NEWSROOM, THE: 5/1 (TV)
Summary
One 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, while attending News Night 2.0's one-year-and-one-week anniversary party at Will's apartment, Charlie receives a call from an anonymous source wanting to "establish credibility" by saying that Charlie will receive a very important e-mail from the White House in ninety minutes. Unaware of this, everyone else celebrates, and Neal's girlfriend Kaylee provides Will with some strong marijuana cookies. As Jim checks baseball scores online, Lisa calls on FaceTime and Maggie overhears her exchanging "I love you"s with Jim. Jim admits to Maggie that he does not really love Lisa, but said so to spare her feelings, and Maggie urges him to break up with her. Jim and Mac are both surprised to receive e-mails from a National Security officer saying that he is "available," and Charlie gets the promised e-mail from the White House and guesses that President Obama is about to announce to the country that Osama bin Laden has been killed. Elsewhere, on a plane from D.C., Don annoys Sloan, Elliot and the other passengers with his endless talk about Maggie and Jim. They receive the e-mails as well as they sit stranded on the tarmac, and Don gets into an argument with a strict flight attendant.
Everyone leaves Will's party and rushes into the office, and stuck in traffic, an intoxicated Will decides to run to the ACN building, and when an annoyed Lonny gives chase, he is stopped by the police. The staff members speculate about the big story, wondering if Gaddafi has been killed or aliens have been found, and a frustrated Don plots ways to escape the stalled airplane. Narrowing down the possibilities, Neal maintains that the news cannot be bad, and though Donald Rumsfeld's Chief of Staff confirms the bin Laden story on Twitter, Mac wants to wait for further information. She is horrified to discovered that Will is extremely high, but he maintains that he can do the show. On the plane, Sloan, Don and Elliot receive an "enemy killed in action" message, and though the staff receives secondary confirmation, Charlie orders them to wait, saying that he made a similar mistake years ago that led to several deaths. He does tell the staff the truth, however, saying that they will always remember this night. Kaylee quietly goes off on her own and Jim learns that her father died in the World Trade Center, and though one of Mac's reporters attempts to prematurely divulge the story, Mac cuts the feed and stops her. Maggie again pushes Jim to end things with Lisa, and Lisa, overhearing this, decides to let Jim "off the hook" and breaks up with him. She tells Maggie that she is aware of her feelings for Jim, and she is unconvinced by Maggie and Jim's strong denials.
Don continues panicking about missing out on the huge story, and the other passengers hear rumors via their phones and begin worrying that there has been an attack. Don argues with the flight attendant again when he attempts to explain things, but he realizes the emotional impact the story will have on the airplane crew and humbly tells the captain and others first that bin Laden has been killed. Lisa agrees to Jim's request for a "do-over," and when an angry Lonny arrives with the cops, Will tells him the story, and Lonny in turn updates the NYPD officers. Charlie's Deep Throat-like source calls again and says that he works for NSA, revealing that AWM has been using illegal phone-hacking to get stories. Will, still inebriated, belatedly realizes that he has received an e-mail directly from Vice-President Biden confirming the bin Laden story, and they all scramble to get him on the air. Somehow, Will's classy introduction goes off without a hitch, and the report cuts to President Obama, who informs the world that the mastermind behind 9/11 is dead.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: August 5, 2012 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:52:48
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 108998
- 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
- Greg Mottola … Co-Executive Producer
- Denis Biggs … Co-Executive Producer
- Lauren Lohman … Co-Producer
- Eli Bush … Co-Producer
- Dauri Chase … Co-Producer
- Christine Larson-Nitzsche … Co-Producer
- Sarah Rath … Associate Producer
- Joshua Marston … Director
- 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
- David Harbour … Cast, Elliot Hirsch
- Terry Crews … Cast, Lonny Church
- Kelen Coleman … Cast, Lisa Lambert
- Stephen McKinley Henderson … Cast, Solomon Hancock
- Christina Kirk … Cast, Flight Attendant
- Natalie Morales … Cast, Kaylee
- Sali Richardson-Whitfield … Cast, Jane Barrow
- Adina Porter … Cast, Kendra James
- Chris Chalk … Cast, Gary Cooper
- 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
- Ashton Moio … Cast, Lester
- David Douglas … Cast, Peter
- Jeff Corbett … Cast, Captain
- Mark Scheibmeir … Cast, East Room Reporter
- Kahul Garcia … Cast, Police Officer #2
- Bruno Amato … Cast, Police Officer #3
- Sergio Enrique … Cast, Police Officer
- Ron Ostrow … Cast, Passenger 1
- Chase Kim … Cast, Passenger 2
- Reatha Grey … Cast, Passenger 3
- Jordana Capra … Cast, Passenger 4
- Jaimie Fauth … Cast, Passenger 5