What’s next for The Morning Show?

The Morning Show just wrapped its second season on AppleTV+ with episode 10 titled “Fever,” but where should the show go from here?

Though a third season has yet to be confirmed by the streamer, I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to assume it will get one, even if it’s the last. I don’t think Apple would, or even could, cancel a series out from under both Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon, at least not without a proper send-off.

So, if the series continues, the biggest question in most viewers’ minds is: Will season 3 continue their COVID storyline?

The series made a massive pivot to rewrite their entire second season to include the build-up to the start of the pandemic, which even included one of their leads contracting the virus. At the moment, the answer to that question is a bit surprising: A potential third season won’t continue to cover the pandemic.

Executive producer and director Mimi Leder spoke to Town & Country in October about a potential third season and promised that the COVID storyline would not follow Alex and Bradley beyond the season 2 finale. Despite other series such as Grey’s Anatomy gracefully moving beyond their COVID-centric seasons into a world much unlike our own where the pandemic seemingly comes to an end, it feels like a bigger leap for The Morning Show to move on similarly. Especially since most of the unresolved elements of the season finale revolve entirely around coronavirus and how each character is dealing with it.

It feels like a tough task to force the viewers to be informed about the end of the pandemic via time-jump, which seems like the most likely scenario. Going the time-jump route would force a lot of exposition early on, similarly to the season 2 premiere.

A time jump would force the show to resolve almost every plot point off-screen, which would be disappointing, to say the least. For Alex, I’m interested in the outcome of her fever-induced rant on UBA+ and where that takes her career after being canceled. For Bradley, I need to know how her relationship with Laura would progress with her being in Montana to quarantine, especially after Cory’s confession from the finale as well.

No matter what the series chooses to be its next overarching plot, the threads that matter the most to most viewers are those of each character. Season 2 brought in a few new players, and I hope they continue to stick around for a potential third season. Laura Peterson and Stella Bak especially, who both have taken the show to new heights in the way they’ve altered the dynamics of The Morning Show for the better.

I also would love to see some returning faces from season 1 show up in a potential third as well, especially after seeing Claire only briefly in episode 9. I think folding her back into the series, especially if Hannah’s father’s case does go all the way to trial, would be interesting.

Alex’s daughter Lizzie would also be a character I’d be interested in seeing again, especially since we haven’t seen her on the show since episode 7 of season 1.

If a continued COVID storyline isn’t in the cards, I do wonder what catastrophic event The Morning Show could take on next. We, unfortunately, live in a world where tragedies never quite end, so there’s plenty of inspiration to draw from for the next season of the morning news-inspired series.

All episodes of The Morning Show are now available to stream on AppleTV+.