“The Newsroom” returned to HBO last night for its third and final season, and an abbreviated one at that. The Aaron Sorkin drama has met criticism for its pretension and appropriation of current events, and it seems that critics and viewers of the show could only take so much of the fictional newsroom anchored by Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) and the rest of the ACN team.

Still, the show isn’t going out quietly, something it proved during the season three premiere, titled ‘Boston.’ We’ve known that “The Newsroom” would be taking on the touchy subject matter of the 2013 Boston Marathon, during which two bombs went off at the finish line, taking three lives, as well as the manhunt that ensued in the aftermath. Watch the season three trailer below to get a preview if you missed the show.

So, how did they do? Naturally, the ACN team resisted the urge to join the competitors who scrambled to get the news up first, and in doing so, made a mess of the facts – an ordeal that played out in real life as we all watched the coverage. Still, just because they were careful doesn’t mean they necessarily beat the competitors, and as the episode ended, ACN was fourth in the rankings.

As the team struggled with the rise of the social media journalism that surrounded the tragedy, they were dealing with two more hefty issues, resulting in an episode that invoked the chaos that marked the week of April 15, 2013, but still felt exhausting. With the bombings, Neal’s (Dev Patel) Snowden-esque federal crime ordeal, and the news that a “hostile takeover” of ACN is looming, “The Newsroom” wasn’t wasting any time. The only sign that anything has potentially changed in the makeup of the show this season? When Will faltered during one of his marked speeches, losing his train of thought and failing to rally the troops as he usually does. Maybe he’s losing his mojo.

Whether you love “The Newsroom” or love how much you hate it, the show did a good job in handling the sensitivity of the Boston Marathon bombings (even if they botched the pronunciation of Watertown – which may actually have been intentional), and it was moving to revisit the events with the 20/20 hindsight that makes the show what it is, for better or worse.

But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what people had to say on social media.

Screengrab via HBO Video