This episode picks up the pace a bit, as we start off with a very Keith Olbermann-esque rant from our man Will at the news desk, replaying that infamous clip from one of the GOP debates in 2011 when a gay soldier asked the candidates what they would do to help improve the lives of gays and lesbians in the military, and the audience booed the service member with no reprimand from the stage. Will is of course outraged and offended, as many were by the ever increasing sideshow those debates had become at that point- but it serves to remember that these were (and are) the kinds of people that Republicans need to vote for them, which explains a lot about how that party has degenerated over the last decade.
Will and Mac are starting to flirt again tonight, with Mac continuing to bug him about what he said in that voicemail he left her last season on the night Bin Laden was killed (and while he was high). He won't tell her of course, and insists that he hasn't let go of his hurt from her affair with her ex-boyfriend while they were together, but we the audience finally get to find out, because Nina Howard is back in the picture! Excuse me for getting excited, but I really liked Hope Davis on the show last year, and tonight she returns, as Will meets with the gossip reporter to find out how she has apparently gotten the information that he did not in fact, have the flu on the 9/11 anniversary coverage. He hilariously sets up a faux "date" to tell her the truth in the nicest way possible and hope that she won't run the story and much to his surprise, it works and she agrees not to. She also seems to find him charming now and apparently has since last year's New Year's Eve party where she threw her drink in his face. Will jumps at the chance to ask her out, but she refuses because she thinks he's still in love with Mac..since it turns out that IS what he said to her on the voicemail, and Nina did actually listen to the whole thing. By the end of the episode, Mac calls Nina to find out what Will said on the tape, but she lies and tells her she can't remember....and in the least surprising reveal of all time, turns out to be in Will's apartment, gasp, seemingly post sex. Ok, so I kinda like these two together, but I do seem to remember a pretty high level of hostility between them all last season, that ended with Will insulting her, her job, and her life in pretty spectacular fashion- and that all seems to be brushed away like that in just one episode. I can only assume it's because the show likes Hope Davis as much as I do and wants her to stick around a bit longer, so- yeah, I guess I'm okay with it.
Meanwhile, on the Romney campaign bus, Jim is having a hellish time and most of his scenes are of him asking questions about Romney's uber-vague policies and flip flopping positions, while continually being spurned with talking points from the indifferent Romney spokespeople (which now includes Constance Zimmer from House of Cards and numerous other TV shows), but most of his scenes tonight were old hat to me. I guess because the last thing I want or need is to be reminded of what a shitty candidate Romney was- I like to forget a dark time and move on as quickly as possible (I was never one for reliving the Sarah Palin farce in TV movies either). But there is a major development near the end of the ep, as Jim does make friends with Hallie, who is disillusioned by covering political campaigns as well, and gives a big rousing speech on the bus to all the reporters about standing up for themselves and banding together to demand real answers to their questions...only to be roundly kicked off the bus in the middle of the night with Hallie and one other straggler, left on the street to fend for themselves, which is pretty great.
In the many sideplots that are being woven together better and better lately, we go back and forth in the interactions between office staff. One is Don and Sloan, who have a couple of funny scenes together that serve mainly to establish Don's jealousy at Sloan having gone on a date with a book agent who invited her to a wedding ("book agents beat their wives" is a fun fact we learn tonight from him), and Neal and Mac have another debate about OWS, where Neal finally gets to land a blow with his shot that Mac's mockery is easily dished out due to her being of the 1% status the Occupiers are against.
Meanwhile, Maggie is again more comic relief (I thought she was already gone to Africa but I guess not), dealing with the side effects of the wrong pills she's taking for the impending trip, and Will goes barreling around the office, yelling at people over the person who leaked his non-flu status to Nina Howard. Turns out though, that it was Reese Lansing himself who did the leaking, in a retaliatory act over Charlie and Will's blackmailing of him and Leona last season, when they'd recorded him confessing to phone hacking. This little subplot seems to have been completely dropped however, when it's discovered either Charlie or Will has accidentally deleted the recording and no longer hold the leverage over them- but I think Leona and Reese have become less antagonistic forces this season, so the storyline itself is no longer useful (again no Jane Fonda tonight- again, boo.)
Finally, the Operation Genoa story keeps plugging along. Jerry and Mac meet with the soldier who tells them white phosphorous gas was used on civilians in the mission, and while Mac and Charlie are still skeptical, they allow Jerry to pursue it, and the episode ends with them finding tweets from the Pakistani area at the time of the raid that appear to refer to the gas as "willie pete" and indicate more confirmation of the story.
A good episode tonight, ratcheting up a lot of momentum and giving nearly everyone something interesting to do. I personally want to see more Don and Sloan, who continue to be awesome (especially Sloan) and cute together- I think that's the only relationship I'm actually interested in, although Will and Nina is sure to cause some conflict in the coming weeks. And I love the way Mac is being portrayed this year, at the center of everyone's research in some way and totally efficient, while still holding that light comedic touch on the material- Emily Mortimer has been great so far. Keep it up guys! Until next week.
