Although Sorkin’s trying to concede that yes, his characters can come across as smug and holier-than-thou, Shelly definitely scored some smug points herself, not to mention coming across as entirely self-obsessed and petty. Eventually though, Will comes to Shelly and apologizes saying, “The interview was fun for me and it shouldn’t have been,” and defending his own attitude saying, “I’m not smug I’m having a crisis of confidence.” Shelly, in turn, admits that she was terrible on the show, and tells Will that she’ll help them find they guy. But on their own, the News Night staff found Hamnee8. He’s Leon Deet, who once worked for the Commission on Human Rights in Conflict Zones in Pakistan.
As for Jim, he keeps getting in trouble for being a nice guy and a man of principles. Mackenzie scolds him for not delivering anything of substance from the campaign trail, so he once again approaches the campaign’s press secretary Taylor, and in the process gets her over a barrel when she uses some salty language on the record. But instead of taking advantage for himself, Jim secures a 30-minute one-on-one with Romney for Hallie, who was in even more hot water with her boss than Jim was with his. Here’s the thing, I know that Sorkin probably felt the criticism about sexism with the first season of The Newsroom, but I can’t help but feel that the writer was trying to say, “Now this is sexism!” with Hallie’s boss, who delivers a Don Draper-esque sexist admonishment that would probably even make the ad man do a double take.
Well, let’s just say that Hallie ends up appreciating Jim’s efforts on her behalf, even though it effectively means that Jim’s days on the campaign trail are over once Mackenzie finds out.
The episode ends with Maggie recounting what happened that night at the orphanage. Maggie wakes up hearing shots in the distance, signalling the arrival of the local cattle rustlers in the orphanages vicinity. As the rustlers make a repeated demand in one of the Kenyan dialects (it turns out they were demanding that the news crew turn over the camera), Maggie and others get the kids to the bus behind the orphanage, but a head count reveals that one of the kids isn’t there. Going back in, Maggie and Gary find Daniel under her bed, but the rustlers are getting closer and as Maggie carries Daniel to the bus, the little boy is shot and killed.
I give kudos to Sorkin and the episode’s director Carl Franklin for executing that final scene so skilfully. It was wonderfully tense, and with the flashback structure going back and forth between Uganda and the conference room, the scene effectively played with perception and memory. The story is also an effectual reminder that reporters sometimes go to places and encounter dangers no one in their right mind would ever intentionally seek out, and “Unintended Consequences” was more effective in this regard than last season’s “Amen,” which dealt with the same theme.
The episode ends with Maggie, after being recalled back to New York, looking in a mirror and cutting off her blonde locks, a sad reminder of the little boy who died in her arms.