‘The Morning Show’ Recap: ‘Fever’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season two finale of ‘The Morning Show’.
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Over the course of the past couple of months, the AppleTV+ series, The Morning Show, has explored some fascinating concepts. Such as the need for personal accountability when the universe points out our sour actions, alongside featuring some shocking surprises… since this season also saw Mitch Kessler exit the series in a powerful and controversial manner. But while it has been fascinating to see reckonings take place and harsh truths be expressed to characters that needed to hear them… there is one particular plot thread that the audience has been eager to see the show explore. Specifically… the arrival of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Because to do so would offer the audience perspective on what was a genuinely unsettling time in all of our lives.
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Well, after weeks to teasing and toying and hinting at its arrival, the season two finale dealt with it at last and that made ‘Fever’, a surprisingly poignant and sobering episode. Not because of more character deaths or severe suffering because of Covid. But because this show decided to offer up some serious context about the pandemic and what it should mean to all of us, and it accomplished this powerful examination by way of two key storylines. Wherein Bradley Jackson stepped away from the show to try and find her brother since making sure he was safe and secure was more important than any of their differences, and through Alex Levy’s experiences with Covid. Since Chip realized that putting her on the air while sick, would in fact… be a point of redemption since she would be sharing her journey in a raw and powerful manner, one that spoke to the reality of the moment and showed Alex as a human being instead of a personality. 

Which of course, led to plenty of moving moments for certain. Since watching Alex sit in front of a camera and suffer from Covid provided great context to what some of us never quite understood. Specifically, how painful it is to contract this virus and battle it. For there are fortunate people who managed to avoid catching Covid during its ebbs and flows over the past two years now. Plus, it really did humanize and humble her at last and her story was just as moving as Bradley’s. Since she finally lowered her guard when it came to her family and she genuinely risked life and limb to find her brother, since she was out in the open and in the thick of the city as Covid began to run rampant and what matters most… is that she did indeed find her brother and reconcile with him at a critical moment, giving hope to the audience that perhaps there’s a better tomorrow waiting for their fractured relationship.

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But that’s really all we are going to discuss when it comes to the plot. Simply because what this episode had to say about the pandemic and what it should mean to us… is of serious note. In part because this episode really did a wonderfully scary job of taking us back down memory lane. Since it chronicled the early days of the pandemic and how confused we all were when it began and how scared we were as well. Since we were truly facing the unknown back then, and the lack of treatments and data and government response left us in a shattered place. One where we simply didn’t know what to do or how to respond and kudos to the series for being one of the few stories out there to capture the zeitgeist of this moment and properly express the range of emotions that everyone experienced that fateful March. But while that was incredible to revisit mentally, it paled in comparison to the story’s stunning message.
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Because in the end, this is an episode that takes the time to point out that this event was nothing short of a wake-up call. One that showed us the precious nature of life and how quickly it changes before our eyes and how quickly the universe can rob us of a future if the circumstances are right. Which means we can no longer immerse ourselves in pettiness and fruitless endeavors. Instead, once the pandemic ends, and it will end, we need to take that fear and the epiphany that we could have lost our lives as easily as anyone else during the peak of this… and use it in a positive manner. And say the things we’ve always wanted to say to those that matter and be open and be bold and go after everything we’ve ever wanted in life. For this is our second chance, our gift and signal to hit the restart button and live life as we’ve always wanted to. Because we simply never know when the universe is going to surprise us in scary ways and that is one hell of a message to find embedded within a show about morning television news and journalism.

But it is there, and it is beautiful and poignant, and it stays with you long after the end credits have rolled. In large part because it truly resonates with the viewer and reminds them to think about this now before the world tries to demand that we go back to a life that wasn’t working for everyone. But also, because this message and the epiphanies present here for the characters… will likely change the landscape of season three of this series, provided of course it gets that, and this writer hopes that it does. Because we could learn a lot from Bradley’s desire to mend fences and do right by her family and we could also learn plenty from Cory’s desire to be open and in the moment and Alex’s quest to find self-fulfillment, regardless of what the world thinks. But while we wait for that announcement, we can bask in one powerful tale. One that really did hammer home quite the message, one that we should definitely take to heart. Until next time.

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