What Day Does ‘Alaska Daily’ Come On?

Alaska Daily has truly found its groove, delivering gripping storylines and twists ahead of the fall finale in just two weeks. 

Alaska Daily Season 1 Episode 5 managed to make headway on the Gloria Nanmac case while uncovering another case of abuse of power and even having Eileen face her boogeyman from the series premiere, Secretary of Defense Green. 

Remember when he said The Daily Alaskan was a step up above the yearbook and underestimated local journalism? I bet he’s regretting that now as the story Eileen brought to light was now making national headlines. 

Even though Stanley told Eileen to lay low, she couldn’t help but attend the General’s spontaneous speech at the base. She knew that he was likely covering for something, and when Yuna mentioned that airman Greg Choi was missing, Eileen took the opportunity and ran with it, without knowing if she had something there. 

Eileen once again became a national story and the butt of the joke, but she has tough skin, and her face splattered on the internet no longer phases her, especially when she knew that they hit a nerve with Green. Even the fact that he requested to talk to her, made fun of her publication and didn’t deny the allegations she made about Choi proved that she was onto something. 

Eileen’s move may have been reckless, but that’s why there’s a saying to do first and ask forgiveness later. She saw her opportunity, and she was ready to pay the price if it didn’t work out, but it was worth it for the off chance that it did.

The internet chatter took a turn almost immediately—from mocking Eileen to questioning why Green and the army decided to cover up Choi’s death after his denial prompted the Russians to release the information publicly.

And since Eileen did her due diligence by investigating Green before, she knew his involvement with the F41s, so she was able to steer the story to victory. Yuna had a connection with Choi’s parents, and the established trust meant that they felt comfortable confiding in her about the emails Greg sent about the flaws in the aircraft commissioned and sold by Green while he was on the board. Green was trying to bury the story any way that he could, even blaming it on the dead guy and suggesting pilot error, when in reality, it was a faulty product that everyone turned a blind eye to. 

This is why Eileen does what she does. Much like another powerful TV character, Olivia Pope, she trusts her gut and takes the leap. 

And this is only the beginning of her takedown of Green. The victory was the first step in restoring her credibility publicly, but it’s not why she’s doing it—she’s determined to expose the man that thinks he’s invincible and that relished in her failure. 

Eileen also proved to everyone in the newsroom that while she might not be everyone’s cup of tea, she knows what she’s doing and is a huge asset. 

With Eileen preoccupied with Green and the base for much of the episode, Roz was on her own to gather information about Ezra Fisher, one of the suspects listed in the official police report following Gloria’s death. 

But honestly, the bigger story that unraveled was ADA Barnett pressuring victims that he was defending into romantic relationships. I didn’t see that one coming, especially when Eileen seemed impressed with how he vouched for native women in the courtroom to get his case to trial. Unfortunately, he had a personal involvement in the case as he wanted to bring Ezra down because he was sleeping with Ezra’s ex, Taylor. 

Honestly, I don’t know what’s more disgusting—the men who are upfront about who they are and how they treat women or men like Barnett who hide behind their fancy job titles and suits. Barnett was abusing his power, preying on victims, and re-victimizing them. He was no better than the men that he was trying to take down. It was slimy. 

And he thought that his charms would work on Roz, so it was quite a wake-up call when she wasn’t phased. Unlike the women that he was defending, she didn’t have anything to lose. The reason his reach was so great with the victims is that they were terrified that if they didn’t keep up the sexual relationship, he would no longer defend their case. 

Roz, however, was fully aware of the implications of taking down Barnett. Once she wrote her story and brought his disgusting behavior to light, it would overturn many of his cases, which wasn’t ideal for the victims like Taylor as Ezra’s domestic abuse charge would be dropped. Ezra, who was taunted as dangerous, seemed remorseful for his abusive behavior, which doesn’t excuse his actions but it’s at least nice to know he’s aware of the damage he caused. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t have much of a choice. Exposing Barnett would protect a world of women in the future. 

He did make a valid point about why so many cases get dismissed and overlooked, especially for women, and it’s because of the strain on the prosecutors. Too many cases will make people numb to what’s right in front of them, which is why the job of a journalist, particularly a local one, is so important.

Ezra did provide some insight into Gloria’s case. He recalled seeing her at Skeeter’s party that night because she was trying to score Oxy for frostbite, but he left before she did. It wasn’t a lot of information, but a lead is a lead, which means Roz will now try to track down any dealers who may have gotten busted shortly after her death. Someone has to know something, and their job is to find the people who will finally talk and blow this case wide open. And preferably, before more native women become victims of a broken system and abusive men. 

It’s one of the reasons that I love that this show champions two very headstrong and determined women. Roz and Eileen both have a lot of fight in them, even if their approach tends to vary. They never got off on the right foot, but they’ve been working seamlessly together, with Roz even appreciating Eileen’s determination to cover the speech at the base despite being told to stay away. 

While Eileen didn’t get a call from Concerned Citizen this time around, she did get an unexpected visit to her hotel room from Pritchard. Who else isn’t surprised that he’s totally trying to ride the Eileen train? The sparks were definitely flying, but Eileen knows better than to get involved in this kind of situation because it undermines her integrity. No one is going to take her seriously if she “sleeps her way to the top,” whatever the top is at a local strip mall publication. Either way, Pritchard should know better as well, but I also don’t buy out when they promised that this was the first and last time.

 The episode was jam-packed with quality television, which included Operation Hairy Potter. Every series, especially one about journalism, needs a little lightheartedness to break up the tension. And the smelly little ferret who escaped and was later found in Bob’s desk drawer was just that. It also offered up some necessary scenes between Bob and Claire, with the former admitting that Eileen makes him uneasy and that his wife, Colleen, is sick. Meanwhile, Claire was the standard mom who feels like she was failing in every aspect of her life because she can’t give 100% of herself to any one thing. It’s the classic mom trap… and we moms handle it with grace… most of the time. Unless we lose our ferret. 

What did you think about the episode? Are you shocked we’re already coming up on the fall finale?