Newsroom Recap: Will Goes to Therapy

Now they’re both shrieking at each other, still in the newsroom, but when Charlie calls Sloan “girl” she fires off a “Don’t call me GIRL..sir,” and Don realizes he has to step in and cool the room down. In as unprofessional a way as possible, because it’s ACN and that’s how they do things. Unaccustomed to the impudent pup Don being the voice of reason, Charlie storms out of the newsroom, taking one last cheap shot at Sloan for confusing Sandra and Sarah Bernhardt. Don’s migraine face lets us know who’s side he’s on. But in case anyone was confused, or not sure about the Keebbith ship, he does this:

Then pats her on the shoulder. Can next season be about Elliot’s newsroom and Sloan jumps ship to his show so they can write out Will, Mackenzie, Maggie and Jim? I’d watch that show.

Oh, gah. This circles back to Will’s therapy session and how it’s all his fault. Dr. Habib wants to get to the heart of why Will’s so “protective” of Sloan (With that kind of protection she might want to look into a sidearm.) then goes off on a tangent about Will’s father being an abusive alcoholic. What? Can’t Will be a dick because Will’s just a dick? Does there have to be some “triumph of the human spirit” story behind it? This doesn’t make him any more likeable.  Anyway, long story short, Will became the family savior at 11 when he cracked a whiskey bottle over his father’s head. What. Ever.

Will still wants his sleeping pills and Dr. Habib promises he’ll write the scrip, he just wants to know why Will came to him instead of his regular doctor. Will again carts out the “he asks too many questions,” but  Dr. Habib says his regular doctor doesn’t ask the right questions. Then they stare at each other to convince us this scene was deeply meaningful instead of shallow and trite.

Mackenzie’s in the meeting room asking about the opposition research. Jim tells a dumb story about Maggie and she defends herself so Mackenzie can be the smartest person in the room by reminding them she was asking about Will. Oh, well they discovered that he saves kittens from burning buildings and dogs from drowning in rushing rivers, he’s an accomplished guitarist who “jams with Leonard Cohen” (Is that possible?) and he can bake a cherry pie. Oh, and he was also a speechwriter for Bush the Elder (So now Sorkin’s ripping off Ben Stein’s bio?) because he’s a Republican. The room collectively clutches its pearls.

I know, Lettie Mae. It’s scandalous.

After another dumb personal story leads to a mild drive-by racial slur from Maggie, it’s time for Jim to exposit about how Will was offered his own late night talk show in 2006. Mackenzie ludicrously says he’d be good at that. Wait. Aren’t talk show hosts supposed to be either funny or likeable or Jay Leno?