"The Newsroom" Season 3, Episode 5, titled "Oh Shenandoah," aired Sunday, Dec. 7, on HBO. This is the first episode to show ACN productions under new ownership. Death, endings, new beginnings are some of the dominant themes.

Spoiler alert: This update contains Newsroom Season 3 spoilers. A major character dies in Episode 5, the penultimate episode of the series. Read at your own risk.

The Newsroom Season 3, Episode 5 ends with a major character's death. The final episode of the series deals with this death, as the characters are expected to reflect on their choices. Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterston) dies of a heart attack shortly after an argument with Lucas Pruit (B. J. Novak).

Pruit, the new owner of ACN, wants Sloan (Olivia Munn) and MacKenzie (Emily Mortimer) to pack their things and leave the newsroom. Skinner reminds Pruit that only he could fire any of the staff. This develops in The Newsroom Season 3, Episode 5, after Sloan humiliates - on live TV - ACN's web content editor for his celebrity tracking app.

Skinner furiously admonishes Sloan and Mac. He later turns to Don (Thomas Sadoski), who refuses to bring in a college rape victim to face off with the accused rapist on his show. Charlie calls it a "mutiny." Mac calls it an "intervention."

When Pruit storms in, declaring people are fired, things get too much to handle for the seasoned executive. "I'll be back in a minute," Charlie tells Sloan and Mac, while trying to calm himself. It is only appropriate for Charlie Skinner's last words to be about something that is still unfinished.

The Newsroom Season 3, Episode 6 is expected to show characters picking up from where Charlie left off.

Will (Jeff Daniels) is finally released from jail because there is no point in being "coercive" anymore. It remains to be seen whether he would take on the anchor's desk for a final show in The Newsroom series finale. Citizen journalism and social media engagement are improving the network's ratings, but this "new media" culture is very much against Will's "mission to civilize."

Also wrapping up in The Newsroom Season 3, Episode 5 is the love story of Maggie (Alison Pill) and Jim (John Gallagher Jr). The two figure things out while on board a plane in the hopes to find Snowden. This is not, however, in the Top 3 of the highlights of the episode.

Sadoski's scenes with Sarah Sutherland ("Veep") expose the realities of new media stories and challenge the viewers to pick a stand. Will's conversations with an "inmate" and the manner by which he copes with the death of his father are poignant and beautiful. This episode was directed by Paul Lieberstein.

Overall, series creator and writer Aaron Sorkin is off to a remarkable final bow.

The Newsroom Season 3, Episode 6, airs Dec. 14 on HBO. The title of the series finale: "What Kind of Day Has It Been?"

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