What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE
from Ready Steady Cut: https://readysteadycut.com/2019/12/20/recap-the-morning-show-season-1-episode-10-the-interview-finale-apple-tv-series/
Daniel Hart
December 20, 2019
The finale of The Morning Show Season 1 provides an incredibly satisfying conclusion to this thematic and well-delivered Apple TV+ series that deserves to be up for accolades. A lot happened in Episode 10, “The Interview”, so here goes…
The Morning Show finale opens up with Yanko drinking himself stupid at a bar — he goes into a rant about the term El Niño, a scientific weatherman term. It’s a great opening monologue for things to come.
Cory, Chip, and Bradley meet Mitch for evidence on Fred’s complicity — the evidence is Hannah. Bradley claims it is too delicate to air but Cory states that the interview has to go ahead “now”. Bradley insists she needs to speak to Hannah first. Meanwhile, Alex meets Marlon about his plans in taking over The Morning Show from Chip.
Maggie, the famous journalist, meets Fred at a restaurant. She lets him know about her investigative piece regarding the upper levels of UBA and apologizes to Fred. He’s shocked at the betrayal, and he wants to find a way to nip the story quickly before it escalates.
The next day, it is studio time. Alex speaks to Bradley which is almost a non-conversation and then bumps into Chip in the corridor — the awkward tension is evident. Meanwhile, a puzzled Hannah gets a text from journalist Maggie, and then the UBA HR team ring Hannah offering her a promotion, which will send her to a different location.
Bradley pulls Hannah aside and talks about her potential interview with Mitch. Hannah states she does not want her name used and lets Bradley know about the text from Maggie and the promotion offer. It’s clear that UBA is trying to silence Hannah, but she doesn’t want to partake in it anymore — she’s clearly troubled and deeply hurt by the pressure.
But Hannah changes her mind and meets with Bradley, constructing a significant moment in the finale, and quite possibly the series. Bradley wants to know about her experiences with Mitch. Hannah tells her story about the night in detail, and how she exploded and barged into Fred’s office. This scene is shot in such a way that you can feel that getting the entire story out feels like a lifetime for Hannah. She hangs on to every word but she is pained by reliving it. Bradley softly tells her that she is tough and asks about whether she is okay. At this moment, Hannah freaks out and begins hyperventilating; as Bradley tries to calm Hannah down, she confesses to thinking about what happened between her and Mitch, someone she looked up to and adored, 100 times every day.
This scene was more than just words — Hannah’s breakdown and the explicit pain she is feeling is intrinsic to the entire story. It’s impactful. Bradley tries to tell Hannah that it wasn’t her fault while finishing the recording. Hannah tells Bradley that she can use her story and then proceeds to tell her to f–k off.
The Morning Show Season 1, Episode 10 then moves to Alex, who meets Fred about removing Bradley and Chip and earning co-anchor approval. Alex hesitates, asking Fred to think of Chip, but he refuses. After a moment, Alex accepts the way. When Alex leaves and heads down the escalators, Chip (who is about to be fired) heads up the other way — Alex cannot even look at him as she feels ashamed. Chip understands exactly what has happened.
Chip meets Fred and refuses to take a seat. Fred reveals that the internal investigation finds Chip responsible for the permissive environment and then fires him. The animosity between these two men in this scene is evident — they absolutely hate each other. Episode 10, “The Interview” is heating up.
As we reach the midway point of The Morning Show finale, Chip tells Bradley that the interview has to happen the next day. Bradley hesitates but accepts — the recording of Hannah has truly got to her. Claire tries to ring Hannah and apologizes for their spat over voicemail.
Chip visits Bradley; the co-anchor is clearly nervous about the interview since her talk with Hannah. Chip tells Bradley that he won’t be there for the show but says it still needs to be done. Bradley accuses Chip of wanting to bury the investigation evidence, and then breaks down about the entire situation and Hannah — Chips tries to hug Bradley to calm her down.
Cory is still an important cog in all this; he visits Mitch and tells him that he cannot act innocent on air and make out that Bradley is the enabler for the interview. A bemused Mitch does not understand Cory’s words but Cory says it is his last chance — “tomorrow is your shot, confess or you are done”. Meanwhile, Hannah rings up UBA HR and lets them know about accepting the promotion in LA — the camera then watches her walk into the distance slowly. Chip asks his assistant to sneak Mitch into the studio.
The next day Claire is determined to make up with Hannah so goes to her apartment before the show starts with coffee. Claire walks upstairs to see Hannah’s apartment door is already open — she brushes past the people at the door and sees Hannah on the floor completely still with vomit all over her. Hannah is dead.
Episode 10, “The Interview” then moves to the studio and Fred delivers a speech about Chip now that he is fired. He introduces Marlon. While Marlon introduces himself, Claire rings Bradley and tells her that Hannah is dead — she overdosed. Bradley is completely winded by the news, the sound around her zones out as she walks back into the studio with a dazed look, shuffles past everyone, turns around and breaks the news to all her colleagues — this scene is entirely silenced to emphasize the shock of the moment until Fred speaks; this highlights the audacity of what he says: ‘Let’s take a moment to honor and remember Hannah, our dear colleague.” Fred is one of the men that made Hannah feel that way.
Bradley rings Chip and explains that the interview is off and drops the news that Hannah is dead. Bradley then tells Alex she is leaving; she admits to wanting to interview Mitch behind her back and confesses that the “Mitch, Hannah and Fred scenario” gave her pressure for the best story. Alex chases after Bradley and tries to calm her down, claiming she had good intentions. Alex admits to going to Fred to get Bradley fired. Bradley still does not care, with guilt consuming her, but when Alex starts freaking out to a fan who wants to take a photo, Bradley has to take Alex back to the studio to calm her down.
Once Alex is back inside, Bradley tries talking out again, but Cory stops her; he explains that she cannot walk out as she has the evidence against the head of the company. He persuades her to stay. Chip meets Mitch and explains that Hannah has overdosed and punches him multiple times which turns into a small fight. Chip admits leaking the story to The Times about Mitch before waling off.
With all this drama in Episode 10, it’s time to go live for The Morning Show. Chip rings Alex and leaves her a voicemail; he explains how UBA was going to get rid of her and that he started all this against Mitch to keep her — “it was always for you”. As Bradley and Alex prep for the show with seconds counting down before going live, Marlon tries to give the women some words of encouragement — Alex throws water over Marlon and says “get the f–k out of my face”.
The Morning Show Season 1, Episode 10, “The Interview”, in finale-like fashion, has The Morning Show live but Alex freezes, prompting Bradley to take over all the lines. Alex begins pacing up and down the studio while all the entire production crew panic about her behavior. Alex starts talking to the camera and admits to the audience that they have not been honest — “this place is different from what it appears”. As the crew gets instructions to cut them off, Cory gives the command to keep it alive. Alex and Bradley unite and tell their audience that Fred created an environment to silence women and that UBA’s investigation which clears his name is not true. Alex also admits to being culpable for not calling out the behavior. They delve into Mitch’s sexual misconduct and Hannah’s story. Fred tries to stop the broadcast, but everyone ignores him and they lock him out. Eventually, Alex and Bradley are cut off but the messages have been delivered. Chip looks up at the big screen in Times Square to see that The Morning Show has been cut off. Mitch is staring into space at home.
The finale truly delivered a story about breaking the silence. What a story. And just as a final thought — the title “The Interview” was brilliantly misleading; the interview was between Bradley and Hannah.
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