TV Review: The Morning Show Returns TO WAKE US UP!
Color me shook! The Morning Show ended last season with a powerful “Me Too” moment that made you think, “Change is coming!” Yet, like life, it never really does. For all that movement trend, they never seem to move the very structure and systems they are trending against. The Morning show is still a show about sexism, misogyny, and the prejudice dynamics that endanger many to protect a few, Yet, this season observed how even the helpless can sell out.
Season 2 finds us smack in the beginning of COVID, when we all so naively thought it would be done in a month. Remember that…. REMEMBER! Well, The Morning Show reminds you of how innocent we were to believe this pandemic would not change our lives …. or us. Yet, what I found most intriguing is that, in being a “work show,” it took the perspective about how people began to rethink their careers, their work-life choices, and how they either sold out or forgot to dream better for themselves. Thus, it is both hilarious and heart-wrenching to see how its biggest female leads Jennifer Aniston’s Alex and Reese Witherspoon’s Bradley found themselves recoiled in old fears just to reface them again.
When Season 2 begin Alex and Bradley are seemingly “career cowering” again. They are trying to do whatever it takes to protect and prosper their careers, in exchange, for what felt like their “revolutionary moment.” They left off as beaconed warriors for sexual assault victims and women that have too often been promised an opportunity only to have their spirits crushed. Yet, Bradley is trying to hook up with wise-crack Cory (Billy Crudup), who will never change from being a “narcissistic ally”, and Alex is still trying to avoid the “Mitch of It All” while writing a book about her life. For however much these women try to dominate the men that dominate them, they cannot because they still want their power and wealth more than a movement’s progress. Call it individualism over communalism, and call Witherspoon and Aniston the acting titans of this show.
It is no surprise that the slow churning of our global shutdown leaves all of them more at home or speaking to each other amidst Covid guidelines. Yet, the distance does teach them all about themselves, and new characters like Juliana Marguiles’ “tough as nails” Laura Petersen, Greta Lee as the fantastically stoic Stella Bak, or old ones getting even juicer storylines such as, Maggie Brener (Marcia Gay Harden), push Alex and Bradley into both their own celebrity and humanity: something they cannot always tell the difference between. For all that they want to climb in power, they also fear what it brings: more attention means more judgement. This is absolutely embodied by the “cancellation paradise” Mitch (Steve Carrell) is living in.
Like most of its star-studded cast, which now features my FAVE HASAN MINAJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Eric), The Morning Show thrives off of its genuine talent. Its cast is so powerful and charming that they could all stay silent in a room and we would be riveted. Hence, Mitch’s storyline may be interesting, but its full weight relies on the power of Carrell. Frankly, we do not really know what happens in “post- cancellation life,” in part, because the whole point of cancellation is that we never have to hear or see you again. Thus, Mitch’s turmoil is a fascinating contrast to Alex and Bradley because they are still trying to “gain” and are “publicly visible.” Yet, Mitch is in banishment; there is nothing more for him to get beyond personal redemption and growth. Can he? Will he? Does it matter how you grow, if it is for no one but yourself? These are rather existential crises for a show based on morning-time coffee talk. Yet, even the most “banal” occupation can become a lion’s den if power enters the mix.
What I always liked about The Morning Show, beyond its spectacular acting, is that not too many “office shows” capture how dark the workplace can be simply by people’s Machiavellian machinations. Most of The Morning Show’s grand issues would be over if people actually did their jobs, and focused more on growing their souls than their egos and social media. Yet, that is the point of this show; how do we stand for values and what is right for the many, when most of us, as individuals, are aiming to stand alone in wealth? The Morning Show releases new episode every Friday on Apple TV Plus.
