Many of television’s most compelling series are populated by characters so complex, so dynamic, so real that a viewer could easily imagine them existing outside the confines of a glowing screen. ABC’s Scandal is … not one of those series.

Sure, its cast of brilliant Washington insiders may look like a rainbow coalition. But their ambitious, hyper-competent personalities are nearly identical, and they all speak in the same rat-a-tat register that creator Shonda Rhimes first perfected on Grey’s Anatomy. During its truncated first season, the show cared so little about distinguishing these people from one another that my roommate and I made a game of trying to remember the names of the glamorous lost souls who work for the superhumanly capable Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington). To this day, we exclusively refer to Darby Stanchfield’s Abby Whelan as “Long Red.”

That said, Scandal does feature one character who operates on a slightly different wavelength—former assistant U.S. Attorney David Rosen (Josh Malina), Olivia’s friendly nemesis turned quasi-employee (and Long Red’s kinda-sorta ex-boyfriend). His name is generic but appropriate, considering how neatly David embodies two classic Yiddish types: the mensch and the schlimazel.

First, the good one: While Olivia and her ilk run around disturbing crime scenes, covering up their clients’ misdeeds, and even rigging presidential elections—all in the name of “wearing the white hat,” the show’s much-repeated idiom for being a good guy—David shows a Javertian devotion to upholding the law. Even more importantly, he’s the only person in Washington who calls Olivia out for pretending the nation’s rules don’t apply to her. “You just expect me to bend the law for you once again, out of blind faith and admiration,” he tells his frenemy at the beginning of Season 2. “You pour a good bourbon, Olivia—but so does the dive bar down the street.” Translation: “I won’t back down, no matter how flawless you look in that cream-colored suit.”

And David isn’t afraid to speak truth to even higher powers, either. When he spots the CIA waterboarding Olivia’s hacker-slash-assassin Huck—after that tortured genius is arrested for apparently shooting the president; did I mention that Scandal is amazing?—the lawyer is rightfully horrified. One hour (and more than a few impassioned monologues) later, Huck is freed, thanks largely to David’s crusade.

But even though David reigns as Scandal’s moral center—or perhaps because he does—the show seems determined to make him the unluckiest TV character this side of Jerry Gergich. Olivia and co. repeatedly defeat David in court, despite his careful preparation and airtight arguments. His quest to tell the world about how Olivia fixed the election ends with David losing his prestigious government job, being reduced to teaching a high school civics class, and facing financial ruin so great that his mother has to start paying his rent. Oh, and then he wakes up next to a butchered blonde. (Don’t worry—he’s being framed.)

As the man himself moans—in one of his only overt allusions to being Jewish—he must be the “single most unlucky schmuck” on Earth. Despite his perch on the moral high ground, David eventually finds himself asking Olivia for her help, as well as a job—though at least he’s continually conflicted about his decision. (“Did you take a commission when I sold my soul to the devil?” he asks Olivia at one point, seeming deadly serious.)

By contrast, actor Joshua Malina has led a charmed life. He’s had the good fortune to play variations on David—whip-smart, idealistic, more than a little nerdy—on both Sports Night and The West Wing, Scandal’s most prominent spiritual ancestors. (Theory: Shonda Rhimes is Aaron Sorkin minus sanctimony, plus sex. Discuss.) It’s no wonder that back in January, Tablet nominated him to succeed Jarrod Bernstein as the White House’s official Jewish community liaison.

Knowing that Malina’s made a career out of playing this one guy does diminish David’s novelty somewhat … but either way, he remains Scandal’s most likeable and empathetic figure, especially once you factor in Malina’s obsessive live-tweeting of the show. And I really do hope that he and Long Red can work things out in the end.

Previously on Network Jews:

Agent Mulder, Supernatural Expert and Conspiracy Theorist on 1990s sci-fi hit The X-Files

Michael Ginsberg, the Smartass Ad Man on Mad Men

Dr. James Wilson on Fox’s Dark Medical Procedural House

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The post Network Jews: David Rosen, the Unlucky Mensch on ABC’s ‘Scandal’ appeared first on Jewcy.

As the finale of Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom approaches, questions abound. Can lovebirds Maggie and Jim overcome the obstacles in their way and convert their furtive glances and hallway shouting into some good old-fashioned smooching? Will we learn more about Charlie’s mysterious contact at the NSA? Does Will finally succeed in haranguing the world into civility? On Sunday night at 10PM, All Will Be Revealed.

Until then, though, we offer Newsroom watchers another question to ponder: Where the Jews at? The show has many signature Sorkin-isms: lots of walking-and-talking, lots of messy workplace romance that spills into the hallways, lots of impassioned monologues about Big Ideas. But, alas, none of his classic mensches to speak of.

In Sports Night and The West Wing, Sorkin weaved issues of Jewish identity into his narratives in ways large and small. Just recall the tension between Josh and Toby—arising from their shared faith but drastically different upbringings—with Brooklyn-meets-Connecticut smackdowns of a distinctly Jewish flavor. And who could forget the religious and cultural exchanges on Sports Night that come with Jeremy and Natalie’s romance? Starting his foray into WASPdom, Jeremy takes his first sip of Eggnog at his girlfriend’s behest. Once she’s left, he spits it out all over the control room floor. Alas, a valiant attempt.

Let’s revisit some of the most beloved Jewish characters from Sorkin’s earlier series.

Dan Rydell (Josh Charles, Sports Night):

From Sorkin’s perennially over-cited and under-watched debut series, Sports Night, meet Dan. He’s co-anchor of a cable sports show, an alum of Dartmouth (where, did I mention, he threw some ball…), and, oh yeah, the first Jewish character introduced on a Sorkin series. Dan is less obviously Jewish than his junior colleague, Jeremy (more to come!), but there are some indicators that he read Torah at one point or another. Hearing news of the birth of Isaac’s grandson, he shouts not “Congratulations” or “Dude, that’s frickin’ awesome,” but “Mazel tov!” And after he screws over his partner on the air and falls under a spell of discernibly Jewish guilt, how does he seek to come to terms with his deeds and find a more authentic self? By hosting a seder. What were the alternatives, really?

Jeremy Goodwin (Joshua Malina, Sports Night):

Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. As an associate producer on the sports show that Dan anchors, Jeremy has many responsibilities—identifying Greek Gods and ghosts, preparing the control center for Y2K (remember that? Sorkin’s been doing TV for a while now…), and “decreeing” fights with his girlfriend, Natalie, officially over. What more can I tell you about him, having already penned a 600-word ode to him on this very website last month. Suffice it to say, he’s quite the mensch. With an ego the size of Montana, it’s true that Jeremy can be exasperating at times, offering his two cents when begrudging silence might have served his colleagues better. But his unwavering loyalty and biting wit—and, oh yeah, those super-cute, pre-nerd-chic hipster glasses—endear him to colleagues and ensure his spot on the Jewcy-approved bachelor list.

Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff, The West Wing):

A proper analysis of Toby, arguably Sorkin’s most psychologically complex character, is the stuff of monographs, not blog posts. But for now, the basics: The communications director and Bartlet’s chief speechwriter, Toby grew up in Brooklyn with a father who worked for “Murder Incorporated” and politically radical sisters who took him to labor rallies. The most liberal of Bartlet’s staffers, hyperarticulate, a master of high and low tongues, Toby is not one to suffer fools lightly. He’ll start a shouting match with just about anyone, including the President. And he is undoubtedly the most Jewish Jew to grace a Sorkin show—which is to say, he can identify not just Yom Kippur but also Erev Yom Kippur. In one episode, he even goes to temple!

Joshua Lyman (Bradley Whitford, The West Wing):

Josh is one of those Jews who comes to us by way of Connecticut. In one memorable episode, Toby says to Josh, “You know, the Ancient Hebrews had a word for Jews from Westport. They pronounced it Presbyterian.” Zing! Josh may lack Toby’s storied Jewish pedigree, but he has other things to boast of: the ear of the president; a legion of adoring followers who confess their lust on a tribute site called LemonLyman.com (which, shockingly, does not exist on the real World Wide Web); and, most importantly, the pure and eternal love of his assistant, Donna. That last dynamic makes for the most tantalizing of Sorkin’s will-they-wont-they workplace romances (Jim and Maggie of Newsroom could learn a thing or two). Oh, yeah, and he went to Harvard. What more do you want?

These are just our four favorites; there are others, too. We wanted to include West Wing’s Will Bailey, the speech writer who joins Toby in the communications office after Sam leaves the White House to “run for Congress.” (In Sorkinian terms, Congress is that farm in Florida where all of your childhood pets live.) Setting aside the crassness of counting two characters played by Joshua Malina on the same list, we realized that the show never tells us whether Will is Jewish. That said, Malina certainly is. The actor once recalled during an interview that he missed the first day of shooting for West Wing because it fell on Rosh Hashanah. (Allison Janney reportedly quipped, “Oh, so today is not a Jewish holiday? You can actually do some work?”)

Also entitled to consideration are Will and Eliot of Sports Night, who, Dan tells us, were planning to attend the seder even before it became a multi-denominational affair. And if we’re looking at minor characters, why not count Toby’s rabbi? From his brief appearance, he seemed like a pretty cool guy—rewriting an entire sermon to persuade one congregant that “vengeance is not Jewish,” on the heels of a death row verdict in which he hopes Toby will intervene. Of course, Toby does not—nearly all Sorkin characters who are religious are also avowed secularists when it comes to matters of state. Even so, it is undeniable that Sorkin has frequently used the subtleties of religious identity to add nuance and texture to his characters. It makes the absence of any Jewish characters on Newsroom all the more conspicuous.

But perhaps I speak too soon. There is, after all, one episode left.

The finale of The Newsroom airs at 10PM on Sunday, August 26, on HBO

Writer’s Note: A commenter and astute viewer of The Newsroom has drawn our attention to a potential oversight. Might Don Keefer—bad-bad boyfriend to Maggie and executive producer for another anchor on Will’s network—be Jewish?

We’re undecided. If you want to make the case, turn to Episode 7, when Don asks the anchor, “What is this compulsion you have to look on the bright side? I can never count on you to be Jewish.” It seems likely that the anchor is Jewish. Might Don be, too? Let us know what you think below.

Previously: Jeremy Goodwin, the Wide-Eyed Wunderkind on Sorkin’s Sports Night

(Art by Margarita Korol)

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