Will's cellmate - The Newsroom (2012) Discussion

[–] neerood 10 years ago

The conceits that made the cellmate twist work were a bit disingenuous. It's fair to make him young, so that viewers aren't immediately thinking of a person senior to Will in age. But they gave him a hairstyle and appearance that wouldn't and didn't fit the era.

Obviously I liked the twist, but just pointing this out.

What I really didn't like was the jailer's jaunty delivery.

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[–] izmank 10 years ago

I feel bad for those who missed it as they were watching the episode. I don't mean it in a condescending way. It was just a really powerful revelation (certainly not a cheap manipulation). It was a twist but had a meaningful purpose.

"We told you it was coming" - A Stark during winter

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[–] gsfsu 10 years ago

That was his hallucination of his father.

You remember him saying he was supposed to be in isolation? He actually was. And they told you who his dad was by the picture on the wall just before he got out.

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[–] hawthead 10 years ago

There were many parts of the dialogue between the two which were hinting that he is talking to his father. Then they showed the picture. Given, the kind of attention span people have these days due to so many distractions like smartphones and tablets, it isn't surprising that so many people missed it.

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[–] gamwouters 10 years ago

I missed it, thought it was an undercover FBI agent.

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[–] spifflog 10 years ago

My only (minor) heartache with the scene, was that Will had a picture of his father at all. If the cellmate wasn't his father, and as an FBI informant or just another guy, I don't think that will would have had one of the three pictures on his wall of his father. I don't think after the violence, and abuse that his father brought upon Will and his family, that Will would have taken his father's picture there.

I get it was necessary for us to know who it was, and for the homage to Kubrick, but other than that it seemed misplaced.

But I did love the scene.

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[–] lidad66 10 years ago

there wasa picture in his cell on the wall with him and his dad when they went fishing so yes it was his father in his head because he was in solitary

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[–] ewms3 8 years ago

It was his conscience. Notice when he walks out the bunk across from is was rolled up just like it was when he first entered. I think that with the series ending, there was some way they needed him to have some internal resolution with his father since his father died before he could get it face-to-face. The whole scene felt symbolic: Will has a demon, he confronts the demon, he then gets to move not just on but forward which ends in him leaving the cell. Everything was very Disney for Will after that.

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