‘The Morning Show’ Recap: ‘A Seat at the Table’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Each and every one of us out there, have a particular job or career field that we would love to be part of. Because deep down we know that being in that field will bring us great happiness and peace, which is why we pursue it with vigor and intensity. But while we often speak of the pursuit of attaining the ‘dream job’, so that our souls can find the peace and stability they crave, we rarely think about the fact that sometimes we have to fight hard to stay within our preferred field once we get there. For there are other folks out there who want what we have and sometimes the mistakes we make and moments of complacency, leave our bosses wondering if we really want this or not. Which in turn begs quite the important question for us, in that, if by chance our dream job was threatened, how far would we go to keep our arms firmly wrapped around it, if there was even a remote possibility of losing it?

Well, it just so happens that the next episode of The Morning Show takes the time to dive into this particular quandary since ‘A Seat at the Table’ sees Alex face the prospect of a future without TMS in her life. Because Mitch’s admission that the network was planning to replace her anyways, helps her to realize that this is likely why the network has been slow in closing the deal on her contract extension and if she doesn’t do something bold and dynamic soon, she may be without the job she loves. Which motivates Alex to take charge of her career like never before, by calling her agent and demanding more from the network, and by outright letting Chip know that she won’t even remotely go on the air without having a say in who will sit in the chair next to her. Yet while these actions were bold and wonderful to see, since they help us to understand how much she loves this job, they unfortunately don’t speak to how far she will go to keep it, simply because… the show was saving that for later.

Because there was an unsettling flip side in exploring how far someone will go to hang onto what they love and that was handled by Mitch Kessler’s journey. For he truly believed that everything that happened with the women that spoke up about his predatory behavior to be consensual, and because of that, the world needed to hear his side of the story. And that motivated him to call various people around town to see who might be interested in hearing just that and it was quite unsettling to see Mitch dig in like this and really try and push a narrative that no one cares to hear. But he seems determined to make his voice heard, and it should be interesting to see where his plans go from here since Chip was able to get him to back down for the time being, from trying to talk to the local press and from showing up at the big event where Alex was receiving an award for her contributions to the media.

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Which brings us to the big exploration in question. Something that finally came to fruition by way of a stressful evening for Alex. For Cory invited Bradley Jackson to this gathering, after trying and failing to get her onto the show (more on that in a moment) and after seeing her there, and after having a long and intense chat with Cory, one where her contract demands were immediately shot down and where Cory made it clear that this evening was about optics over anything else, Alex finally realized that the only way she was going to have a future at UBA and on The Morning Show was to take matters into her own hands. A decision that motivated her to embarrass the executives and tick off her own staff by naming her own co-host; Bradley. A move that no one saw coming and it is one that will likely lead to some serious drama down the line, since so many others were vying for that all-important second chair. But it truly does go to show, that when someone has nothing to lose and is genuinely in love with their job/career, they will indeed do whatever the hell it takes to keep hold of it.  
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Yet while it was quite epic to see Alex go the extra mile in this manner, we would be remiss to not talk about some of the shady moves made by UBA in this particular tale. Because it was quite out of line of Cory to basically step on Chip’s toes and demand that he hire Bradley, rather than trust his years of experience. And it was equally weird and downright unsettling to see Chip send a rep over to a nearby hotel to try and talk one of the women who reported Mitch’s misconduct, into telling her story on TMS. And really, the point of revisiting these off color and inappropriate moments, relates to the fact that clearly; the network didn’t learn a damn thing when it comes to what happened. Because they’re still using women as chess pieces to play their little games and one can only wonder when exactly this is going to backfire. Because it most certainly will. 

But in the here and the now, Bradley is the new co-host of The Morning Show and since Alex announced it in public, there’s no going back on that happening now, not unless Bradley puts the kibosh on it herself. But that likely won’t happen either, since she will undoubtedly see this as the perfect opportunity to shape a fluffy show into something far more meaningful and well, when all is said and done this was just another phenomenal episode. One that did a fine job of helping us to understand what makes these characters tick and it once again offered up compelling moment after compelling moment, and it was quite fascinating to see how intense things can get behind the scenes of a show this big and it is going to be supremely interesting to see what comes out of Alex’s power play. Because there are undoubtedly professional consequences that follow that bold of a move, the kind that Alex seems unphased by. Until next time.

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