charlie realizes that Reese deleted it, having hacked into Mac's phone. Rejuvenated, Will returns to ACN and the staff works hard on a new series of reports.
When Don blows off Maggie for dinner yet again, she admits to Lisa that Jim actually came to see her on the night of their reunion, which upsets Lisa. Maggie ends up yelling at a passing "Sex and the City" tour bus about its unrealistic romances and about her feelings for her best friend's boyfriend, and Jim, aboard the bus, hears everything. He pursues her and they share a kiss, but they realize that they cannot be together at the moment. On air, Will reads a series of quotes from founding fathers declaring that America is not, in fact, a Christian nation, and as Maggie prepares to confront Don, he surprises her by asking her to move in, and she ignores Jim's call as she says yes. Mac, Charlie and Will meet with the Lansings and Leona happily fires Will when he admits to being high on air, but Charlie retorts that they have Solomon's proof of Reese's phone-hacking and forces them to kill the story about Will. Reese admits to everything and Charlie records him, adding that they must shut down TMI for good and urging Leona to stop assisting politicians who lie. She then realizes that they were duped into confessing, as Solomon did not actually have proof of TMI's actions. Sloan explains the true meaning of "the greater fool" to Will, adding that she is staying at ACN, though she is embarrassed about her comments to Don. Will delivers his final blow to the Tea Party, calling them the "American Taliban," and Jim admits to Maggie that he lied to Lisa about his true feelings. Will claims not to remember the rest of his pot-influenced voicemail to Mac but confesses that he hallucinated her during the Northwestern panel, and she reveals that she was in fact really there. He is further shocked to find that the Northwestern co-ed who "ruined his life" is applying for an internship, having been impressed with News Night 2.0's ethics, and he offers a revised answer to her "moronic" question. Neal admits to Lonny that his online antics have led to many more death threats against Will, and Nina permanently deletes Will's voicemail, in which he seems to admit that he still loves Mac.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: August 26, 2012 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:01:11
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 109001
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; News broadcasting; Politics
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2012-2014
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alan Poul … Executive Producer
- Scott Rudin … Executive Producer
- Aaron Sorkin … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Paul Redford … Co-Executive Producer
- Denis Biggs … Co-Executive Producer
- Greg Mottola … Co-Executive Producer, Director
- Lauren Lohman … Co-Producer
- Eli Bush … Co-Producer
- Dauri Chase … Co-Producer
- Christine Larson-Nitzsche … Co-Producer
- Sarah Rath … Associate Producer
- Alex Wurman … Music by
- Thomas Newman … Theme Music by
- Jeff Daniels … Cast, Will McAvoy
- Emily Mortimer … Cast, MacKenzie McHale
- John Gallagher Jr. … Cast, Jim Harper
- Alison Pill … Cast, Maggie Jordan
- Thomas Sadoski … Cast, Don Keefer
- Dev Patel … Cast, Neal Sampat
- Olivia Munn … Cast, Sloan Sabbith
- Sam Waterston … Cast, Charlie Skinner
- Chris Messina … Cast, Reese Lansing
- Hope Davis … Cast, Nina Howard
- Terry Crews … Cast, Lonny Church
- Kelen Coleman … Cast, Lisa Lambert
- Stephen McKinley Henderson … Cast, Solomon Hancock
- Angela Sergeant … Cast, Nurse Cooper
- Adina Porter … Cast, Kendra James
- Chris Chalk … Cast, Gary Cooper
- Kenneth Choi … Cast, Dr. Lee
- Jane Fonda … Cast, Leona Lansing
- Margaret Judson … Cast, Tess Westin
- Wynn Everett … Cast, Tamara Hart
- Thomas Matthews … Cast, Martin Stallworth
- John F. Carpenter … Cast, Herb Wilson
- Trieu Tran … Cast, Joey Phan
- Charlie Weirauch … Cast, Jake Watson
- Riley Voelkel … Cast, Jennifer Johnson
- Josh Rachford … Cast, Mailroom Kid
- Dana Jacks … Cast, Tour Guide
- Sarah Scott Davis … Cast, Terry Smith