All good points.  For all my praise of The Shield, it absolutely isn't an exploration or expose or analysis of the morality of policing; it's a morality play that happens to be set in a police precinct.  I've compared it to The Godfather, where the interest is in a tight group of people, and everyone outside that…

Feel stupid now?  You should.

It will be done.  Happy vacation, my friend.

Given your vacation plans, will you still be kicking off the "what did you see this weekend" thread on TOS, or do you want one of us to do it?

This, exactly this.

Mind = blown.

Let it go, man.

@avclub-0f0d67e214f9fef69b278e3d08114da9:disqus :  Nicholson's character is the closest, yes, but it's not because of the speech, it's because that character takes specific actions to block Cruise's character.  Zuckerberg is quite definitely antagonistic, but that's why I made the distinction between Sorkin's original…

@avclub-945ba977c27d196cdeaf6cbe4ff682f4:disqus:  the problem with the classic "the corporation/city/building/weather is the antagonist" argument is that it's like using a wall for your opponent in tennis; the ball will always come back and give you an opportunity to hit it, but it's not very interesting.  None of…

Not for the first time either, my friend.

@avclub-945ba977c27d196cdeaf6cbe4ff682f4:disqus :  given what @avclub-a1967e6de4ca99fb2635d94b99453928:disqus and @avclub-97d6c074b974838257db17a02f8784c4:disqus  have said, JJ is not an antagonist.  Antagonists don't back off when you threaten them, or when you tell them off, no matter how memorable.  They only back…

In the post-Sorkin West Wing episode "The Supremes," Debra Cahn directed William Fichtner (he was playing a conservative Supreme Court nominee) with the line "you are so much smarter than Toby Ziegler." I literally can't imagine Sorkin saying that.

Very well said. Sorkin's viewpoint is always rational, never tragic: if you're smart and you care and the people around you care, good things will occur, unless there are jerks or the universe is unfair. It makes perfect sense that he'd start The Newsroom with an episode called "We Just Decided To," because for him,…

These were great reviews, and I say this as someone who just came here for the reviews and hasn't seen the show, but will someday.  (I didn't pay too close attention and have forgotten a lot of plot points.  Also I'm bad with names.)  Donna is one of the best writers around at conveying not just information about a…

What you said.

AND MORE SPOILERS

Wow, good question.  I think he would have gone ahead with it, but with a different justification, maybe to make things easier for Ronnie or something like that; Vic always finds the best reason to do the worst things.  And he always seeks power; that light he gets in his eyes when he sees the money train for the…

An episode or two back, Corrine says to Vic "if you want Owen to go, I'll tell him to go" or something like that, and he says "he goes."  That's what I was referring to, but you're quite right that it was a mistake for Corrine to get involved with him, and a predictable outcome.

You are technically correct, the best kind of correct.

The first season is, without question, the most uneven as the creators, cast, and camera operators searched for (and found) the right style and story.  I'd watch the first six minutes of season two (the teaser).  That gives you a really good idea of the momentum and stakes of that season, and the rest of the series.