As we said goodbye to the year 2019 and enter into the new decade of 2020, we could also say goodbye to modern television and cinema as we know it. Made evident from last night’s Golden Globe awards some of the nominees up for awards were from made streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and so on. It is abundantly clear we’ve entered a new era of entertainment.
There is one show on Apple TV+ that should get your attention and that is “The Morning Show,” inspired by ‘ Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV.’ written by journalist Brian Stelter. The book documents Stelter as a media reporter of the New York Times and the several daytime shows, their host, and events he oversaw such as the rivalry between Good Morning America and the Today show over morning television ratings. The book focused heavily on Ann Curry’s replacing Meredith Vieira on the ‘Today Show.’
The Golden Globe-nominated ‘The Morning Show,’ pulls back the curtain on the people that help America wakes up by taking a deep dive into the modern workplace in the ascension of the #MeToo Movement.
(Before we move any farther I would like to issue a spoiler alert, as I will be reviewing the entire series)
Premiering on November 1 with episodes 1-3 This drama drops you directly in the line of fire as fictional broadcast network UAB is now in crisis after firing of Moring show host Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) for his sexual misconduct scandal. Now America’s favorite morning news show is under the spotlight as it becomes the news. Mitch’s Co-host Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) grows furious with both mitch and the network for keeping her in the dark about the scandal. Alex sees this as a chance for the network to hit a hard reset on its show, she fights to remain as a top news anchor.
Elsewhere viewers are introduced to conservative reporter Bradley Jackson ( Reese Witherspoon) goes viral after a video of her angrily fact-checking a coal mine protester is posted on Youtube. See this as an opportunity to move forward from the Kessler crisis, Bradley is offered a chance to come on The Morning Show for an interview.
After Bradley’s meltdown is presented to Alex she is skeptical about Bradly being unaware, she’s on camera. Alex presses Bradly about this believing it was a publicity stunt and talks down to her in a condescending manner. Bradley’s unwillingness to back down has piqued the interest of Network head Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) later calls Bradley and asks to meet her so they can discuss her future.
In Episode 2 ” A Seat at the Table” beginnings with Corey allowing Bradley to interview for the opening seat left by Mitch, while Alex is scrambling to secure her job by renegotiating her contract with co-host approval rights. Following a secret meeting with Mitch, Alex was informed the UAB was planning on moving away from her because of her low fan approval rating. Amid this chaos, Alex is preparing to receive The Leadership in Journalism award. (Which Corey told her the network paid.) Cory invites an unwitting Bradley to the event honoring Alex and seats the women next to each other. Alex feeling threatened that Bradley is the choice as her replacement, she threatens to leave the show if her demands aren’t meet Cory scoffs at the demand for co-host approval and calls her bluff. In an act of desperation, Alex put UAB in a difficult position announcing Bradley as her new co-host during her speech.
So that leads us into episode 3 ” Chaos is the New Cocaine,” UAB is now forced to scramble and prepare for Bradley’s debut on The Morning Show on Monday, so the team prepares to work all weekend to prep her. The growing pains are apparent as Bradley struggles to
The staff of The Morning Show is in turmoil over the announcement. Alex has told the press that Bradley will debut the following Monday, so as the team prepares to work all weekend to prep her, Alex arrives to assert some control over the proceedings. Meanwhile, a frustrated Bradley has not even decided if she will accept the job. Mia Jordan asks Chip to be Bradley’s producer and announces herself in the position before he has offered it to her. Forced to go along with Alex’s announcement or lose face, network head Fred Mickland is furious, but Cory sees Bradley as an opportunity to reinvent the show and eventually be rid of Alex. Bradley is unhappy with her initial wardrobe and camera tests, so she challenges the copy Mia is providing her, and dispenses with the clothing chosen for her by Alex. Fred summons Alex to browbeat her in front of a room of network executives, but she informs him that he lost power over the show long ago, and from now on they will be doing things her way.
The choice of Bradley was purely a power move on Alex’s part to show that UAB that they need her for the morning show to succeed little did she know that Bradley would be the watchdog of UAB nightmare. For a company that was trying to cover up its involvement in having knowledge of Mitch’s behavior and allowing the toxic masculine in the workplace. Bradley habit of speaking as if it was just you in her got her the nickname Two F**Ks Jackson, and her debut on The Morning show was no different going off-script from the on-air persona the show hopes to promote once mentioning her struggles as a teen, including having an abortion. This revelation incites controversy but it also galvanizes the younger, pro-choice audience. Alex is then convinced to give Bradley the interview with one of Mitch’s accusers, but Bradley’s persistence to find the truth has the accuser reveals more than the producers had planned. Mitch’s accuser states that the relationship was consensual but being in work environment were everyone knows something as personal as your sexual history embarrassed her to point where she was forced to quit to escape this toxic work environment. This then prompted an investigation launched by human resources into Mitch’s conduct, with most of the crew offering their support to Mitch and denying knowledge of his sexual misconduct.
That interview is what set Bradley’s mind to find out the dark history of UAB and its tendencies to quite Mitch’s accuser. From Episode 5-10 views are given small pieces of information that help to put the puzzle together. We travel back to the fall of 2017 in the episode entitled ” Lonely at the Top,” taking the real-world event of the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. Hannah Schoenfeld (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a junior booker at the time, was asked to travel with the crew upon Mitch’s recommendation after the coverage of the story raps Mitch lures Hannah into his hotel room with the promise of a funny movie after a depressing workday. His predatory behavior toward women in the newsroom as revealed as he forces himself on to Hannah. The four-minute scene of the actual assault and rape is very difficult to watch as we see Hannah feeling powerless as her eyes go cold. Mitch used her body like it was nothing much than a toy for his pleasure and dispose of Hannah once he finished. She realizes this when Mitch doesn’t even acknowledge her in the hallway giving Hannah the motivation to reported Mitch’s harassment to the network chairman, she was then offered a promotion as a talent booker in exchange for not rocking the boat.
This is very important because it gives Mitch creditability to his claim the board knew of his behavior for a while and silences thoughts who would shed light on his misconduct. Unforturney this new information has Bradley asking Hannah to corroborate Mitch’s statement bring back those mortifying memories cause Hannah to spiral back on the dependency of drugs to numb the pain. In the season finale, Hannah found dead from an overdose, after Mitch approaches her to help him take down network executives (and the network, in turn, offers her a new position in Los Angeles).
The news of Hannah’s death brings Alex and Bradley to the same page to report UAB on The Morning Show for its involvement in covering up and allowing Mitch’s predatorial behavior in the work environment. In the height of the MeToo Movement, this show fundamentality breaks down ho the abuse of power, corporate corruption, lead to a culture of silencing women.
If you want to check out the Golden Globe-nominated ‘The Morning Show,’ and you own an iPhone you’re in luck. Apple is allowing you to have Apple TV+ free for a full year. Check out the trailer below:
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