Updated on 12-15-14: The post originally said Neal went to Peru not Venezuela. It has been updated to reflect that.

I watch a lot of TV, I mean a lot. Some might say too much. That is why I thought I would try to make my habits productive by writing about the the things I watch. Everyone needs an outlet.

Warning: Big time spoilers. Don’t read unless you’ve seen the episode I’m about to recap. Unless you don’t care in which case, welcome. 

I am in a complicated relationship with Aaron Sorkin. I started watching The Newsroom because I loved West Wing and Sports Night and was excited to see Sorking writing for TV again. I wasn’t in love with the characters and felt like the dialogue was just copied and pasted from his other work, but he had gained my trust and I believed he had a reason for every annoying character and unbelievable plot line. I knew it would all come together to create something beautiful and I could say “I told you” to all the haters.

After three long seasons of defending him and standing by him through the Jim, Maggie and Maggie’s roommate saga, he really let me down last week with the unexpected death of Charlie. A very naive part of me is still holding out hope that Charlie’s death will round out the series and explain to me why I sat through 24 episodes. Was it really only 24 episodes? Oof. He is on thin ice with me and it will take a lot to win me back. Let’s see if he can in the series finale, “What Kind of Day Has It Been.” Here we go!

I’m going to break this recap up by characters, because it seems like the easiest way to tackle the episode.

Flashbacks

The flashbacks weren’t technically a character, but Sorkin used them as one. It felt like these were put in in case someone hadn’t watched the first season or had forgotten how far they had come. The only real realization that was made was that Sloan had feelings for Don three years ago. These really just served to show how much Charlie had to do with making Will get his shit together and report the news. Something I thought we already understood.

Pruit

We get it, he’s skeevy and doesn’t care about the news. This is Sorkin’s not so subtle attack at people like Chris Hughes. This whole season was about how social media is attacking responsible reporting, and Pruit is the embodiment of that. Poor B.J. Novak.

Maggie and Jim

This is my favorite story line because it’s a chance to go to the bathroom, grab a snack or do some dishes. It was one of the most painful throughout the series. Anyone who didn’t know they would end up together was seriously kidding themselves. I’m happy they’re both flourishing professionally, especially considering the condescending way Maggie was always talked about. Maybe they’ll work out with long distance, maybe not. I don’t really care.

Sloan and Don

Don went from my least favorite characters to a pretty decent one. I begrudgingly found him charming in this last season. His relationship with Sloan was more interesting than Maggie and Jim’s but still annoying. Again, we knew they would get over their commitment issues and the strange HR rep to be together. It was nice to see that Sloan always fought for her stories and will continue to talk down to Will.

Neal

Aw Neal, even after escaping to Venezuela, you’re still one of my favorite characters. Yes he’s a little kooky but he was passionate, many times to a fault. Wasn’t it funny that Will couldn’t understand the internets and the new guys couldn’t figure out how to not get hacked. Crazy kids. Weird no one talked about Neal not going to jail, they didn’t even make a cake like in Back to the Future (I understand that was a getting-out-of-jail-cake but you get it.) I hope things go well for Neal and he stops making stupid decisions.

Mackenzie

Although the birth vs death imagery at the beginning was too on the nose, I’m excited for Will and Mack to have a baby, it will be totally normal. I’m also happy to see her in a position of power but I’m glad I don’t have to watch her fight with Pruit, because oy. All in all she changed the least out of anyone else. She fought, in the middle of work, for what she believed in and didn’t let Will get away with anything. She was consistent and I liked that.

Will 

This is the least annoying I’ve ever found Will. He did a speech but it wasn’t long and contrived and he got to play a tune with Charlie’s grandson. All in all not a bad time. Again, I didn’t need to be reminded over and over how much he had changed since Mack joining News Night, but I’m glad he’s happy. What more is there to say about Will? He was more mellow this season, which was a nice break, but because of that he didn’t bring much to the table. I guess he went to prison and hallucinated, but that all felt so forced. Let’s not forget Jeff Daniels beat out Jon Hamm, Steve Buscemi and Byan Cranston for Best Actor.

Charlie 

Oh Charlie, you deserved better than this. You were the puppet-master that brought all of these annoying characters together, but you always had your heart in the right place. While you didn’t grow much during the series, did anyone? You made me laugh and think, and I will remember you for that. I’m sorry you were killed off in your prime to prove that News Night had come so far in three years. For one of my favorite characters I couldn’t find myself at all moved by his funeral.

All in all it was exactly what I expected after last week’s episode. Everyone pretty much ended up where I expected them. I wish the show had ended after last season’s finale which actually evoked some emotion. Here’s to you ACN and News Night. You tried.