One of the most endearing qualities of HBO's sophomore series "The Newsroom" is the fact that it takes place largely in the not too distant past. This is mainly done to showcase the off camera drama of covering events such as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the shooting of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, among other major news events of the last 2 years at the Atlantis Cable News network in New York City. Season one's finale left ACN anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) in an implied state of limbo at the anchor desk at News Night after he slammed the Tea Party movement in the United States, referring to them as "the American Taliban." This broadcast took place in August of 2011. From what we've seen of the season 2 trailer, it will pick up roughly 14 months later which would put us in or around October 2012, smack dab before the 2012 election that awarded Barack Obama a second term in office. It also confirms that News Night will cover the formation of the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, much more happened during those 14 months and after the election; the writers room definitely had their hands full with big news events of the last couple of years, but these 5 would most definitely make for a compelling season 2.