Welcome back to the here and now—or should I say, 2022? Who can keep track, and honestly, who truly cares? On *The Morning Show*, chaos still reigns supreme, but this season, it’s dialed up a notch—73% sexier, to be precise. And let me tell you, that’s a statistic I can fully endorse.
This spike in sizzle? It’s not thanks to Chip and Isabella, if you can believe it. (Just kidding… though, can you *imagine*? Those two are a walking disaster.) Isabella, honey, *snap out of it*. The only person deluded enough to think Chip had moved on from his obsession with Alex Levy was *you*. So, no, Chip and Isabella won’t be honeymooning in Niagara Falls, nor will they be exchanging vows beneath its misty cascades. Once again, Chip has torpedoed his own life—all in the name of Alex Levy. Someone, *please*, put this man out of his misery.
Nope, the real heatwave on this show comes courtesy of Alex Levy and Paul Marks finally succumbing to what we’ve all seen brewing since day one: they *go there*. And let me tell you, it’s worth the wait. How do they get from professional tension to full-blown chemistry? Picture this: Alex corners Paul in a high-stakes, contentious meeting, and Paul—vulnerable, raw—admits he’s the kind of man who fixes wrongs. Turns out, that’s exactly what Alex and Paul find irresistibly hot.
Now that Alex has orchestrated Paul’s return to UBA in what Cory dubs her “Miss Saigon helicopter arrival” (since when does Cory find time for musical theater?), the tech billionaire’s deal with the struggling legacy media giant is back in full swing. The board’s on board, shareholders are being briefed, and everyone’s grilling Paul with questions tailored to their own arcs. Mia demands reassurance her newsroom staff won’t be axed (they won’t). Bradley presses him to investigate that cyberattack—for the greater good, of course, not her own skin (he agrees). And Alex? She grills him on conflicts of interest, given his sprawling empire and questionable global ties. Unsatisfied with his vague “we’ll handle it” response, she demands he sit down for an *Alex Levy Unfiltered* interview. Paul, notoriously media-shy, says yes—partly to mollify shareholders, partly because he’s itching to taste her lips.
Paul concedes to Alex’s “no prep questions” rule but lays down his own terms: the interview happens in *two days*. Chip’s head nearly explodes at the news, but he rallies his team to dig up dirt on Paul—fast. And where does his desperate search lead him? Straight to Stella’s desk.
"The Morning Show" has been teasing viewers with tantalizing hints about Stella's enigmatic past with Paul, why she brands him as "ruthless," and the reason she can't endure a one-on-one encounter with him without nervously clawing at her nails until they're shredded. The mere sight of him unravels her composure. Initially, she dismisses Chip's inquiries about Paul's darker side, insisting she barely knew him back then; she was just a college student when their paths briefly crossed. But when Stella discovers that Chip's investigation into Paul has yielded nothing substantial and that Alex's interview with Paul is likely to turn into a celebratory "victory lap" for both him and UBA, she gathers her resolve and requests a brief chat.
Alex, Chip, Isabella, and the rest of the crew arrive at Paul's opulent Hamptons Hideaway, where he promptly kicks off the proceedings with some overt displays of power. Strolling in from the beach with his dog, he exudes an air of nonchalance, as if he couldn't care less about being prepared for the interview. "Easy breezy, guys!" he quips. When offered makeup, he declines with a smirk, noting that his face already resembles Jon Hamm's – had they not noticed? Paul proves quite receptive to Alex's initial line of questioning about the deal and his motivations for wanting to join UBA (to fix the news, of course), but the conversation quickly escalates into a heated exchange, with both accusing the other of disrespecting their work.
After a brief intermission, Alex decides it's time to delve into the intel provided by Stella. She probes Paul about a young tech innovator think tank he once ran, eventually steering the conversation towards a particular incident involving a Stanford student whose idea he allegedly appropriated for a mere $50,000, forcing her to sign an NDA before he went on to amass wealth using her code. Worse still, he transformed her creation – a GPS blocker designed for activists – into a "predictive policing tool" for governments. When Paul attempts to rationalize his actions by claiming it was "industry standard" and that everyone involved was an adult, Alex drops a bombshell: the student he exploited had plunged into a deep depression and even attempted suicide as a result. Paul's face registers genuine shock; he had no idea.
Alex presses him for a response, and he struggles to compose himself. In a moment of vulnerability, he confesses that at one point in his life, he was so consumed by his work that he destroyed relationships and treated people abominably. After his wife left him without his even realizing it, he was forced to confront his flaws and make some serious changes. He acknowledges that he owes that student, "at the very least, a conversation." Alex is left speechless, her expression a mix of surprise and, honestly, a tinge of arousal. Chip notices, and Isabella notices Chip noticing – you get the picture. The car ride home is filled with unspoken tensions and newfound revelations.
Once Alex finally manages to shake Chip off her trail, she lingers behind to have a "debrief" session with Paul. And by debrief, I mean it in two tantalizing ways: first, they dissect how that interview will burnish both of their reputations, and second, they engage in a sizzling, clothes-tearing, passion-filled encounter in Paul’s bedroom. More of this tantalizing drama on *The Morning Show*, please! We’ve earned it!
The next morning, Alex lies naked atop Paul, sprawled across his back for what feels like an eternity of awkward intimacy. But when Cory calls to apologize for Alex’s audacious interview move, Paul brushes it off, insisting no apology is needed and gushing, “She really blew [my] mind.” Talk about a morning-after Yelp review to die for. Good for Alex.
Once they finally disentangle, Paul heads back to UBA and finds Stella poring over footage from the interview. In case you haven’t pieced it together yet, Stella is the Stanford student from Paul’s incubator program. He doesn’t exactly ooze remorse, but he does tell her she should’ve brought her concerns to him directly. He also drops a bombshell about his grand vision for UBA: once the deal closes, he’s axing Cory and plans to install Stella as the new CEO.
Cory, meanwhile, is completely oblivious to this looming coup—probably because he’s too preoccupied with Bradley Jackson’s latest crisis. Hal’s in town with his family! As Cory puts it, “Hal doesn’t show up unless chaos is about to erupt six ways till Sunday.” And he’s not wrong. Hal informs his sister that he’s had enough; he intends to turn himself in to the FBI while he’s in New York. He knows they’ll eventually track him down for what he did to that Capitol police officer, and he figures they might go easier on him if he confesses voluntarily. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this show is using January 6th as a cornerstone of Bradley Jackson’s storyline, but here we are.
Bradley, of course, loses her cool, desperately trying to make her brother understand the fallout this will have on her—because let’s face it, this is all about Bradley. Hal argues he’s doing what’s right for his baby daughter and his seemingly wonderful wife, and hey, if Bradley really wanted to avoid trouble, she could’ve just erased all the footage and pretended she never captured anything that day. “You’d do anything to get ahead,” he spits at her. Harsh, but undeniably true.
Bradley attempts to intimidate him into silence by extending an invitation to both him and his wife, urging them to watch her pre-record a segment alongside a man who stands convicted from the January 6th incident and is now awaiting trial. Yet, amidst the faux drama, she predominantly paces around, visibly shaken by the looming uncertainties that her own future might hold. During an oddly intimate "date" with Laura, she drowns her sorrows in alcohol and warns Laura to steer clear of entanglement with her. Laura, growing increasingly worried, eventually seeks out Hal for a heartfelt conversation, convinced that Bradley's troubles stem from Hal's lack of support for their relationship. This dialogue grants Hal a sobering glimpse into the "collateral damage" he would unleash if he were to follow through with what, undeniably, would be the morally just course of action.
Just as Bradley grapples with the realization that, as a journalist, her duty is to "hold people accountable," and perhaps extend that principle to her own circumstances, Hal and his family abruptly depart town without a farewell. He leaves behind a note, informing her that he has had a change of heart. Bradley, now unburdened, seeks out Laura, confesses her longing, and the two share a passionate embrace in the street. Yet, a nagging intuition whispers to me that the moment Laura uncovers Bradley's secrets—and it's a certainty she will—she might come to rue this reunion.
