NEWSROOM, THE: THE BLACKOUT, PART 2 - MOCK DEBATE (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 second half of this two-part episode, after the power goes out, Mac declares that they will "become a team again," viewing the blackout as a chance to symbolically start over, but the lights then immediately come back on. They continue showing Casey Anthony and Anthony Weiner footage as the staff prepares for the mock debate, and Sloan reluctantly agrees to allow Neal to make offensive comments about her on a reputable economy website in order to aid his "trolls" story. Brian continues writing his article, telling Mac that Will is lonely, and she is forced to agree. Mac then tells Sloan that she will try to give her the airtime to report on the debt ceiling crisis, and she becomes suspicious when she spots mysterious flowers in Will's office. Maggie reveals that Lisa went to high school with Casey Anthony and Mac says that they desperately need her as an exclusive guest, so Maggie and Jim, who is still attempting to "woo" Lisa, head to her SoHo boutique to beg her to come on air.
Will tells Don that the flowers were actually for him from a woman he dated during one of his many breakups with Maggie, though Don admits that Maggie is unaware of this. Will has a session with Jack and wonders if he is partially to blame for Mac cheating on him, realizing that he has longtime issues with feelings of betrayal. Neal explains to Sloan how his "authentically moronic" posts about her caused an uproar online, and Jim tells Charlie and the others that Solomon is not a "rock-solid" source, having had run-ins with the law and questionable psych evaluations. As Lisa prepares to go on air, she tells Jim that Don does not love Maggie and that he, Jim, is "on deck." Maggie gives her some notes, and on the air, Lisa bluntly reels off statistics about missing kids and points out the racial bias in the Casey Anthony coverage. When she throws in the issue of abortion, her store is vandalized, and Will apologizes to her.
Two representatives from the RNC, Tate Brady and Will's friend Adam Roth, visit the station to discuss the upcoming debate. The staff then presents their mock debate, explaining how their new format will have tougher questions in a more open conversation. Adam seems in favor, but Tate immediately rejects it, saying that they are mocking the candidates. He declares that they will obey the old rules and that Mac will not produce, but Will, Don, Sloan and the others all firmly turn them down, and they react sadly as they realize that they have lost the debate. Brian tells Mac that Will will cave to doing it their way, and when she defends him, Brian states that Will does not want her anymore. Mac urges Will to reconsider having Brian write the article and rants furiously about the situation, and Will tells her to throw out the rundown and do things their way, focusing on the debt ceiling and abandoning the Anthony and Weiner stories. Later, following Mac's poetic romance advice, Jim goes to Maggie's apartment, but ends up reuniting with Lisa when he encounters her first. Don, realizing why he was really there, explains to Maggie about the flowers. Charlie reads through Solomon's files, and as Neal continues his trolling, he comes across the poster who originally threatened Will's life and quickly calls Lonny. Elsewhere, Will peruses dating advice websites.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: August 19, 2012 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:55:14
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 109000
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; News broadcasting; Politics
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2012-2014
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Scott Rudin … Executive Producer
- Aaron Sorkin … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Alan Poul … Executive Producer, Director
- Greg Mottola … Co-Executive Producer
- Paul Redford … 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
- 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
- Adam Arkin … Cast, Adam Roth
- David Krumholtz … Cast, Dr. Jack Habib
- Terry Crews … Cast, Lonny Church
- Paul Schneider … Cast, Brian Brenner
- Kelen Coleman … Cast, Lisa Lambert
- Jake McDorman … Cast, Tate Brady
- Adina Porter … Cast, Kendra James
- Chris Chalk … Cast, Gary Cooper
- Lindsey Kraft … Cast, Alexandra
- 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
- Alison Becker … Cast, Sandy Whiddles
- Michael Tatlock … Cast, Teddy
- Livia Trevino … Cast, Meg
- Liesel Hlista … Cast, Selena Machado
- Chasty Ballesteros … Cast, Tea
- Terrell Carter … Cast, Karaoke Singer #1
- Diana Perez-Alvarado … Cast, Karaoke Singer #2