‘The Newsroom’ season 3, episode 2 review: The life and times of Neal Sampat

This past Sunday night, HBO served up to us an episode of “The Newsroom” entitled “Run” that raised a variety of questions, whether they be about ownership, about relationships, and about what is really the right way to get the truth to the public. It was almost a full hour, and there was quite a bit to digest.

Luckily, most of it was fantastic, with at least a few little exceptions here and there where you can see what was coming a mile away. Toby from “The Office” being on the train, and eventually giving Maggie some of what she wanted after some conversations, was one part of it.

To us, most of the episode’s brilliance came in watching Neal Sampat start to realize how much trouble he was in via his conversations with lawyer Rebecca Halliday, with Will McAvoy, and basically with the entire staff at ACN. He constructed a way to ensure that Neal could get away in the event he needed to do so, and that is why the end of the episode featured Dev Patel’s character crushing up a phone and preparing to go on the run. Before that, though, he and Will shared a moment that felt almost father / son, and it was nice to see both of them in that context, and to further see how much Will cares about people who fight.

While the FBI is scouring through the ACN office looking for the hard drive containing government documents, Don and Sloan thought for a little while that their relationship coming-out party was going to be a big deal. Hilariously, it was not even a blip on the radar, since Charlie was busy dealing with Reece’s half-siblings trying to orchestrate deals to sell the company. This was a fun appearance in here from Kat Dennings, who got to be on the other side of the social scale in New York for a change after starring as the perpetually-poor Max on “2 Broke Girls.”

Also, Hallie was fired over a bad tweet she posted while extremely exhausted. This entire story was a little frustrating, since it undermined some of her intelligence as a character.

Overall, though, “Run” was a compelling episode of the show that really emphasized the characters, the stakes, and the tension. It was “Newsroom” at its finest, and a sad reminder that we only have four more episodes to enjoy. Grade: A-.