“The Morning Show” has the appearance and polish of a sophisticated, prestige television program. Which makes its detours into absurd circumstances and unbelievable turns more annoying. This star studded serial might do better if it kept to soap opera style fiction. Rather than pitching itself as a “Succession” copycat in the third season of the Apple TV+ drama. Which once again incorporates real world events into its narrative.
Mercurial billionaires play a significant role in this season’s latest narrative, much like in that HBO series and Showtime’s “Billions,” which also features them.
“The Morning Show”
Here, billionaire fever takes the form of Paul Marks, a rocket flying businessman who network head Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup, excellent as always) is desperately trying to woo as a buyer for UBA. He does this by using his high powered anchors Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon), who are both excellent in their roles.
In a season that delves into the high stakes world of big business and includes the consequences from an email attack that runs the risk of exposing a variety of humiliating company secrets, the wrangling over the acquisition agreement ends up being the most fruitful and rewarding plot.
This plot reflects what occurred at Sony in 2014 and offers a convincing fictional account of what happens behind the scenes amid a horrific PR situation.
If only the show could continue to include highlights like that. Instead, the plot frequently veers off course into contentious storylines such as the Jan. 6 revolt (with Bradley being involved in those events), the early years of Covid, and the Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Roe v. Wade.
Even though those circumstances ought to make for compelling storytelling material, the show keeps handling them in ways.
For instance, it beggars belief that one of the anchors would be so gullible as to openly broadcast incendiary political material about the Supreme Court and then appear shocked when that became a topic of discussion on abortion.
Read More: Olivia Rodrigo interview: God, what a weird trajectory