Review: The Paper, "Scam Alert" & "Churnalism" | Season 1, Episodes 5 & 6

Sitcoms as a genre are built around getting to know the characters involved. The situations are designed to create comedy, sure, but a great sitcom uses that as an opportunity to reveal something new about the people involved. This is especially true in the context of a new sitcom, where every kernel of information about a character is shaping our initial impression that will go on to evolve over what could be multiple seasons of development.

This mid-point in the first season of The Paper is a good time to check in on how those impressions are faring, especially with the two ostensible “leads” of the show. Ned and Esmeralda are technically working on the same team, but they’ve been positioned as opposites, and that continues to be clear across these episodes. However, both “Scam Alert!” and “Churnalism” are designed to help the two characters empathize with one another, with the goal of getting them onto the same team when push will undoubtedly come to shove regarding the Truth Teller’s future.

These are especially transformative episodes for Esmeralda, with Ned serving as something of a stand-in for the audience. This is a difficult character to root for, considering she embodies the death of journalism, and as we see in “Scam Alert!” her meanness has turned Natalie and pretty much the entire office against her. Making her the victim of a local Catfish is an indictment of the character at first glance, and the deeper she dives into her delusion it makes you wonder if the show could ever present her in a competent light. The Office always played fast and loose with Michael’s competence level, and there’s no question the Catfish story is something you could imagine befalling Michael if the concept had existed before the show paired him up with Holly. As an early impression, Esmeralda failing to recognize the obvious signs that Jarson is not legitimate seems debilitating to taking her seriously.