As I was about to dismiss Episode 5 of The Morning Show Season 4 as a bit of a letdown, I found myself rethinking my initial assessment. While the episode does indeed contain its share of developments, much of it is clearly setting up for future episodes. There's no satisfying payoff to Cory's revelation to Celine about Stella and Miles, no standout "event" like the plane emergency in that same episode, and little progress in the Wolf River case—except for the surprising twist that Cory might not have been as involved as Bradley suspected. The focus largely shifts away from Bradley and Alex, which isn't the best formula for a great episode of this show. However, it rises to the occasion through sheer force of will, thanks almost entirely to Nicole Beharie's portrayal of "Amari."
"Amari" is centered on Chris and Mia. The latter is seeking a new position after dramatically storming out of UBN, while the former is still fronting the network's Olympics coverage. They seem like two worlds apart, but circumstances conspire to reunite them in a unique way, thanks to the sudden emergence of a salacious rumor that Chris only won two gold medals thanks to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The "rumor" is coming from a former track teammate of Chris's named Tunde Johnston, and it seems like petty jealousy. Marcus and Ben are both willing to write it off as such, keeping Chris isolated until the fuss dies down. But Chris is determined to address the accusations directly and take control of her public image. She doesn't believe that everyone will simply forget, and before long, she proves herself right. The rumor takes on a life of its own, quickly becoming a big enough deal that it might jeopardize her position as UBN's face of the upcoming Olympic Games.
Things get worse when Chris gets drunk and leaves Tunde an aggressive, rambling voicemail, which she promptly leaks. Bro covers it on his show, mocking Chris and calling her "Black excellence Barbie" and other derogatory terms. Alex tries to scold him for turning against one of their own, but she can't argue with his counterpoint that this is newsworthy. The whole world is talking about it, and the situation needs to be contained one way or another. Enter Mia.
Mia's planned career change at Defy Media doesn't go as planned when Alex makes it clear that UBN is willing to do everything in their power to keep her; in other words, if they can't have her, nobody else can either. I genuinely don't think Alex intended this in the way Mia interpreted it, and she tries to explain as much later, but the damage is done. Mia marches into UBN with a point to prove. She does it through Chris, whom she bumps into in the lobby, advising her to join Tunde on Bro's show and participate in a live debate to set the record straight.
Tunde appears as a jealous former rival, harboring deep-seated resentment over Chris's athletic triumphs that came at her expense. The fact that she seems to have drifted away from her roots and is ashamed of her origins only adds fuel to the fire. Chris handles the debate with grace and poise, and it's moderated fairly by Bro. But Tunde has the smoking gun—a prescription for anabolic steroids in Chris's name. And Chris, doing the unexpected, admits it.
Nicole Beharie's tearful monologue about being railroaded into taking PEDs after being dropped by her sponsors for getting pregnant is a remarkable performance. Nobody thought a female track star could return to her world-beating best after pregnancy and giving birth, but they were wrong about Chris. She lost her son, Amari, which destroyed her body and mental health. The steroids were her only way back to where she was, and once she got there, she stopped using them. But the shame never left her, even on the Olympic podium, which is why she transitioned to broadcasting. Even Bro expresses his condolences, and Tunde sheds a tear. Chris's reputation will be fine—better than ever, maybe. But it meant bearing her soul for the whole world to see. Don't be surprised if Beharie wins an award for this performance.
What else? Well, "The Morning Show" Season 4, Episode 5 doesn't offer much else except for the ongoing drama between Bradley and Cory. "Amari" opens with them on a date, being all cosy and romantic, but Bradley is really playing the long game. At the first opportunity, she sifts through Cory's emails for any evidence of the Wolf River scandal, but her searches yield nothing. She starts to focus on a woman who was photographed with Kenneth Stockton but can't identify her. When Bradley finally confesses to Alex that she and Cory slept together, Alex suggests she just ask him outright since if he's directly involved, she'll have to recuse herself from the story. In classic Bradley fashion, she organizes another date.
But her hand is forced. While trying to find a recipe he was sent for the lasagna he was planning to cook for dinner, Cory sees the search history in his emails and realizes that Bradley was manipulating him. He doesn't buy her claims that they slept together before she learned he might have been involved, which are true, and he's disgusted that she suspected him of having somehow engineered Stockton's suicide. Cory claims not to have even known the lawyer was dead. He was told not to run the story when he was new to the network since legal told him there was nothing in it and the company had been exonerated. He was too focused on Kessler at the time to pay much more attention. Earl was employed solely to talk Stockton out of wasting his clients' money on baseless claims. Anything that happened after that had nothing to do with Cory.
Against my better judgment, I believe him. And so does Bradley. Which means the rabbit hole runs deeper and in different directions than initially suspected. This may or may not be connected to the fact that when Bradley returns to her apartment, a Fed is waiting for her.
