The Morning Show has never been known for its subtle exploration of hard-hitting issues. On the contrary, the show’s insistence on reexamining so much of our recent history—first the #MeToo movement; then the Covid-19 pandemic; and now the Black Lives Matter movement, racial and gender inequity in the workplace, and the eventual fall of Roe v. Wade—is enough to give any well-informed viewer some kind of whiplash. But at this point, anyone who is still watching this show (myself included) knows exactly what they’ve signed up for.
Instead of the soapy storylines involving the usual suspects at UBA, the latest episode of the Apple TV+ drama decides to turn the spotlight onto one of its newest additions: Christina Hunter, a former Olympian who joined TMS’s roster of anchors a couple of years ago. In the previous episode, in the midst of the cyberattack, we saw a worried Chris call her husband and talk to her young daughter, making her seem more grounded and down-to-earth than pretty much all of her colleagues. (Go figure!)
After the ransom deadline passed, the hackers decided to release all of UBA’s internal communications, unearthing revelations that employees of color in particular have been lowballed in salary negotiations. Eagle News, being the vultures they are, reports that a racist email—indicative of a potentially toxic work environment—was discovered in UBA’s data breach. (Who are we kidding? UBA hasn’t had a good work environment maybe…ever.) We soon discover that the incriminating email in question was written by Cybil, the head of the network’s board, about the hiring of Chris in the summer of 2020.
Feeling the squeeze on profits during the early months of the pandemic, Cybil was unhappy with the network’s decision to sign a two-year deal with Chris until someone pointed out that they were paying her less than Bradley when she was hired as a replacement for Mitch Kessler. “We got her at a steal. After all, Chris is popular enough to be on cereal boxes,” one exec said. But it’s Cybil’s reply that is more damning: “Aunt Jemima was on cereal boxes too, and no one’s buying her anymore.” (As you may recall, the Aunt Jemima brand name was officially discontinued in 2021, with all products rebranded to Pearl Milling Company.)
After reading the leaked emails for herself, an understandably emotional Chris is called into the office of Cory, who is given the equally unsavory task of trying to “make things right” with his employee in an attempt to avoid a discrimination lawsuit. Chris is made to feel like the only Black woman at the company and begins to lean on her husband, Marcus, a successful sports agent who, according to press releases, “will be helping her navigate the corporate politics of UBA.”
Meanwhile, Cybil, now persona non grata at the company her grandfather founded 45 years ago, tracks down Alex, whom Cybil expressly asked Stella to punish for missing the Hyperion launch, and asks about the internal reaction to her leaked email. Wanting to defend herself from being “canceled” publicly, Cybil asks Alex to interview her on Alex Unfiltered in order to “set the record straight” in the court of public opinion. “It’s funny how now all of a sudden it becomes about sisterhood and solidarity, because now you need something,” Alex says when Cybil insists that she’s had her back when no one else did at UBA. (Yeah, right, Cybil!)
The writers, to their credit, do a commendable job of examining the limits and pitfalls of white feminism, which fails to acknowledge the intersectionality of women and how race can intertwine with misogyny in the mistreatment of women. But for a drama series that is literally led by and built around the likeness of two prominent white women, it will be interesting to see how far the writers are willing to go in this examination of racial inequity in the workplace, especially now that the show has three women of color working on TMS at the same time.
The next morning in her office, Alex attempts to pitch an exclusive interview with Cybil to Cory, Stella, and Chip. Alex says that, since Cybil has an airtight NDA, Cybil’s only shot at telling her side of the story would be on Alex Unfiltered. Although Cory is firmly against the ask, Alex insists that the scandal is “our mess to clean up,” while Chip points out that Cory would normally live for this kind of chaos. (Seriously, what happened to Cory “Chaos Is the New Cocaine” Ellison? CEO Cory is a lot less fun.) After Stella says that an interview with Cybil would be the best way to show that UBA is taking these issues seriously, Cory agrees under the condition that he gets to watch the first cut. Later that evening, Alex shows up at Chris’ door with an offer: Not only will Cybil be doing the interview on TMS (yay, live television!), but Alex also wants Chris to run the segment. It’s fair to say that Cybil isn’t happy with these decisions, but who cares what she thinks anyway?
Mia certainly isn’t blind to the racial disparity that exists within UBA, but it takes conversations with Layla, one of the producers, and Chris, who naively believed that other people wouldn’t question her worth, to reopen her eyes to that reality. Layla points out that while inequality is baked into the culture of UBA, they wouldn’t even be having this discussion in the workplace if a rich and famous Black woman wasn’t directly impacted in the leak. “How fucked up is it, Stella, that I’m supposed to be running the machine and I am a goddamn cog?” Mia asks hypothetically before uttering one of the most ridiculous lines of the season: “Maybe UBA is a plantation—just with dental insurance.”
The on-air interview between Chris and Cybil is framed like a heavyweight boxing match. While Cybil starts by apologizing profusely and taking full responsibility for her actions, Chris, with the support of Mia and Marcus, asks one pointed question after another: What brand am I helping UBA to sell in your eyes?… Do you think it’s possible to win back the trust of UBA’s employees?… In the interest of transparency, was I hired for a permanent anchor position because I am Black?… I don’t understand why you used a racialized image when discussing me. Is that how you see me? Is that how you see us?
Beharie, the real star of the episode, steals the moments between the lines, playing a young journalist who can shift from quiet strength to vulnerability—and back again—in the same sentence. After revealing that she was tested more than any other person who has ever anchored the show, Chris asks Cybil if she treats the devaluation of employees of color as casually as she wrote that careless email, to which Cybil responds that Chris should be “grateful”—one of the worst buzzwords you can think of when discussing racial inequality—that she has a seat at the table when so many people would kill to be in her position. “I think we should move on from this climate where racial divisions are exploited,” Cybil says. “But that’s every climate, wouldn’t you say? But yes, we will move on from institutional racism after this break,” Chris responds before walking out, hand-in-hand with Marcus, without saying another word to Cybil.
Following that interview, Layla becomes Chris’ new anchor producer, and Cybil is pushed out of her leadership position on the board with a vote of no confidence. Stella even accuses Cory of leaking Cybil’s email—and weaponizing centuries of racism—in an attempt to close a deal with Paul Marks. But as soon as he arrives at an exclusive restaurant to tell Marks that he now has enough votes to greenlight the sale of UBA, Cory learns that Marks has been in talks with other legacy media companies, including NBN (where Laura has now set up shop). Simply put, Marks says, UBA is no longer a safe enough bet for his investment.
Let’s be honest: Who really thought it was a good idea to acquire a media conglomerate that has managed to be the news more than report on the news for the last three years? We all know he’ll come back to the table at some point. After all, the writers and producers wouldn’t get an actor of Jon Hamm’s stature to guest star in only a couple of episodes. But if Paul had any good business sense, he would stay as far away from UBA as possible.
Stray observations
- Before finding out about Cybil’s email, Chris tells Alex and Yanko the story of how she met her husband at her first Olympic trials. Considering that so many of the relationships on this show are/have been toxic, I am not only rooting for Chris and Marcus but will also die on the hill that she is the most normal person on this show. Let’s hope TMS doesn’t change her too much!
- For some reason, Mia and Stella decided it was a good idea to hold a meeting with disgruntled employees without Cory or Cybil, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, Yanko used the informal discussion as an opportunity to talk about the politics of race: “First of all, race is a fiction, and it’s being weaponized. We all know that. We’re having the wrong conversation. All we’re doing, Mia, right now is checking boxes. We’re checking boxes, we’re scoring diversity points on some spreadsheets so that we can all feel better.”
- Yanko remains one of the show’s most fascinating characters to me. There’s an uncomfortable contradiction going on with him, one that begs for a deeper exploration. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.
- Mia raises a valid point during her night out with Stella: Whether consciously or not, Stella “attaches [herself] to power” wherever she can find it. Has her moral compass been bent so far that she may be complicit in upholding the same work culture she once avowed to disrupt?
- We also learn that Stella used to work with Paul but didn’t have a good experience with him. “If there’s one thing about Paul, he’s ruthless,” she warns.
- With Cybil gone, Cory will have to go toe-to-toe with Stephen Fry’s Leonard, who has already made it clear that he is not interested in his BS. This should be a fun dynamic!