You Must Watch This: The Newsroom (Episode 2)

I find myself sitting on my couch in awe of the events taking place on the TV in front of me. I have come across few series lately where stutters in playback have had me chomping at the bit to get things ironed out. As a matter of fact, I can name only 3 shows in recent memory, including The Newsroom that got me so riled up: Game of Thrones (HBO) and Sons of Anarchy (FX).

So why is it I like The Newsroom so much?
Are there lavish parties with excess, drugs and naked people all over the place? No (not yet at least).
Are there murders by the hundreds? Same answer as before,
What about midgets (or dwarves), please tell me there are some little people running around? Nadda.

What there is is meaningful moments of dialogue with actors and actresses that don't feel like they're trying too hard (still not sold on Olivia Munn's character yet, admittedly) to sell themselves. There are these little moments that build the characters up like elaborate puzzles, shaving off layers of the mystery one spec at a time. The topics covered are real stories that we lived through and the frustration of the spin placed on these stories is (at least to me) infinitely relate-able. This is only part of what makes The Newsroom so great (so far).

In Episode 1, we jumped in to a transition period and saw how everyone pulled together to create this awesome, top notch production. Episode 2 shows the flip side of the coin - what it's like to deal with a disaster (especially when you know it). You know that the rest of the episodes could go either way...there will be hits and misses but, dammit, it will be entertaining.

Again, though, if you need more convincing, listen to the man who's lived the life for years as Dan Rather reviews Episode 2.

Next time on Opportunity Assassins, I'll take a look at Episode 3 and from there, I will get to a more normal weekly schedule for my reviews. The Newsroom airs every Sunday at 9PM central on HBO.

But hey, it's your time. Waste it how you see fit.