The Newsroom (TV Series)

The Greater Fool (2012)

Jeff Daniels: Will McAvoy

Quotes 

• Will McAvoy : Ideological purity. Compromise as weakness. A fundamentalist belief in scriptural literalism. Denying science. Unmoved by facts. Undeterred by new information. A hostile fear of progress. A demonization of education. A need to control women's bodies. Severe xenophobia. Tribal mentality. Intolerance of dissent. Pathological hatred of the U.S. government. They can call themselves the Tea Party. They can call themselves conservatives. And they can even call themselves Republicans, though Republicans certainly shouldn't. But we should call them what they are - The American Taliban.

• Will McAvoy : Sorority girl!

  MacKenzie McHale : [to Jennifer]  Don't be scared.

  Will McAvoy : You're the girl, right?

  Jennifer Johnson : I'm Jennifer Johnson.

  Will McAvoy : Just graduated North Western?

  Jennifer Johnson : A year early.

  Will McAvoy : You asked me that moronic question... and then my world came apart, and she came here and I landed in the tabloids and then I got death threats and my job is constantly in jeopardy and you ruined my life!

  MacKenzie McHale : [to Jennifer]  Again just stay calm.

  Jennifer Johnson : Yes, that was me.

  Will McAvoy : What the hell are you doing here?

  Jennifer Johnson : I'm applying for an internship.

  Will McAvoy : Why?

  Jennifer Johnson : I watch the show. And I read the New York magazine article, and I know what a "greater fool" is. And I want to be one.

  Will McAvoy : [to MacKenzie, smiling]  Camelot. She's the kid at the end of Camelot!

  [Turns to Jennifer] 

  Will McAvoy : Ask me again.

  Jennifer Johnson : I'm sorry?

  Will McAvoy : Ask me your idiot question again.

  Jennifer Johnson : What makes America the greatest country in the world?

  Will McAvoy : You do.

  [to MacKenzie] 

  Will McAvoy : Hire her.

• MacKenzie McHale : And then I came back and lit a fire under your ass...

  Will McAvoy : You lit my ass on fire! It's not the same thing!

• Will McAvoy : What do you protect me for?

  Lonny Church : 1,700 a week, plus health and dental.

  Will McAvoy : I wouldn't take a bullet for 1,700 a week.

  Lonny Church : Me neither, pal. So I've learned how to duck.

• Will McAvoy : I don't think I'm coming back.

  [MacKenzie looks at him, stunned] 

  Will McAvoy : I don't think I am.

  MacKenzie McHale : You're coming back if I have to chop you up, put you in a duffle bag, and reassemble you at the anchor desk.

• MacKenzie McHale : [while Will lies in a hospital bed, Jim reveals to them that Don is about to ask Maggie to move in with him. She scolds Jim for continuing to date Lisa rather than pursue a relationship with Maggie]  You've got to do something before he asks her.

  Jim Harper : No!

  MacKenzie McHale : Why not?

  Will McAvoy : It doesn't seem like a very nice thing to do to Don or Maggie or Lisa.

  MacKenzie McHale : So you're willing to end up like the two of us? A strong, beautiful, vital woman and a hallowed-out shell of a man.

  Will McAvoy : [to MacKenzie]  You know I'm awake now?

  MacKenzie McHale : [to Jim]  That's a dead person speaking, basically. And now I'm gonna have to spend the next God knows how many hours in mourning.

  Will McAvoy : Please go back to work.

  MacKenzie McHale : He will.

  Will McAvoy : [to MacKenzie]  I'm talking to you.