The next day, Benton's column runs. As he grabs a paper, Benton hails Clyde, our favorite redneck. Benton wonders if Clyde is mad that he defended a war protester. "No, it sounded like he done got screwed," Clyde says, more or less. Clyde then tells a long story linking his childhood games to actual war, after which we're all supposed to realize that there is no heroic "right" side in battle. Instead of feeling enlightened, I end up wanting to spit-shine my rifle down by the watering hole, with a pint of moonshine and some hearty chew to see me through 'til morn. Maybe that IS enlightenment. Maybe Buddha's filling a spittoon as I write.

Circle of News. Someone pitches Nikki the story of a fireman in Queens saving a little kid. There's no photo to go with the story, so Nikki tells them to give Mets tickets to both of them and cover that with a photographer. Wallace walks in and hands Brooke a wire story, which she reads aloud -- it seems federal prosecutors are pushing two counts of social-security fraud on O'Hare, trying to add as much as fifteen years to his sentence because he posed as Daniel Minton. Brooke hands Benton the rights to the follow-up story, which is mighty gracious of her given that she had exactly no jurisdiction over the original piece. Nikki orders everyone out of the meeting and stares somberly at the table. Wallace stays, giving Nikki a little-boy fat-lipped mock pout, but it doesn't make her laugh, so he quietly gets up and leaves her alone. Nikki sits in silence, brokenhearted and cradling her face in her hands. Fade to black.

This was by far the best episode of the four, and the producers decide not to ruin it by promoting the coming week's show. I think it's a safe bet that Wallace solves another crime and drinks a fifth of whiskey in the process.