[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Newsreader Season 2 finale.]

The Newsreader aired its Season 3/series finale on February 2, 2025, in Australia. But for American audiences, Season 2 has just ended on AMC+ as of September 4. The season saw a seismic shift for news anchors/couple Helen Norville (Anna Torv) and Dale Jennings (Sam Reid), whose once strong relationship got crushed under the weight of work and fame.

Set in 1987-88, The Newsreader Season 2 dove into a nation in flux — amid election drama, financial upheaval, and a cultural reckoning. As Australia grappled with identity, Helen and Dale confronted who they are to each other and to the world. Their relationship’s downturn began subtly early into the six-episode season. With Geoff Walters (Robert Taylor) anchoring his own program at a new station, Helen and Dale were the star newsreaders of News at Six, putting their relationship under a microscope in the public eye and in the newsroom. As Dale strengthened his skills on the desk, his editorial eye sharpened, leading to increasing disagreements on how to cover hard-hitting news stories with Helen.

This was a tough change for Helen, who has been dealing with sexist control from her producers since long before she and Dale connected. Dale wasn’t mistreating her like boss Lindsay Cunningham (William McInnes) or new CEO Charlie Tate (Daniel Gillies), not even close, but their disagreements made her feel Dale didn’t fully trust her judgment, and this ate away at her under the surface. Still, their relationship was the most peaceful place in their lives. But things went downhill fast when Dale suggested getting married and selling the engagement story to celebrity columnist Donna Gillies (Queenie van de Zandt) in exchange for her silence about Helen’s medical history (Helen was institutionalized against her will at age 16 and treated for schizophrenia). It was well intended and followed up by a real proposal, but Helen broke Dale’s heart when saying no and ending their relationship.

Helen’s climactic moment of the season came when she walked off camera during a live news broadcast in protest of a story about Geoff and Evelyn Walter’s (Marg Downey) daughter, Kay (Philippa Northeast), who struggled with drug addiction. She walked off air and headed straight for Charlie’s house, where they hooked up and went on a bender. The tumult led to Helen realizing she wanted Dale back. She proposed to him in a scene that was pitched by Torv on the day of filming and was basically completely improvised. Dale said no, knowing that it wasn’t right for them at the time.

Helen ended the season with a new job and a better producer, but the abusive Lindsay revealed the details of her medical history to the new boss, telling him that she’s volatile and needs to be micromanaged. Dale’s story ended with him being a solo anchor and offering exclusive access to his personal life to Donna in exchange for her silence about his sexuality, which the show never explicitly labels, but he’s attracted to men and women. Dale fears being outed and ostracized like his fellow famous friend, Gerry Carroll (Rory Fleck Byrne), and he’ll sadly do anything to keep his secret.

Looking ahead to The Newsreader Season 3, which AMC+ will presumably release in the future though that’s not yet confirmed, there’s a big change coming to Helen’s life in the form of an official diagnosis for her mental health struggles. She’s not schizophrenic, but she will get a new answer. Here, Torv looks back on Season 2 with TV Insider, sharing what it’s been like to never have been asked about Helen’s mental health by the press until Season 3, plus details about improvising with Reid throughout the series.

We’re in a unique position here of The Newsreader Season 2 being debuted to U.S. audiences long after the series finale has come out in Australia. So for those new viewers, could you, in a few sentences, describe how Season 3 will complete the arc of this story?

Anna Torv: It feels so strange talking about it, but we sort of knew when we finished.

This has been one of my favorite shows ever to make. I’ve just loved it. I’ve loved the people, and it’s just been a really collaborative, beautiful environment to work in. And so because of that, and [because] we love the characters, we all very much wanted to serve their arcs and serve their journeys. We stepped into Season 3 knowing that it was going to be our last season, and so it is complete. It’s a three-act show really. I don’t want to give too much away, but I feel deeply satisfied with where we leave the characters. And I think that each season has its own very distinct flavor all within keeping of the show, but we definitely get to kind of stretch and we don’t get to repeat anything. I don’t how to answer that without giving stuff away [laughs].

I know that we learn more about Helen’s mental health diagnosis in Season 3. Was that diagnosis always part of the story’s plan, or was it discovered along the way?

No, it was in the very, very beginning. It’s interesting because through all the press, even though I’m promoting Season 2 at the moment, I’ve been very specific about not talking about it. But more to the point, what I found fascinating, deeply fascinating, especially considering what we’re telling and what we’re talking about with this character in the show, is that there has never been a question until Season 3 about “it.” I have sat silently while people have asked about, “What’s it like wearing the shoulder pads?” or “What do you think about this?” or listening to her being described as demanding and needy and hysterical and all the rest of it.

All these Lindsay Cunningham words.

This is how it has been. “We love her, but she’s a lot.” But all the way through from the very beginning, before we shot a single frame of Season 1, we knew who Helen was and what she had. And so Season 3 for that particular reason was really satisfying to get that out there properly — in a very true way actually, and hopeful by the end.

Was that annoying for you to field those questions about Helen being “difficult” when you knew the truth about her?

No, there were so many other things in the show that we did get to talk about. I found it fascinating. I found it really fascinating actually.

I know that really beautiful scene in the Season 1 finale, where Helen reveals her medical history and Dale reveals his sexuality, was basically only shot once. Did anything like that happen again in Season 2 and its finale?

Yeah, we did a lot of creative stuff. And that’s all [credit to] our director, Emma Freeman, who’s directed every single episode. She’s fantastic. I’m actually about to start another show with her now. She’s great. That [Season 1 finale scene] was also one of the last scenes that we shot. It was scheduled for one of the first [shoot days of that season], and we didn’t quite know what it was going be. But throughout the process, we did get to do a bunch of experimental bits and pieces even though the show isn’t improvised. It’s written, but there was a lot of freedom within that to play. And we would just continually stretch it and stretch it.

You can do that when you’ve got actors that are really solid in who they’re playing, and you’ve got a trust and a safety net with everybody. I don’t think you can do that all the time. But yeah, there was lots of bits, especially in the newsroom. I mean, we did so many of those scenes. There’s little cuts that you can see, but so many of those scenes were just run together. We’d run five, six, seven scenes at the same time, and I think that it gives a frenetic element to it, but there’s also a flow. It becomes a little bit like a theater show. You’re alive in your body, and I think that comes through.

Sam Reid as Dale Jennings in The Newsreader Season 2 finale on AMC+ (Sundance Now)

How many takes did you do for the Season 2 finale scene where Helen proposes to Dale, which is the third failed proposal of this season?

Oh, that was so fun. See, this was the bit. You’ll prep stuff and you’ll work on an arc, but then you go home the night before and you sit down and I perpetually come in with ideas or notes the next day. So that [proposal] wasn’t there [in the script]. And so then the next day I had said to Emma, “Can I pitch this? I think this will be quite funny.” She’s like, “OK.” So then Sam came in and I’m like, “I’ve just got something to pitch.” And then I proposed to him and he laughed. So that was just improvised on the day.

Right, this was a completely improvised scene.

Pretty much, yes.

How did that work without writing to guide you?

Michael Lucas, who is our creator and wrote the show and also one of our producers, is on set all the time. And also that’s a scene with Sam. Sam and I are both pretty flexible and also work together a lot, so those things can happen very quickly. So you’re not mucking with anybody’s preparation or whatever. We were both super open to playing with that sort of thing. And so that scene, I came in that morning, I’m like, “I want to propose” instead of saying, “Don’t go away.” I think it’s funny, and they agreed, so we shot it.

We did a bunch [of improvised scenes] in Season 3. We did do one totally not even talked about scene. We knew what we wanted to achieve with it, and we just put tape down on the ground and had the camera operators on one side and us on the other. And then we just said, “Action,” and we did it. It’s one of my favorite scenes. It was just so fun to do, but also I think it’s great. It’s a big moment. So we got to play with a lot of those things all throughout.

Can you give a sense of what happens in that scene?

It’s connected to Helen’s diagnosis, essentially, and I just wanted to show it. I just wanted to go, oh, this is what we’re talking [about]. This is it. These are all the elements. This is what it is to be in it, and this is what it feels like to be told.

What a fun job.

That’s why it was so fun. You don’t always get to do that. That comes only when you have an enormous amount of trust and when there’s a lot of fluidity and flexibility amongst your cast and your directors and your crew. You can’t do that with people that don’t know what they’re doing. Do you know what I mean?

Absolutely. It has to be kismet. Everyone has to want to do the best work.

And it can’t be indulgent. You have to be moving to something. There has to be a clear point to it, otherwise it’s like, who cares?

And you have to be really good at your job, whatever position you’re in. You have to be able to just…

Flow.

Flow, yes. Circling back to the three failed engagements this season, why can’t Helen and Dale work? Why does Helen think that marriage won’t work for them or that they just can’t be together?

We answer that a little bit later, but I’ve always said from the very beginning, it’s the end of Season 1, where it’s like, “I love you just the way you are.” And I think Dale and Helen do. They see each other completely and fully. You can have a soulmate, and I just think that it doesn’t have to be through marriage. People come into your life for small periods, for long periods, and those special people, sometimes takes a little bit of effort to define where they sit or how you guys shall move through the world together. That’s what we are watching: Two people that should be in each other’s lives and watching them try to work out how best to do that.

So you think Helen and Dale will always be in each other’s lives in some way? It’s just going to look different at different points?

I think at different points, yes, I do. I think that is the point [smiles].

Sundance Now

In the penultimate episode of this season, Helen’s very bold. She walks off air during a live broadcast, she destroys the Kay Walters footage, and she hooks up with Charlie Tate. When we see her next with Lindsay, there’s a shift. She wants to confront him for his role in the leak of her medical history, but he overwhelms her and she walks out in distress. What makes Lindsay so triggering for Helen?

There’s a history that we went into a little bit [between Helen and Lindsay], and it’s one of my all-time favorite scenes. There’s a scene in Season 1 where you see what that history was between Helen and Lindsay when he takes her home after she’s had a meltdown on the desk. It’s this scene where nothing’s said, but everything is said. And it’s just a yucky, yucky relationship. He’s incredibly abusive and has been in a multitude of ways. Part of it is that — what does he say at the end of that? You’ll be coming home in a box or a body bag? That’s what Helen’s afraid of too, that she can’t do it, that she can’t cope, that she won’t cope. To be told that, and to be humiliated in front of people again, even when you’ve left — she’s done it. She’s gone and got another job, and she’s feeling secure and happy and proud, and all of a sudden he backdoors her and goes and tells her boss that she can’t be trusted or that she can’t do it. And so then she’s going to be handled again [by her new producers]. Let someone fly for God’s sake. It’s just such a cruel, cruel scene.

It really is. Lindsay’s the worst. I love the character for the drama he brings, but I hate that guy.

Yeah, he’s revolting. But the actor, William, he’s amazing just by the way [laughs].

Oh, yeah. The character’s only so hate-able because he’s such a good actor.

Yeah.

Season 2’s ending is so sad. Helen is in a better place because she’s going off to America to cover the U.S. elections, but she’s still facing this sexist control from her producers. And then Dale is offering exclusives about his personal life to Donna Gillies in exchange for her silence about his sexuality. Loving the characters as you do, how do you feel about this season’s ending?

Horrifying. It’s just so sad, I know. It’s so sad. It’s the reversal. And there’s a ton, which we do all throughout all seasons, of mirroring between the newsreaders, whether it’s Dale or whether it’s Helen. It’s like, there he is. And she sits in the airport. I cried for real, I remember, doing that scene because you look up and you’re like, you just achieved everything that you ever wanted to achieve and what’s left of you? And you look at Dale, the puppet, who are you up there? He’s not there anymore. It’s just heartbreaking. At what cost, and for what and why?

Have you and Sam ever talked about what Helen and Dale be like in 2025?

I don’t think much different. That’s sort of part of it too, is that, yes, the show set in the ’80s, but I mean, not a lot has changed. But also people are people no matter what era. That’s why we still read the classics because it’s the human condition. So I don’t know, maybe it would be a little bit more acceptable, but then I don’t necessarily think so. What Dale’s wanting to be is this representation of masculinity and of respectable maleness, I guess, and still today, that is the newsreader [archetype]. And so I don’t know how different it would be for either of them. Stay tuned for Season 3 [laughs].

The Newsreader, Seasons 1 & 2 Available Now, AMC+