The Newsroom (2012)

Series Finale: A sudden death leads Will and Mac to ponder the milestones that transformed the newsroom, and look ahead towards ACN's uncertain future. Maggie lands a field-producer interview in Washington; Neal's digital site is shut down for repairs; Leona offers sage advice to Pruit.

_

Record flooding, FEMA's saying 200,000 people in Rhode Island could be affected.

( door closes ) Herb: In three, two, one. Roll in.

♪ I know if you'd seen her, you'd tell me ♪

Are you going to tell the kids that weather rates?

I'm tired of this. It's the second highest...

from the D-triple-C and the RNC on our air

I'm gonna be in charge of morale.

Well, I have to go down to DC tomorrow to interview.

single versus married, whether or not they have kids, the pay gap doesn't go away.

You are?

and in a manner that made Charlie angrier than I'd ever seen him in...

I offered to cut my salary 35%.

It's right over there. You see the name on the door?

Or any. How about this...

A social relationship.

of turning our flagship news hour into something we're proud of.

Man: There you go, one ticket.

Yeah.

It was a showdown and he lost.

After three years, we started dating three days ago.

And this is for all three of you. ( keyboard clicks )

I'd like to make a career out of doing the news.

It's called predatory lending.

with tips for healthy living, you might have found something

Martin doesn't have a clue, so we're not going to worry about that.

you're not doing your job.

- is that it sucked. - ( buzzing )

I kept telling my colleagues and my bosses

I care what you did for him while he was alive.

♪ She'd go back to Memphis someday ♪

♪ That's how I got to Memphis. ♪

- Will, could I have a word? - Yeah.

And he spent a lifetime fighting its enemies.

I offered it to him. He wants to stay at 10:00.

It's DC. I'll be in line for the White House.

I want a list of the 10 best OB-GYNs in the world.

Incarcerated for contempt, Will refuses to reveal the name of Neal's government source. Appearing to embrace Pruit's mandate to capture younger viewers, Charlie orders a reluctant Don to track down principals in a sexual-abuse case at an elite college. Sloan voices her objection to a new digital site built by Neal's replacement, Bree. Stranded in a Moscow airport, Jim and Maggie look to land seats for a Cuban-bound plane, hoping to interview one of its high-profile passengers. MORE -LESS

The PD wanted me to plea... Six months.

I don't mean the animation. U-R-A-C-N.

We've got two reporters at the Moscow Airport right now.

( scoffs )

She was protesting guns by shooting herself?

and killed herself on the steps outside the DOJ.

I'm coming to you as my superior,

- You can't talk to her like that, my friend. - What's the problem here?

So if you have a problem, and I got a hunch you got more than a few,

You usually blow up that bridge when you come to it.

I want to ask him at what point he decided to declare war on the United States.

And that's Reuters and that's Le Monde.

I would like to buy your ticket from you at a substantial markup.

Speechwriter.

- Will you deny that she was your source? - No, sir.

( sighs )

You want your friends to be subpoenaed and get sworn in?

You're still able to hear yourself when you speak, right?

- Snowden's on his way to Cuba. - Cut my thing.

You get used to it. It's kind of nice.

- is difficult and usually impossible to prove. - It's not a kind of rape.

That's a lot of detective work. That's old school.

Then she got back on the phone and said,

Hallie. Call her right now.

That sounds like me.

Don't you think there's a chance that somebody, a woman who feels rejected...

and the Russian villages and they told their sons,

He wants your watch.

No, you can't imagine.

And, of course, there's no shortage of good fashion advice.

and you won't get the justice you're looking for.

before I was taken to jail. Yes, I miss my wife.

And we call you a shit kicker.

I badly want to see you get your ass kicked.

It's not, but it had potential...

But my question is why should we care

unvetted story about a grown man drinking at a bar?

Who on her worst day would never...

♪ I long to hear you ♪

Facing a court subpoena and possible incarceration for contempt, Will stands firm in refusing to reveal the source of the stolen DOD documents. As Charlie's disdain for Lucas grows, Sloan and Mac scramble to find a more acceptable 11th-hour buyer for ACN. Jim's relationship with Hallie is put to the test by her new job at Carnivore, a start-up website. MORE -LESS

- What's the deadline? - Wednesday night.

Your new job.

He's onto us, me and Sloan, and he wants me bad.

- We don't need books? - Not on paper.

Lucas, we're naturally curious about your plans for the network.

since you believe the best reporting

- No, sir. - Let me phrase that differently.

I just wanted to ask you in person

There has to be another buyer for this network in the next...

But there was nothing I could do with that information,

- You and me? - Yeah.

But when our story comes out that this guy worked with the US,

What are you working on?

- I've never written a letter like this before"? - Motherfucker!

and conspiracy to commit espionage.

I want counsel to take care of this.

If he believes no one should ever leak because it poses

You were on fire in there.

- No umbrella? - You either.

- In my way. - You don't trust them any more than I do.

Dump the documents and I'll quit my job,

- What's it about? - What do you think it's about?

Probably not in print, but I don't think that's the reason.

This place has gone to hell without me.

I don't care about the invasion of privacy. I wish I did.

because I'm Hallie Shea, Senior Fuck You Correspondent

Tell me, please, that you know all you did

It would've been my phone if it was work. Is it Rebecca?

Now?

the Justice Department can and probably will impose crippling criminal fines.

Then it would be the first thing I've seen him do that wasn't.

Do you think there's a chance Will would let Rebecca utter those words?

We're not, but maybe we can do this later.

And this here is the best thing that I do.

"Exciting announcement about major media acquisition

Toni Dodd just got out of her board meeting

He was cleaning his 12-gauge with Maker's Mark

Oh, God.

we would find that the information given by the reporter's source

The court is sufficiently convinced of the news value of this story.

The Espionage Act.

and order you to surrender yourself to the US Marshals

"...if you guys want to come."

- she's not a full-on whack job or anything... - Yeah.

Leona and Reece look to raise cash in order to salvage ACN and thwart Blair and Randy. Will gets a surprise at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Charlie trades visions with her ACN suitor. Maggie's EPA scoop makes it to News Night. Sloan and Don try to keep their relationship a secret from a new HR veep.

It's Charlie Skinner. Give me LA control, please.

Come on, guys. Find some lights.

- We're gonna misspell it. - $210 a plate, Molly.

It was a solid warrant and they had a solid reason for seeking it.

You're getting the fish and the fish is gonna suck!

- The judge. - You see my problem?

on there that shows he's aided and abetted,

Hi. I have here an EPA report that's been...

- I don't need help. - Great.

she said, "I don't know, but I'm sure something will come up."

but we hit a roadblock with the board.

The buyer is a man named Lucas Pruit. He's 43 and lives...

At this moment, what the Lansings want is what I want.

I think I was trying to quit smoking that week.

It's more than 45 with the incentives.

Will doesn't get paid per view or per story.

but are you the only talented person that they interviewed?

So turn off the fucking light, go to sleep,

Gary Cooper, Alex Thacker, this is Wyatt Geary

I can't emphasize this enough... This is the new HR rep.

- You're the EP of the 10:00 hour. - I am.

I have confidence in the graphic, but where I need your help...

I understand.

who can make money being ethical.

Can you think of a job that doesn't?

We're not gonna throw a bag over his head.

Thanks for meeting me so late.

Will, we're running light.

The latest measurements taken at Mauna Loa in Hawaii

Can you make an analogy that might help us understand?

Let's see if we can't find a better spin.

Americans are optimistic by nature.

He's gonna find out sooner or later.

Not my pig, not my farm.

He flew there yesterday from Calgary International Airport by way of Cuba.

His desk at ACN's New York bureau.

What I think is this is exactly where you were going.

And you insulted Charlie Skinner,

And the story you got in exchange was that the world was coming to an end.

What a coincidence seeing you together.

They can carbonate lemon juice.

What's an example of disruption as it would apply to a news network?

You're at a party with nothing but reporters and government officials.

With Rebecca again tasked with defending ACN in a possible lawsuit, Will tries to protect Neal from the fallout over the DOD leak. Charlie and Leona enter the fray of a hostile-takeover gambit involving Reese's half-siblings. Sloan fears Don may be guilty of cashing in on insider information. Maggie ponders the ethics of eavesdropping. Hallie pays a price for a late-night tweet. MORE -LESS

attorney-client privilege wouldn't protect either one of us.

And my mother worked in the office while she was going to City College.

Did you know I've known these two since the minute they were born?

- Go ahead. - You don't have to tell him to go ahead. I just did.

They do propaganda work planting positive stories

"Don't ask sources to steal things for you."

and I decide what goes on the air.

We're the good people with the guns. ( phone buzzing )

If they don't reveal their source, they may be charged with contempt.

but for now you have to trust a stranger.

on his pick to run a toothless agency?

- How'd I do that? - I bought $2,500 of Chipotle.

_

but I knew where his head was, so I posted for him when I got home.

81.

And do you know what I find so perfectly poetic, Reese?

which is will it land any of my guys in jail?

been charged with espionage. She says it'll be contempt.

He's telling the truth, Neal.

Yeah. All right. Yeah.

I may have slid down in my seat.

- It's an old-fashioned... - I know what an IBM Selectric is.

- What do you mean? - That part was wrong.

That you appear to be front-running news for ACN.

He saw that the pitcher wasn't covering first base,

But they are the face and voice of their parent corporations.

and not something you want to end?

We'll say it was a low-level staffer and they were fired,

I think I was okay journalistically,

for the promise that you won't use my candid remarks about the president.

you can be pretty sure they know they were wrong.

And an exclusive interview.

Least I could do was make sure no one thought it was someone else.

Do you think that's the reason I outed myself?

Invoking Leona Lansing

without anybody noticing? This is for real.

I tend to doubt it, but...

- This is for real. - You think I don't fucking know that?

- Rebecca: What if they find out? - MacKenzie: How?

It's my superstition.

They'll need a day to figure out what to do

Because I would love to go on a made-up hike with your cousins.

What was that?

I have a warrant, Mr. Skinner.

So if we can prove your guy helped him do it,

In the wake of the Genoa debacle, Will, Mac and the News Night team decide to err on the side of caution in reporting a major breaking story. Neal is contacted by an anonymous source in possession of stolen government documents revealing how false press stories planted in newspapers spawned fatal riots in Kundu. Sloan looks to solve a takeover puzzle. Maggie is forced to pinch-hit for Elliot in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. MORE -LESS

( phone chimes ) Give me 10 more.

- We are. - Do you know what that means, doing it well?

- Where's Keefer? - Don's got jury duty today.

You're probably right, but I'd hate for my boss to find that out.

- When are we breaking in? - When Mac says so.

Am I saying this right?

And we want to take you now to our Boston affiliate

Was it? 'Cause I didn't think it was nearly specific...

- What about you? - I'll stay a couple more hours.

Wife and two kids and he was caught having an affair

They go to parties. They go to clubs.

And that's all I've ever wanted to do...

That was an involuntary response

Jenna! I thought it was a solid B-plus.

- Do we have to point out how transparent... - I will take him off the air...

1:00 and then DC takes a three-hour block.

Charlie: Well, why didn't you say so?

Let's hand off to John in DC.

and I'd like to find out if anyone has checked into a hotel in the last 72 hours.

'cause somebody's talking to him who isn't talking to us.

Very good student, but he likes puns too much.

- And if there's anyone in the world... - That's right.

No, fuck you. I haven't read Euripides.

- You have a second source? - I don't even have a first source.

Campus surveillance footage is currently being reviewed as we speak.

_

Earlier in the night Greg Hughes had tweeted, "In 2013,

three with the Justice Department including one from the Attorney General's office,

being named a suspect in the bombing,

You're up in six minutes.

makeup, passport.

Maggie?

but as you mentioned in your intro, that's not his real name.

in conjunction with the bombing.

_

Go ahead.

At first, he... The source...

They got him. Jahar Tsarnaev is hiding in a boat