HBO knows how much I love my Aaron Sorkin dramas, and were kind enough to let me catch up on a Season 2 blu-ray before the third and final season (sad sigh) is released in June. So this past weekend, I settled in to watch the 9 episode season, and relive all those fantastic moments with Will (Jeff Daniels in an Emmy winning role), Mac (Emily Mortimer), Charlie (Sam Waterston), Maggie (Alison Pill), Don (Thomas Sadoski), Jim (John Gallagher Jr.), Neal (Dev Patel) and Sloan (Olivia Munn).

This season, we saw the ACN news team stumble as they followed a story, that purportedly saw the use of sarin gas on civilians during a military extraction, that blew up in their faces. Jim, unable to deal with the whole Don and Maggie thing, goes on the campaign trail, covering Romney’s run at the presidency, and meeting the stunning Hallie (Grace Gummer). And Maggie, wanting to get away from everything as well, and wanting to be the go-to person on something for the newsroom, has a terrifying experience in Africa that completely changes her.

Sorkin continues to write and craft a tightly paced show filled with drama and humour as we revisit the recent past and see how news media were following or not following stories that we now know were incredibly relevant. Combine that with his pitch perfect cast, and the show simply wows.

And re-watching it this weekend, just reinforced the fact that this is one of the sharpest shows on television, and makes me long for the days when news organizations did their job with objectivity, reporting the stories they knew should be reported and not what their corporations decided we should know.

As always, with every single one of the HBO collections I’ve been privy to, the picture looks amazing, crisp and sharp on Blu-Ray, the colours pop, and everything looks amazing. As much I rave about the acting and the stories, I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned the newsroom itself, and I love how it looks, brought to crystal clear 1080p life on these discs. I love the business, the sound of the alerts, the way the cameras are set up to shoot Will, the control room, it’s all brought vividly to life, through a perfect storm of writing, casting and production.

I almost dread the arrival of my season 3 Blu-Rays, because that will mean the show is over, and I love everything about this series. In all honesty, it was this show, and Sorkin’s West Wing that fired my imagination regarding both politics and the way news is covered, two things I now find incredibly exciting!

Each episode has an “Inside the Episode” featurette where the news stories, and the characters are briefly examined as is the making of the show. Coupled with a couple of commentaries and deleted scenes, rewatching this season was a pure joy… proving that intelligent television can work!

Both Season 1 and Season 2 are currently available from HBO, with the third and final season being available this June!

Catch up on it now!