TV REVIEW: Parade's End - Episode Two

The troubled marriage between Sylvia and Christopher continues, despite her feeling completely trapped and he's still wrestling with his feelings for Valentine. Meanwhile, McMaster continues his affair with the bedraggled Mrs Duchemin while war is marching over the horizon.

The second episode of new BB2 adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End continues exactly where it left, with everyone married to the wrong person and lusting after someone else. What I enjoyed particularly about this episode was how the historical background of the narrative plays so well into the struggles that each character was experiencing. For Christopher (Benedict Cumberbatch), it's the threat of the First World War as the domino effect of alliances forces each country to join in and he decides to join up, much to the criticism of everyone ever. The most interesting for me though, was the ongoing suffragette movement, not for Valentine (Adelaide Clemens), but for Sylvia (Rebecca Hall).

Last week saw Sylvia agree to return to Christopher and to faithful marriage, promising that she will not continue her extramarital affairs with the warning that she's going to do everything she can to make her husband's life miserable. Unfortunately, the exact opposite happens as Christopher's determined avoidance starts to drive her a little round the bend. Although Sylvia has not yet identified any leanings with the suffragettes, she becomes a physical symbol of what they're fighting for; she's trapped in a marriage that she cannot leave with a husband who does not love her. Rebecca Hall gives a fantastic performance this week, portraying a woman starving for attention. Far from the storm she threw up in the last episode, here Sylvia is calmly, slowly decaying.

Sylvia is one of the few characters though that actually articulates how she feels. For everyone else, there's weighty pauses and furtive glances. If there's one thing film, television and literature that we as a nation excel at, it's conveying the most overwhelming sense of repression. And we had it in spades in this episode from the sexual tension brimming over in the central love triangle to corsets as physical symbol of women's oppression. The latter, or rather the brassiere, was responsible for one of the best moments of the episode in which Rufus Sewell's delightfully mad figure performed the bra trick on poor, flustered Anne Marie Duff. In an hour full of dramatic tension, it was a great moment of humour, perfectly performed by Sewell.

Parade's End really is what I love about good old-fashioned period drama, it's slow-paced, full of scandal and a delightfully dry wit that stops it from being bowed down in all suppressed emotion. Hell, even the music always seemed to be on the point of reaching a loud, dramatic crescendo before simmering down again while Christopher glances morosely at the floor. It's fantastic television and the preview for next week suggests we may yet see some of that repression burst out.

- Becky

Read Becky's review of Parade's End - Episode One here.

You can read more of Becky's work on her blog: beckygracelea.wordpress.com
Or follow her on Twitter here: @beckygracelea

TV REVIEW: Parade's End - Episode One

If you hadn't already guessed, we at Assorted Buffery are suckers for period dramas. Or indeed any dramas come to think of it. But mostly those where you have beautiful people swanning about in beautiful clothes and talking in beautiful accents. Now the BBC, ever the purveyors of such drama, have adapted Ford Madox Ford's quartet of novels, Parade's End, starring Rebecca Hall, newcomer Adelaide Clemens and Assorted Buffery favourite, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Parade's End follows the turbulent marriage of Christopher Tietjens (Cumberbatch) to socialite and general mischief-maker Sylvia (Hall) and his subsequent relationship with a young suffragette, Valentine (Clemens). The central marriage is more one of convenience as Tietjens tries to shed his past as a bit of a cad and Sylvia wants to avoid scandal after falling pregnant, though a particularly energetic train carriage encounter suggests there is an attraction between them. It's a beautiful study of a relationship destined to corrupt both parties and enough repression to fuel English stereotypes for years to come. With director Susannah White helming the production and the ever-brilliant Tom Stoppard adapting the novel with a witty and polished script, the first episode of Parade's End was an intriguing, funny and thought-provoking hour.

Aside from the excellent direction and crisp script-writing, the programme's strength lies in its cast; Benedict Cumberbatch is everyone's man of the hour, from literature geeks to sci-fi nerds (he's appearing in Star Trek 2 as the as-yet unnamed foe - come on Gary Mitchell). Here, he masters the stuffiness inherent in Tietjens' logical character and giving him a wit and intelligence that makes him a masterful screen presence. Not particularly loquacious, it's left to Cumberbatch to convey Tietjens' inner conflict with a look, or cursory glance to the side and the moment with the horse was about as close to a breakdown as we're likely to get.

Providing the emotional foil to Cumberbatch's stiff upper lip, Rebecca Hall is a whirlwind of wit, lace and the occasional nipple, perfectly capturing the mercurial Sylvia. Providing much of the comedy, Hall's Sylvia is just as conflicted as Tietjens though without even an ounce of the freedom that he possesses. As we're reminded by the ever-present suffragette movement and Sylvia and Tietjens' own protestations, divorce was not kind to women, nor was wider society. Despite knowing her conduct is less than acceptable, she continues to live how she wants, manipulating whoever she needs to. Ending a relationship at gunpoint isn't for everyone, but Sylvia does it with a smile.

The supporting cast were every bit as good, with seemingly every character actor you could think of drafted in to present a very British period drama. Though not given much to do just yet, newcomer Adelaide Clemens managed to hold her own in scenes with Cumberbatch, giving Valentine a spirited yet rather naive quality. Stephen Graham, playing an intelligent good guy in a role wildly against type, gave good Scotsman and his relationship with Anne Marie Duff's character was very sweet. Elsewhere, Roger Allam cropped up as an indignant military man and Miranda Richardson as a slightly unhinged novelist and both shone with Rupert Everett and Janet McTeer providing a biting relish to their roles.

The first episode was not without a couple of flaws though, particularly in the rather speedy introduction to our main couple. Fast-forwarding through the opening developments of their relationship, it took a while for me to work out exactly where everyone was up to in each scene. However, once we had the anticipated meeting between Tietjens and the elf-like Valentine, everything settled down. We even got the most bonkers cameo ever seen on television (I'd wager that anyway) in the form of Rufus Sewell's buggery-obsessed and more than a little unhinged vicar. It was a glorious moment, perfectly highlighting Edwardian politeness whilst simultaneously revelling in Sewell's wide-eyed performance. Having not read the books, I don't know if his character is set to reappear, but I really hope so.

Much has been made of the potential rivalry between Parade's End and its ITV counterpart, Downton Abbey, with some saying that the BBC were simply trying to get one up on ITV after the disaster that was Upstairs Downstairs. Now, I love Downton Abbey (something you'll probably find out when it's back on television) but high literary drama it is not. In fact, if we're all honest with ourselves, Downton Abbey is to period drama what Coronation Street is to urban realism; the signs and comparisons are there, but it's too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Parade's End, by contrast, is a real thoroughbred period piece, betraying its literary foundations in every line and pregnant pause.

This summer has been a fantastic time for period dramas; with the fantastic Hollow Crown and now Parade's End, my yearly quota for corsets and riding breeches is already on the full side but when it's as good as this, I can stand a little more.

- Becky

You can follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea or find more work on her blog at www.beckygracelea.wordpress.com

TV REVIEW: The Newsroom - Amen

Apologies for the extreme lateness of this review; life, the universe and everything has been conspiring against me and ensuring that I have no free time for anything. And in terms of The Newsroom, this is a shame because Amen is the best episode yet.

Following the Egyptian ousting of President Mubarak and the teachers' protests in Wisconsin, Amen sees the News Night team scrambling to find someone 'on the ground' in Egypt to report on the protests giving Neal a chance to shine while the ramifications of presenting the news takes on a much more physical danger.

Not one but four members of The Newsroom family find themselves on the wrong end of violence this week, whether that be at the hand of Maggie and a door (Jim), just a particularly sturdy door (Don), punching the face of Rush Limbaugh on a screen (Neal - I actually cheered at this point, who hasn't wanted to do that?) or, more seriously, at the hands of Egyptian protestors (Elliot). While the underlying metaphor of this isn't all that subtle - these people literally bleed for the news - it did allow some keen character development that had previously been lacking for the supporting characters. It also gave us another Sorkin-esque speech when Will resumes his battle with Hope Davis' bitchy journalist, whose name I forget... but that's ok, she's not supposed to be a fully-dimensional character, just someone we hate. But back to the News Night team.

Elliot's a bit of a bumbling fool, more of a figurehead than a driving force behind the 10 o'clock show that Don runs, but his willingness to face danger in order to help out his EP and his assurances that he was always going to do so demonstrate that, whilst he might not be able to say anything insightful about the US electoral system, he still cares a lot about what he was reporting. It also allowed Sorkin to present another side to Don who was fast becoming labelled 'Irritating Douchebag' in my mental assignments of characters. While I still find it unfathomable that someone as lovely as Maggie would be dating him, the guilt he demonstrated after Elliot's attack and his rather admirable battle with a solid oak door let us see the side of Don that got him hired in the first place. As Will memorably put it in an earlier episode, he's a news man, and Sorkin let us see that for the first time with props to Thomas Sandoski for brilliantly layered performance.

This episode belonged to Dev Patel though, finally promoted from bromance-with-Jim comic relief to a central player in the News Night team. It was released in the character biography that Neal had been a victim of one of the 7/7 train bombings and this was brought out here, in a (mostly) well-judged scene that gave him a well-deserved background. Will's Rudy reference was more than a little distasteful but it did lead to the best closing moment of the series so far, in which each character presented a cheque to Will to help pay the ransom of their Egyptian contact. Neal's arc over the episode was great to watch, showing him develop from the idealistic blogger who finally gets his moment to the guilt he feels when he realises his actions may have just got a young man killed. Though thankfully the story has a happy ending, the drama of the situation really did have me thinking Sorkin could have gone very dark.

Amen was fantastic precisely because, for the most part, it focused on the workplace drama and the situations arising from having to get the best news story, rather than the melodramatic happenstances of the staffers. The comic subplot of Valentine's Day felt forced with Maggie attempting to make Jim take Lisa out on a date because, oddly for a chronically single girl, it was her favourite holiday of the year. As a fellow chronically single girl, I found Lisa's apparent enthusiasm for the most couple-y day ever a little strange but hey, her takedown of Jim in the office was actually rather amusing. However, it did jar with the rest of the episode and while I think Sorkin is becoming better at reconciling these two halves of the show, I still think the inclusion of the staff's personal lives a little unnecessary. After all, The West Wing only ever brought in relationship storylines when they were key to the overall developing plot, examples being any time Abbey Bartlett was brought out to rein Jed back in or the escalating fight between Amy and Josh over an upcoming policy. Do that Sorkin, and you'll have me completely hooked.

Just when I was on the verge of giving up on this show, Sorkin gave me this - a soaring, dramatic and tension-filled episode that allowed each character to shine without resorting to too much melodrama along the way (though naturally, there was still a healthy dose of that). That and a Rudy reference was all it took to ensure I'd be back next week.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of previous episode here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea or find her tweeting for @AssortedBuffery

FEATURE: Fifty Shades of Master Bateman

News broke last week that, after he put himself forward to write the upcoming adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, Brett Easton Ellis has failed to make the shortlist of screenwriters for the film. Ellis, ever as outspoken and as controversial as his works, announced his interest numerous times via Twitter, casting his ideal actors and even going so far as denouncing openly homosexual Matt Bomer as 'too gay' for the role of Christian Grey. Now, he's definitely off the film with four other writers announced as those in the frontrunning, one of whom wrote Cars 2... And, controversy aside, I can't be alone in thinking that Universal has missed a trick here.

When it was first announced, via his own Twitter page, that he wished to write the film, I was a little surprised. After all, this is a world-renowned and exceptionally popular author wanting to adapt what is arguably, one of the worst-written books ever to hit the bestseller lists. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a great idea. For all its terrible prose, ridiculous catchphrases and questionable sexual politics, Fifty Shades of Grey has the potential to be a dark exploration of issues surrounding Christian's more extreme sexuality and the psychology behind it. The book itself and its two sequels don't really delve into these issues beyond repeatedly reminding us that erstwhile heroine, Anastasia Steele, is the only person capable of making him feel love. Before Ana, Christian is simply an incredibly rich, really really ridiculously good-looking executive with a penchant for violence to specific pieces of music back in his pristine and state-of-the-art apartment. Sound familiar?

To anyone who has read American Psycho, and if you haven't you should rectify this immediately, Christian Grey has a lot of similarities with its central character, the murderous Patrick Bateman (something which Ellis himself has noted). Basically, Christian is a slightly crapper version of Bateman with all the hallmarks that make everyone's favourite American psychopath so interesting; Christian's just a bit less... stabby. For those not in the know, Bateman is a classic symbol of 80s excess; he has to have the latest gadget, be wearing the latest fashions and God help you if you have a better business card than him. Because alongside the extensive critiques of fashion or music albums, he also has quite the talent for sadistic violence, ranging from impulsive killing to torture, rape and mutilation. Granted, Christian never goes this far (or maybe he does, he has a Red Room of Pain after all), but the need for violence in both characters' lives is very much there. Ellis, having created Bateman, naturally has a way in to Christian's psychology and could create a fantastic, three-dimensional character that James fails to fully create.

One of the key themes that could have been explored in an Ellis adaptation is that of the main characters' masculinity and the way their anxieties become manifested in very similar ways. Violence is a key theme of both books and is used by both men to assert control over the environment and the people around them, intrinsically linked to the assertion of their manliness. Patrick Bateman is a man seemingly with everything and prides himself as such, often commenting directly to the reader on the history of his favourite pair of trainers or other such commodities in his possession. Likewise, Christian Grey has got commodities coming out of his ears and relaxes by taking out his boat, driving his sports car or flying his helicopter. Stereotypically masculine, and ever so slightly phallic, possessions are used by Christian to demonstrate not only his wealth, but also the control he has over his environment. These commodities are the aspects over which both men can control, but people are very different and, despite Ana's lack of animation, she's still a remarkably unpredictable factor in Christian's life. The violence committed against humans either consensually or with a rusty coathanger, therefore, becomes an attempt to seize the control both men believe to have lost.

For all the publicity surrounding Fifty Shades and the BDSM aspect of the sex scenes, there isn't a whole lot of the stuff in the novel; it's mostly talking about it with the unsigned contract, light bondage and a bit of spanking (A spanking! A spanking!). The focus is placed upon Christian's need for this kind of lifestyle because he has never really had 'vanilla' sex before. It's all been about him being in control, in power and maintaining that power over the female submissives he has in his possession. When he meets Ana, she (mostly) refuses to be controlled and begins to challenge his dominance. He doesn't like it and retaliates in other, incredibly sexist, ways by buying out the company she works for or dictating what contraception she should be using. Sexually, he maintains his control only through virtue of Ana being about as sexually experienced as a piece of cotton wool. When he does get violent, in the case of the spanking scene at the end of the first book, she runs away from him because she sees just how much he needs that violent control. Inflicting violence on another person is, psychologically, what he needs to get himself off. The same can be said of Bateman though his satisfaction is found not sexually, but in socially gaining over his peers. His entire world is built on him being the best, having the best things and sleeping with the best women. When that's taken away from him, he's lost and the violent aspect of his personality appears to take back the control he believes to have lost from those he feels are superior to him. He kills Paul Owen because Paul is the more successful and popular executive and his torturing and subsequent murder of Christie the prostitute is all about demonstrating his sexual and physical prowess.

Patrick Bateman is built upon these masculine-centered insecurities and when everything is taken away from him, he becomes increasingly more violent in order to assert himself. Much is made in Fifty Shades of Christian's self-confidence issues; he doesn't understand why Ana loves him for example (I don't either, but that's another point entirely) and struggles with this concept. I've had a conversation where an acquaintance tried to assert that Christian Grey doesn't have any issues with his masculinity and instead, the BDSM aspect was all about his 'desire to be loved'. Firstly, vomit. Secondly, he introduces his penis to Ana as the 'most cherished' part of his anatomy so if that isn't symbolic of 'issues with masculinity', I should probably hand back my English Literature degree and give up now. Christian needs to be in control, whether it's freeing his constant erection from his fashionable grey sweatpants, dominating his lover in the bedroom with variety of sex toys or 'protecting' Ana by beating the crap out any guy who comes near her. 

What this comparison, I hope, demonstrates is that Ellis is actually quite perfect for writing the role of Christian Grey - he understands this character, he's written him, albeit in his extremity, before. Whether or not Ellis could adequately create the character of Ana Steele is another matter and would be a far trickier job seeing as she's suffers from a distinct lack of dimension. But if Hollywood were brave enough to see a Brett Easton Ellis adaptation of E.L. James' bonkbuster, I think we'd be looking at a very interesting, extremely dark take on a relationship that has a huge amount of potential to be interesting. And then I would say David Fincher or David Cronenburg to direct please because what this book needs is totally ripping apart and putting back together again with two people who know how to create a darkly compelling story.

- Becky

P.S. I'm sorry I've gone into a little depth here, I know Fifty Shades of Grey is not an actual piece of literature and is really quite appalling. Sorry. Really sorry.

Becky's review of Fifty Shades of Grey can be found here.

You can follow Becky on Twitter here @beckygracelea

TV REVIEW: The Newsroom - I'll Try To Fix You

After the bombshell last week that Will's job hangs in the balance, it's New Year in the News Night office; Neal is inexplicably trying to convince everyone that Bigfoot is real, Don decides to set Jim up with Maggie's roommate and Will has a run-in with a gossip columnist.

We're four weeks into The Newsroom now and there is something that is really starting to grate on me. No it's not the treatment of the female characters, though we are again on slightly dodgy ground, and it's not the way in which we get perhaps the most heavy-handed news sequence yet. It's the theme music and the title credits sequence. I just don't think it works. It's over-long, insipid and lacklustre whilst we get images of news anchors from the past alongside our heroic reporters of the future. Maybe it's inspired by the music from America's existing news shows? After all, we all know that they're more about the emotion than it is about introducing the news, as Bill Bailey pointed out. It's a small niggle but I'm hoping a second season overhaul might result in some more inspirational music. Perhaps with trumpets.


The show itself continues to the be the one of two halves that remains frustrating to say the least. First up, the good stuff of which there is plenty this week as we get some classic lines from Will. His scene with Charlie about a New York Post article about Will's near-tryst with a gossip columnist (Hope Davis) is full of great lines - "Did you read the New York Post?" "No because my eyes are connected to my brain" - and a real Sorkinesque feel that has sometimes been missing. And the other half of the frustrating rears its ugly head as the episode again loses momentum with the more soapy elements; Don sets Jim up with Maggie's room-mate Lisa, much to her dismay, and there's also the moment Maggie discovers Jim is sleeping with Lisa, despite telling her that this isn't the case. There are two things I don't understand about this sequence of events: 1) Why on earth is Maggie still with Don? He's a plank. 2). In what twisted little world does Jim live in to think it's "sort of" ok that he lied to Maggie? I get he's saying that he lied to her because he likes her and didn't want to hurt her feelings, but that doesn't make it ok, it makes him a coward and an idiot. And, while I'm on this train of thought, I'm going to do a Spanish Inquisition speech; there are THREE things I don't understand about this sequence of events so 3). Is there any way that Maggie would get away with speaking to her boss in the real world the way she speaks to Jim here? No. Sorkin, sort it out.


Ok, with that particular bug-bear over, back to the good stuff of the episode - It's also becoming clear to me that Will is not, as we've been led to believe, the Bartlett of this administration, but the Toby Ziegler (I can't help comparing it to The West Wing, it invites it continually). He's grouchy and bad-tempered, yet ultimately, you can't help but like him as this episode demonstrates brilliantly. The 'fix you' of the title refers to Will's "mission to civilise" which has to be one of the most condescending statements ever uttered by a television character and sums up Will's character perfectly; he's spent so many years being told he's fantastic so naturally he believes he is. Thankfully, he doesn't get away with it, receiving a considerable amount of alcohol to the face as a result. The effect on me was so powerful that even I had to stop myself reaching for my cup of tea and lobbing it at the screen. Now some reviews that I've seen have cited this as a flaw in the episode, that a character could be so patronising was a reflection on bad writing rather than three-dimensional characterisation but I thought it was a great development for a character I've had little reaction to so far. Yes, he's a little annoying and suitably noble but the depth of feeling I've experienced for Will has come nowhere near the sympathy I have with Maggie or my begrudging love of Jim. This was the highlight of the episode for me because, now that I've started to care more about the characters, I'm starting to care more about the show. Yes it's still got its problems but I do think it's starting to get there.


Now I've often said that The Newsroom feels like two halves because you get the good, as previously mentioned, but then you get it balanced with the bad. If you've been following my other reviews, you know that I've been having issues with the way women are portrayed in the show. I said earlier that it isn't as bad this week but it's still there, lurking under the surface like the potential misogyny it is. Displaying an extraordinary lack of awareness, especially considering just how often this criticism has come up, Sorkin recently defended his portrayal of women, rather naively saying there is nothing wrong with it because they are all 'strong' and 'intelligent'. I'm sure they are because we've heard other characters say so, especially in the case of Mac, but he just hasn't shown it yet which is the crucial point. If he starts doing that, we'll start getting more three-dimensional characters and, providing they're given decent storylines to boot, he may see the critics starting to quieten down on the issue. This week, some reviews have cited Hope Davis' character as another thorny characterisation. Perhaps oddly, I don't have a problem with the journalist or the viewers of reality television programmes being women in this episode because, sad but true, this is the case in most situations. What I do have the issue with was the gun totin', crazy stalker date that Will brings back to his apartment. Again Sorkin resorts to stereotypes for the female characters seemingly without putting a lot of thought into it - we've had manic jealous ex-girlfriend, the panicky girl in the corner needing to be rescued and now your standard everyday bunny boiler. What's next? A pregnant woman suffering from violent mood swings and irrationally bitching at everyone because of, you know, hormones? Please God, I hope not. 


My main problem with this episode was the final moments in which we got the soaring chords of Coldplay (which I despairingly anticipated on reading the episode's title) and the news team, conveniently assembled on a Saturday, reporting on the shooting of Representative Gabby Giffords. The hotly-debated issue of gun control, particularly in light of recent events, has never been more present in the media and it was this that formed the main focus of News Night reporting. Unlike previous real life news events, like the BP oil spill, the use of this one struck me as both heavy-handed and a little insensitive, particularly when you consider that the Tucson shooting was only last year. It felt like a cynical attempt at the tear ducts, combining an emotionally charged event with inspiration power chords in order to provoke a reaction. Granted it did this, but I'm not sure I reacted in the intended way; it made for very uncomfortable viewing and it was almost a relief when the episode ended.


The Newsroom continues to be an interesting watch, primarily for the continually fluctuating reactions it provokes. I honestly feel as if I've been put through an emotional ringer every episode, experiencing everything from outrage to cheerful glee and straight back down to a weary despair. It's compelling television and is becoming more so by the week. I just really want the bad half to be brought up to the level of the good because then it will be one cracking hour of drama.


- Becky


You can read Becky's review of the previous episode, The 112th Congress, here.


You can follow Becky on Twitter here @beckygracelea

TV REVIEW: The Newsroom - The 112th Congress

The third episode of The Newsroom follows News Night's change in direction opening with Will McAvoy apologising for previous failures and issues a promise to deliver the news that everyone needs to hear, rather than what they want. But not everyone is happy with this turn of events.

The well-constructed episode so far, The 112th Congress opens with another Sorkin-typical speech with Will (Jeff Daniels) stating that he has failed in his duty as a news anchor to report the facts rather than sensationalism. First step: taking on the Republican Tea Party over the course of sixth months, starting with Will going to Charlie (Sam Waterston) with his outrage about how his party has been tainted by its association with the right-wing group (yes we get official confirmation this week; Will is a Republican, an interesting move for the overwhelmingly Democrat Sorkin). We get Will taking on various Tea Party members in some fantastic interviews while Mac (Emily Mortimer) holds court over an energised newsroom. Cut within the six month period is a board meeting involving Charlie and an imperious Leona Lansing (Jane Fonda), discussing the ratings and financial consquences of Will and Mac's mission to hold the Tea Party to account. Oh and then there's some soapy drama stuff with the ongoing flirtation between Maggie (Alison Pill) and Jim (John Gallagher Jr) while her boyfriend Don (Thomas Sandoski) is again a bit of an idiot. Mac also has to deal with Will's new array of dates that he keeps parading around the office and doesn't do it particularly well.

Starting to really hit its stride as far as the actual programme of News Night is concerned, The Newsroom brought us the take down of the Tea Party that we all longed to hear but never got outside of satirical programmes. The cross-section of interviews and reports that Will conducts are masterful and well-written with plenty of cheerworthy moments for everyone's favourite "affable" news anchor. The cuts away to Charlie's boardroom meeting also add to the drama of the situation; we're seeing the consequences play out way ahead of any of the other characters with ratings drops and threatening words all demonstrating that Will isn't going to win the vote of his superiors with his actions. We also get a little bit of Will's past history, he's a genius by all accounts, a former prosecutor with a fantastic track record and an ability to become, as Charlie states, a lawyer for the American people.


The meeting was one of the highlights of the episode, a masterclass in tension built through the bold decision to have Jane Fonda, one of the biggest names yet to appear, sit silently watching for the majority of the time. Despite a rather dodgy Jesus/Noah joke, Fonda was fantastic as a CEO keen to stay in power and desperate to do anything to keep it. With her parting threat, she could provide an intriguing enemy for the News Night team and any scenes between her and Sam Waterston are going to sizzle. Elsewhere, another highlight was the developing friendship between Jim and Dev Patel's Neal with the pair carrying most of the episode's comic relief. Patel has had little to do as Neal so far except some necessary exposition but here we're starting to see a little more of him and his various scenes with Gallagher Jr were very funny. It offers a more human side to the team outside of the ridiculous relationship entanglements that they find themselves in and seeing the pair talk about Wikileaks whilst bemoaning their ability to scare off girls was well-judged in the wider narrative of the episode, showing they've got more to say than quickfire newsroom speak.

It's important to stress at this point that The Newsroom was doing so well, really well to the point where I was actively thinking to myself "this is more like it!". I was engaged in the characters' efforts to stick it to The Man, representing both the Tea Party and their corporate bosses. I revelled in the humour and drama of the News Night programme itself and felt inwardly triumphant when Will made a crack about a misguided comment on the press. I was there, I was in it!

And then Sorkin struck again with the terrible characterisation of the women in the show. Sloan Sabbith (Olivia Munn) gets a brief moment to shine when she notices something Will had missed during the live election coverage, only to be shouted down before she gets chance to do anything. Then, the transformation of Mac from strong, confident executive producer into a jealous harridan was an extreme jarring point because once again we see her not being able to handle her personal life when it clashes with the professional. We've had no indication that she still has residual feelings for Will despite feeling guilty about how their relationship ended three years before. We get treated to a couple of scenes in which she passive-aggressively insults Will's dates to their faces whilst his jealousy upon discovering she actually has a boyfriend is limited to a short exchange with Jim and brushed off just as quickly.

Then there's the ongoing Jim and Maggie saga which, despite myself, I'm a little swept up in, rooting for them to get together because they have a fantastic chemistry and I really want to like Jim because at times, he's adorable. Sorkin, however, is making this very difficult by continually giving him moments in which he rescues or patronises Maggie for no real reason. The scene where he gallantly sweeps to her rescue after she suffers a panic attack was excruciatingly irritating. We're told by Don (who is also an idiot here, leaving Maggie on her own with a sweeping comment about how she "thinks she's dying") that she regularly gets panic attacks yet Jim takes it upon himself to tell her exactly what she should be doing, despite the fact that she clearly knows this because she's been through it before. I was very much with her when she said "I wish your face would stop moving so I could punch it" because he was such a condescending plank in that scene. He does get points for later stating that he won't swoop in on Maggie immediately after her seemingly gazilionth break-up with Don, but the damage was done.

The Newsroom is one of the most frustrating programmes I've seen in a long time, becoming split into two shows between the compelling, absorbing drama of News Night itself and the soap opera-like shenanigans of the staffers. The panic attack scene had me a hair's breadth away from switching it off all together but the Tea Party/corporation narrative drew me back in, albeit begrudgingly. With news breaking this week that Sorkin may or may not have fired most of his writing staff, I can only hope that this goes some way to ironing out the inconsistencies for the already-guaranteed second season.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of the previous two episodes here.

You can also follow her on Twitter @beckygracelea

TV REVIEW: The Hollow Crown - Henry V

The final episode of The Hollow Crown charts the reign of Henry V and in particular, his rise to become a warrior king, accepting the challenge to invade France with the scene set for a crucial battle on a field in Agincourt.

King Henry (Tom Hiddleston), now sporting a rather impressive goatee and a kingly codpiece (I wasn't actively looking, it was just very obvious), is reigning over a more peaceful England. That is until the French ambassador shows up with the challenge from the Dauphin to test his mettle against the French forces. Never one to back down from a fight, Henry accepts the gauntlet, deftly avoiding an assassination attempt and assembling an invading force from across England with the encouragement of Exeter (Anton Lesser) and York (Paterson Joseph). The scene is set for one of the most famous confrontations ever and as the two armies close in on the fields of Agincourt, Henry must prove that he is worthy to wear the English crown.


The character arc for Henry, going from Prince Hal to the King of England over the course of three plays, has been one of the highlights of The Hollow Crown with assured performances from Tom Hiddleston charting each stage of the character's progression. His first appearance in the episode, riding across the fields before hurrying into the throne room, demonstrate that he's still the same man who enjoyed partaking in a pint or two at the tavern but has now accepted his responsibilities as King. Keen to prove himself, the challenge from the French ambassador allows him to do so and his acceptance was a great point of entry into the most war-ridden plays of the Henriad. Whilst it's not quite a 'This is Sparta' moment, Henry's message to the Dauphin's ambassador is very clear; he's on his way and he's bringing a lot of friends with him. 


Famously, Shakespeare knew of the problems of presenting a play set mostly at war in France whilst having very little scenery to convey this setting so he created the role of the Chorus, a character whose sole purpose was to aid the audience in their imagination. Naturally a television programme has considerably more resources than an Elizabethan theatre but the decision to include the Chorus as a narrator in the guise of John Hurt's raspy tones proves inspired. The narration adds to the cinematic feel the series has worked hard to create and adds an increasing sense of familiarity to the proceedings. After all, Henry is a character we have followed since his youth and becomes someone you feel you know and could fight alongside, evident within the narrative itself; Henry spends half of his time conversing with the men around him, regardless of whether he is low or high-born.


This continues when we get to the actual war scenes, some of the most well-known in literature, the drama and pace is continued but with the emphasis placed on Henry as a king of the people (as practised with Falstaff in Mistress Quickly's tavern). The 'Once more unto the breach' scene is a particular highlight and rather than the usual posturing adopted for a rallying speech that has been seen in the likes of 300 and Troy, director Thea Sharrock adopts a more intimate approach. Henry is on the ground with his men rather than sat astride his horse, speaking to each one of them in turn and the speech becomes more than just a soundbite to later be termed 'epic'. The St. Crispin's Day speech, a bastion of English Literature, is similarly understated yet just as powerful, rousing and inspiring without descending into over-dramatic shouting. Hiddleston delivers both as measured, well-thought out addresses and with a gravitas that suits the King of England on a battefield. This king is very much one of the people, a link back to his earlier days as an honourary resident of East Cheap and the loyalty he inspires is easily seen in these moments.


The Battle of Agincourt itself is a thrilling piece of television, well-befitting of one of the most famous battles in English history. From the overwhelming odds stacked against the invading forces to the bloodiness of the battle itself, the audience is allowed to get up close and personal to the fighting, making it the best battle sequence in the whole of The Hollow Crown. Shakespeare did not shy away from presenting the negative aspects of the battle either, namely Henry's decision to execute the French prisoners they had taken and neither does Sharrock, showing the scene in all its cold brutality. It adds to Henry's character, given him a multi-dimensional quality; he's not just a hero to be glorified but also a man who makes rash decisions and mistakes as a result. 

Additionally, we also see that Henry's romantic side as he must secure the hand of the French princess. Yes, this episode isn't all manly blood and guts, we even get some romance in the mix with a lovely scene between the King and his future bride, Princess Katherine. One of the best scenes in the play, the couple have to navigate the language barrier between them, offering Hiddleston a chance to show his romantic lead potential with the kind of bumbling attempt at wooing that Hugh Grant would be proud of. This scene, also thanks to an adorable turn from Melanie Thierry as Katherine, provides a peaceful and (mostly) happy ending to a character that we've seen develop over the course of the series. The decision to include Henry's funeral as the final scene provides a bittersweet note to the finale. It returns the series full circle to its themes of inheritance and the weighty responsibility of kingship, leaving the throne to Henry's infant son and I'm not ashamed to admit, I shed a tear or two during the Chorus' final speech.


The Hollow Crown has been a triumph from start to finish and Saturday nights are going to be poorer now that it has all finished. Well-edited and beautifully presented, this is Shakespeare as it should be experienced in all its muddy, bloody and drunken glory. From the tumultuous reign of Richard II, through the family dramas of Henry IV and the final, climactic battles of Henry V, each episode has brought its own themes and classic moments to the fore with fantastic performances from every single cast member. I cannot praise it enough and, if you haven't caught it or missed an episode, I urge to go and watch it all because it could be a while before we see Shakespeare done in such a fantastic and enjoyable way for some time.


- Becky


You can read Becky's review of The Hollow Crown - Henry IV Part Two here


You can find more of Becky's writings here http://beckygracelea.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @beckygracelea