The Morning Show's fourth season has already kicked off with a thrilling start, and its premiere was dizzying, to say the least. But Episode 2 takes things to a new level, crafting a deliberate sense of disorientation for several characters who feel hemmed in by their circumstances and uncertain of where to turn. While the drama may be spread thin and difficult to keep up with in its current structure, it's undeniably compelling in various areas, building to a ruthless cliffhanger that feels like the show is picking up even more steam.
It's all quite bonkers, to be honest. Long-time fans of this show will be accustomed to it by now, but it's always worth reiterating. The critical reception surrounding this season has been less than stellar, but most of the criticism revolves around its approach to hot-button political issues and, generally, a seeming refusal to truly condemn characters for being self-serving (and right of center). Few viewers of The Morning Show expect it to painstakingly reinforce their personal politics. It's a deeply silly show that uses real-life happenings as a backdrop for silly plotlines, with the caveat being that they're being performed by very good actors in Emmy-worthy performances. It's deliberately idiosyncratic in that way, and "The Revolution Will Be Televised" embraces that in the messiest way possible.
Take Bradley, for instance. Her triumphant return to television immediately goes off the rails when she stumbles over an explanation about Hal being radicalized during the pandemic and subsequently imprisoned for storming the Capitol. It may not be morally satisfying that Bradley has basically gotten away with covering things up—insofar as she has actually gotten away with it, which, to be fair, remains to be seen—but that's all part of the fun. Seeing her stumble into implicating herself while trying to privately figure out who "GaiaWarrior96" is is much more entertaining.
Chip can help. She meets with him before attending a clandestine meeting with her source, and while he plays dumb initially, he eventually recalls being instructed to spike a story about the chemical company, which was apparently cleared of any wrongdoing. The source doesn't attend the meeting for reasons that are unconfirmed but seem easy enough to figure out—more on this below—and Chip later has another revelation, based on the use of English spellings in the communiques with Bradley. He thinks the whistleblower is her old assistant, Claire Conway.
But let's rewind a bit, for this tangled tale ultimately involves Alex, albeit peripherally. She starts The Morning Show Season 4, Episode 2, believing she's attending a meeting with Stella about Bradley, only to stumble into a trap. Celine and the legal department are there to pose some tough questions to Alex about the Iranians, including whether she planned and facilitated the defection ahead of time without anyone's knowledge. This theory is bolstered by CCTV footage of Alex talking with Roya, which seemingly records Alex saying things she is absolutely adamant she didn't say. She's the victim of a deepfake. This rabbit hole is unintentionally hilarious.
Alex becomes extremely paranoid due to the scary likeness of the footage and the fact that nobody seems to believe her, especially with her father's key role in the constitutional referendum in Iraq and efforts to relocate a dissident translator making it seem like they're in cahoots to destabilize the Middle East. Alex doesn't know who to turn to. She tries Cory, who warns her that Celine will take it to the board and advises her to kiss the ring of Leslie Reynolds as a preventative measure. Then she goes to Mia to try and get airtime on The Morning Show to share her deepfake experience, and when that idea's nixed, she goes to Bro, putting up with his unsubtle workplace sexual harassment to try and guest on his show - which is blessed by no editorial oversight - and make her case there. The payoff here is Alex Googling "Alex Levy deepfake" and being confronted with countless results she'd much rather not have seen.
On her way to catch Leslie, Alex trips and falls into Bradley's subplot, finding herself in the midst of an Extinction Revolt environmental protest outside of a renewable energy summit. She live-streams the event and interviews a protestor who is adamant that the summit is a cover for backroom oil deals. When Bradley sees the footage, she recognizes the symbol on the protestor's shirt - it's the same one, actually - as is being worn by whoever was recording the footage of the child with black teeth she was sent by GaiaWarrior96.
As it happens, Alex is exonerated almost as quickly as she was implicated. Celine goes to see her at home to tell her that the security team discovered the audio had been doctored, and they suspect the Iranians as revenge for Alex's role in the defection. I must be honest; I'm not sure that explanation would necessarily put my mind at ease.
In all this chaos, we can't forget about Cory. He goes to Stella to try and drum up funding for his movie and is met with a cold shoulder. Stella later mentions this to Miles, and since Miles goes back a long way with Cory and apparently "knows where all the bodies are buried", he invites him to his loft to gently talk him out of schmoozing UBN - a colossal mistake that turns out. Stella left her lighter behind, and Cory recognizes it immediately. After confirming with the building staff that she has been in and out multiple times, he is suddenly armed with all the kompromat he needs to strongarm Stella into giving him a new deal at UBN.
