The Morning Show Recap: Baby, I’m Back

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It’s pretty clear that *The Morning Show* thrives on shocking its audience. The show seems to anticipate viewers thinking, “This is getting wild!” and then consistently raises the stakes even further. A prime example is the latest episode, where the Iranian government targets Alex Levy with deepfakes. The more outrageous the show becomes, the more I find myself enjoying it – and that’s just how I feel.

It took UBN’s team a while to realize Iranian hackers had accessed the CCTV footage showing Alex trying to help Roya, an Iranian fencer, and her father, a nuclear scientist, escape and defect to the U.S. The team then falsely accused Alex of orchestrating the entire plan, claiming she’d used the interview as a cover. It’s absurd, considering Alex had just angered the Iranians a couple of days prior. Instead of offering support, Celine, Stella, and John from Legal just stared at a distressed Alex as if she were already guilty. Alex had to point out that UBN had recently developed AI technology capable of making it seem like she spoke dozens of languages – shouldn’t Stella, the ‘Queen of AI’ who championed this technology, be the one investigating? Especially considering Stella was present during Paul Marks’ hack of UBN just two years ago. No one will give Alex the benefit of the doubt. They offer empty assurances of investigation, but their expressions clearly show they’re just going through the motions until they can fire her. Alex is left wondering why she even works there.

Even Mia admits she can’t get involved in Alex’s current situation, especially since she’s hoping to get a promotion. So, Alex turns to two surprising people for help. One is Bro Hamilton, the arrogant guy from UBN. Will these two end up having a fling before the season is over? It would fit with Alex’s history of bad choices in men, and their playful back-and-forth is entertaining-he compares their dynamic to a rom-com, she to a horror movie. Hopefully, it’s messy! When Alex runs out of other options, she asks Bro for a spot on his show. He teases her, but eventually agrees, and surprisingly warns her not to search for “Alex Levy deepfakes” online. Naturally, that’s the first thing Alex does when she gets home. It seems odd that Alex wouldn’t have already searched for herself, but she insists this is new territory. And Bro is right to be concerned-Alex finds some truly disturbing fake videos of herself.

Cory shows up at Alex’s place hoping to discuss Bradley’s return and thank her for dealing with Paul Marks, but Alex is too preoccupied to talk about any of that. She ends up telling Cory everything about the deepfake situation. Cory points out that Celine and Stella seem to be manipulating her – a concept Alex surprisingly hasn’t considered before, despite gaslighting being a frequent theme on *The Morning Show*. He offers her some crucial advice: if Celine mentions a meeting on Friday, it means she’s taking the issue to the Board, and Alex will almost certainly be fired. Her best chance of saving her job is to get on the good side of Leslie, Cybil’s daughter, as the Reynolds family still owns a significant stake in the company. If Leslie supports her, Alex might be safe.

Alex’s assistant, Remy, discovered Leslie’s lunch plans for the following day, and Alex set off to meet her. However, her journey was immediately blocked by a large protest surrounding a major Climate Summit. Initially, Alex intended to push through the crowds to reach the restaurant, but a protester’s sign referencing “gaslighting” sparked a change of heart. As a journalist, she realized she *had* to cover the story. Plus, some good publicity would be welcome.

Her coverage quickly went viral. She live-streamed the protests, endured being covered in oil and tear-gassed, and managed to confirm that the “climate summit” was a sham-a cover for oil lobbyists to secretly sell drilling contracts-thanks to information from the leader of the protest group, Extinction Revolt. It was a significant story, and she broke it in a very dramatic way. She missed a show with her colleague, Bro, but even he was impressed with her reporting. Alex doesn’t seem particularly concerned with his approval-she even calls him “human trash”-but it’s worth noting for future developments between them.

Okay, so things take a turn for the better when Celine finds Alex after the tear gas incident. She reveals the CCTV footage they dug up? It was messed with – looks like the Iranians were behind it. Honestly, it’s not a surprise this whole operation is constantly falling apart; everyone seems completely incompetent. It’s a messy situation, to say the least, but at least they’re getting closer to the truth.

By the way, Bradley is back at work, but things aren’t going well. The TMS producers were hoping she’d boost ratings, but she’s too focused on her secret investigation into the Wolf River chemical cover-up and finding her source. This distraction leads to a disastrous first segment where she struggles to explain details about her brother and the events of January 6th – especially since she secretly deleted footage. It’s clear she’s in trouble when Yanko has to step in to help her on live television.

There’s still hope, as Bradley makes significant progress on the Wolf River investigation. She asks for Chip’s help, remembering how well they worked together to expose Paul Marks. He’s reluctant, explaining that leaving his old network allowed him to heal and move on from the past. He doesn’t want to revisit that world. However, recalling a 2019 meeting where the Wolf River story was dropped – due to a report seemingly clearing the chemical company, at Fred Micklen’s direction – he begins to suspect he may have unknowingly played a role and feels compelled to find out what really happened.

The person Bradley was supposed to meet unexpectedly canceled, but Bradley and Chip were able to piece together some clues and think they’ve identified who’s been reaching out. It seems whoever it is must be part of the assistant group chat, as they were discussing Bradley’s return before Mia even got to West Virginia. Chip noticed the messages to Bradley use British spellings, like “theatre,” and they both know a former assistant from the U.K. named Claire Conway. Claire clearly still resents UBA after the issues with Hannah, and Chip recalls she was present at the 2019 meeting regarding Wolf River and the coffee order. Everything points to her.

Alex’s report about the protest helped the two young detectives notice something important: the leader of Extinction Revolt was wearing the same shirt as the mysterious figure in the video Bradley’s contact sent. This suggests Claire might be involved with the group, and her absence from their meeting could be because she was arrested during the protest. While everyone is eager to see how Claire’s return affects Yanko, they’re also hoping Bradley and Chip can finally solve the case!

Cory and Alex aren’t the only ones figuring things out. Cory’s back in New York, supposedly to visit Alex and discuss Bradley, but he also has his own agenda. (Predictably.) He tries to convince Stella to fund his new movie, describing it as the perfect escape from the difficulties of modern life. However, Stella isn’t interested in his lengthy pitches – or his attempts to get back on his feet. She bluntly tells him that it must bother him to see life go on without him, then finishes her drink and leaves.

Unbeknownst to her, she and Cory share a surprising connection. She mentions Cory asking her for money from UBN, and Miles reveals he’s known Cory for years. He offers to intervene on her behalf. Miles invites Cory to his studio, and after recalling their wild days together in Los Angeles, tries to convince him that getting involved with UBN for his movie would be a mistake, and harmful to everyone involved. While Miles makes Cory a drink, Cory explores the studio and finds Stella’s gold lighter – the same one she played with during their meeting. He suddenly realizes Stella is having an affair with Miles – the husband of the Board President – and understands he now has a powerful advantage.

The next day, Cory calls Stella, and just before she can scold him, he reveals what he’s found out. He’s even confirmed his suspicions with the doorman at Miles’s apartment building. Now he has leverage over her, and he’s raising the stakes: he wants a major deal with UBN, including an office and complete control over their programming. Stella is furious, but realizes Cory has the upper hand. “He’s back in power,” Cory says with his signature unsettling enjoyment. Cory Ellison is feeling confident and in control again.

In Other News

This season, Mia is focused on getting the Head of News position and is trying hard to impress Stella and Celine. However, she’s struggling to keep TMS running smoothly. A conflict arises with Chris when he leaves a promotional shoot to attend his daughter’s recital. Mia rushes to the recital as well, but is denied entry because she forgot her ID, making her furious. Mia believes the show should be everyone’s priority, but Chris disagrees, which could cause further issues between them.

People are starting to realize Mia isn’t fully in charge of her abilities. Ben, from UBN Sports and in charge of the Olympics coverage, witnesses Chris dominating Mia, but Mia pretends it doesn’t bother her. Ben refers to Chris as ‘the boss,’ which clearly upsets Mia. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of William Jackson Harper’s performance in the show.

Justice, a student journalist, arrives for her interview with Alex right as Alex is rushing off to find Leslie. Knowing exactly how to get Alex’s attention, Justice mentions Martin predicted Alex might cancel. Alex brings Justice along in the car and asks for her help once she starts reporting live from the protest. I suspect this article will be much more substantial than Martin anticipated.

Cory reveals some surprising news to Alex: Celine’s family rejected her and essentially banished her from their world when she started seeing Miles. She married him partly to rebel against their disapproval, but Cory believes she was also genuinely in love with him.

• “The enemy of my enemy gets overpriced sake.” Oh, Cory. What a special weirdo. Our special weirdo.

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2025-09-24 10:56