With three more episodes left, Apple TV’s The Morning Show returns this week with a very typical episode. Given how the show left us last week with as many as three story arcs hanging in the balance, it was quite expected, frankly. And for the most part, the episode works out. There are things that you have probably seen coming for a while, and then there are some wild surprises. Let us sink our teeth into everything without further ado.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Is Everyone A Piece Of You-Know-What?
The storyline of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) literally taking away the fundamental right of women’s agency over their own bodies is the central storyline of this week, as you would expect it to be. In a perfect world, something as trivial as a pretty cozy photo of Paul Marks and Alex Levy wouldn’t have any importance at a time like this, but the world that we live in (and so do these characters) is an unfair one, after all. So, in spite of everything that is going on, people at UBA and everyone else are talking about the Alex and Paul thing now that the ill-fated photo is out in the open, as it was supposed to be. Alex tries her best to contain it by using the tumultuous situation in her favor. Although she is not wrong here, as her personal life should not receive all the focus at a time when a graver issue is there. At this point, I am more inclined to believe that she is more of an opportunist and less of a messiah.
But What About Andre?
Remember the brave freelance journalist, aka Mia’s boyfriend (although we never hear the term)? You were wrong if you thought The Morning Show had forgotten about him and was not going to reveal his fate to us. It turns out he is back in NYC after all, and if that was not enough, he is at the studio of YDA, a rival network of UBA. Mia finds out while monitoring other networks during the live telecast of The Morning Show. She immediately leaves and confronts him at the YDA, and she ends up giving Andre an earful. However, Andre later comes to UBA and apologizes to Mia for whatever wrong he has done so far, including being grossly insensitive about the whole Mitch Kessler thing. Pretty soon Mia is swooning over him, which is alarming, given Andre is far from a green flag. He only proves that further when he proposes that Mia leave her “stressful job and everything” at UBA, and the two of them should run away together.
Mia already has enough on her plate, with Chris going all the way with her own protest against the overturning of ROE, which, although a brave thing on her part, has caused problems for the UBA. With Chris being called things like “baby killer” and smeared with red paint right outside the UBA office, Mia is understandably concerned about her safety. So she appoints a bodyguard for Chris, something that is not received warmly by our courageous anchor. Mia also asks Chris to not say a word during the show and focus on the “cakes” instead, which makes Chris even more frustrated and angry.
Is Laura Going To Be A Whistleblower?
We last saw Stella having a moment of conscience and telling Cory about Paul Marks’ offer, which was clearly the right thing to do. However, Stella did one really bad thing, which was not helping her friend Kate when she was in need. She tries to fix that by calling Kate, but doesn’t succeed as Kate doesn’t take Stella’s call. Seeing no other option, Stella seeks out Bradley for help regarding the matter. Considering Kate would be scared of her current circumstances, given she is freshly fired from Marks’ tech company Hyperion, not due to her performance at work but something else, Bradley is apprehensive. Her being skeptical is only justified considering what happened with Hannah (in case you have forgotten, the intern who blew the whistle on Mitch Kessler and later killed herself when she received further shame and guilt instead of support and love). However, Stella does manage to convince her, and realizing it is the right thing to do, Bradley tries to track down Kate. However, it doesn’t appear to be easy for her, as Kate first rebuffs Bradley when she calls, and then she doesn’t show up at a secluded location, even after promising she would.
Meanwhile, at the NBA, Audra (Mindy Kaling finally making another appearance) casually drops a seed of doubt inside Laura’s head when Laura innocently talks about Bradley visiting Cory’s mother. Laura is not someone who snoops on other people’s phones, but she has also been insecure about her relationship with Bradley and has suspicions about Cory. With Bradley’s text messages and email already available on the internet thanks to the hack (we still don’t know who’s behind that, though), Laura fails to resist herself from going through it. Well, she doesn’t find anything substantial that proves Bradley and Cory ever had a thing going on between them, but what she stumbles upon is far more severe. Remember the cover-up Bradley (and Cory) had to do, thanks to what Hal did? Laura finds out all about that. What I fail to understand here is why wouldn’t Bradley delete everything that can make her life difficult? Anyway, now we have to see what Laura does here. Is she going to call the cops on Bradley or just not do anything for the sake of her love?
What Is Paul Marks’ Plan?
Things are not going well for Paul Marks. Just a few weeks back, the world used to be his oyster. But with his recent romantic involvement with Alex Levy being scrutinized, Paul is not doing that well. However, he is still in a better position than Alex, at least, as he is busy with a test of his new Hyperion project away from the hustle and bustle of NYC. Unfortunately, though, the test turns out to be unsuccessful, and Paul realizes that he has to spend more money on Hyperion, and the UBA deal as a long-term thing might not be a good idea financially.
Meanwhile, at UBA, things become more troublesome for Alex when she takes the initiative to postpone the Paul Marks episode of “Alex Unfiltered” and does an impromptu episode of the same with one Jess Bennett. Alex’s plan of talking about the ROE overturning with Jess instead of her personal life goes haywire when Jess brings up the issue of a representative of the fourth estate dating a billionaire and questions Alex’s integrity as a journalist. Since bringing Jess was Chip’s idea, Alex takes it out on her producer. But Chip, who’s always on Alex’s side no matter what, refuses to take the blame this time and holds Alex accountable instead. Honestly, I don’t see anything wrong from Chip’s side here, and the reaction is pretty much justified after being treated like a doormat by Alex for the whole season (not to mention the last two seasons as well). We have seen Alex and Chip screaming at each other before, but this time, it ends with Alex firing Chip. He doesn’t seem to mind, but before leaving, he reminds Alex that “Alex Unfiltered,” which literally revived her career, was his idea only.
Back at home, a dejected Paul returns to Alex, all battered and bruised, thanks to the world outside treating him really harshly. But Paul does have something on his mind that he shares with Alex. What if he goes ahead with the deal and sells UBA right after? And then he and Alex start everything from scratch? Alex doesn’t say anything, but she seems to be on board with the idea. But will Marks’ plan work out with Cory Ellison at his throat? Or his man-friday Amanda is in cahoots with ex-UBA boss evil Fred? We have to wait another week to find that out.
Meanwhile, it was nice to see the episode end with everyone at The Morning Show Studios raising a glass to honor Hannah on the anniversary of her death. Chip breaks the news of him getting fired to Bradley, who consoles him and also requests that he look into the matter of Kate, which he gladly accepts. Mia is absent from the wake, and nobody really knows where she is. Did she, by any chance, take Andre’s idea seriously? I hope not.
