After last week’s satisfying, wish-fulfilling episode, it’s only fear to expect The Morning Show to deliver something dark and herowing this week. Adhering to that, the show delivered exactly that: an hour of captivating drama where the good guys try to outweigh the bad but mostly fail. Although it is hard to distinguish between good and bad in this show, you know what I mean. Billy Crudup, inarguably the show’s best performer, gets his biggest opportunity to showcase his talent this season, and he doesn’t let it go wasted, unsurprisingly. It is a big party day at Cory Land, and everyone at UBA is gearing up for it. Not that all of them are particularly excited to attend the party, but given that it is a party thrown by the CEO, making your presence felt is sort of mandatory, after all.
Spoilers Ahead
How is Bradley Jackson doing?
We last saw Bradley two weeks ago when the cyberattack affected her directly and brought her extremely private movements with Laura out in the open. Bradley, as she always does, fought through that bravely, and she is still doing so. However, as people tend to move on from old gossip to new gossip, Bradley is not news anymore. Many other secretive things have come out, and the mighty Cybil has been kicked off the UBA board, thanks to the leak of her racist email and, subsequently, the interview.
At Cory’s party, we come across Bradley, who is rather chill and quite excited to see Laura. The vibe between the two clearly suggests that there is still a lot of attraction between the two of them. Bradley even confesses that she still has the urge to abandon everything and run away with Laura. Things turn a bit sour when Laura jokes about Cory’s feelings for Bradley, which Bradley finds insensitive. The Cory and Bradley equation is one of the most intriguing aspects of the show, and we still don’t know what is going on between the two, and this only adds fuel to it. For now, though, Cory is pissed at Bradley for hanging around with Laura for the entire party instead of sweet-talking certain people who could bring money to UBA, as the organization is under extreme financial duress.
Is Cory Captaining a Sinking Ship?
What makes Cory Ellison the most exciting The Morning Show character is that the man never breaks down, no matter how screwed up his situation becomes. Things haven’t gone well for Cory lately. The Paul Marks deal has failed, and he is now in need of a big loan to save the company. And the only way he can acquire the money from Sloan, basically a glorified loan shark, is by securing an advertising deal. Cory assures the Sloan executives of that and puts Stella onto it. Meanwhile, when Cory tells Alex that her bailing on the rocket is the main reason for Marks turning cold regarding the deal, Alex takes it upon herself to turn things around. In a situation as serious as the entire organization possibly going down and the employees on the verge of losing their livelihood, CEO Cory Ellison throws a lavish party at his home, like nothing ever happened. We’ve always seen Cory somehow managing to save the day, but things are looking way too bleak this time.
What’s Up With Stella and Mia?
UBA news head Stella Bak and The Morning Show executive producer Mia Jordan have proved to be the MVPs of this season, for sure. Both have had very impactful story arcs where it has been teased that they are hiding major secrets. However, instead of keeping things gimmicky, The Morning Show has already revealed that Stella has a history with Paul Marks, and that is why she is concerned. And in the latest episode, we crack Mia’s Russian man mystery when Mia reveals to Bradley that the guy, Andrew Ford, happens to be a freelance journalist who is actually working for her to get an exclusive on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Of course, there is an implication that Andrew is more than just someone who is working for Mia, but the show wisely chooses not to give a clarification. The reason Mia confides in Bradley is because the latter has a contact who can get Andrew into certain dangerous places where he can get exclusive photos. Things turn a little dicey when Laura casually mentions to Mia that her organization is also working with Andrew and trying to get an exclusive. However, Andrew seems to be team Mia as she receives the photos, which would make sensational news about a very relevant political matter around the world. But he asks Mia not to publish the photos until he gets to a place of safety.
Meanwhile, Stella goes to meet the advertising executives at a restaurant, two men in their late thirties or early forties who appear to be all cool and excited to meet someone like Stella. The three of them start drinking, with Stella pitching for the advertising contract and trying to get the two on board. Realizing she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the two guys, Stella secretly asks their waitress to serve her water instead of alcohol. However, that plan fails as one of the guys finds Stella’s incredibly high tolerance suspicious enough to question the waitress. Stella tries to divert the conversation into closing the deal, which results in these men making the waitress do something extremely obnoxious and uncomfortable in front of everyone. Stella gets the contract, but at the expense of privileged dirtbags like these two emotionally abusing her, just because they just can.
Does Alex save UBA and Cory?
Before getting into it, let us give a quick shoutout to Chris Hunter, who, after being instrumental in the fall of Cybil, is now working on the minority employees getting equal payment, and she has taken the matter directly to Leonard, the new board chairman.
Now coming to Alex Levy, we all knew that wooing someone like Paul Marks would be a piece of cake for her, and it plays out exactly like that. But what is interesting here is Alex taking the route of staying honest and getting real with Marks instead of tricking him into something. Marks, who initially appeared skeptical about even getting on Alex’s car, eventually ends up spending the day with her at an amusement park in Coney Island, where Alex used to work, before life happened to her. Marks is clearly charmed by Alex, and from the way the man defends her when a random food vendor slams her and brings up a certain Mitch Kessler, it is evident that the man may have developed feelings for Alex.
Just when he is elated to know that Stella has won the battle that essentially gets UBA the loan, Cory finds out that Sloan has asked a consultant to keep him on a leash, and it happens to be none other than his arch nemesis, former UBA board chairman Fred. This understandably frustrates Stella when she realizes that all her struggle was for nothing as Cory looks at a potential defeat with no savior around. In the midst of all this, Mia goes ahead and gives the green signal to her team to release the exclusive photos.
At the end of The Morning Show Episode 4, Cory starts to believe that everything is doomed, but suddenly a helicopter arrives in a very dramatic fashion, and guess who comes out of it? None other than Alex Levy and Paul Marks. Cory can’t believe that he has found a lifeline again. But with Alex clearly appearing as the hero who has saved the day, Cory now has to give her what she wants. So we can hope for a very interesting Cory versus Alex showdown in the upcoming episodes, unless the two play for the same team.
