WinkLingo
Log in

Spotlight · 2015 — Chapter 1 of 21 · 2'18" · B2

Baron Meets Robinson for a Drink, Explained: take a hard look at

The paper's new editor meets the Spotlight team's editor over a weekend drink, and the small talk keeps circling the same question: will the Globe survive? "I'm just trying to get a feel for the city," he says, before admitting he'll need to "take a hard look at things."

What happens

Marty Baron, the Globe's new editor, meets Walter "Robby" Robinson, who runs the Spotlight investigative team, for a weekend drink. They talk baseball, Boston and how Spotlight works, and he admits he isn't much of a baseball fan. When the conversation turns to layoffs, he says he'll need to take a hard look at things.

Talking to the bossSmall talkSmall talkExplainingBoss & employeeB2mediumamericanClean
IMDb ↗

Listen for

get a feel fortake a hard look atborn and raisedfair enough

00:00 / 02:18
Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Tap a line to replay it

Phrase of the scene

take a hard look at

to examine something carefully and critically

巴伦接手总编位置，对罗比坦言自己得好好审视报纸的现状，而不是先许诺什么。

Before we cut costs, let's take a hard look at where the money actually goes.

Also in this scene

  • get a feel for

    to start to understand something by experiencing it

  • born and raised

    having lived in a place since birth

  • fair enough

    an acknowledgment that something is reasonable

Everything marked in this scene

31 notes across 42 lines

Phrase · B1take the time out of somethingThanks for taking the time out of your weekend.
Grammar · B1Thanks for taking the time

thanks for with a gerund

Thanks for taking the time out of your weekend.
Phrase · A2my pleasureOh, my pleasure. Appreciate it.
Phrase · A2appreciate itOh, my pleasure. Appreciate it.
SoundAppreciate it

liaison

Oh, my pleasure. Appreciate it.
Phrase · B1once someone is settled inThe Globe has season tickets at Fenway once you're settled in, by the way.
Phrase · A2by the wayThe Globe has season tickets at Fenway once you're settled in, by the way.
Phrase · B1to be honestUh, to be honest, I'm not much of a baseball fan.
Phrase · B1not much of a somethingUh, to be honest, I'm not much of a baseball fan.
Phrase · B2get a feel for somethingI'm just trying to get a feel for the city.
Grammar · B1trying to get a feel

try to with the base verb

I'm just trying to get a feel for the city.
Soundfeel for

liaison

I'm just trying to get a feel for the city.
Phrase · B2born and raised

having lived in a place since birth

I am. Born and raised, yeah.
SoundBorn and raised

elision

I am. Born and raised, yeah.
Phrase · B1have a big impactNo. No, I don't think that had a big impact.
Phrase · B2player coachI'd prefer to think of myself as player coach. But yes.
Grammar · B2think of myself as player coach

think of A as B

I'd prefer to think of myself as player coach. But yes.
Grammar · B2four-person investigative team

compound adjective before a noun

Well, we are a four-person investigative team.
Phrase · B2keep something confidentialWe report to Ben Bradlee, Jr., and we keep our work confidential.
Phrase · B2put out a piece on somethingWe just put out a piece on a shoddy construction outfit,
Slang · B2shoddyWe just put out a piece on a shoddy construction outfit,
Slang · B2outfitWe just put out a piece on a shoddy construction outfit,
Phrase · B1hard to sayHard to say. A couple months.
Phrase · B1once someone settles on somethingOnce we settle on a project, we can spend a year or more investigating it.
Grammar · B1Once we settle on a project

once for a condition

Once we settle on a project, we can spend a year or more investigating it.
Soundyear or more

liaison

Once we settle on a project, we can spend a year or more investigating it.
Phrase · B2take a hard look at somethingI think I'm gonna need to take a hard look at things.
Phrase · B2it's safe to assumeI think it's safe to assume so,
Grammar · B2it's safe to assume so

it as a formal subject

I think it's safe to assume so,
Phrase · A2fair enough

an acknowledgment that something is reasonable

Fair enough. I just think that we can do better.
Phrase · B1can do betterFair enough. I just think that we can do better.

Baron Meets Robinson for a Drink, explained

What's really going on

This is a job interview in disguise. The new editor has barely arrived, but he is already sizing up the paper and the people who make it, and every pleasantry has an edge. He asks how long an investigation takes and is told "a year or more," then raises readership and layoffs; the reply is careful but does not flinch. "I'm just trying to get a feel for the city" sounds casual, yet it is exactly what he is doing to the newsroom—deciding what still works. The scene ends not with a promise but a warning: "Fair enough. I just think that we can do better."

Theme

PowerA new editor quietly takes the measure of a veteran team, testing what he will keep and change.
AmbitionHe signals that the paper must become essential again, even if that means hard choices.

Listen for

  • Appreciate it — liaison
  • feel for — liaison
  • Born and raised — elision
  • year or more — liaison
Once we settle on a project, we can spend a year or more investigating it.

A quiet boast about how the Spotlight team works: slow, patient, and thorough.

I think I'm gonna need to take a hard look at things.

A polite warning that cuts and hard decisions are coming to the paper.

Fair enough. I just think that we can do better.

He concedes the point without giving ground, framing change as ambition rather than insult.

I'm just trying to get a feel for the city.

A casual line that also describes what he is doing to the newsroom: learning how it really works.

Questions about this scene

Why does Marty Baron meet Walter Robinson?

He is the Globe's new editor and is meeting the man who runs the Spotlight investigative team to learn how the paper and its people work.

What does he mean by taking a hard look at things?

He is signaling that more cuts and changes are likely as he tries to make the paper essential to readers again.

Does the new editor actually like baseball?

No; he admits he is not much of a baseball fan and is really just trying to understand the city.

Why does Robinson mention the year-long investigations?

He is explaining how Spotlight works and defending its slow, careful method as valuable rather than wasteful.

What is the tone of the scene?

Friendly on the surface, but both men are assessing each other; the praise comes with a clear hint that things will change.

Spotlight · 21 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 2file a motionMarty Baron's First News Meeting
Watching · Chapter 1take a hard look atBaron Meets Robinson for a DrinkChapter 2file a motionMarty Baron's First News MeetingChapter 3have something on someoneLawyers Break Down the Geoghan CaseChapter 4think in centuriesRezendes Meets GarabedianChapter 5stand aloneMarty Baron Meets Cardinal LawChapter 6preyed uponPhil Saviano Tells His StoryChapter 7the beginning of it allReporters Interview Abuse SurvivorsChapter 8out of circulationPressuring Macleish on SettlementsChapter 9it takes a villageRezendes Meets the InformantChapter 10Good GermansSipe's Six Percent EstimateChapter 11off the estimateThe Team Counts 87 PriestsChapter 12cottage industryRobby Confronts MacleishChapter 13from the top downThe Team Goes After the SystemChapter 14sledding uphillSpringfield Hearing on Sealed RecordsChapter 15off the recordGarabedian Reveals the Sealed DocumentsChapter 16get on the same pageReporters Confront Boston CollegeChapter 17broke ranksRobby Refuses to Rush the StoryChapter 18a few bad applesPete Pressures Robby Over DrinksChapter 19on a clockRobby Gets Six Weeks to PublishChapter 20lay something on someoneRobby Confronts His Old FriendChapter 21stumbling around in the darkThe Newsroom Finalizes the Story
Chapter 1 of 21 · about 57 min to go