The Morning Show
Episodes and My Ratings:
Ratings are IMDB scores
1. In the Dark Night of the Soul, It's Always 3:30 in the Morning (8.2/10)
2. A Seat at the Table (8.7/10)
2. A Seat at the Table (8.7/10)
7. Open Waters (8.3/10)
10. The Interview (9.7/10)
Percents are my opinionated score
My Rankings
1. The Interview (98%)-An intense, fascinating and masterful episode of television for the year that truly raised the quality of this series to the max and showed how impressive it really could be. The ending is one of the best things I have seen for the year on television as it directly conveys the show's message against sexual misconduct passionately and boldly in a truly stunning blend of stellar writing, directing and acting. The episode never loses sight of the focus and engages the audience for a lengthy but useful runtime that decently wraps up the entire story of season 1 while also leaving the audience hungry for more and to experience the explosive aftermath of the impactful cliffhanger ending. The best episode of the series by a long shot and shines in almost every aspect as Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are fantastic as usual while the directing and writing exceeds its greatness to new levels that ultimately make this an immersive, entertaining, emotional, bold and close to perfect episode of "The Morning Show."
2. Lonely at the Top (93%)-This episode does things differently than the rest of the series and jumps into the past about what truly happened between Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) and the allegations against him particularly involving the character of Hannah Shoenfield (the wonderful Gugu Mbatha-Raw). The first thing I would like to say is just how incredible Gugu Mbatha-Raw is in this episode as she acts so amazing, it gives the audience a crucial insight into what a victim of sexual misconduct feels in an environment like The Morning Show that directly aids the theme of the show in so many ways. Her acting is award-worthy and stunning as throughout all of this episode, she reflects on being confused, scared, emotional, annoyed and angry (which she had every right to be) perfectly that ultimately painted this painting of Hannah that is full of depth which the show lacked while also showing how awful Mitch truly was. This episode is also great because it shows how inappropriate and awful the environment was on The Morning Show and seems to directly reflect times today in certain fields of work and really dig in deep (especially in writing) to convey why this all needs to stop. The episode does get lost a little bit due to how intense and dark it becomes and has some questionable moments to it that seemed to lack depth, but overall, it is a vital and very well-done but tragic portrait of what truly happened in the show and what continues to happen today sadly.
3. That Woman (93%)-This episode of The Morning Show isn't great for the same reasons as the previous two but is high up because of how captivating it was and how it rapidly changed the tone of the entire series from the first couple episodes for the better. The directing and writing are at their best in this episode as all the dialogue is effective and purposeful while everything occurring around is contributes to this large and explosive story like nothing else in the series before. Reese Witherspoon really stuck out in this episode to me especially as she interviews one of the women who accuses Mitch of sexual misconduct because her bravery, courage and powerful vibe are all wonderfully displayed by Witherspoon in some of her best work yet. The interview was by far one of the best and most engaging or interesting 5-10 minutes of the series yet as I was glued to the screen for that time and couldn't look away due to how rapid everything was coming out to the audience. It's another well-written and terrific episode that finally brought the needed climax to a quite one-dimensional story and effectively changed the tone and plot flow for the better to really lead the series into great things.
4. Play the Queen (88%)-The Morning Show is an interesting series that just quickly shifts from episode to episode, therefore, this addition defies all the rules set by the previous episodes and creates a great lead-up towards the fantastic finale by building upon each storyline and character to their limit. It's more of a filler episode that exceeded expectations while also creating massive character development particularly for Alex Levy which is outstandingly supported by Aniston's powerful performance. Consequently, it might be a slower episode that serves a purpose to frame the season finale, however, it manages to create a well-written, frustrating yet extremely engaging episode that takes character and story development to new levels, making it an overall great episode.
5. Chaos is the New Cocaine (86%)-Another introductory episode that followed one of the biggest cliffhangers of the series turned out to be remarkably great for a show that began at a slower pace, therefore, when I saw Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston's stellar performances throughout this episode, it showed how impactful and significant this show could become. The storyline is energetic and rapid in the best ways which once again conveys the amazing writing, especially in this episode despite some of the characters lacking depth and certain scenes being questionable. I really enjoyed Martin Short taking on a different role and making you hate him like Steve Carell in the show and respected the purpose of conveying what the accused are thinking as it took a different approach that was risky and unlike the majority of other shows. It's unique, charismatic and brilliantly executed that is only set back because the editing is chaotic at times and certain roles that attempt to develop characters flop and create slower storylines that set this episode a little bit further back but content at the halfway point.
6. The Pendulum Swings (85%)-This episode divulges deeper into the environment of The Morning Show as we see the team cover the California wildfires in a very symbolic, timely and dense episode. It once again starts out at a slower pace but quickly develops into an episode filled with massive relationship development particularly between Bradley and Alex while unfolding some of the major plots we had been following in the previous episodes. It's almost too dense in a way as it prepares the audience for some sort of explosive storyline (referenced by the actual wildfires) but ends up falling quite flat and almost too simplistic while I was expecting something more bold and eye-catching. It's still a well-done episode that allows the cinematography, directing and narrative ideas of the actual news theme to shine while highlighting Jennifer Aniston's performance excellently but if it was going to have so much story, I would have preferred a bigger ending and summary to all the build-up in the episode that sometimes appeared to be extraneous and excessive in certain times.
7. In the Dark Night of the Soul, It's Always 3:30 in the Morning (85%)-These middle-ranked episodes all are similar in my ideas and very close together, and the pilot episode of the series suffers similar setbacks to the previously ranked episode at #6. It had a giant task to do which is introducing the audience into a quite simple storyline and engaging them by building an attractive plot and convince people to keep watching. While I think it did this in a mixed way, it achieves everything that a pilot episode should do by framing a creative storyline and hinting towards the characters we're supposed to follow in an energetic way. However, it just did it all too slow and in a way that somehow manages to include so much plot and story in an excessive way while doing so slowly and creating a plot that dragged on. It still serves as a great introduction and will most likely convince people to keep watching but it needed to speed the pace up while decreasing the amount of story given as it ends up being an overly simplistic or straight-forward, slow, frustrating yet intriguing and entertaining episode that interestingly blends both the good and bad of the series.
8. Open Waters (85%)-This episode seemed quite uneventful to me for most of the plot and seemed to include details and parts of the storyline that could have been re-crafted to be avoided. That said, in this episode, when scenes stand out, they REALLY stand out including Mia's powerful and inspirational rant against everyone looking down at her or picking on her for something that is none of their business or Alex finally telling her daughter what she needed to hear and giving the loud lecture that was desperately desired for a long time. Also, Mark Duplass stood out to me in this episode and showcased a great variety of acting ranging from comedy to drama while also beginning to scratch the surface towards the sympathetic and emotional side that was lacking previously. The episode struggles with focus and relevance as it drifts away from the central story too much and forces the writing to be all over the place sometimes but those fantastic and wonderful scenes really brought this episode up as they showcased to me what has made The Morning Show so great which is the powerful message and theme it conveys.
9. No One's Gonna Harm You, Not While I'm Around (82%)-Another slower and frankly longer episode that once again exaggerates on certain details of the story or plot points that just seems unusual for a show that is so structured and focused, making it all the more confusing. I understood it strived to enhance on lacking character and relationship development between the varying people in the show while also contrasting each of our views towards each character but it was handled in a way that came off as boring and too dependent on its writing and storyline that made the episode less engaging and captivating. It still has great writing that continues to exceed but drags on greatly to a point that might turn audiences away since it is the middle of the series and isn't necessarily changing what we have known for five episodes rapidly. It's almost like I wanted to like this episode so much due to how professional and clever it thinks it is, however, it just is too slow and sometimes doesn't make sense that I ultimately had to put it lower despite some extraordinary work from Carell, Witherspoon, Crudup and Aniston.
10. A Seat at the Table (77%)-The ending of this episode is spectacular as it drops a giant bomb on you and creates this frustrating cliffhanger that defies the previous tone set and hints towards an upcoming rapid tone to solve the huge cliffhanger it lands with. Despite this amazing ending which is one of the main reasons it even got 77%, I found this episode too repetitive from the first episode despite a different feeling and once again suffering from the issue at the beginning of the show that the show thinks it is smarter than it actually is and acts too professional or slow at times to seem elegant but comes up dragging on. The performances from Carell, Witherspoon and Aniston stunned me as they are fantastic but wonderful acting simply wasn't enough to save this slow episode as it felt like I was watching a slow continuation of the first episode instead of actually developing any characters or plots in unpredictable ways. It's still entertaining and will attract more people to watch but the writing in this episode was probably the worst of the series and couldn't identify itself like the pilot episode or be unique and loud like the season finale, therefore, the second addition continued to be too slow and despite being a great hour of television still, just lacks the high quality of the last 4 or 5 episodes that remarkably bring this show up.
Cast/Crew
Cast:
Jennifer Aniston.................................Alex Levy
Reese Witherspoon.....................Bradley Jackson
Billy Crudup....................................Cory Ellison
Mark Duplass.....................................Chip Black
Gugu Mbatha-Raw.................Hannah Shoenfeld
Steve Carell...................................Mitch Kessler
Desean Terry............................Daniel Henderson
Karen Pittman....................................Mia Jordan
Nestor Carbonell.............................Yanko Flores
Victoria Tate.................................................Rena
Bel Powley...................................Claire Conway
Jack Davenport.................................Jason Craig
Tom Irwin.......................................................Fred
Janina Gavankar............................Alison Namazi
Joe Marinelli...............................................Donny
Ian Gomez.......................................................Greg
Shari Belafonte...............................................Julia
Marcia Gay Harden...................................Maggie
Augustus Prew.................................................Sean
Mindy Kaling...............................................Audra
Adina Porter...................................................Sarah
Oona Roche....................................................Lizzy
Kate Vernon.................................................Geneva
and many many more:
Click Here for a Full list:
Crew:
Jay Carson....................................................Creator
Kerry Ehrin..................................................Creator
Mimi Leder.................Director/Executive Producer
David Frankel............................................Director
Jeff Augustin.................................................Writer
Kevin Bray.................................................Director
Brian Stelter................Writer/Consulting Producer
Allison G. Vingiano.......................................Writer
Jennifer Aniston.....................Executive Producer
Reese Witherspoon..................Executive Producer
Kristin Hahn............................Executive Producer
Roxann Dawson........................................Director
Erica Lipez.............Writer/Co-Executive Producer
Michael Ellenberg...................Executive Producer
Adam Mitch.............Writer/Co-Executive Producer
Lauren Levy Neustadter...........Executive Producer
Tucker Gates...............................................Director
Michelle MacLaren....................................Director
Marc Cote...........................................Co-Producer
Kerry Ehrin..............................Executive Producer
Kristen Layden.............................Writer/Producer
Ashley Peter........................................Co-Producer
Martin Heriot...................................Line Producer
Edward Irastorza....................Associative Producer
Cherylanne Martin....................................Producer
Lynn Shelton....................................,.........Director
J.C. Lee......................Writer/Supervising Producer
Heather Turner.......................Associative Producer
Heather Turner.......................Associative Producer
John P. Melfi..............................Executive Producer
Jamie Vega Wheeler...................................Producer
Torrey Speer....................................Writer/Producer
Liz Tigelaar.........................Co-Executive Producer
Amanda Anka.......................................Co-Producer
Peter Barnett..............................................Producer
Emily Ferenbach..................................Co-Producer
Twister Murchison...................Associative Producer
and many many more:
Click Here for a Full list:
Storyline:
"An inside look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning, exploring the unique challenges faced by the men and women who carry out this daily televised ritual. "
-IMDB (IMDB Editors) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7203552/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ql_stry_
The Morning Show centers around the unknown environment of morning programming by showing the audience through a fictional show entitled "The Morning Show." The show exposes the inappropriate behavior and awful acts that were all being performed without anyone outside of the show knowing that is quite possibly explosive and devastating while developing what it actually means to work in such a complicated field and the various issues or benefits that join you for the ride. It's an interesting yet influential way to convey a powerful and needed message that exposes misconduct in the workplace and greatly illustrates how all of these events can affect people's lives whether it ultimately helped them or destroyed and forced them to collapse all the while continuing to show how shockingly horrible or unjust the broadcast television industry can be in a risky yet very vital series
Would I Recommend?
The Morning Show is an interesting show that just continues to constantly gain momentum as the show and characters finally develop, therefore, even though it may take a while to get into the show when you do, it is ultimately worth it and quite stunning especially in the ending. The performances are fantastic, the writing is some of the best of the year and the messages conveyed are crucial, bold and told expertly by storytellers who you can tell want to make a difference and expose something that has long needed to be exposed to people. I would recommend this series as it is quite remarkably created and even when you are bored or feeling almost too familiar with the show in the first couple episodes, the second half of the show really picks up and stands out in different ways by introducing the real storyline of the show and visually contradicting amazingly what happens when you are the accused person or the victim and how it can affect both lives which is not seen on television much today. It is a brilliant series and that last scene of the season is the best thing I have seen of the year and made me want more and I can almost assure you it will do the same for you, however, be warned that if you have experienced anything similar to what happens on the program including misconduct or assault, it can be difficult to watch (it is already difficult to watch even if you haven't been through something similar) and disturbing, but other than that, I would definitely say that everyone should give the show a chance and keep going past the beginning because it really is an excellent and clever series unlike any other program for the year.
Overall/Review:
The Morning Show is an interesting take on a show about the news and bends the rule for most drama series as it uses the typical soapy drama type genre mixed in with more modern and impactful storytelling. The series follows Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston), co-host of The Morning Show, and the shakeup that occurs when her co-host, Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell), is accused from multiple sources of sexual assault and misconduct. With the network and studio beginning including Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) and Chip Black (Mark Duplass) to plan for the future and recovery of the show, new ideas, tensions and conflicts are created between almost everyone in the show including the new Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) who will surely surprise you significantly. The show itself begins quite slow and can appear one-dimensional and too simplistic in the first couple episodes, however, as the writers understand the characters more and further development occurs, the show finds where it wants to go and gets there explosively. Especially the last three or four episodes as these substantially represent the height of The Morning Show and how effective yet intriguing the storylines and plots can be. The show thinks it is very more clever than it actually is at times and appears almost arrogant because the show's premise is actually quite simple but was just built up, therefore, sometimes the series goes overboard or provides scenes or moments that just don't match and simply were put to make the show appear better to audiences which greatly effects the quality and theme. The show itself is almost a comparison to how true The Morning Show program is and what actually occurred including who really knew about Mitch Kessler's sexual misconduct and tried to cover it up or the aftermath for the victims and what they might face after the inappropriate actions or even contrasting a workplace relationship between two people that would seem inappropriate but is built off of love instead. It contradicts everything in the best way and illustrates a very plausible situation about a regular news program and transforms it into something different and unique that hasn't been done on television just in a way that seems over professional and excessive at times.
The message for The Morning Show about the MeToo movement is an excellent way to show others how the actions can simply destroy someone's lives whether it being the victim or the one accused as we see both vividly in the show and see how both end in very different ways. The ending for the series is massive and stellar as we see the true message of the show coming out loudly as Bradley and Alex began their rogue talk on the news and truly reveal how powerful the message for this series is and why it is so impactful or needed. I won't spoil too much about the genius of the last scene, however, it is a masterful way to create a cliffhanger and create the revolving climax to a show that has appeared slower than expected while also crafting something that would impact and even help others in similar situations as all of these events are probably some of the most realistic events from fictional shows portrayed on television today. The writing is also great in the later parts of The Morning Show as once the show knows more about itself, the writing comes out more full and mature in contrast to the earlier episodes where the writing lacks depth and overall just appears inconsistent and unsteady with no proper sense of vital rhythm in a way that causes the show to slip in tone and pacing. The directing is consistently great for most of the show but doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table and is more towards the expected storyline and scenes for a show literally about another show. But, the reason the show earned above 90% for me was the last half of the series as it truly is remarkable television and a giant change in pacing from the slower start to a rapidly flowing and effective storyline that doesn't make the audience bored but will captivate you. Therefore, one you get through the first three or four episodes, I can almost promise you that every unusual scene and surprise will be worth it and convey an amazing, timely story to you. It just can't fully make up for the slower contextualization and at times useless beginning episodes despite the brilliance of the ending.
There is an episode that directly shows the sexual misconduct and assaults happening particularly for one junior reporter at the studio played by the outstanding Gugu Mbatha-Raw who gives a stellar and tragically mind-blowingly performance as the victim in the situation and the aftermath. The scene is powerful and will be difficult to watch but is so crucial to convey to people to illustrate what victims go through and the whole description of what she faces afterward even when people discover the allegations is immensely heartbreaking but all the more realistic and true, making the entire plot that much more depressing. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays the character of Hannah Shoenfield amazingly yet emotionally also as we see the character's expressions drop when the assault is happening and the audience is clearly witness to how horrifying and destructive the misconduct was for her and exactly what she must have been thinking. It's spectacular how clear and realistic Mbatha-Raw could convey the character while the slow downward spiral she faces after is tragic and expressed responsively or in a subtle way that hides the depth in one of the best moves the writers make (especially the heartbreaking ending to the story and to the character of Hannah) that greatly reflects Mbatha-Raw's extreme talent and acting capability. In addition, Jennifer Aniston gives a stellar performance as Alex Levy that seems simple but builds up into this complex and very full or powerful character that Aniston expertly pulls off and conveys the full emotional capability in one of the best performances of the year. Especially for a contemporary host of a show, Aniston brought more depth than I thought possible for the role and masterfully reflects reality by emphasizing on the personal stories of the character as well. Reese Witherspoon also stunned me in the role of Bradley Jackson by bringing this new energy and power to the character that I wasn't expecting at all while also following Aniston just with fewer emotions and more power. Witherspoon shines greatly in the first couple of episodes as she conveys the difficult emotions of shock, depression, confusion and excitement all at the same time which is not the easiest for any actor. Plus, Aniston's speech to her daughter in the later episodes is also one of the best-written scenes of the entire show that really stuck with me. Steve Carell's acting is also great to where you actually will hate him (because of how amazing Carell is) but he needed more screen time and depth from the writers to express full talent and emotion as he comes off the same in every episode with very little character development until the last scene.
However, Billy Crudup truly steals the show by giving this hilarious, sarcastic, inspirational, empathetic yet straight-forward performance that expertly mixes in everything it should in order to create the complex and surprisingly relaxed character. Crudup stands out in the cast as his role is so different and played so unique compared to the other very serious and stern role that he not only adds the needed comedy to a very structured show but represents how stellar the casting was overall. It's an amazing and timely show that just needs some time to really kick off and thinks too highly of itself at times but the ending and last couple episodes are extremely spectacular as well as the fantastic acting from big stars and other aspects that make this show an astounding show to bingewatch, learn from and be entertained at the same time.
Rotten Tomato Score: 61%
IMDB Score: 8.4/10
Rating: 91%
*The Morning Show is available to watch on Apple TV+ and is rated TV-MA
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