Diksha Sundriyal
Peacock’s ‘The Paper’ begins with the arrival of Ned Sampson as the editor-in-chief of the Toledo Truth Teller. He is excited for the job because it means working for a newspaper that has made a name for itself for some incredible journalism. Now, however, it is found to be of less value than Softees toilet paper, and that’s what Ned is there to rectify. While he is highly motivated, Ned cannot achieve his dream alone, which is where Mare comes into the picture. She is the only one on the team with proper experience in journalism. Apart from this, she also helps Ned navigate the dynamics of the team. She quickly proves herself to be an indispensable member of the team, and soon, she and Ned start to develop feelings for one another. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Ned and Mare Decide to Give Their Romance a Chance
When Ned arrives at the Truth Teller, Mare doesn’t have any expectations from him, especially since she knows how worse off the newspaper already is. But then, he shows enthusiasm and brings the team together to work towards their dream of making the Truth Teller great again, which is where he earns Mare’s respect. She also feels happy about finally getting to do something that is in the territory of journalism, rather than just copy-pasting stories from the wire. Chasing after stories and conducting investigations for the pieces gives her the purpose she had been looking for, and it is no shock that she is great at it. Ned recognises her talent, which is why he panics when he realises that she may be planning to leave for another job. He becomes desperate to keep her around because at this point, she is the only competent person on the team, and losing her would mean the utter doom of the newspaper.
But this is not the only reason he wants to keep her around. Over the course of the season, Ned and Mare get close as they work on several stories together. The more time they spend together, the more they get to know each other, and the more their respect and admiration for one another grow. However, there is the issue of him being her boss, which keeps Ned from acting on his feelings. He also tries to keep a distance when Esmeralda falsely claims that Mare is asexual. But eventually, this confusion is cleared up, and they are back on track. Their feelings come to the surface in the final episode, where both of them are nominated for journalism awards. At the ceremony, Ned arrives alone with no plus one, but Mare comes with Theo. Ned assumes that Theo is Mare’s boyfriend, and that sinks his heart a little bit. But what he doesn’t know is that Theo is simply Mare’s childhood friend, and they sometimes become each other’s plus ones when they have no one else.
As Ned continues to show her support for Mare, her feelings get stronger, and she decides to act on them, especially after she is on cloud nine after winning her award. Ned’s feelings don’t subside either, but he keeps them in check because he thinks Mare is already with someone. When things get a little flirty, he steps back, which confuses Mare. Later, however, as Ned and Oscar talk about Marv and how he is clearly in love with Ann, his sister-in-law, and how he has probably spent his entire life loving her from a distance because he didn’t have the courage to act on his feelings, Ned decides not to make the same mistake. Even though he thinks Mare is with Theo, he decides to make his feelings known, so he knocks on her door. When she tells him it’s not a good time to enter her room, he assumes it is because of Theo.
However, he says his piece, or rather, he gives her the cards on which he’d written his acceptance speech, which he couldn’t speak because he lost the cards. When Mare reads his words, she realizes that he has feelings for her too, but when she thinks he is going to kiss her, he starts to walk away, which is when she calls him out. She clears up that Theo is not her boyfriend, but then, Ned raises the issue of him being her boss and what an HR nightmare it would be if they got together. Still, she thinks they must act on it once, just to know if there is anything there. They decide to share a kiss, just to get it out of their system and go back to being pals. However, the kiss only exacerbates their feelings, which means that there is a professionally complicated journey ahead of them. However, there is no going back now, which means that the next season will explore the dynamics of their
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