Hey, *The Morning Show*, gather 'round. I've got a hushed secret to whisper in your collective ear: No one requested this. This?! A reliving of one of the most grim stretches in recent memory? It's a hard pass, folks—a definite no-go zone. And I'm not just referring to how this journey back to March 2020 and the year that ensued means we're plunging headfirst into the initial, chaotic, and terrifying months of a global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent reckoning, as well as January 6th, 2021. But *The Morning Show*, seemingly unable to resist, sprinkles in delightful reminders of other horrors from that era as a little "bonus," like raging wildfires and the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It's as if we're saying, "We get it; it was horrific. Please, don't make us revisit that nightmare. We've just barely escaped." No one asked for this.
From a narrative perspective, we finally receive some answers and clarity on several points that have been teasingly hinted at. Yet, I still believe it was a misstep to be so cryptic with the details up until now, the fifth episode of the season. Wouldn't it have been more enjoyable to witness Mia's romance with photojournalist André in a less time-jumping, more straightforward manner?
In "Love Island," we're treated to a flirty, charming montage that showcases just how deeply in love—and incredibly attractive—these two are. We also discover that after Mia confides in André about her past relationship with Mitch Kessler—once she catches him watching the documentary that Cory, in his quest for chaos and ratings, decided to release on UBA+—the couple hits a rough patch. André, overwhelmed by his emotions, drowns his sorrows at three different bars, potentially exposing himself to COVID-19 in the process. For Mia, that's beyond a dealbreaker. She labels him a selfish jerk and moves into her UBA office. That's the state of their relationship when André gets called away on a job to Afghanistan. Have they seen each other in person since? It seems unlikely. I fear all of this portends that this man will meet his end in Ukraine. After all, you don't get swoony montages and heart-wrenching farewells unless unmitigated tragedy is lurking around the corner, right? It's as if *The Morning Show* had to rewind to ensure we're emotionally invested in Mia and André, so whatever catastrophe awaits can truly hit home. Anyway, they're undeniably hot together, and I'm genuinely worried about this man's well-being.
But most of this rewind to 2020 and 2021 serves to finally fill in the gaps regarding what's been going on with Bradley this season. Back in March 2020, while Alex Levy was broadcasting her battle with COVID-19 live on UBA+, Bradley was holding down the fort at *TMS* and anxiously awaiting the all-clear to join her then-secretish girlfriend, Laura, at her cabin in Montana. Remember, Laura has a heart condition and is trying to stay as isolated as possible. It's adorably naive of them to say things like "people will speculate," as if the two of them co-hosting a live broadcast from a cozy Montana cabin every morning wouldn't immediately land them on the cover of US Weekly. They make a big deal out of the moment Bradley finally calls Laura "babe" on camera and talks about her brewing stronger coffee, as if the whole world hadn't already figured out they were dating. But they're blissfully happy together, in their own little bubble.
You know who seems to have quite the reaction to Bradley and Laura being together? Cory Ellison. Remember, at the tail end of Season Two, as Bradley and Cory combed the streets of New York City in search of Bradley’s brother Hal, Cory took it upon himself to spill his heart out to Bradley. Quite the steamy moment, wasn't it? He confessed that he was utterly in love with her, and Bradley's response? It was basically, "Oh, I have to take this call."
When Bradley reassures Cory that she isn't, you know, packing up and heading to Montana because of their night together, she describes it as "a crazy night" and claims they were both "a little out of [their] minds." Cory, though, is skeptical of this interpretation, and Bradley stands firm. Am I overlooking something, or does this imply they slept together that night? Or is this all just about Cory's infatuation? It's amusing how "The Morning Show" can be so blatant about some things and yet so maddeningly vague about others. If there's any salacious detail, for goodness' sake, spill it all!
Anyway, Cory stays behind in New York and ends up hooking up with his attractive realtor, while Bradley jets off to Montana for a blissful few months with her girlfriend. But then, things start to unravel. There's early tension between Bradley and Laura when Laura makes a comment about Bradley’s brother and mother being uneducated, following Bradley's anecdote about their refusal to wear masks and still frequenting crowded public spaces. The tension reaches a boiling point when Laura calls herself an asshole, and they share some "bisexual chocolate" (if you know, you know). But the small rift in their relationship lingers.
It doesn’t help that Bradley is struggling with the isolation, and it certainly doesn’t ease matters when Bradley’s mother succumbs to COVID-19. Bradley has a complicated relationship with her mother, but she still blames herself for not rushing to her side when Hal called with the news. She channels a lot of her grief and anger towards Laura, accusing her of being the reason she drifted apart from her mother, saying Laura’s happy when people like Bradley’s mom die, and launching into a tirade about how Laura's elitism makes her treat Bradley like her "little white trash pet." Laura fires back with, "Your mother was a piece of shit, and you’re the first one to tell everyone that," which is, well, pretty harsh, Tai. Even if there's a grain of truth to it, the woman just died! In all fairness, though, Laura did warn us she could be an asshole.
There’s no real coming back from a disaster like that, and "The Morning Show’s" ratings start to plummet with Bradley looking so visibly miserable. Finally, Stella manages to get Bradley out of Montana and assigns her to election coverage in Washington D.C. And wouldn't you know it, that's how Bradley ends up at the Capitol when the January 6th riot erupts. And she's right in the thick of it, folks. "The Morning Show" doesn’t hold back, seamlessly blending real and fictional footage of the day’s events. There’s Bradley Jackson, trying to stay undercover and filming everything she can with her phone. After getting accidentally pepper-sprayed, she finds herself in a hallway where several rioters start assaulting a Capitol police officer. Eventually, one rioter and one police officer break away from the group, and the man is really laying into the cop. Bradley captures it all on video. But then she realizes—the man is Hal.
The next thing we're aware of, the siblings find themselves cooped up in a hotel room, with Bradley seething at her brother. Hal scrambles to concoct a flurry of excuses, even going so far as to mention that he was only in D.C. to see her. But Bradley, with unflinching resolve, cuts straight to the chase: “You assaulted a police officer, Hal. That's a felony, and guess what? I've got you doing it on goddamn camera.” You can see the wheels turning in her head as she spirals, desperately trying to figure out her next move. Then, Hal drops a bombshell: His wife (or was it girlfriend?) Cheryl is pregnant. He's about to become a father. It's like a switch flips—Bradley can't bring herself to turn her brother in. She tells him to get out, to keep his mouth shut about ever being there, and to sever all contact. Bradley heads to work, and despite a moment's hesitation, she quietly expunges the segment of the video featuring her brother. And as she well knows, that, too, is a felony.
Perhaps seeking some form of recompense for her troubles, or perhaps still in denial, Bradley leverages her remarkable footage to land that coveted anchor spot on the evening news (if you were wondering how she managed to snag that job). But it doesn't take long for the truth to come knocking, arriving at her doorstep in the form of an FBI subpoena demanding that UBA hand over all of her footage. The FBI is probing into the assault on a police officer and knows it occurred in the vicinity of other snippets of Bradley’s recording, leading them to believe she might possess crucial evidence.
Bradley shows up at Cory's lavish new Hamptons abode (that front door is a showstopper!) and lays it on the line: she can't surrender the footage due to "journalistic independence." When he insists this is an extraordinary circumstance and, hey, they could end up as heroes, she spills the beans. She deleted the footage because Hal was on it, and it'll be glaringly obvious if they examine the remaining footage. “Hal’s the only person I have left,” she confesses, trying to justify why she jeopardized herself and the entire network—which had promoted her based on her January 6th footage.
But damn, this guy still has a soft spot for Bradley. He tells her he'll handle it; he'll consult with the lawyers, and everything will be fine. And then he tells her to get out. “I don't want to hear another fucking word about this, ever,” he declares.
This is what Cory's been dangling over Bradley's head all season—he's covered up her felony for her. Is the man utterly devastated or simply realizing that he'll never get over Bradley? Either way, once she's gone and he's done her dirty work, he tosses his realtor girlfriend's bracelet aside and scrubs his entire kitchen clean, as if to purify himself of the past.
