The Morning Show: Tying Up Loose Ends Or Finale Explosion?

The Morning Show has been building toward a massive finale since season three started. From the moment Cory Ellison explained that Paul Marks would be buying UBA, drama surrounded the upcoming deal from every angle. But, in recent episodes, things have begun coming to light, and it all blew up in “The Overview Effect.”

Following Bradley’s unplanned on-air resignation from The Evening News and UBA, along with the allegations that Cory had groomed and potentially assaulted Bradley, drama is in the air everywhere.

However, Bradley’s resignation did force Alex to confront Bradley, especially when Paul explained Bradley’s illegal actions in helping Hal. Although Alex and Bradley had not necessarily ended their previous discussion on a high note, Alex is not willing to sit back and let Bradley’s latest actions go without a conversation, and after Bradley has not answered any text messages, Alex takes the extra step to go directly to her.

What Alex finds is a drastically different version of her friend. Rather than calm and collected, if not a little overwhelmed, Bradley is borderline paranoid, refusing to allow Alex into the apartment while her bag and phone are with her.

Finally, Alex hears Bradley’s concerns about Paul when she watches the way Bradley’s genuine fear and uncertainty shine through when discussing her belief that Paul has been secretly surveilling her. How else could Paul know that Laura knew about Bradley’s cover-up? There are just too many questions surrounding Paul’s knowledge of the circumstance that Alex can not ignore.

Refusing to neglect her gut and Bradley’s devastating state of mind, Alex puts Bradley’s theory to the test. What follows places Alex in heartbreaking anguish when Paul fails the test, and Alex realizes that Bradley’s claims about Paul’s spying on them are true.

Jennifer Aniston plays Alex’s heartbreak and despair in a way that reaches the audience. She had so desperately wanted a true partner who was in this with her, a person she could trust. To discover that the man she had trusted and had faith in had blackmailed and hurt her best friend, in addition to betraying Alex’s trust and manipulating situations behind her back, lying all the while, is enough to have Alex see Paul’s true villainous colors, and choose to stand against him.

Alex’s team-up with Laura and Elena allows for a merger between UBA and NBN which gives both stations a better chance at surviving moving forward. But it also removes Paul Marks from the picture and puts an end to his buying UBA and breaking it down.

Alex and Paul’s confrontation as Paul realizes that Alex has turned against him is a moment that also acknowledges the beauty of Alex and Bradley’s friendship. Although Bradley and Alex had been separated in individual storylines for most of season three, they did not need to see each other all the time for their relationship to prevail as being more important to Alex.

Alex did not take kindly to what Paul did to Bradley and made sure he knew that attacking Bradley as he did was not something Alex and Paul’s romance could come back from, a sentiment that gets cemented in their final goodbye later on.

The Morning Show does not follow through with publicly revealing the truth about Paul. But, choosing to acknowledge that his business is failing while having him lose everything he had worked for this season at least allows him to face some consequences for his actions. Granted, it also could have been exciting to see Paul be ruined at the hands of the public instead of private business interactions. Considering how willing Paul was to harm others, truly understanding what he had put them through could have been a nice extra layer to Paul’s defeat.

Alex and Bradley’s relationship has always been at the core of the show, and to allow the duo to conclude season three on good terms with a strong relationship is a great choice for season three, especially since Bradley is walking toward an uncertain future.

With all the lies catching up to them, Bradley and Hal finally decide to come clean to the FBI about Hal’s role in attacking the police officer on January 6th and Bradley’s role in deleting the footage.

The Morning Show also leaves things up in the air for Cory. Following the publicity allegations that he had been inappropriate toward Bradley, Cory is not fairing well, having to speak with lawyers. But, there is still a lot to question the fallout of that, even with Bradley’s statements being in Cory’s favor.

“The Overview Effect” also has Bradley and Cory acknowledge that Cory’s previous actions regarding outing Bradley had been wrong, even if it does not get the full attention it deserves for the emotional ramifications Bradley underwent following such a betrayal.

Otherwise, Chip, who finally gets his big moment following a fairly quiet season for him, ends season three with an uncertain future.

Does Cory continue to be involved in the UBA merger? Or is he gone from the company for the foreseeable future? Will Alex and Chip’s friendship reconcile? Will Chip be included in the new merger? Or, since Alex had fired him, is Chip’s future something else entirely?

The Morning Show seems to be gearing up for a potential war as the two stations merge. As Mia states, there can not be two of everything. Chris’ future of stepping away from UBA has already been revealed, and while Mia states she is not going anywhere until she knows her co-workers are okay, who knows what the merger will mean for her. As for Stella, she may finally be receiving her well-earned promotion.

The only characters who seem safe are Alex and Laura. As they were leading the charge on creating the UBA and NBN merger, they will likely have a much bigger voice and a seat at the table. Alex is finally getting what she has wanted for so long.

So, will The Morning Show’s fourth season be a blood bath as characters fight to keep their jobs during the merger? How will the show tackle such a massive change for all of its characters and central setting?

Season three perfectly built up to an explosive conclusion. Although The Morning Show tied up plenty of loose ends by the time the final minutes rolled around, that does not take away from how the series simultaneously blew everything up in the process in such a way that leaves so many open possibilities for season four to explore.