Alaska Daily is back. Is Eileen still alive? Has she been shot and in a coma? Nope! It’s a hostage situation.
Inside the newsroom at the paper, Eileen (Hilary Swank) sits alone about to be confronted by her stalker. Cornered by the Concerned Citizen (Bill Dawes) stalker, Eileen is forced to hand over her phone and is taken hostage.
While Stanley (Jeff Perry) is waiting at the bar celebrating with the team, and wondering where Eileen is, she is trying to bargain for her life by telling him that no one would hire her and that’s how she came to Alaska. Inside the archive room, Gabriel (Pablo Castelblanco) texts Stanley at the bar and apprises him of the situation.
Stanley reads out the text to Claire, Bob, Roz, Austin, and Yuna, (Meredith Holzman, Matt Malloy, Grace Dove, Craig Frank, and Ami Park) and trying to decide what to do. They call the police. Back in the newsroom, Concerned Citizen wants Eileen to sign a confession about spreading lies to serve her corporate masters.
Accusing her of abandoning her obligation for the ‘common man’, Eileen tries to reason with Concerned Citizen to no avail. At the bar, Stanley informs the group that the cops are on their way and that the best way to help is get some answers about who this Concerned Citizen is.
Searching through the comments on recent stories, the group finds one commenter who is an avid follower of the radical “Eagle News” site, and regularly regurgitates the lies that the extremist site spews. The group asks Stanley if they are going to report the story, and while Stanley is concerned that reporting the event might cause more problems, his team reminds him that this is what they would do in any other situation.
As Concerned Citizen searches through the paper’s social media postings, seeing no news of the event, Eileen questions him more about what he wants her to write. Blaming her for shutting down the production of the fighter jets because of a previous story, Eileen prods Concerned Citizen with the fact that when you print the truth it has hard consequences.
Worried and anxious, Gabriel calls Stanley from the archive room. Wanting to help, Stanley tells Gabriel to stay calm, and asks if he can get a message to Eileen. Using the analytics page display board in the newsroom, Eileen sees the message that Gabriel sends.
The news team has done some digging and have found what they believed to be the man who is Concerned Citizen. They learn his name and that he has no history of violent crime, and when a picture is found, Stanley sends a copy to Gabriel, and he confirms it is him. Aaron Pritchard (Shane McCrae) joins the group at the bar and wants to know what they have learned. Police are assembling around the building. Informing the police and crisis negotiator of what they have learned, Aaron and Stanley learn that the police plan to make contact.
Reading over her confession, Concerned Citizen wants Eileen to type it up and publish to the newspaper. Arguing that she can’t do it because she needs her editor to approve it. When the phone rings, shots ring out. Wanting to know why he targeted mainstream media, Stanley learns from his team that Concerned Citizen was evicted from his home three days ago. Austin heads out to canvas his neighbors to gain more information.
Eileen has asked to go to the bathroom, and while her captor stands outside of the stall, she tries to connect with him by telling her family history about the economic collapse of the mills in her hometown and how it broke her father. Eileen hits a nerve and asks to tell his story. Thinking she will twist his words for the woke mob, Eileen reminds him that that mob also cancelled her.
The police have a possible sniper shot Barry, but Eileen needs to move out of the way. Interviewing him, Eileen gets Concerned Citizen’s history in the oil industry and how the Artic National Wildlife Reserve was kept from being exploited for the oil riches because Greenpeace controls the Federal Government. (I don’t think Greenpeace has that kind of power. They wish they did.)
He believes that mass hysteria over the global warming lie killed the oil industry in Alaska and cost him and many others their job. Seeing the message on the analytics board, Eileen refuses to move and keeps talking. In the bar, Stanley learns that Eileen refuses to move, and Aaron wonders why she is protecting this guy. Stanley responds with the funniest line of the show. “Why does Eileen do anything?”
The crisis negotiator believes that Eileen wants to try and keep Concerned Citizen alive, but fears that as the pressure mounts that Eileen could be shot. Roz seeks out the editor of Eagle News and informs him that one of his devoted followers has Eileen at gunpoint and he needs to talk some sense into the gunman.
Austin canvases Concerned Citizen’s neighborhood. The reporter learns from a neighbor that Concerned Citizen was a paranoid angry man who even boobytrapped his yard. Austin runs after the cop he is with to warn him about the danger.
The cop is safe and decides to enter the home. Austin waits anxiously outside. Agreeing that he would clear the house first, Austin finally enters the home. A letter to Concerned Citizen’s daughter Daisy is found, and after reading it Austin sees that the letter is a goodbye letter. Thinking the daughter might help, members of the news team borrow Aaron’s car to drive to the treatment center that Daisy is in.
As the sun rises in the newsroom, Eileen is taking the opportunity to educate her captor with facts. Telling him the first people to sound the alarm about greenhouse gasses were not Harvard elite, but rather scientists at Exxon in 1977. She tells him that the editor of Eagle News exploits his pain.
When the phone rings, Concerned Citizen picks it up and speaks with the crisis negotiator from the police. During their discussion, he notices on the analytic board that Eileen has been receiving messages. Concerned Citizen shoots the board and takes Gabriel hostage too.
In an isolated office, panicked, Concerned Citizen receives a phone call from Dennis Gibson, the editor of Barry’s favorite extremist site. Trying to defuse the situation, Concerned Citizen accuses Dennis of being compromised and hangs up.
Eileen pleads for Gabriel’s release. It will buy time and good will. At the treatment center, Bob and Yuna search out Daisy (Brittney Wilson). Blocked at first, Bob isn’t taking no for an answer, and they meet with the daughter. Pleading with Daisy to come back to the newsroom to talk to her father. They tell her that he left a letter of goodbye, Daisy states she can’t help them.
Sitting in the office, Concerned Citizen complains of not wanting to be angry anymore. Asking to see what Eileen has written, she pleads with him to give up, because he still has a future. Emotional he wants to know that Eileen promises not to make him sound like an idiot or a monster. Promising him that he has her word, Concerned Citizen walks out into the lobby and is promptly killed by a sniper shot.
Looking over his body, Eileen and Gabriel see his phone ringing with a picture of his daughter Daisy calling. The police storm the building, and the two journalists are freed.
Telling her he has never seen anyone die before, Gabriel asks Eileen if she has. She tells him that yes she has seen people die before, in Afghanistan. Watching the body be carted out of the building, they are met by Roz and the rest of the news team.
Eileen wants to know if the bar is still open, and learns that everyone has been there all night. Thanking them, Austin tells her that she is one of them. While Claire comforts Gabriel, Stanley takes Eileen home. The episode ends with Eileen writing about her experience and how extremism and politicians have called for attacks on journalists, and it is up to everyone to stand up for the freedom and liberty of the press.
Calling Jamie (Joe Tippett) she asks for a favor, and he takes Eileen flying.
Bill’s Final Thoughts:
A hostage situation was the right way to start the season back. It gave Hilary Swank the time to dominate the episode, and allowed the news team to show their skills by digging up information on Concerned Citizen. The focus of the episode is timely, and well executed.
Alaska Daily has been missed and one of the many reasons why I like this show is that it tackles real stories that portray how people react in these moments with authenticity. It’s wonderful to be back in the newsroom, and thankfully Alaska Daily is showing how local journalism can have a real impact on the community.