The Newsroom “Election Night, Part II” 

CONGRATULATIONS TO JEFF DANIELS! He just won the Emmy for best actor in a drama series. It was his first nomination and WIN for the seasoned actor. Although to others, it may seem like an upset, for those of us who watch him bring Will McAvoy to life, it’s comes as no surprise to us – his fans! 

With that being said, please ignore what the critics are saying. In my opinion, Aaron Sorkin has a huge hit on his hands and from what I’ve been reading on Facebook and other social media outlets; I am not alone. Dear Mr. Sorkin and HBO, please give us another season. Thank you!

In case you missed it or just want to relive the highlights, here is a recap of “Election Night, Part II.”

With their confidence in the toilet over the Genoa debacle, Charlie along with Don, Maggie, Jim, and Mac decide not to scoop the other networks with the story about David Petraeus and his extramarital affair. Later in the episode, Charlie admits to Will that he made the call, which leads to Will having a revelation. FYI:  the story surrounding the retired four-star general made headlines a few days after the election, when Petraeus resigned his position as CIA director.

Meanwhile, Election Night 2012 continues with an interesting conversation between Will and Taylor. Will confides in the former Romney spokesperson regarding his concerns over two petitions containing 70-thousand signatures calling for the firing of both him and Charlie over Genoa. Without missing a beat, it doesn’t take Taylor long to ask Will if he’s okay with her decision to ask Jim to be a part of her start-up media consulting firm. Perplexed, Will wants to know why Jim would be leaving ACN and Taylor fesses up, “it’s in the air supply around here that senior staff is resigning over Genoa.” In a New York minute, Will calls an emergency meeting with the senior staff.

Meanwhile, Jim is busy Skyping with Hallie about the mood at Romney headquarters. Suddenly, Maggie pops in to the picture to inform Jim about the meeting. Suddenly, Hallie has an epiphany, “I think she cut her own hair.” Jim dismisses it, but Hallie warns him, “cutting off your own hair, that is alarming.”

With time ticking, Will sets the record straight and tells everyone, “I don’t want to hear any more rumors about the rest of you resigning, is that clear?” Well, apparently it wasn’t, Don speaks up on behalf of everyone, “It’s clear but we’re saying no.”

As in most companies, while the employees are hard at work, the big wigs, including Rebecca, Reese, and mommy Leona are rocking the joint upstairs.

As Charlie asks Leona (ONCE AGAIN) about her decision, there’s only one thing on her mind, “I want to get the Allman Brothers back together again.” Can I just say; I love Leona when she’s high! With that being said, I am not advocating drinking or taking drugs, but it is funny to watch Jane Fonda play opposite “Mommy Dearest” – it’s a laugh out loud moment! Charlie finally gets the answer he wants, Leona declares that it’s up to Reese, “I’m letting him make the decision.”

In a hot hurry to get back to the newsroom, Charlie bumps into Maggie’s roommate/landlord and Jim’s former love interest, Lisa, “Have we met, you look familiar?” Lisa kindly asks him to keep her appearance to himself, “Oh, Mr. Skinner can I ask you a favor? Would you mind not mentioning to Jim Harper that I’m working up here tonight?” It takes a second for Charlie to catch on, but he agrees; however, her secret, as a server doesn’t stay safe for long as we find out later in the episode.

Downstairs, Will is informed via a hand-delivered note, that Reese will be the one deciding their fate. Apparently, Jim isn’t that concerned about the reputation of ACN or is he? The senior producer, who is trying to cover up the fact that he called the Michigan Race too soon, receives a phone call from a pollster in wanting to know, “Why has no one else called it?” Despite numbers are tight between the two candidates; Jim lets her know that ACN called the race correctly. In the end, we find out that Jim made the right call.  In real life, Dan Benishek the Republican Congressman won his seat by a very narrow margin. Note to Jim, QUIT SKYPING your girlfriend during election night! What if you would have been wrong? ACN has enough problems! Just saying.

For Lisa, the jig is up! Neal learns that someone is taking pictures and sending tweets from the party. When Maggie sees the photo of Charlie crashing into Lisa, she pleads with Jim, to make amends with her, “what if none of us are here tomorrow?” Will there be a tomorrow or in this case another season of The Newsroom?

We won’t worry about that yet, there’s more to this episode. We haven’t even gotten to the good parts yet.

Will orders Elliott to take his chair and call the House Race, while Mac instructs Don to do the same. Sloan doesn’t like it a bit, “This is getting out of hand.” That’s an understatement as Will and Mac meet up in the green room and revisit their relationship.

Mac admits that she was using Will to get back at what was his name again? Brian Brenner (I had to check that one). NO ONE CARES about him. I take that back, I guess we have to care about him a little bit, because it is part of the Will and Mac love story. Anyway, Mac admits to Will that she eventually fell in love with him. Basically, Mac cheated on Will to get Brian’s attention and while doing so, fell in love with Will.

Mac: “If I hadn’t told you, you’d never have known.”
Will: “So then why did you tell me?”
Mac: “If I had to do over again, I wouldn’t have, but I had never been in a relationship as serious as ours and I thought it was what I was supposed to do.”

Things really get ugly when Will confesses that he bought the engagement ring as a practical joke. Mac isn’t laughing:

Mac: “Stand on the other side of the room, there is a reasonable chance, a credible threat that I will hit you.”
Will: “If I ever thought there was a chance you’d find out”
Mac: “I brutally hurt, and that’s a fact and facts don’t change, but in my lifetime, I have never done it intentionally.”

For a man who uses his words on a daily basis, there was only one thing left for Will to say, “I’m sorry.” In typical newsroom fashion, it was back to business. Well, not quite.

Neal informs Sloan that someone wanted to create the impression of a bidding war over her book. He tries to convince her that someone donated $1,000 to the Sandy Relief fund and that’s all that really matters, but not to Sloan. She is determined to find out who bought her book.

Meanwhile, in Don’s office, the troubled producer opens up to Rebecca. Don makes it known that he intends to counter sue Jerry for emotional duress. In a tender scene between the two, a teary-eyed Don concedes that there is only one thing he really wants, “I want to keep doing the news, HERE with Elliot FOR Charlie, I want to keep arguing with Mac and Will, I want Dantana to iron his clothes while wearing them.”

Back upstairs at the party, Lisa runs into Jim. He apologizes to her, “You are thoughtful and you are authentic and I have never seen you sneer at anyone or anything. There is believe me, no one that you are not good enough for and there is hardly anyone who is good enough for you including it turned out to be me.” What follows comes to a shock to both of them. Jim learns that Maggie never told Lisa about what happened to her in Uganda. Lisa tells him that she did find Maggie’s hair on the bathroom floor. He encourages Lisa to talk to her roommate.

Back to the election night coverage, a DC anchor insults Mac, Taylor and Will banter, Neal asks Jim for a favor and Don asks Mac, “Is there anything I can do to convince you that it wasn’t your fault” and Mac says, “No, there is nothing that will convince me.”

After a conversation between Sloan and Don in his office, she figures out that HE is the one who bought her book. Without any hesitation the very SASSY, SLOAN SABBITH marches straight into the control room to thank him. Sloan signs the book, pulls Don into a STEAMY KISS, shoves the book at him and confidently walks away, leaving Don with one thing to say, “What I have, can’t be taught.”

In the newsroom, Jim and Maggie finally have a serious discussion about the state of her mental health and her CROPPED RED HAIR. Maggie finally breaks down and tells Jim why she took the scissors to it, “He had never seen blonde hair before and when I was reading to him, he was playing with my hair, so I cut my hair.” Jim sets her straight; “You pulled him out and carried him back to the bus, what was your crime.” Maggie gets REAL about what’s really going on inside of her head, “There’s a difference between being tough and wanting to be. You and Mac are tough, Don is tough, and I want to be.” Jim reassures her, “You are.” In a heartfelt scene, the two recall when they first met, leaving Maggie with a smile on her face.

Just as the election coverage is wrapping up, we find Charlie sitting in Will’s office, “We’ve come a long way, I’m not resigning and neither are you — are we out of our f’-n minds? While Charlie rambles on about why it’s not an institutional failure, Will has a REVELATION and it’s a BIG ONE or should I say a BIG MAC! He finally realizes that HE IS STILL IN LOVE with her and wants to MARRY her! Will unlocks his desk, grabs the engagement ring and runs off to find his gal!

Will: “I didn’t return it because I am in love with you.”
Mac: “What the f–k is happening now.”
Will: “I think you should say yes.” Mac: “Yes, I’m saying yes.”
Will: “Thank God.” [BIG KISS]
Mac: “It took you long enough.”
Will: “Seriously?”

After many up hill battles this season, Reese walks in with his third generation ROCKETTE girlfriend and announces his decision.

Reese: “I’m not accepting your resignation.”
Charlie: “We’re not resigning”
Reese: “That’s fine, but I’m surprising you by taking the higher road and I’m not accepting your resignation” Charlie: “We are not offering.”
Reese: “This isn’t about the bottom line, this is a bad business decision, but it’s a good decision, I’m doing the right thing.”

Leona sums it up: “You’re all idiots.”

With love in the air, Mac and Will walk out and he introduces the future:

Will: “Mrs. Mackenzie, Morgan, McHale, Mc… that’s not gonna work.”

So there you have it, season two ends to the tune of “Let My Love Open the Door” and a montage filled with hugs, champagne, toasts, cigars, loving looks between Don and Sloan and Maggie clicking the mouse on her computer with the knowledge that Jim did indeed make the right call.

If you missed any of it, you can catch it on HBO on Demand and HBO GO. Look for any updates on The Newsroom and my recap of the entire season, coming soon.