[dear cocaine wretch, you know you can make me cry like a bitch whenever you want, love, min]
i found "breaking news" to be sort of ... slow, frankly, but the build-up was worth it for the punch at the end; nate corddry has been, without a doubt, the surprise gem of this show, and the way he crumpled at the end of the episode absolutely broke me. i knew that tom's brother was the sibling casualty of this show as soon as mark was introduced off-screen in the episode with tom's parents, and i think that sorkin handled it amazingly well, for the first time all series. (i understand why they played this arc at the end, i do -- it's an end of season arc. but, oh, if they had done it earlier. if they had done these episodes earlier, i would have loved it.)
the expression on tom's face as he watched his own face on tv set me crying. harriet's surety as she got to her knees to pray, and matt's expression as he watched her, set me crying even harder. this, this was the show i wanted to love.
"we shouldn't be laughing." "well, crying doesn't do any good." i liked this matt and harriet scene -- it felt more real than most of the others we've seen all season. and the humor, the humor in the face of great tragedy, oh, aaron, i know you could do this, i wish you had done it earlier.
i found the flashbacks a little heavy-handed -- though i loved the moment with mark mckinney -- plus i find the lawyer from gage whitney (though i love the nod to sam seaborn) a little too reminiscent of the reporter from earlier in the season, and i thought parts of the pacing in "k&r" was wonky, but overall, the last fifteen minutes of "breaking news" and most of "k&r", i thought were wonderful. i liked danny and jordan. i loved matt's frustration and anger and fear. i loved jack rudolph, angry and trying to do the right thing for everyone involved, tom and the network and the S60 staff. i loved cal, preaching and frustrated and so righteous. even the matt and harriet stuff ran mostly true for me. and i thought tom was amazing; i thought nate corddry's portrayal of tom was beyond everything. his face. HIS FACE.
tom jeter: default sorkin character of my soul, best beloved lobster, forever and ever amen. these episodes: worth every single moment for tom jeter.