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The Morning Show Episode 202 begins to whet our appetites with the appetizer of the full dinner party of drama. It takes place over a 3-week period. Additionally, it beautifully intertwines the plots of Bradley, Cory, Alex, and Mitch to embody the episode’s title: “It’s Like the Flu”. Although it is a clear reference to the Coronavirus pandemic and its minimal news air time in January 2020, each character experiences the title in a unique manner in their plots.
Bradley
The episode starts on New Year’s Day 2020 after Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) wraps up her New Year’s Eve coverage with Eric Nomani. He is her co-host since Alex’s exit from The Morning Show played by Hasan Minhaj. In the previous episode, she finds out that he is offered the position she’s perpetually dreamed of having – evening news anchor. Due to this discovery, Bradley has yet to truly process the news. As she approaches the hotel she and Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) reside in, she is forced to put on a tough face when confronting him. She tells him she “feels something coming on” from standing out in Times Square. It isn’t until she is away from Cory and in an elevator that we see Bradley react to the news. As the episode progresses, Bradley is “on sick leave” for three weeks.
Witherspoon flawlessly displays the sadness and frustration her character is experiencing in mere seconds of being alone in the elevator. She shows the regret of losing the friendship with Cory as well as the frustration of not getting her dream career. However, Witherspoon also emphasizes the strength and know-how Bradley is gaining in this episode. In a meeting with her agent, she states that the mere fact that she isn’t fired shows how much power she possesses. Witherspoon masterfully understands and depicts her character’s emotions and reactions to cards that have been dealt her way.
Cory
In addition to dealing with Bradley’s “sick” leave, Cory is also negotiating the return of Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston). To save Bradley’s ratings as well as the network itself, he must do this. The “flu” he is combating is the wrongful death lawsuit Hannah Shoenfeld (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)’s family is filing against the network. In the previous season, Hannah takes her life as a result of reliving the trauma of Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell)’s sexual assault through an interview conducted by Bradley. As the new UBA president, Cory cannot find the remedy for this lawsuit. By the end of the episode, the family provides the price for the settlement: 119.2 million dollars. This is the same amount that was given to Fred Micklen (Tom Irwin) to step down as the president of UBA.
Crudup continues to deliver an excellent performance as the new UBA president. He maintains his calm, cool, positive demeanor from the previous season. Although, he allows Cory to show that much of what he says has a double meaning which is often driven by the desire to do what he believes is best for everyone at UBA. Part of me wonders if Cory will undergo some sort of breakdown as the season moves forward due to the constant pressure he’s experiencing from all sides.
Alex
Alex is coming off from her fit of the “flu”: her old toxic self and the actions she performed along with her anxiety of being back in the trigger of it. She agrees to discuss her coming back to The Morning Show as well as her own primetime slot after her time with TMS is up. Despite her desire for a fresh start at UBA, her old demons are haunting her in the form of Daniel Henderson (Desean K. Terry). She conspired with him to become her new co-host in Season 1, causing him to reject the offer from YDA to be a co-anchor, and Bradley who she attempted to get fired due to the threat Alex sees in her.
In a confrontation with Bradley, Bradley brings up Charlie “Chip” Black (Mark Duplass), Alex’s producer of 15 years. Alex considers Chip a friend. Yet, she has not contacted him in the 9 months since she’s left UBA and put him through hell during those 15 years. In an effort to make amends with Chip, she goes to him and offers him his old job. Despite telling Bradley that he’d have “words” for Alex should they be face-to-face, the only words he utters at the end of the episode are, “When do I start?
Aniston is wonderfully showing the redemption arc that her character is attempting to endure. There is different calming confidence that is being shown through her character, showing the growth Alex has undergone. However, I wonder how far this growth truly goes? As seen in the Bradley/Alex confrontation, Alex tells Bradley to “compete” and “[not] rollover”. This shows that Alex has not completely lost that edge to her that propelled her to be such a household name.
Mitch
Mitch is finally given an update and he’s run away to…Italy? In a montage of his morning, Mitch is living in a beautiful Italian villa with a gray Great Dane. However, his family is not present with him. He appears to be visibly upset and lonely in dealing with the aftermath of Bradley and Alex’s exposing report from Season 1.
Just as the flu comes back, Mitch’s past actions come to bite him as he attempts to live quietly under the radar. He is harassed in a gelato shop by an American woman. She has her friend recording the encounter in hopes of gaining Internet fame. He is rescued by Paola (Valeria Golino), who tells off the self-proclaimed American feminist harasser and sings about Mussolini to distract from the comments being made at Mitch. Paola, the great defender, later catches up with him to exchange numbers and to pick his brain about the media at a later point.
Carell isn’t given as much screen time as the others in this episode. Although, I am curious to see where his story goes mostly because I’m not sure where else it can go. It feels that there was true punctuation in his story in Season 1.
“The Gloves Are Coming Off”
As Bradley says near the end of the episode, “the gloves are coming off”. It’s clear that the next few episodes will be laying down the groundwork to lead to an epic main course.
The Morning Show releases new episodes on Apple TV+ every Friday.
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