TV Review: THE NEWSROOM: Season 1, Episode 3: The 112th Congress

The Newsroom Season 1 Episode 3 The 112th Congress Review. The Newsroom: Season 1, Episode 3: The 112th Congress, like the episodes that proceeded it, gives the viewer an insider’s view into a occupation that few witness, much like Entourage did for the back-end workings of the movie industry.

It was the interplay of the people in the board room of the 42 Floor that commanded the most attention during The 112th Congress. The three people in that room – Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterston), Leona Lansing (Jane Fonda), and Reese Lansing (Chris Messina) – all possessed alpha personalities, whether that was inherit or because of their job titles. Each pushed against the others’ ego and it was wonderful television.

Charlie Skinner and Leona Lansing had the best dialogue exchange in the episode (a clever feat since Lansing may have had the least amount of dialogue in the episode, watching for the majority of it while others spoke). Charlie Skinner is the dreamer where Leona Lansing is the pragmatist. Seeing those two worlds clash was good but since Skinner works for Lansing, it could only have one outcome.

What was very insightful about The 122 Congress was seeing how a news organization views, interprets, and possibly censors its coverage of individuals in Congress who may have power of them. This strategic business practice probably never even occurred to many viewers before viewing this episode.

That is another beneficial aspect of The Newsroom:  it introduces issues the viewer may not be aware of and then provides multiple sides of that issue through the view point of different characters.

Ratings verses content was an intriguing argument to watch unfold (proponents and members of organizations do not know who is really running them) as was seeing how a news anchor viewed the evolution and current state (circa 2010) of the Tea Party. Sarah Palin being reduced to a hairdo was pretty funny as well.

I was glad to see that The Newsroom doesn’t follow a formula and always end with a newscast led up to throughout the episode.

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