‘The Newsroom’ recap: Will proposes to Mac; everyone stays put at ACN

“The Newsroom” Season 2 finale tied up so many loose ends, it looked like there wasn’t going to be a Season 3.

But fortunately for fans of the HBO political drama, the show will return next year, Emmy nominee Jeff Daniels (who plays news anchor Will McAvoy) recently announced on Twitter.

Here’s what happened on Episode 19 (“Election Night, Part 2”), the event-packed season finale:

No one else at Atlantis Cable News got fired for airing the libelous “Operation Genoa” nerve gas story. The only casualty was senior producer Jerry Dantana (Hamish Linklater), who was rightfully axed in an earlier episode for doctoring a video.

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Along with maintaining the newsroom status quo, parent company President Leona Lansing (Jane Fonda) and son Reese (Chris Messina) agreed to fight Jerry’s $5-million wrongful-termination lawsuit in court.

Will proposed marriage to executive producer MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer), and she tearfully accepted. The staff burst into applause upon hearing the happy announcement.

Senior producer Jim Harper (John Gallagher Jr.) cleared the air with two of his former love interests, associate producer Maggie Jordan (Alison Pill) and her roommate Lisa Lambert (Kelen Coleman). Maggie and Lisa are talking to each other again.

Jim deepened his relationship with current love interest Hallie Shea (Grace Gummer), a new media journalist. They often display affection via Skype.

Maggie is slowly recovering from her ordeal in Africa, where a young boy she befriended was killed by cattle raiders. Maggie’s hair is still red and spiky, but maybe her blond locks will soon return.

As for senior financial reporter Sloan Sabbith (Olivia Munn) and executive producer Don Keefer (Thomas Sadoski), they finally expressed their long-smoldering attraction to each other. She kissed him hard on the mouth.

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Although everyone at ACN in New York retained their jobs, it initially appeared there would be a mass exodus led by executive Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterston) and Will, who quietly fired Mac in the previous episode.

Senior staff members were also ready to go, prompting Republican commentator Taylor Warren (Constance Zimmer) to ask Will if it’s OK to recruit Jim for her media consulting firm.

“There’s a lot of talent here,” Taylor says to Will, who was unaware senior producers were heading for the exits. This revelation prompts Will to hastily call a meeting amid the election night chaos.

“The reason -- the whole reason -- we’re trying to resign is to allow the rest of you to continue to do what we started without the burden of Genoa,” Will explains to the staff.

To which Don replies: “We’re saying no,” believing producers should step down as a matter of character.

Charlie, meanwhile, undergoes a sudden change of heart about leaving ACN, reasoning that the news team exercised due diligence in vetting the Genoa story and will eventually regain audience trust, even though some angry viewers want heads to roll.

“I’m not resigning and neither are you,” Charlie says to Will. “We know the truth, and the mob doesn’t.”

The wild card in this maelstrom is Reese, who was surprisingly allowed by Leona to determine the fate of Charlie and Will. Reese ponders his crucial decision on a long walk.

“I am not accepting your resignations,” Reese pompously announces upon returning.

“We’re not resigning,” Charlie retorts.

“History should reflect that I acted admirably,” Reese counters.

What’s ahead for next summer? Looks like the group is back to work: This season closes as a yellow news alert pops up on Maggie’s computer screen.

There’s no lack of developments in today’s world, obviously. So show creator Aaron Sorkin and his writers have abundant source material to draw from -- in 2014 and maybe beyond.

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Last week’s ‘Newsroom’ recap: Mac begs to be fired over libelous report