Neal is in some serious trouble, Hallie does a bad thing, and Reese is about to pull his hair out. Sounds like The Newsroom season 3, episode 2 is pulling out all the stops.

‘The Newsroom’ season 3, episode 2 recap

Reese ushers his half-siblings into a large conference room and tells the history of ACN. We were impressed to hear that Leona was so hands on in the formation of Atlantis Cable News. He goes on to describe how his half-siblings staged their coup, and how their 45 percent share in the company came to be theirs: divorce.

Will and Neal are meeting with Rebecca Halliday to discuss Neal’s legal conundrum regarding possible espionage charges. No biggie. She makes it clear to him that he is in no way to share his source with her, because if he did, attorney-client privilege would not protect either one of them.

Charlie greets Blair and Randy, he just does so by confusing which name goes with which gender. An honest mistake if you ask us. He asks what the new owners of ACN would do if they were to get controlling stake of the company, and Blair tells him that it would basically be broken down and sold for parts. *tears*

Neal tells Rebecca his story, and as he tells about asking for more documents confirming the validity of the 27,000 stolen documents, she visibly shuts down. She berates Will and Neal about legal training and how she cannot believe that this happened in the first place. She tells them that if they don’t air the story this act will go unreported, thus keeping Neal out of prison. Neal is infuriated, but Will quickly puts him in his place. Will tells both Neal and Rebecca that nothing goes on air that he doesn’t approve, and that they’re going to follow Rebecca’s wise legal counsel and bury this story.

Mac and a friend are at a gun range where she hit the target… twice out of six times. Mac asks her FBI friend what would happen to a reporter that used a whistleblower’s stolen secrets as a source, and her friend admits that no reporter has been tried or convicted of espionage, and no sentence longer than 6 months in jail.

Maggie is on her way back to NYC and she stumbles across an EPA official on his cell phone talking about the current administration. She uses a stranger as a rouse and records the man’s side of the conversation, in which he says some incredibly inflammatory things about the President.

Don and Sloan are brunching, and while Sloan is giving him detailed instructions involving waffles, she discovers that she and Don may have unwittingly committed a white collar crime. She told him to buy stock in Chipotle, and he did, hours before she went on air and told people to buy it. They decide to consult Rebecca Halliday when they get to the office.

While Will is still yelling at Rebecca and/or Neal, Jim arrives to see that Hallie is waiting for something to come crashing down on their heads. It turns out that the night before, while Neal was busy worrying about his fate, she took over the ACN twitter account that had been left unattended for 6 hours or so. She tweeted something INCREDIBLY inflammatory and is waiting for the ball to drop. The tweet read: “Boston Marathon: Republicans rejoice that there is finally a national tragedy that doesn’t involve guns.” Jim is (understandably) pissed. She deleted the tweet 27 minutes after she posted it, but she knows that it will not go unseen.

Will and Mac go at it about whether or not to run the story. Mac believes they absolutely must run it, Will is vehemently opposed. Rebecca and Neal chime in now and again (Neal has some REALLY good quips here), but it’s basically a two man battle.

The EPA official finishes his call, and Maggie identifies herself to him and asks if he would like to comment on the story she just got from listening to his side of it. They debate the ethics of whether or not what Maggie slumping down in her seat was wrong, and they end with Maggie admitting that she was in the wrong and gives him her card if he would like to be interviewed.

Don and Sloan continued brunching and discussing whether or not they may be a loophole for them to use to escape the appearance of impropriety. Let’s just say this conversation includes a discussion of whether or not Don was getting “Don Keefer-ed” by Sloan, which was well worth the price of admission for this viewer.

Charlie and Reese continue their discussion with Blair and Randy, but are interrupted by a message that Reese receives with the story about Hallie’s tweet from the night before. Jim meets Charlie in his office to discuss the matter. Hallie interrupts, and Charlie informs her that she’s fired, but will not be named in the apology.

Maggie is debating her moral standing with the other rider, who just so happens to be a professor of legal ethics. The EPA official interrupts to give Maggie an advanced copy of a report about record high carbon dioxide levels.

Jim returns to work from hanging with Hallie at a nearby bar just in time to hear Sloan yell “how about the sex” when discussing the perks of her and Don being ‘together’. If there’s one thing that is absolutely working for the show already this season, it’s the relationship between Don and Sloan. The more we see, the more we love.

Charlie and Reese continue trying to save ACN from becoming Savannah Capital’s latest meal, but are having zero luck. And then Leona walks in the room. Leona suspects that all Blair and Randy are really after is money, so she makes them an offer they can’t refuse. She offers to give them a dollar more per share than Savannah Capital, and to buy them out the day they receive their inheritance. As soon as Blair and Randy leave the room, Reese breaks it to her that she doesn’t have the money. She insists she’ll find it.

While everyone continues talking around them, Will nods Neal out of the room and ushers him into the studio. Will knows that Neal secretly called BCD for comment. Will suggests that Neal take a trip without using a credit card, that he leave his phone at home.

The FBI descends upon the newsroom, and Mac’s friend Molly breaks it down for them. Neal is facing greater charges than she hinted before. Maggie returns to the newsroom to find the FBI raiding the place.

We see Neal walking swiftly through a parking lot toward a dumpster. He busts his phone to pieces, takes it apart and throws it into the dumpster. He then takes out the menu that we saw Will write on in his office. The message said, “Run Neal.” And he is going to do just that.