‘The Morning Show’ Recap: ‘Ghosts’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘The Morning Show’.
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We are taught from a very early age, two important and vastly dynamic concepts. In that, we need to live in the moment and live without regret, and there are some important reasons as to why those lessons come our way. Because we simply cannot see what tomorrow will bring, so worrying about that above all else ruins the experiences of the now and of course, living without regret, means that we will carry ourselves through life, without any burdens of the past and those really are solid lessons to learn. Since they do in fact, keep us on a focused path where only now counts and we can reflect upon its wonder in a relaxed and regret-free manner when the times comes to ponder upon the nature of our life. 
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But what is unfortunate about the latter of those two lessons, is that we don’t really take the time to teach one another… how exactly you live a regret free life. Because despite saying to ourselves that we will shake off the difficult moments and/or move ahead when we experience something traumatic… we don’t. It stays with us, lurking beneath the surface or coming to it until we do one important act to heal. In that, we must face our past and resolve it, and only then, can we walk away from it in a peaceful manner and even then… that’s no easy task. For some of our darkest moments are our own doing and living with oneself when you realize that, requires a lot of quiet time and a lot of internal work and sadly, not everyone is able to pull that off, and it is that difficult aspect of the human condition… that serves as the focal theme of the next episode of The Morning Show.

For ‘Ghosts’ is a story that sees several of our main characters, be forced to reconcile their sorted pasts, with mixed results for certain, especially when one considers that their continuous missteps also showed us, how hard it is to avoid making another mistake when you desperately want to be rid of that painful memory. Which is something that Cory did in this tale. For it was finally revealed that he was the one that authorized the buyout for Fred in the hopes of just getting him to go away and he knew now, that doing so created all kinds of harm and the only way forward… was to confront his mistake and try and make his actions right with others and well… he failed at all of that. In large part because he kept the truth a secret and tried to manipulate his way of out this and since that brought him no peace, he is ready now to make another mistake to keep his initial one under wraps.

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But he wasn’t the only one that failed miserably in reconciling yesterday, for Alex struggled with it too. Because the voyage to Las Vegas to handle the debate, forced Alex to think back on how her life changed the last time she was out there, and it didn’t help that Maggie Brener was in Vegas as well, since Alex was terrified of the contents of the book. And really, all of that pressure and all of Alex’s unresolved trauma and memories more or less washed over her and left her in a conflicted place. One where she felt the need to hammer Maggie in her hotel room to get answers on what the book was going to feature about Alex, in the hopes that she could be seen as the hero she wants to be. Instead of the person that operates in the grey areas of life. Something that she could reconcile on her own with a little work, but since she refuses to do that, there is no peace for her just yet and it will be interesting to see if she finds it by season’s end.
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However, while it was powerful to see so many people stumble in this tale and struggle with really taking the time to resolve their darkest memories from yesterday, one person did learn the importance of this lesson and it is the last person we thought it would be. For Paola was finally able to convince Mitch Kessler, to go in front of the camera and pour his heart out about what happened with Hannah and amazingly… Mitch finally faced his past in a powerful manner. For he was honest with himself about his dark actions, and he finally understood the gravity of what he’s done. Which is the beginning of a new chapter for Mitch, one that still may not come to fruition unfortunately. Since we simply don’t know what the future holds for Mitch and his new friend, since they are still in the incubation period for Covid and waiting to see where that takes them.

Which means that all we can do in regard to that plot thread, is live in the now and relish in the fact that Mitch finally had a damn epiphany about his scum bag ways and well… clearly more of these characters need that epiphany as well. Since Alex and Cory are struggling badly with the things, they’ve done to themselves, and others and all these elements really did make for one powerful episode in the end. One that once again put the human condition on display in a manner that was poignant and powerful and pertinent. Since actions have consequences on this show and there will be plenty for both Cory and Alex, since they can no longer run from yesterday and like it or not, the time has come for them to face up to what they’ve done and that will indeed make the wait for next week’s episode quite difficult. Since we are all eager to see, what will come out of the revelations present in this magnificent tale. Until next time.

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