Amen

Another week of The Newsroom continued the same trend of every week so far, a pickup in the quality of the show. The big evolution in this week's installment was in the way the soapbox speeches receded more into the background, in favor of putting personal stakes of the character's front and center.

All the main plot threads this week involved characters feeling guilt over situations they felt responsible for putting other characters in. The title of the episode referred to the young Egyptian journalist persuaded by the staff (but primarily the finally-not-used-just-for-comedy Neal) to put himself in harm's way during the revolution of early 2011. But Will also felt a personal sting closer to home, when the forces rallying against him tried a new tactic to get to him -- going through Mackenzie.

This episode wound up being my favorite so far because all of those personal stakes for the characters truly felt like the main point of the episode, for the first time. Sure, Aaron Sorkin still woven in political commentary about Governor Walker going after the unions, Glass–Steagall, and more... but for the first time, it didn't feel like the entire hour was crafted foremost to provide the venue in which to air those arguments.

The characters are also feeling ever more like real characters. The telling moment for me tonight was when Will was meeting with the tabloid journalist, about to buy her off, and she said "we're journalists." Instantly, you knew what Will's reaction was going to be. And that's the sure sign of a character in a story coming to life off the page or screen -- when the audience can anticipate how that character will react to a given situation.

Here's hoping The Newsroom continues this great trend.