'One Step Too Many' goes into the mess behind Genoa.
The episode opens up with the first red team meeting in March 2012. The red team consistence of Don, Sloan, and Jim whose job is to critique the Genoa story. Jim and Don are vocal about their disbelief in the story, and the team does some more digging. They track down a retired general who they believe have information about the black ops operation.
Jim and Hallie have continued their relationship via Skype. Hallie is still on the Romney bus, but will be in New York for one night. Jim has plans for dinner and a romantic night in a hotel room, but Hallie invites a new reporter (a young girl form MTVU) to dinner with them. She asks Jim to invite Neal along to make it a double date.
Will is still distraught about not being "Jay Leno" anymore. He performs his own focus group to see how his viewers evaluate him, and Sloan catches him looking at the results.
Mac and Charlie go to visit the general. He seems a bit off, but they continue with their interview. When he hints at Sarin gas, Charlie mentions Genoa and the general does not seem surprised. The general agrees to do an interview about Genoa because he is a firm believer in the use of chemical weapons. He asks that his face is blacked out, his voice is altered, and his television remains on so that he does not miss a March Madness game.
Back in the city, Jim and Neal are waiting for Hallie and the MTVU reporter when Taylor, the Romney spokesperson, approaches the two. When introduced to Neal, she states, "I loathe you in ways that are unquantifiable." So she obviously still hates ACN. However, Hallie decides to invite her to dinner and Taylor tags along. Hallie and her very drunk friend arrive and the five-some head out for the restaurant.
We then cut to the usual bar where the news team hangs out. However, only Mac and Don are present. It is sweet to see the two interact and finally establish some kind of friendship. Mac even tells Don that she trusts him with her life, but she confesses she isn't so sure about Jerry.
To say the dinner is a bust is an understatement. The drunk girl is annoying, Jim and Taylor bicker over Romney's campaign, and Taylor reveals that she has just been fired. After the dinner is finally over, Jim is excited to get back to the hotel with Hallie. Coincidentally, Maggie is sitting at the hotel bar when they walk in. Hallie lies for Jim saying that he is just coming up to fix her computer and Maggie lies saying that she is there with a friend when she is really all alone. When Jim and Hallie get to the hotel room, Hallie gets a call that she needs to catch a flight in 90 minutes so there is no time left for just the two of them.
Speaking of new relationships, Will is dating Nina. She convinces him to appear on the morning show in hopes that he can get his ratings higher. Of course Will's morning show debut is a disaster. Will ends the short-lived relationship because she should have told him to ignore the ratings.
When Will enters his office, Sloan is waiting for him to offer some psych evaluation. It is a sweet moment between Will and Sloan as she says, "I love you, Will," and Will responses with, "Thanks, sis."
Meanwhile, Jerry and Maggie are setting up at the general's house for the interview. The general insists that Maggie not be present, so only Jerry is left to interview the general. He wastes no time (remember, hungry for a Pulitzer) and asks the general about the use of chemical weapons. The general responds with, "If we used Sarin gas, here is how we used Sarin gas." The scene cuts with Jerry in the editing room deleting the first part of his response. He plays the "raw" footage for the second red team and the tape shows the general simply stating, "we used Sarin gas." So basically, Jerry sucks. Charlie insists they conduct a second interview with different ears and eyes before they report anything.
Several headlines and reports by Will show that a couple months have passed and we are now three days before the Republican National Convention. The news team receives a call from Lance Corporal Herman Valenzuela who was presumed dead. However, he is alive and willingly to talk about Genoa.
The episode cuts back to the conference room where Charlie is now being questioned by ACN's lawyer, Halliday. Charlie says, "five minutes after the broadcast wrapped, I know we were in trouble because none if it was true."
Tune in next week on HBO at 10pm EST.
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