Bring back the hand sanitizer, the paranoia about any coughs, and the “six feet apart” rule: The Morning Show is throwing it back to the pandemic in this week’s episode. In a news broadcast, we learn that the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed—which tells us that the date is March 24, 2020. We’re in the eye of the storm.
Because we’re in a flashback here, let’s just take a minute to remember where everyone is: Alex (Jennifer Aniston) and Chip (Mark Duplass), who both have COVID, are reporting from the former’s high-rise apartment. Cory (Billy Crudup) and Stella (Greta Lee) are panicking over what to air on the newly launched UBA+. One big question: Should they show a posthumous interview with the maligned Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell)? Stella vetoes the idea, but Cory says they don’t have much of a choice, considering that Aaron Sorkin won’t let them send his fictional Kissinger biopic—ha—straight to streaming.
“Why did you greenlight that?” Stella pokes Cory.
“Self-hate,” he teases back.
Remember André (Clive Standen), the man Mia (Karen Pittman) used to take photos in Ukraine in last week’s episode? There was some awkward tension there, and now, we get answers as to why. Andre and Mia were sleeping together at the beginning of the pandemic. They’re also seemingly in love; Mia finally has someone to whine about work to, and she’s at peace. Everyone should be happy for Mia! But this man is so gruff, so weird, so intense—okay, obviously he’s got a villainous side we’re going to see later.
Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) is the only one on The Morning Show in the UBA offices, reporting live while Laura (Julianna Margulies) films out of her home in Montana. Laura and Bradley are still in a somewhat-serious situationship, flirting before shows but separated thanks to social distancing. Laura invites Bradley to stay at and work from her ranch, avoiding the rest of the world together. Bradley accepts, and she moves in.
Apart from the occasional cutaway to Mia’s crumbling love life—André comes home drunk one night after going to a handful of bars sometime in mid-2020, then leaves to go to shoot photos in Afghanistan the next day—this episode is all about Bradley and Cory’s inner workings. How did they handle the pandemic? Why are they being so weird nowadays? While I am infatuated with their weird, semi-romantic dynamic, this “explainer on what happened before Season 3” in the middle of Season 3 is a bit confusing.
Jon Hamm and Billy Crudup.
Apple TV+Cory and Bradley have been teasing some sort of secret rendezvous for the entirety of Season 3 thus far. Did they sleep together? Probably. Is Morning Show going to string us along, until they eventually drop this fairly inconsequential bomb? Even more likely. “We were out of our minds,” Bradley says to Cory, after she tells him she’s moving out of the UBA hotel and into Laura’s mansion. Bradley then tells him to forget their loaded past, because she’s moving out of the UBA hotel and planning to shack up with Laura. Cory, she’s just not that into you.
Cory rebounds with, of all people, the woman who sold him his house. First And Just Like That wanted me to believe people form friendships and relationships with their realtors, and now The Morning Show does too? I’ll believe it when I see it. Sure enough, Cory uses his sexy realtor to help him get over Bradley and learn about his new neighbors in the Hamptons. There are a ton of billionaires in the nearby area—like, say, Paul Marks (Jon Hamm), a grumpy know-it-all who says things like “Congratulations, you know a fact!” while being interviewed by inquisitive journalists.
Naturally, Cory wants to become Paul’s bestie—both because Cory gravitates to the wealthiest man in the room and because UBA needs more funding. Cory approaches Paul while he surfs on a nearby beach with a corny opening line: “Ya ever worry about sharks?” Paul shakes him off. He’s not interested in freaks of the media. (Who is?)
Laura and Bradley are happy as two clams, or rather, being in Montana, two heifers cozying up away from the rest of the cattle pack. Their relationship is a secret, yes—but they also can’t hide their affection from slipping out while they anchor TMS together. Aside from the rising death toll, national racial unrest, and huge wildfires, everything is so peaceful in their homey little life together.
Natalie Morales and Greta Lee.
Apple TV+Until it isn’t, because Bradley’s conservative family is causing a ruckus halfway across the country. Bradley’s brother Hal (Joe Tippett) refuses to wear a mask at the grocery store. Their mom is diagnosed with COVID and later dies. One would think that Laura, her partner, would be supportive—nope. Laura, on her neoliberal high horse, condemns Bradley’s family, teasing her for being the only one who “learned about science” in her house. Bradley dumps Laura and heads to D.C. to cover some sort of militia threatening to riot at the White House.
It’s a hard left turn from Bradley’s grief following her estranged mother’s death, but here we are: January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Bradley is inside the Capitol. The insurrection is well under way. Bradley grabs footage of looters throwing around Americana, like footballs, and people storming through the gates of the Senate chambers. She even catches a rioter assaulting a police officer—a sad day in American history, but a great moment for journalists to report.
That rioter punching the officer, however, removes his mask. It’s Hal. Bradley’s footage is now tainted with evidence that would land her brother in jail for treason.
Bradley whisks Hal out of the Capitol and into her hotel, where she admonishes him for participating in the violent attack on democracy. His excuse is that he knew Bradley would be there, so he did it for attention. Sure, Hal. Oh, and his wife is pregnant, so Bradley can’t be mad. She deletes the footage. Hal is vindicated—for now.
After UBA airs the recordings, the FBI subpoenas the news network for all their footage, because they believe Bradley may have videos of the police officer being assaulted. Bradley goes to Cory. “We have to protect our journalistic independence,” she insists. He says they’ll have to bow to the FBI’s demands. With nowhere else to go, Bradley confesses that she saw Hal at the Capitol. Cory agrees to keep everything quiet, although he’s pissed that Bradley only talks to him when she needs things.
Bradley somehow still manages to end up on top. In return for the insurrection footage, she demands that Stella take her off TMS and put her on evening news instead. Stella obliges. Now, back to the present day—where were we?
