Studio 60: What Kind of Day Has It Been

Storylines are wrapped up, arcs are given closure, outstanding issues are resolved and to some extent this final episode provides a kind of finality and completeness for the cancelled series. The events of this episode serve as a conclusion for the three part "K&R" episode. In fact, this is really just part 4, given a new name to better serve as a finale for not just the season but the series.

All of the crises set up over the last three episodes end well. Tom's brother is rescued by Special Forces, Jordan and her baby are just fine while after four hours of stonewalling, Simon decides to apologize to the press - but only after Jack says he doesn't have to. Of course Matt and Harriet get together, though Matt's new found drug addiction is left unresolved albeit with a sense that he'll be just fine. The conclusions come one after another, providing for a series of great emotional moments for all of the actors involved.

As I've said more than once, this is a show not short on talent in the acting department. Steven Weber runs off with the show again in a quietly riveting scene where Jack realizes and admits to himself that he should have stood up for Matt and Danny back in 2001. He - in what seems an almost accidental way - likens himself to the executives in the 50s who gave up the names that became the list of Communist sympathizers used by Joe McCarthy. He seems to realize in that moment that he values things even more than the Network, and he betrayed those values. Weber's Jack Rudolph proved to be the most complex and interesting character of the series, and that's saying something in a show that had some well written characters played by terrific actors.

I saw that Danny Tripp made a similar realization a few years earlier when he followed Matt out the door rather than apologize for a political sketch. "I found myself saying screw honor, patriotism and friendship. We could lose the franchise," he says to Harriet, horrified at what he was becoming. He knew Matt was right, and he knew there were more important things at stake than his job or Studio 60. Right there is perhaps where I found the malaise that affected the show for its run: that there are more important things than Studio 60. It always seemed clear that Aaron Sorkin thought a TV show would be an interesting setting, but he kept having more pressing issues on his mind and tried to shoehorn them into this show.

This is a decent finale for what has been an uneven series. This episode, like the rest of the show, is a class act with high production values, good and great performances and a strong sense of style. It's just hard to care too much about it all. When Danny turns off the light and walks away, there's not much emotion beyond a sense of "this should be more emotional than it is." The show closes with Matt looking at the clock counting down the time until the next episode of the show - which could have served as the setup for a second season. This might prove painful for some more adoring fans who wanted to see the show continue. I'm sad to say that I don't share their pain.