photo: hbo
One Step Too Many
Original Air Date: Aug 18, 2013
Patricia Morris Buckley — Sr. Staff Writer
pmb@thetwocentscorp.com
We begin at the first Red Team meeting to vet the Genoa story. Jim, Don and Sloan listen as the info is laid out. Jerry keeps pushing to air, but everyone agrees they need more information. What they need is a confirmation from Gen. Stanislaus Stomtonovich, USMC retired. So Mac and Charlie make an appointment to see him.
The General seems to have forgotten about the appointment and would rather watch basketball. But he agrees that Jerry can interview him with his face hidden and voice altered. Yet when Jerry asks about Genoa, the General side steps him. So Jerry takes the tape and alters it to get away with using it. Bad, bad boy.
Jim is excited because Hallie is coming to town and he’s booked a room at a swankie hotel. But she keeps inviting folks to join them for dinner, including a blind date for Neal and the Romney press agent that made Jim’s life hell. Turns out the press woman believed what he had been saying all along — that Romney should have stuck to the message. For that opinion, she had just been fired. I have a feeling we’ll see more of her.
Jim and Hallie finally escape to the hotel, where they see Maggie in the bar, trolling for a one-night stand. Just as they escape to their room, Hallie is called and told she has to be on the bus in 90 minutes. Not even time for a quickie. Jim comes downstairs to discover Maggie leaving with the bartender.
Nina gives Will advice on how to be more likeable, but it backfires. It looked as though he broke up with her, but we’ll see. Sloan, who calls herself Will’s truth-telling little sister, tells him he’s at his best when he’s not as likeable.
Don and Mac share a drink at the newsroom’s fav bar and talk. Don kinda of admits he has feelings for Sloan. It’s also kind of hinted that Mac and Don are getting a little romantic as well and if I could say one thing — DON’T GO THERE! This show doesn’t have to be so focused on hook ups. It makes the show a bit incestuous.
So now the Genoa story is being vetted by a second Red Team that includes Will. With Jerry’s new tape, they decide to go with it. But then the coming attractions tell us the whole story was a fabrication. Genoa never happened!
How long do you think they’ll play out this Maggie-goes-depressed thing? Does Jim really care about Hallie? More than Maggie? Give us your TwoCents…
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