Will McAvoy Deserved Better

Aaron Sorkin writes dialogue the way some composers write music: too fast, too precise, almost inhuman, and completely addictive. The Newsroom runs on that engine—a fictional cable news team that still gives a damn, anchored by Jeff Daniels doing the best work of his career as Will McAvoy, an anchor slowly remembering why he ever went into this.

I love this show. More than Game of Thrones, more than Mad Men, more than Girls. More than most things television has produced in the last decade. That’s apparently an extreme minority position—HBO confirmed a third season, and then that’s it. Done. Final curtain.

Which means a handful of episodes to close everything out: will Emily Mortimer’s MacKenzie and Will stop orbiting each other long enough to actually do something? Will Dev Patel’s Neal, perpetually online and perpetually correct, get one last moment of vindication? Will Jeff Daniels finally assault someone—drunk, high, pockets full of sandwiches? Will Olivia Munn get screen time proportional to her talent, or any other measure you want to apply?

Sorkin shows don’t end well—The West Wing sprawled, Studio 60 got cut before it found itself. At least this one gets to close on its own terms. Cold comfort.