Susan Granger’s review of “The Morning Show: Season 3” (Apple TV+)
With 16 Emmy nominations, “The Morning Show” has finally become a major contender in the 2024 Drama Series race as showrunner Charlotte Stoudt catapulted it into the modern-day media crisis era with its 10-episode third season.
New York City-based anchorwomen Alex Levy (Emmy nominee Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Emmy nominee Reese Witherspoon) are now on very different paths.
Thanks to an unexpected eleventh-hour coup, Alex outsmarted her love interest – seductive Paul Marks (Emmy nominee Jon Hamm), an Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos-like tech billionaire who tried to acquire the UBA network until Alex realized he’d been secretly surveilling her, Bradley and everyone else at UBA. Instead, the upcoming season four will find Alex working a merger with a rival news brand.
In contrast, Bradley will be facing a possible felony charge for tampering with evidence and obstructing justice related to the investigation of the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol. Her ne’er-do-well brother Hal (Joe Tippett) assaulted a police officer during the insurrection and Bradley, who caught the moment on-camera and withheld it in her reporting, which forced her resignation.
So Bradley could wind up in a cell, while Alex finally claims a seat in the boardroom. One of the questions the upcoming fourth season will pose is: whether the women can run things any better than the men. And how does one deal with consequences, accountability and redemption?
What will become of compelling former UBA CEO Cory Ellison (Emmy nominee Billy Crudup) who over-leveraged the company but was fired because of his questionable romantic relationship with Bradley? And will there be a place for Bradley’s now-ex, NBN anchor Laura Peterson (Julianna Margulies)?
Season three effectively dealt with underappreciated women-of-color at UBA, like Stella Bak (Emmy nominee Greta Lee) who is tired of being condescended to and Mia Jordan (Emmy Nominee Karen Pittman) who’s been so committed to her job that she’s been sleeping in the office.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Morning Show” remains an exciting 8 – with all episodes streaming on Apple TV+.
