The Morning Show Recap: The Dream Team

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I suspected the show hadn’t brought on Nicole Beharie without a good reason. While her character, Chris Hunter, had some strong moments last season – like her stance on abortion rights and her confrontation with Cybil Reynolds – Beharie’s talent felt a little wasted. That’s not true this season. The fourth season’s episode focusing on “Amari” really lets Beharie shine, and she delivers a fantastic performance. The episode puts her character in a difficult position when rumors surface online suggesting she used performance-enhancing drugs to win her Olympic medals, forcing her to fight to protect her reputation and career. And how does she do it? By telling the truth – a surprisingly honest move for the characters in this show!

Chris doesn’t handle the truth well at first. When she hears about the steroid accusations, she immediately denies them, even correcting her husband when he calls it a rumor – she insists it’s a lie. Discovering that a former teammate, Tunde Johnston, started the story only makes things worse, and Chris reacts poorly. After a night out, she drunkenly leaves a furious, profanity-filled voicemail for Tunde, threatening her and demanding to know if she understands who Chris is. Predictably, the voicemail goes viral as soon as Tunde releases it. When Alex confronts Bro Hartman about broadcasting the voicemail on his podcast, he points out his popularity and financial power – essentially, he controls Alex’s salary. He also argues that a scandal involving America’s beloved gold medalist is big news, and Alex knows it. Alex is left speechless, responding only with a string of expletives.

Alex and Ben are trying to minimize the damage this scandal will do to UBN’s Olympic coverage, especially since Chris is now the public face of it, and also to save Chris’s career. Surprisingly, Mia Jordan becomes an unexpected supporter. You thought she was upset about losing the Head of News position? That was nothing compared to how she feels now. She’s practically guaranteed a new job at Defy Entertainment, but Alex intervenes, making it clear UBN will do anything to get her back. Mia even offers to host the CEO’s charity ball next year if she isn’t rehired. Overwhelmed with anger, Mia lets loose: she enjoys a night of drinking and good food with a friend, calls her ex, Andre, to show him what he’s missing with a game of pool, and then, after Andre suggests she stop playing by UBN’s rules, she gets a fresh haircut and confidently returns to UBN, ready to shake things up.

Okay, so things really shift when Mia tracks down Chris and lays it all out: nobody at UBN is going to have Chris’s back like *she* will. But instead of trying to control the situation, Mia does something unexpected – she asks Chris what *she* wants. Turns out, Chris just wants to clear her name. And Mia, surprisingly, encourages her to take a big swing, telling her playing it safe will get her nowhere. Mia knows a thing or two about that! She thinks Chris needs to confront this head-on, and that people will respect her for it. Her advice? Go on Bro Hartman’s show. It’s a seriously risky move, and honestly, it could blow up in her face, but Mia believes it’s the only way.

Things quickly turned awkward for Chris when she unexpectedly met Tunde, the other guest on Bro’s show. Chris attempted to resolve their issues privately, hoping to avoid a public fight, but Tunde refused. Tunde revealed she began spreading rumors after Chris declined to help with pre-Olympics coverage at her former high school, where she now works and is fundraising for a new track. Feeling overlooked – first when Chris didn’t support the fundraiser, and then when Chris seemingly prevented her from making the Olympic team, leaving her as an alternate – Tunde decided to confront Chris publicly. She told Chris to stop pretending to be innocent and was ready to discuss everything on the show.

The funny thing about this interview is that it seems like nobody did any research beforehand. While you don’t expect Brodie to always be fully prepared, it’s surprising Mia – making a return to TV – didn’t try to learn more about Tunde or challenge Chris before going on air. No one seemed ready for how quickly the conversation would change. At first, it looked like Chris had made a mistake by even appearing on the show. Tunde had plenty to say to support her claims, and then, shockingly, she revealed physical proof – a prescription for steroids made out to Chris. Seeing it, Chris realized she had to be honest. However, the full story turned out to be much more unexpected than anyone thought.

Chris bravely shared her story of becoming pregnant after her London games victory, and how she subsequently lost all her sponsorships when people doubted she could compete in Rio after having a baby. She and her husband, Marcus, faced complete financial ruin. Tragically, five months into her pregnancy, they lost their son, Amari, after she went into premature labor. Chris described feeling utterly devastated and revealed she had to physically bind her abdominal muscles just to get out of bed, as she was significantly slower than before. Desperate to compete in Rio, she turned to steroids. She admitted the drugs made her ill, but she felt she deserved the punishment. She threw herself into training to cope with the grief of losing her son, and eventually relied on the drugs after Nationals. Although she won in Rio, she was deeply ashamed of how she achieved it and decided to retire and pursue a new career. The actress portraying Chris, Beharie, delivers a powerfully emotional performance, repeatedly struggling to hold back tears, showing how deeply affected she still is. The show’s host, surprisingly empathetic, cut to a commercial break to give viewers a moment to process, but the emotional impact continued. After the interview, Chris found her husband, also in tears, in her dressing room and quietly went to comfort him. This incredibly raw and honest show unexpectedly moved me to tears.

It’s still unclear how the interview will be seen by the public, but things are starting to look positive for Chris – despite her ongoing sorrow over her son’s death. That’s good news for Mia, too. Alex confronts Mia while she’s still at the building, upset about the unauthorized interview, but Mia is tired of Alex’s behavior. She calls Alex out for potentially damaging her career and stands up to her, even though Alex tries to claim she was trying to help. Many people have told Alex she’s incredibly selfish, but she doesn’t seem to listen. True to form, Alex refuses to acknowledge her own flaws. Mia will return to UBN to discuss Chris’s position, but she’s decided she’s finished with the network. And honestly, a great haircut can make all the difference.

Chris Hunter isn’t the only one revealing a difficult truth. As for Bradley Jackson, it’s still unclear if she’s a truly skilled journalist, but she’s definitely a terrible private investigator. Now that she and Chip know Cory, the new head of UBA News, was responsible for the Wolf River cover-up, Bradley needs answers from him. During their first date, she feigns interest in his movie to get him to show her production photos – their conversation about Big Sur, consisting of comments like “See those rocks?” and “Look at the beach!,” was hilarious, considering they seemingly had never seen the ocean before. She then makes an excuse to leave while still having access to his phone. Searching his email, she finds correspondence with Earl containing photos of Kenneth Stockton exchanging documents with a woman with red hair. However, Bradley overlooks her search history. When she meets Cory for their second date, he confronts her, and she quickly realizes he’s not just angry – he’s genuinely hurt.

Cory usually responds to pressure with lengthy explanations, but this time he actually yells at Bradley. He’s furious that she used him, played with his emotions, and especially that she pretended to care about his film. Bradley explains her investigation, and Cory admits he dropped the story because he was new to his job, his boss Fred asked him to, and the EPA had found no issues with the chemical plant – it wasn’t a real story. He’s genuinely shocked when Bradley tells him the lawyer he discredited at Earl and Eagle News committed suicide. Then he becomes enraged, realizing Bradley thinks he’s capable of being involved in something so awful.

Things get worse when she explains Cory has always retaliated against anyone who comes after him. She tries to tell him she does have feelings for him, but he interrupts her, harshly accusing her of being a liar. That’s a point of no return, but Cory’s next words make it even worse. He tells her it took him a long time to move on from her, and this time it will be much easier. It’s a particularly painful thing for him to say.

In Other News!

Bradley is sure to face consequences with Cory after their terrible date, but she’ll have a more pressing issue to handle first. When she returns home, a federal agent who works with her will be waiting to talk.

The New York Times has reported that Martin Levy plagiarized his debut book, but Alex doesn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, expect Jeremy Irons to return, and he’s likely to be very angry about it!

Jennifer Aniston really shines in this series, especially when she gets to use her comedic timing. Her reaction to Bradley revealing Cory and her shared history was absolutely hilarious – truly award-worthy! It’s a reminder of why she’s considered a comedy icon.

When Bradley accuses Alex of sleeping with Cory, claiming it’s because she feels secure with him, Alex responds with a puzzled, “You mean… dangerously safe?”

Bro Hartman admitting he has a real heart during his interview with Chris Hunter strongly suggests he and Alex will become a couple before the season ends. Alex finding him after the interview – first to scold him, then to admit it was a great interview – pretty much confirms it.

I found the brief conversation between Cory and Bradley really charming: one said they’d been thinking about Jonathan Groff, and the other simply replied, ‘Me too.’ It’s a moment I’ll likely remember for a while.

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2025-10-15 11:56