S03.E06: What Kind Of Day Has It Been

[Tara Ariano]

In the series finale, a shocking death prompts Will and Mac to reminisce about the newsroom's past and ponder ACN's uncertain future. Meanwhile, Maggie gets an interview for a field producer in Washington, D.C.; Leona offers advice to Pruit; and Neal's digital site it shut down for repairs.

[fastiller]

Was wondering when we'd get an episode with this title.

[Primetimer]

Time to say goodbye to everyone at ACN. We shall not look upon their like again -- or, at least, we'd better not.

Read the story

[sunflower]

Sadly, I thought this episode sucked.  The writing was all over the place, it was boring, and I didn't care.  I though it was a bad idea going back to the past.  Don and Sloan only worked because these two characters have always worked.  It's like Sorkin didn't care enough about them to work them too hard and fuck them up (see Maggie and Jim).  They were allowed to breathe.  I don't understand though why Don stayed at 10pm.  Loyalty, I guess. be his own man?  And what of Neal, his return felt like nothing.  He didn't even get a scene w/Will or any other regular character.  Was the actor working on a movie or something?  Anyway, suckass finale that just felt static and unmoving.  It felt nasty and depressing.  My favorite episodes were an episode like Amen from Season 1.  That was moving and funny and kind of beautiful.  This was the opposite. 

Edited December 15, 2014 by sunflower

[WatchrTina]

Well I liked that.  I wasn't sure what they were going to do with the last episode and I feared a maudlin, never-ending funeral episode but instead they delivered a highly entertaining hour.  

 

I loved the flash-backs.  It was nice to see the back-story on how Mac ended up in that audience.  It was also nice to understand why she went out of her way to hire Jenna (which never actually made that much sense to me before but it does now.)  I love the hint that Sloan had her eye on Don from way back when.  

 

In the here-and-nowI loved Leona stepping in and taking charge the situation.  I loved Neal showing up and shutting down the shit-show that the website had become.  I loved Maggie going for the DC job and thought the agonizing between her and Jim (and Sloan) was amusing.

 

I appreciated that those three supporting actresses finally had their character's names specifically identified and that that one character got to hit Will (it was funny.)

 

The impromptu jam session in the garage was hokey but hey, nothing's perfect.

 

Now if someone could please just explain the significance to whatever that was that Charlie's widow gave to Don (who gave it to Sloan) I would greatly appreciate it.  (It looked like one of Charlie's ties.  How is that important?)

Edited December 15, 2014 by WatchrTina

[Lnmop]

Now if someone could please just explain the significance to whatever that was that Charlie's widow gave to Don (who gave it to Sloan) I would greatly appreciate it. (It looked like one of Charlie's ties. How is that important?)

I believe that was his Yale tie.

[madam magpie]

I wouldn't say "sucked," but I don't know how I felt about that. It all seemed very rushed, and I don't believe Pruit's turn around. A couple of days before he wanted to fire Mackenzie. Now he suddenly has integrity and promotes her? I did like that she recognized he did it mainly for PR, but does she actually want that job? I don't know that I feel like our guys won in the end, so it was kind of depressing. I don't even feel like they're excited to be doing the news, except for Don.

I'm glad Maggie was still going for the DC job, I thought the very end where they were preparing for a broadcast was perfect, I loved all of Don and Sloan's interactions and teared up when he gave her the tie, and hokey as it was, I dug the impromptu garage jam. I liked the flashbacks a lot, but...Charlie and Mac didn't know each other before he hired her? That surprised me. I'll need to watch the pilot again. I've always been under the impression that Charlie knew Will and Mac before and that Mac had worked at ACN before. Wasn't Will at ACN during the 9/11 coverage? So then he went to CNN, met Mac, dated her, broke up with her, and went back to ACN? I don't know. I definitely could have missed something, but that really contradicts the backstory I had in my head.

Edited December 15, 2014 by madam magpie

[Eolivet]

Will and Mac: Get a baby and a promotion!

Jim and Maggie: Get a love declaration and a big scene about the future of their relationship!

Don and Sloan: Get a...bowtie.

 

I guess you could tell who Sorkin wanted to write for and who he didn't.

 

Still don't understand why this show had to come back for a third season. Oh well.

 

One more time, for good measure: Shut up, Jim.

[HollaMcDollar]

I very much like this website as it enables me to comment w/ others about shows I watch; however, in the future, perhaps it might be wise to use reviewers that are slightly more objective, or at least do not seem to have a strong such strong personal feelings about the creators/writers/etc. of the show they are reviewing. I do not mean to be out of line or disrespectful and perhaps the easiest answer to this would be for me to just avoid reading reviews here and simply using the other discussion sections of the website.

Again, thank you for providing this platform. I do not wish to be ungrateful or disrespectful; I'm just adding my (very likely) unwanted 2 cents.

- HMc$

[lrockyb]

The best part of The Newsroom ending is I never have to read Tara's reviews again. Maybe Sorkin can explain to her the difference between being sarcastic and being snarky.

[lucindabelle]

It so makes me angry that a 60 year old man can be a dad for the first time. Life is not fair.

 

I didn't understand the significance of the tie... if Don and Sloan are that much in love, why don't they put a ring on it? I'm sentimental that way.

 

The song in the garage was hoky but fun. I actually enjoyed this episode even though it made Charlie into a god of the past. The PR thing was pretty classic deus ex machina. Boy that actor is good at playing an unlovable little shit. Hated him on The Office, loathed him here.

 

Still do not buy Maggie's rise to meteoric success. Is she even officially a producer now? Has she anything like the chops to be considered for a senior position? Because despite what Sorkin thinks, producer means something in news that it doesn't in scripted drama, and people don't go from assistant to intern to senior producer in just a few years without being exceptional, no matter how blonde and prett. But maybe I missed the part where they went over her resume and she was always overqualified or something.

 

Emily Mortimer always brings it, though. She made me laugh maybe 10 times. Maybe that's why I liked the episode.

[Fisher King]

I thought these last 6 episodes were better written and less heavy-handed than the other two seasons.  More focus on the characters rather than extensive, tedious reactions to actual past news stories.

Loved the slower pace and the flashbacks.  Loved the garage jam and "That's How I Got to Memphis." Fitting sendoff for Charlie.

 

Great finale to a mostly cringe-worthy show.

[thuganomics85]

Eh, wasn't a fan of this.  I guess everyone got their "happy ending", but a lot of it felt rushed and very convenient.  Of course, Mac and Sloan's jobs are saved because luckily enough, Pruitt is exposed to the world has having some very troubling view about women, so he not only can't fire them, but lets Leona talk him into letting Mac take over for Charlie.  So, of course, Jim gets her job (since Don refused for whatever damn reason).  It's all good!

 

And way, way, way too much time was spent on Jim and Maggie.  I just don't care.  And, I still think Jim sucks.  He really seemed pissed that Maggie had the audacity to still go for that D.C. job, despite her clear reasons to do so.  I don't know; I think Sorkin wants me to see them as true love or something, but I question if that relationship is going to last.

 

Of course, that meant not enough Don and Sloan for my taste.  Mainly there to just be upset that they felt like they caused Charlie's death, and needed comforting.  Whatever, as usual, Thomas Sadoski and Olivia Munn saved it.  I can't wait to see what those two do next.

 

Couldn't get into the flashbacks.  I don't mind the fact I knew the destination; Boardwalk Empire did the same thing for it's final season, and I loved it; but I was just bored.  Although, Sam Waterston did a good job in them.

 

Neal's return was also underwhelming.  Just shows up to bitch out Bree, and how they sullied the website.  I get it, Sorkin: a lot of bloggers are douchebags.

 

It's too bad; I thought this season started out promising, but it kind of lost me these past three episodes.  

[madam magpie]

Emily Mortimer always brings it, though. She made me laugh maybe 10 times.

Amen to that.

I think the tie wasn't about Don and Sloan as a couple; it was about Sloan. She seemed to be the most affected by Charlie's death and felt a tremendous amount of guilt because of what she'd done before he died. Nancy absolved Don of his own similar feelings by giving him the tie, so Don gave it to Sloan to do the same thing for her. He was basically saying, "Charlie loved you and was proud of you and agreed with you. This was not your fault." She seemed to need that to move forward.

Edited December 15, 2014 by madam magpie

[anonymiss]

This awful show. I couldn't even get through the episode and barely stomached the last. 

[babs1226]

I thought they did a great job of wrapping things up.  I enjoyed the episode.

[ScoobyDrew]

The best part of the episode was Tom T Hall's How I Got To Memphis. However, that's because my father loved Tom T Hall and it reminds me of him.

Other than that. Blah.

[WatchrTina]

One of my favorite moments from the ep was when Leona said "Who's stopping you?" to Will. It tells me that he had her tacit approval for the big change in direction News Night took at the beginning of the series.

Edited December 15, 2014 by WatchrTina

[HollaMcDollar]

Not the way I would've done this finale but as I thought about it this week, I'm really going to miss this show. It was at its best when is stuck to the news and the inner workings of a TV news studio/network.

[Cramps]

Why doesn't MacKemzie ever comb her hair? Even for funerals?

Don't like that the BJ Novack's character was a sexist and had gotten in trouble for pay inequality OFF camera -- too convenient a set up for a HUGE plot point to not set up better. Bad writing.

Pretty much agree with everyone's Jim/Maggie, and Neil comments. Liked the song, didn't really buy the kid being into it. Bought Aaron being into it though. Also hasn't Aaron used Don Quixote before? Maybe in West Wing

Edited December 15, 2014 by Cramps

[bobbyjoe]

Neal's return was also underwhelming.  Just shows up to bitch out Bree, and how they sullied the website.

 

So was the storyline here about Pruitt having to promote a woman because he gets called out on a shitty attitude to women some sort of meta-comment on Sorkin himself?

 

Sorkin's been called out a lot lately for his record on female representation, but can we also talk for a minute about how gross it is that the one overweight and kind of normal-to-geeky looking guy Sorkin casts gets raked over the coals not once, but twice, in both this episode and the last, as the punching bag for the speechifying pretty folk?  See how loathsome Bree is?  Good heavens, man, he's somewhat chubby! (I'm only surprised the show didn't have Bree eating a giant ham sandwich, leaking out gobs of grease and mayonnaise as he leers at the computer screen).  I'm trying to keep track of all the people who've been lectured to/shamed over the course of this show: female students, gay guys who didn't come out in exactly the way the main characters wanted, rape victims, overweight computer nerds, etc., etc.

 

Aaron Sorkin's got some real problems.

Edited December 15, 2014 by bobbyjoe

[Pallas]

I've always been under the impression that Charlie knew Will and Mac before and that Mac had worked at ACN before. Wasn't Will at ACN during the 9/11 coverage? So then he went to CNN, met Mac, dated her, broke up with her, and went back to ACN? I don't know. I definitely could have missed something, but that really contradicts the backstory I had in my head.

 

You're right: Will handled the 9/11 coverage on ACN; he had been their legal correspondent but was called in to sub that morning, impressed Charlie, and (I thought too) had handled the desk from then on.  But if Charlie didn't know Mac until he hired her to come be Don Quixote, then either Charlie worked elsewhere when Mac and Will did Newsnight at ACN, or Mac and Will worked together elsewhere -- probably CNN, as you said -- and Will then came back to ACN.  It's perplexing.    

[madam magpie]

I'm trying to keep track of all the people who've been lectured to over the course of this show: female students, gay guys who didn't come out in exactly the way the main characters wanted, rape victims, overweight computer nerds, etc., etc.

Good-looking, successful white guys (Brian, Wade), Republicans (Taylor, the Santorum aide), crazy Tea Partiers, etc., etc...man, it's like he'll do it to anyone. How dare he be so egalitarian with his ire!

Pallas: I think Charlie said to Mac at the bowling alley something like "What you two did over at CNN..." But I can't swear to that. I'd have to watch it again.

[Fisher King]

Pallas: I think Charlie said to Mac at the bowling alley something like "What you two did over at CNN..." But I can't swear to that. I'd have to watch it again.

 

That's what he said.

[bobbyjoe]

Good-looking, successful white guys (Brian, Wade), Republicans (Taylor, the Santorum aide), crazy Tea Partiers, etc., etc...man, it's like he'll do it to anyone. How dare he be so egalitarian with his ire!

 

A key difference would be that there are lots of successful white guys in the main cast of the show.  They're usually the ones giving the lectures.  And Will himself is prominently placed as a Republican.  So there's a difference between a successful white guy main character lecturing another successful white guy character and a successful white guy character lecturing a character who's a minority or member of a group that doesn't otherwise appear with any regularity on the show (gays, the overweight, rape victims, etc.).  Same goes for one strand of Republicanism lecturing another:  that's quite a bit different than the way the show has had a white straight man lecture a gay man or a female rape victim-- in both of those cases, notably, Sorkin implies that the gay kid and the rape victim were both ultimately self-serving publicity seekers, while the white male main characters are the noble embodiment of ethical journalism.

 

Barring tokensim, he's not been so hot on minority representation.  Exhibit A: the African-American, barely-there characters on The Newsroom.  Even Charlie on The West Wing languished as mostly a background character until later in the series; even when he became more prominent he never generally had the screen time as the overwhelmingly white cast.  Sorkin'll give us a sideline in some story about gay rights, but the idea of having a gay or lesbian character who's more than a guest or a passing excuse for straight characters to get all self-righteous seems to be a mostly foreign idea.   Sorkin's frustrating, because it's often a "do as I say, not as I do" when it comes to championing progressive ideals. 

 

So, yeah, I've always felt there's often something egalitarian in some of Sorkin's approach.

Edited December 15, 2014 by bobbyjoe

[lucindabelle]

Hmm yeah there's a lot of good looking people in his world, nobody is ever say 10-15 pounds overweight.

[Tara Ariano]

The best part of The Newsroom ending is I never have to read Tara's reviews again. Maybe Sorkin can explain to her the difference between being sarcastic and being snarky.

 

I would love that. Plus explaining things to women is his specialty!

[Pallas]

Quote

successful white guy character lecturing a character who's a minority or member of a group that doesn't otherwise appear with any regularity on the show (gays, the overweight, rape victims, etc.).

The kid who wanted to come out on the air, and the overweight digital component guy with his killer app contended with (1) Mackenzie or  (2) first Sloan, then Neal: none of them white guys.  

Quote

Sorkin implies that the gay kid and the rape victim were both ultimately self-serving publicity seekers,

 

I strongly disagree that Sorkin depicted the rape victim as either self-serving or a publicity-seeker.

I do agree that it would be terrific if Sorkin's female characters were more often allowed to speak from principle or greater experience in the debates between his characters, and to carry themselves with dignity while they also carried the day.  It happens.  It could happen more often.  

[morgankobi]

Have we heard Will do the, "...News Night on ACN, so stick around," sign-off before commercial before?

[Boundary]

The last few scenes without the music and people just doing their job was perfect. The Pruitt misadventure was a mistake to begin with, correcting it in the last episode didn't made it better. Neal's understated homecoming was a nice touch I thought and he took his place of pride having built the website from the ground up but a quiet acknowledgement between him and Will would have been great. Charlie's presence was felt throughout, which was great. I liked Mac's flashbacks, some of Will's flashbacks but not Sloan and Don's, they felt like a rewrite. Jim and Maggie never worked for me, no surprises there. But I've always liked his friendship with Mac. So in a word: choppy.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Boundary

[Kromm]

Well Jeff Daniels has better things to do now. Dumb and Dumber sequels.

[Traveller519]

Well, this season (and I guess, ultimately, the series) fizzled for me. I really enjoyed episodes 1 and 2 this year. It felt like there were real stakes. Gary walking in whistling "Anything Goes" was as much of a symbol of what was to come as MacKenzie recanting Euripides for us in the first episode.

 

Office Dating HR Hijinks? Impromptu City Hall wedding? The return of the Gawker Stalker? Secret FBI meetings? True Love revealed? Cell mate was a projection? And finally a baby? Yup, anything goes.

 

On a macro-level, I'm very aware of the Sorkin faults, but on the micro-level. I enjoy his work. His characters get to be as smart as we wish we could be in real life. Their mouths move at the same speed as their brains, they're able to defend their positions of the top of their heads, and they ultimately wish to pursue the moral right. The issues of the first two episodes dealt with this well. The relevance of the internet in the Boston Bombings was debated (Twitter presented eye-witness accounts of what was happening vs. Reddit began a witch hunt); the document leak provided a storyline we could buy into; Maggie was competent and ethical; and Don and Sloan were having fun. Then it appeared like, the show saw it only had 4 episodes left and tried to cram everything into them, while also putting a bow on this with the flash-backs rehashing the importance of the Mission to Civilize.

 

The Ho-down jam session was fun. Don and Sloane again did the most with what they were able to do. And Maggie was capable of making a decision on her own, and she did and stuck to it. I liked all those things. But the season as a whole felt like unused potential.

[Superpole2000]

It was fine, but It did not provide any sort of lasting impact. This episode never got out of second gear. Occasionally this show hit fourth or fifth gear in the past, so I am disappointed that the last half of its final season was so forgettable.

[ruby24]

Not nearly enough Don and Sloan for the series finale. Boo. I never cared at all about Maggie and Jim, why did they have to get so much screentime?

[alexvillage]

I was bored. I don't like flashbacks and I think that telling us how Charlie contacted Mac, how things we did not see in the first season happened did not add anything interesting. Some of the scenes were nice, but I expected more in a series finale.

I hated that unemployed Mac had to be a unkempt one, messy (messier?) hair, sweat pants, drinking in a bowling alley while feeling sorry for herself.

I hated that Maggie was all melt-y just because Jim said he was in love

I hated the flashback about Don and Sloan. 

I hated the pregnancy story. I thought it was unnecessary

 

I liked the music Jam in the garage

I liked Leona but there is no way she would convince the ass Pruitt, so full of sexism (as implied) to hire Mac. Most likely he would continue to be a sexist ass and not listen to another woman telling him what to do, not in one conversation. 

 

Disappointing

 

 

Barring tokensim, he's not been so hot on minority representation.

I agree. Sorkin can't, he is just not capable of seeing beyond his rich white male privilege

[tilly]

It's probably fitting given how important Charlie's work was, but if I were his child or wife, I'd feel a bit annoyed that his funeral service was apparently the perfect time to announce ACN staffing changes. 

 

Man, I felt bad for Sloan. She clearly was really struggling with the idea that her actions contributed to Charlie's death and everyone just kept joking that she'd killed him :/

 

And we were definitely given the impression in the first season (maybe even the pilot?) that Charlie had known Mac when she and Will first dated. 

[Eolivet]

Don gave it to Sloan to do the same thing for her. He was basically saying, "Charlie loved you and was proud of you and agreed with you. This was not your fault."

 

Oh god, I just realized you're right. Sloan -- arguably the character most portrayed as the "strong woman" -- ultimately became nothing but another woman desperately craving a man's approval (in this case, a surrogate daddy).

 

On the bright side: now I'm sort of happy we were spared a Don/Sloan romantic scene, and the last romantic exchange we ever had from them is "You were tested and you have failed that test!"

[avecsans]

I was rolling my eyes almost constantly during this episode because of the rampant sexism it contained. Let's see...Mac is so clueless that she doesn't even realize that Leona is pushing Pruitt to give her Charlie's job. And then Pruitt doesn't offer it to her directly but instead discusses it with her husband/daddy who then announces it as a done deal without talking to Mac first. Then Will announces her pregnancy also without consulting her. And a brilliant and accomplished economist and a supposedly talented news producer get together at a funeral to talk about...boys.

Oh and I don't care what a quirky musical prodigy Charlie's grandson is. Liking Tom T. Hall? Give me a break. I had to mute the sound out of second hand embarrassment.

[alexvillage]

 

Liking Tom T. Hall?

Curious. I don't know who this person is. Feedback/background?

[VeryNot]

Good to know that Mac's career success depended not on her being a smart, capable journalist, but instead on the fact the boorish anchor had a crush on her , and being promoted was a pandering publicity stunt. But as Will says, who cares how she got the job! She's adorable!

[Totale]

Yecch.  Sorkin should have named the series "March" - in like a lion and out like a lamb.  Those story lines we left unresolved?  No time for that, just line up boy/girl boy/girl and get them a-breeding, and time out for a country song.  Why on Earth would Pruitt listen to Mama Leona about anything?  I'm surprised he didn't have security remove her and Mac from his car.  Will doesn't speak at the funeral or gravesite, but pops up at the end of the memorial with "yeah, Charlie was a helluva guy, but it's all OK because my awesome wife will be taking over his job, now back to work"?  I agree with Holla above that this show should have stuck to what it was good at (reconstructing the tense and confusing atmosphere of a big news operation when things were happening and decisions taken), and left the soap opera among the rich and beautiful aspects completely out.  I could admire his characters for their competence and ethics but gave not one shit about their lives outside of the office.

[WatchrTina]

 

 

QUOTE

Don gave it to Sloan to do the same thing for her. He was basically saying, "Charlie loved you and was proud of you and agreed with you. This was not your fault."

Oh god, I just realized you're right. Sloan -- arguably the character most portrayed as the "strong woman" -- ultimately became nothing but another woman desperately craving a man's approval (in this case, a surrogate daddy).

I thought Don and Sloan were portrayed as being equally guilt-riddled by Charlie's death and symbolic forgiveness tie passed through both their hands so I'm not sure why Sloan's gender is a part of of this discussion.

 

Then again, I don't understand why someone here bashed Sorkin for having Maggie and Sloan talk about Maggie's job prospects and their impact on her relationship with Jim at the funeral.  People on this show (men and women) talk about their relationships all the time.  Men sometimes asked Sloan for advice (which was hilarious because she's so bad at relationships.)  I just don't get it.

 

On the same note, I thought Mac's not realizing that Leona was lobbying for her to get Charlie's job was not an example of Mac being written as "clueless" but rather a realistic depiction of a woman distracted by the news that she's GOING TO HAVE A BABY.

 

The only gender-related / paternalistic false note that I saw in the show was Will announcing Mac's new role before Mac had officially been offered and accepted the job.  That Pruitt checked with Will before offering the job to Mac was a realistic moment -- Pruitt cares more about his "star" than he does about the person he's basically being forced into promoting so he checked with Will first to make sure it wasn't going to be a problem for him to report TO HIS WIFE.  Pruitt was depicted as doofus when it came to women in the workplace.  Of course he talked to Will first.  But Will telling everyone at the funeral was a bit off-putting.  I chalked that one up to plot necessity (come on, you knew Will had to have an important speech at the funeral) rather than evidence of Sorkin's "issues" with women.

Edited December 15, 2014 by WatchrTina

[madam magpie]

I totally agree, WatchrTina. The fact that Pruitt spoke to Mac's husband first before saying anything to her and that Will announced it without anyone even asking Mac if she wanted the job (does she?? It sounds like a lousy job) gave me pause. I got it too, the plot reasons, but I didn't care for it. You'd think the good feminists here would be all over that, but I guess it lacks the dramatic punch of being enraged by other things.

I too thought Mac was completely distracted by her pregnancy. I like the idea of a baby because that brings things full circle for Will (and this is his story), but I don't like that Will/Mac traded their show for it. Mostly I just thought this ending was choppy and sad.

I don't understand how Sloan being incredibly sad that her friend died under circumstances that made her feel guilty about it and her boyfriend being kind to her to help her move past that meant she had daddy issues and needed a man's approval But whatever. The audience definitely has its own agenda here. Maybe women just aren't supposed to have feelings anymore because it makes them too beholden on the men in their lives?

As for the fact that there are supposedly no successful non-white males on this show, I didn't realize Neal, Sloan, Gary, Kendra, Jenna, Tess, Mac, and Maggie were white men. Has anyone told them??

Edited December 15, 2014 by madam magpie

[VeryNot]

As for the fact that there are supposedly no successful non-white males on this show, I didn't realize Neal, Sloan, Gary, Kendra, Jenna, Tess, Mac, and Maggie were white men. Has anyone told them??

Neal -- a peripheral character played in past seasons as a joke, and this season, when he finally has the opportunity to be part of a meaty storyline that revolves around him, they instead ship him out of the country and out of the show.

Gary, Kendra, Jenna, Tess... who? Oh, those filler characters who have been given very little to do over the course of the series and barely have names.

Mac -- The woman who got her job because Charlie wanted to manipulate Will into being a better journalist by hiring the woman he's attracted to, and who got the promotion because the network owner was trying to prove he's not a misogynist.

Maggie -- a character largely defined by who she's dating or who she's crushing on. And even though in the end she was strong enough to go for the DC job, it's still grating that she couldn't just go for a job without all the Jim DRAHMA (with him barely supporting her in the end -- for a job interview HE got for her).

Sloan and Leona are the only regular strong non-male white characters that aren't defined by who they're dating, or constantly looking to their male colleagues for help (when their male colleagues aren't already pointing out all the things they're doing wrong). And of course, being the most interesting and savvy women on the show, Sorkin instead invests more time in Maggie/Jim relationship BS (which almost made me nostalgic for Jim/Hallie relationship BS), or Mac manipulated as a clueless pawn into a meritless promotion. 

I won't go so far as to say Sorkin is a misogynist, because I don't think he actually hates women. But I also don't think it's an unfounded criticism to say he can't write women, nor to point out that his casts are populated mostly with white men who get more screen time and are allowed to have more competence than anyone else. I like Sorkin's dialog a lot and do enjoy a lot that he's done, but he is a very flawed showrunner.

[madam magpie]

Oh, ok. So you mean Bree, the kid who wanted to come out on the show, etc. were main, fully fleshed-out characters. The fact that they participated in four or five episodes whereas Kendra, Gary, etc. have been around since the start means the white guys are clearly more important.

Neal and Mac aren't the protagonists of this story. Will is, so the fact that all the action, motivation, etc. revolves around him is how it's supposed to work. I also don't see how Charlie manipulated Mac. He told her exactly what he was doing and she chose to accept, presumably because she wanted to. There was nothing underhanded about it.

As for Pruitt and his giving Mac the job as a PR ploy, yeah he did. But he's an asshole. Everyone knows that. Once again, though, she knew exactly what he was doing. There was no manipulation. Also, sorry to say, that happens a lot in real life. As the woman being offered the job, you can either turn it down, thereby preserving your feminist face but possibly ruining your career, or you can take it and try to kill it in that position. I have no problem with Mac choosing the latter, but the job sounds so shitty and the turn-of-events so not quixotic, and therefore not fitting with the show's theme, that I would have liked to see her get there. As is, I just don't believe it.

Edited December 15, 2014 by madam magpie

[alexvillage]

 

but rather a realistic depiction of a woman distracted by the news that she's GOING TO HAVE A BABY.

Which brings me to my nitpick of the episode: if I remember well, Mac called the doctor. Why did she pick that time to call, and why couldn't she have bought one of those things, you know, pregnancy tests, and find out herself?  7 weeks pregnant is quite a long time to need a doctor to confirm.

so the "smarter [person in the works" according to Will gets distracted because she is pregnant, after she failed to remember that pregnancy tests can be bought at a grocery store?

Sorkin and "his" women: they can be strong and smart, but only to a certain point, when they get fragile and without agency. Even Sloan. Like CJ before her, we need to look between the lines and the scenes to see that they are, in the end, not so strong and efficient, let alone equal to Sorkin's men

[Eolivet]

I don't understand how Sloan being incredibly sad that her friend died under circumstances that made her feel guilty about it and her boyfriend being kind to her to help her move past that meant she had daddy issues and needed a man's approval

 

I was simply responding to your earlier post, where you said the tie symbolized to Sloan that "Charlie loved you and was proud of you." That's approval -- the exact type of approval we seek from our parents. Granted, that was an interpretation of the scene, but I think it's a correct one. And that is Sloan needing Charlie's approval (i.e., love and pride) to feel validated/exonerated from guilt.

 

I suppose Charlie was a surrogate father to all of them, but I really hate that Sloan's last two storylines ever were all about earning love and respect from men: Being dressed down by Don, changing her ways, coming back and earning his respect, then being unable to earn his love (sort of) because he was with Maggie, and feeling guilty about Charlie until she was gifted a piece of his clothing from her boyfriend who decided she needed it as a symbol of her boss' love and approval.

 

This was Sloan, who only dates NFL draft picks from the second round if they're a skill position, who brought Don back in line by pulling a fake love declaration on him and cursed Charlie to his face when he got in hers. To see our final images of her (in the past and the present) as a sad panda over two men was wrong, to me. The character I loved deserved better.

[canter]

Which brings me to my nitpick of the episode: if I remember well, Mac called the doctor. Why did she pick that time to call, and why couldn't she have bought one of those things, you know, pregnancy tests, and find out herself? 7 weeks pregnant is quite a long time to need a doctor to confirm.

I agree that her timing was quite odd. She stepped out the funeral service of a dear friend to call her doctor? She couldn't have done it before or after? Unless it was 4:45 and she was worried the office would close before she could get the results, I thought it was terribly rude.

Regarding not doing a home pregnancy test, maybe she did but was waiting for the blood test results/HCG levels before she really believed it. I couldn't quite believe that my pregnancy was real until I had those HCG numbers back from the doctor. I think she must have done a home test, or she wouldn't have scheduled the blood draw with her doc.

[izabella]

Mac manipulated as a clueless pawn into a meritless promotion.

 

This upset me most.  While we know Mac is competent, we also are told that she got the promotion because she's a woman.  For decades, women have had to fight prejudice that assumes women rise through the ranks only because 1) they're sleeping with someone, and/or 2) they have to promote the wimmins to meet their wimmins quotas even if that means promoting them over more qualified candidates.  And here, Sorkin holds Mac up as the poster child for both 1 and 2.

[teddysmom]

I agree that her timing was quite odd. She stepped out the funeral service of a dear friend to call her doctor? She couldn't have done it before or after? Unless it was 4:45 and she was worried the office would close before she could get the results, I thought it was terribly rude.

 

I wondered about this too, but then thought, maybe she had called them earlier in the day before the funeral, and left a message, and they were calling her back and so she took the call.   I know she said "I called you", but maybe it was that "I called you and so you called me back".

 

Seeing as how it's Aaron Sorkin, none of us are going to live long enough to figure out what he is thinking.

 

Also, the fact that every tv show he has created has an episode with this same title boggles my mind.   I mean, how in love with yourself do you have to be do pull crap like that?

 

I seriously doubt Vince Gilligan will have an episode of "Better Call Saul" entitled  "Bag's in the River", or "Ozymandias". 

Edited December 16, 2014 by teddysmom