TV Recap: “Alaska Daily” – Episode 5 “I Have No Idea What You’re Talking About, Eileen”

In the newsroom Claire (Meredith Holzman) brings in her son’s ferret Harry to work because she is going to bring it to show and tell later in the day. Yuna, Gabriel, and Bob (Grace Dove, Pablo Castelblanco, Matt Malloy) all question whether the animal is dangerous, but Claire assures them it is safe. (I think we know this animal is going to get loose in the newsroom later.) Eileen and Roz (Hilary Swank, Grace Dove) are working their new leads in the Gloria Nanmac case but have yet to develop any follow up information on two prime suspects.

Eileen is rattled to learn that the Secretary of Defense Green (James McDaniel) is giving a speech in Alaska tomorrow. While she thinks something is up, Roz reminds her to stay focused on their persons of interest. Stanley (Jeff Perry) is meeting with Austin (Craig Frank) about Secretary Green’s visit to the base when Eileen barges into the meeting.

Austin is assigned the story that covers the secretary’s visit, and Eileen is furious. Stanley won’t budge in changing assignments. Roz has found some information about their person of interests in the Nanmac story and coaxes Eileen out of the newsroom with the lead.

At the courthouse, Roz and Eileen hope for the best with the prosecutor they are going to meet, but don’t plan to get their hopes up. Austin works his sources at the military base only to learn that this visit by Secretary Green is last minute. Confidentially, Austin is told that the vibe at the base has been off all week. Everyone is tense and no one knows what’s going on. While Austin’s contact describes how Alaska is on the front lines and that Russia has been testing them, he confirms with the reporter that Eileen is not coming.

Harry the ferret has disappeared, and Claire is worried. Everyone in the newsroom is tasked with looking for the animal, and Claire admits to Yuna that she isn’t entirely sure that the ferret isn’t dangerous. Claire is now thinking that she will need to call her son’s teacher because she won’t be able to make show and tell. Bob assigns everyone the task of finding the ferret.

After court, Eileen and Roz talk to ADA Barnett about Ezra Fisher and his involvement in Gloria Nanmac’s death. Back in his office Barnett tells them about how the system fails women, especially native women. Ezra Fisher is described by Barnett as being violent and unpredictable. (Barnett seems too good to be true.)

Harry the ferret is gone. Claire feels like a failure, but Bob’s compliments are not enough to make her feel good. Bob relates how he doesn’t do well with messy situations, and Claire jokes that no wonder Eileen freaks him out. As the two debate the pros and cons of having Eileen around, Bob informs Claire that his wife is sick. It’s new and he doesn’t want to go into detail.

Later that evening, Eileen and Roz meet with the former girlfriend of Ezra Fisher. They learn that he abused her, and she hopes that he will be locked up. The more Eileen and Roz learn about Ezra, he’s looking like a prime suspect in Gloria Nanmac’s death.

Roz picks up Eileen the next morning. She knows where Ezra Fisher is and is surprised to see that Eileen has bought her coffee. At the base, Yuna and Austin are checking in for Secretary Green’s speech when Yuna sees a friend of her parents. She quickly learns that the friend’s son is a fighter pilot at the base and hasn’t called in a week. (Something is up at this army base.)

After dropping Eileen off at the base, Roz finds Ezra Fisher at his job downtown. Questioning him, Roz learns that Ezra was at the after party the night Gloria died. According to Ezra, Gloria came to the party looking for oxycontin for the pain from her frost bite. Roz asks him point blank if he killed Gloria Nanmac, which shocks Fisher. He proceeds to inform Roz that he feels remorse for hitting his ex-girlfriend and that ADA Barnett has a relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

To Austin and Yuna’s surprise Eileen appears at the base. When Secretary Green starts his speech, he focuses on the value of Alaska, and how important the state plays in homeland protection. Austin asks the secretary about his spontaneous visit but deflects. When Eileen interrupts another reporter and asks if the secretary has any comment on a missing airman who was flying a fighter plane that the secretary helped develop prior to his government job, Secretary Green leaves in a hurry from the stage.

Yuna and Austin are upset with Eileen, but soon Eileen is summoned for a private conversation with Secretary Green. Alone, Eileen grills the secretary about his visit. Secretary Green proceeds to ridicule Eileen’s fall from grace, and even takes potshots at The Daily Alaskan. Eileen’s not taking the bait and proceeds to inform him that the paper may not be the halls of power in Washington, but there is nothing more truthful than the power of local news.

Curious about the true intentions of ADA Barnett, Roz calls multiple women who had their cases tried by Barnett. Back at the paper, Austin and Yuna are shocked to learn that Secretary Green did not deny Eileen’s accusation and instead insulted the paper.

In Stanley’s office, Eileen is grilled about her actions, but is supported by the publisher Aaron Pritchard (Shane McRae). Stanley is furious and advises her never to go rouge again. On the television the Russian Embassy announces the downing of an American aircraft and the return of the pilot’s body to the US.

The conference is filled with the journalists discussing the story, and a plan to report what happened. Yuna is going to reach out to her parent;s friends, while Eileen was right, Stanley refuses to change his mind and admit she was right. Bob describes her actions as reckless. Frustrated, Bob finds the ferret in his office, which makes Claire very happy.

Roz gets a call from a woman who describes how she had a sexual relationship with ADA Barnett. She describes how he promised to hold her neighbor accountable if she slept with him. The contact informs Roz that she’s not the only victim.

Yuna speaks with the parents of the dead pilot. They proceed to tell her that their son told them about the dangers of the plane he flew, and how he wrote extensive emails to his commanding officer. Yuna returns to the newsroom with a comment from the parents that the pilot was worried about the oxygen system in the plane, and how it would malfunction during combat maneuvers.

Roz speaks to Ezra Fisher’s ex-girlfriend. While Roz relays the numerous women who have talked about how ADA Barnett pressured them into sex, Roz also learns that Ezra Fisher was telling the truth about leaving the party early when Gloria Nanmac was there. Confronting Barnett about dating the victims of the people he prosecutes the prosecutor tries to deflect by saying that he reports his relationships to his superiors.

The day ends with Bob and Claire leaving together. She tells him that everyone is there for him if he needs anything. In their war room, Roz tells Eileen about what she found on Barnett. Seeing her article on the national news, Eileen gets a knock on the door by Pritchard. He tells her that what she did today was impressive. Pritchard kisses Eileen, but she tells him it can never happen again.  

Bill’s Perspective:

The strength of Alaska Daily is the incredible supporting cast. From the first episode we have got to watch how each character gets their little moments to shine, and yet again, we see how the cub reporter Yuna gets to bounce back from the fallout of her first big story, and it’s great to watch.

Hilary Swank gets another episode to expand on her character and show the complexity and layers to Eileen. The chemistry between Swank and McRae is excellent, but there is no way a relationship between them would work. I could only imagine how rattled Stanley would be if he found out.

Bill Gowsell
Bill Gowsell has loved all things Disney since his first family trip to Walt Disney World in 1984. Since he began writing for Laughing Place in 2014, Bill has specialized in covering the Rick Riordan literary universe, a retrospective of the Touchstone Pictures movie library, and a variety of other Disney related topics. When he is not spending time with his family, Bill can be found at the bottom of a lake . . . scuba diving