TV Review: ABC’s “Alaska Daily” is Buoyed by a Talented Cast and a Stand Out Performance by Hilary Swank

Eileen Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) is on the cusp of breaking a big story about the future Secretary of Defense. With only a single high-placed source, Fitzgerald believes the facts are correct, and her paper runs the story. It backfires. Her source is in hiding, and her paper is unwilling to back her. The story turns on Eileen and soon she is out of the spotlight, having been ‘cancelled’ for her bullish behavior and the possibility that her incriminating documents on the Secretary of Defense are forgeries.

Cast aside, Eileen is holed up in her apartment, writing a book on her experiences. When Stanley Cornik (Jeff Perry) shows up to offer her a job, Eileen is hesitant at first. The promise of a compelling story, the disappearance and murder of multiple indigenous women, is enough to pull Eileen away and fly to Alaska for a fresh start in journalism.

Alaska Daily has its roots in the ‘fish out of water’ story arc, but the incredible performance by Swank makes this a superior show. The lead character is forced to use her incredible set of skills how to apply them to a difficult job. Eileen is abrasive, anti-social, and difficult on the best of days. She’s also intelligent and combative and has risen to prominence in journalism by enduring the hardships and misogyny that goes with it.

Swank’s Eileen is not a relic of the past, nor has she lost touch with the modern world. Rather, Eileen seeks the truth and wants to tell the story. Her quest for the truth in the words that she writes has sidelined her because in this duty she holds to herself, Eileen fails to understand how the world has changed.

Eileen sticks out right away in Alaska, from her intolerance to the status quo of how things are done in the state, to her unwillingness to follow directions at the paper. While these noticeable difference between Eileen and her fellow journalists at the paper makes her the outsider, Eileen is about to inject a new purpose in her colleagues.

Adapting to her new life of Alaska, Eileen never casts off her New York roots and desire to see the truth come forward. Swank is at the top of her game with Alaska Daily. She plays the tough side of Eileen well, leaving plenty of room for the character to grow as she experiences this new perspective on life.

Having a supreme talent in the lead is just one of the attributes that makes Alaska Daily stand out in the fall tv lineup. Jeff Perry is perfection as Stanley Cornik. This is the exact person that needs to be in everyone’s life when they are at their lowest. Perry’s role as editor and friend to Eileen is the perfect opposite of Eileen. She might be tough, but Stanley has the soft heart, and a story that only Eileen could help crack open. Perry makes Stanley a cross between the person you want as a parent, with the stamina and support of a friend you desperately need.

Not everyone is welcoming to Eileen. Roz Friendly played by Grace Dove is less than welcoming and angry to learn that Stanley has assigned Eileen to the missing and murdered indigenous women case. Roz is no push over, and Grace Dove is a knockout in the role. She portrays the local hostility well but also manages to show how Roz could grow to accept and work with Eileen. Roz Friendly wants to find the truth, and when she puts aside her resentment, her partnership with Eileen is going to be a fruitful endeavor.

The cast is incredible in Alaska Daily, but the storyline is another contributing factor that helps make this show stand alone. Unlike make believe stories crafted in a writing room, Alaska Daily has its heart set on a true story that is often overlooked and ignored in the media. The fact that a major network show is shining a light on murdered and missing indigenous women on primetime television will no doubt help force a public acknowledgement of this under reported reality.

Alaska Daily is a gem in the primetime television lineup. Hilary Swank leads a talented cast focusing on a real story, while giving a media spotlight to a beautiful state that is often forgotten. While viewers will be hooked by the premise, and the strong performances of Swank, Dove, and Perry, the desire for the truth, and perhaps a little understanding about what makes Alaska a unique jewel in the crown of the United States will keep viewers coming back for more.  

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