S̳h̳a̳k̳h̳i̳-̳l̳a̳c̳i̳o̳u̳s̳

EPISODE 7: "The frog in the well"

Shaurya and Shagun head back to the station in good spirits, after getting the CCTV footage to air in tonight's broadcast about the woman who died in the gym. They see Anokhi returning to rival station Jagruk Nation across the square, and Shagun notes that Anokhi will probably get yelled at by her seniors for failing to come up with an exclusive. Shaurya immediately worries for Anokhi and shouts over to her that they managed to get the CCTV footage, but Anokhi scoffs that they're the ones who're about to make a big mistake. But before she can finish the sentence, her teammate Ahir scoops her up and throws her over his shoulder, leaving Shaurya flabbergasted. Both teams of rookies report to their news chiefs, and with two hours until broadcast, the schedule is adjusted-Shubh Savera pulls their exclusive forward and gives it more airtime, and over at Jagruk Nation they plan to do the same. Jagruk Nation has a different version of the story, and they're convinced that beating Shubh Savera to the punch will lead them to scrap their story and scramble to back-fill their news. But Mom (anchorwoman Devi) is the lone dissenter, and she tells her team that they should wait and let Shubh Savera report their story first... and then come out with the truth that'll debunk their version. Damn, she plays dirty, but I see why she's good at her job. Ahir stops Anokhi from taking any of Shaurya's calls before the broadcast, and the higher-ups come by to congratulate them on a job well done. Ahir gives the obligatory modest response, while Anokhi blurts, "Yes, I think you're right." Haha. Ahir clamps a hand over her mouth, but she just pries herself free and says matter-of-factly that she can't do false modesty, and the director laughs. Over at Shubh Savera, the other rookies file in with high-fives for Shagun and Shaurya, and Shagun enjoys retelling their day of adventure. But Anokhi's half-finished sentence and the facts of the case start to niggle at Shaurya, and he can't shake off the feeling that there's something else to the story. He decides to check the hospital for the victim's surviving relatives one last time, despite only having half an hour left. He makes his way to the funeral rooms and finds that the woman's daughter has arrived. He hands her his card and says he has questions about her mother, and she says through tears that she already gave an interview with Jagruk Nation reporters. Ruh-roh. It's ten o'clock and the nightly news begins, while Shaurya hears the real story from the daughter : She's in need of a liver transplant, and her mother was told that she had to lose a significant amount of weight in order to be the donor.

Oh crap, their diet-leads-to-death story is really a heartwarming tragedy about a mother's love?

But it's too late to stop Shubh Savera's report, and Shaurya turns his head to see the story being aired as soon as he finds out the truth. He runs over to the TV and pleads for it to be turned off before the daughter can see it, but can't manage to stop her from witnessing her mother's death on camera, with a false report no less. She cries that that's not the truth about her mother, and Shaurya is crushed to be the one responsible for dealing such a blow. All he can say is, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." And then Shubh Savera gets their asses handed to them by Jagruk Nation, where Devi reports the full story about the mother who died trying to save her daughter's life, complete with tearful interview. The chain of blame at Shubh Savera starts with Alok tearing Shagun a new one, Shaan asking Alok why he didn't check his facts, and Editor Johar asking Shaan what the hell he's doing. Notably, each senior shoulders the responsibility himself as it moves up the chain. But they aren't above silent looks of blame down the chain either, and Shagun squirms wondering where Shaurya ran off to at a time like this. Anokhi watches proudly as Mom reports the full story, while Shaurya watches feeling utterly defeated by this woman yet again. She twists the knife further to say that the news is like an onion- the more layers you peel back the more the truth gets revealed - and Jagruk Nation plans to deliver only reliable, trustworthy news. People watching at a train terminal all nod in agreement, but we see that Yash is standing in the background seething at the screen. Shaurya buries his head in his hands in defeat, and trudges back to the station late that night. The office is empty, and he sits down at the conference table directly across from where he sat on the day of their interview debate. Past Shaurya appears across the table and looks him square in the eye, and launches into his litany of accusations about how dangerous it is for a reporter to speak before knowing all the facts. About how he ought to know that his words have more weight. About how detestable it is to ignore that responsibility. About how this is why Pinocchios shouldn't become reporters. Present Shaurya defends himself, but it's no use - his conscience is literally staring him in the face. He looks up at himself and asks with tears in his eyes the same thing that Anokhi asked that day: "Are you talking about me?" Past Shaurya just repeats exactly what he said then and answers, "Yes." The vision gets up and walks away, and Shaurya sheds a tear, left alone with the cold hard truth.