As UBA’s deal with billionaire egomaniac Paul Marks (Jon Hamm) nears completion on The Morning Show, everyone at the media company frets over their standing. Should Stella (Greta Lee) accept the deal to become president of the company and oust Cory (Billy Crudup)? Which anchors will stick around? More importantly, thanks to an investigation by the DOJ, will the deal even go through?
As we head into Episode 7, one might think Paul would be in a frenzy trying to juggle all of this. Nope. The clever megalomaniac has instead charmed Alex (Jennifer Aniston) into his bed. The pair have successfully escaped the world together. This is more emotional than a simple hook-up, though; the duo chat about their lives. Paul says the name “Dana” in his sleep, and reveals that she was “the love of [his] life.” Dana was his dog. Alex opens up about her daughter. I, for one, completely forgot that Alex has a daughter and an ex-husband.
But it’s all in the family on this week’s episode of The Morning Show. While Paul and Alex are twisting in bedsheets, Leonard (Stephen Fry) is twisting Cory’s arm over the DOJ investigation. There’s one woman who is really prodding the Paul deal. Cory agrees to drive upstate to deal with her himself, and tags in Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) to help him do the job. That super evil political figure? Cory’s mother Martha (Lindsay Duncan).
Cory has mommy issues, which, even without any logical explanation, still adds up. Perhaps this is why he’s clinging to Bradley like a lost little duckling. When Martha asks the pair to stay for dinner, Bradley rejects her offer because she has to be on the evening news. Cory scolds Bradley for her rudeness—she is his employee, and she must oblige. They’ll stay for dinner, because they must. They need to convince Martha to get off Paul and UBA’s case.
This doesn’t really come back up again in the episode, but it needs to be mentioned: Mia’s (Karen Pittman) former beau Andre (Clive Standen) is still stuck in Mariupol, possibly missing. She calls her pal in the warzone and asks him to help, but he hangs up on her, leaving Mia frightened and worried.
Not for long, however, because as soon as she’s off the phone, Stella enters with a job offer. If Stella were to become president of UBA, would Mia like to take Stella’s old role as president of the news division? Mia doesn’t hesitate: abso-freakin’-lutely. Stella is still worried about Cory’s departure—he did get her this big job, after all—but Mia tells her not to worry about it with this zinger: “There are only so many chairs at the top. White men don’t give them up willingly.”
There’s some big fashion gala as the backdrop for this episode, which feels somewhat akin to a Gossip Girl party. The soiree itself isn’t the focus, but we get to see everyone in beautiful gowns. Alex and Paul take a photo with Chris (Nicole Beharie), and Paul pulls Alex aside to tell her paparazzi have photos of them—do they go public as a couple or cover it up like nothing happened? Alex goes with the latter, but we’ve seen how well private relationships have worked for UBA in the past.
At this point, everything in the episode becomes a confrontation: Cory talks to his mother about the DOJ before returning to UBA, where Stella reveals her secret about Paul, and Chip (Mark Duplass) catches Alex in a bad moment. More on all of this later, but as these events unfurl, so does our democracy. The Supreme Court opinion has leaked, meaning Roe vs. Wade is under fire. Chris starts a fight in a bathroom with a handful of models who are apathetic to the issue.
But we’ll worry about that at another point in the show, probably in future episodes. Cory eventually convinces his mom to cancel all her meetings involved with the DOJ investigation, while Martha unsuccessfully tries to get Bradley to date Cory. The arguments are all solved when Martha and Cory sing a piano duet with some awkward autotune. Now we know where Cory’s hokeyness comes from!
When Cory arrives in New York City, Stella informs him of Paul’s decision. Cory isn’t afraid of impending doom, and he doesn’t rush to stop UBA’s deal with Paul. Cory tells Stella to sign the deal, because Paul clearly believes she’ll bow to him at any moment, and that they’ll see what happens after that. Stella smirks. Whose side is she on?
The episode ends as Paul and Alex make out in her office, and Chip, a Peeping Tom, gapes at this new development. If you two wanted to stay secret, don’t smooch in an office with all-glass windows! Come on, people. It’s affair amateur hour over here!
Chip has been at Alex’s side through everything—Mitch (Steve Carell), COVID, you name it—so it’ll be interesting to see if he takes a side in this new debacle. Moreover: Is Stella on Team Paul or Team Cory? The Morning Show has become a game of Survivor, with unclear alliances galore. Let’s get ready for some blindsides.
