If it hadn’t been inspired by market reality, Succession would have been less surprising and exciting. In the first two seasons of The Morning Show, the news guided the script more, but, in the third and best part of the story, the Apple series mirrored its HBO Max cousin and left us breathless with so many twists and turns. Jon Hamm‘s addition to the cast reflects the participation of Alexander Skarsgard: he gained energy and unpredictability, essential for storytelling.

Alex Levy (Jenniffer Aniston) has a little hesitation, but she’s so involved with Paul Marks (Jon Hamm) that not even the Fourth of July fireworks could wake her up. It is completely obvious that he is using her and that, if we still had any doubts, it was Paul who leaked all the UBA’s emails and secrets at the beginning of the season. With that inexhaustible source of secrets open to the world, it was easy to get to one by one those who needed to take down: Cory (Billy Crudup) and Bradley (Reese Witherspoon), for starters. Awake and vaccinated, it is Stella (Greta Lee) who leads the counterattack, but Cory is equally seduced by the game to be properly attentive.

Obviously, more things happen, but let’s focus on the main ones. Laura (Julianna Marguiles) has decided to stop pretending she didn’t notice Cory and Bradley’s intimate relationship but is furious when she discovers the federal crime he helped cover-up. As Bradley’s girlfriend, Laura’s reputation is compromised because everyone will think she knew what Bradley did. Even if she decides to keep quiet and break off the relationship, it’s too late. Aware that Bradley is close to the truth, Paul accelerates his plan and shows his true colors: he not only leaks the scandals about Cory but also blackmails Bradley, doing well in all initiatives. Cory was fired, Bradley quit, Alex is supporting Paul… the implosion is complete. And now?

There’s no time for Cory to turn the tide, he’ll be the big loser here. The Morning Show, like Succession, has no good guys for us to root for, they are all hideously sociopathic. All the secrets exposed are true, so there is no need to feel sorry for anyone, even less so for Cory. The question will be whether Alex will understand or care about the truth. I doubt.

Strangely in this scenario of lies and scandals, Alex proves to be the least interesting of the entire cast. There is nothing suspicious or exciting in her life, she lives a singular transparency in the midst of so many antagonists. In other words, she’s boring. His hypocrisy and narcissism were already material for antipathy, they are now at a high level and difficult to return.

Paul Marks really is the “new Lukas Matsson”, but with less cynicism. Lukas was so hateful in his declared aggression and Paul only showed his face a little in this episode. Jon puts on a show and is also a remake of Jon Draper from Mad Men. Why did it take so long to get into the story?

Following this logic, Cory is very much in the vibe of Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), a tragic figure, without love or friendship from anyone. The only thing he has in life is the dream and ambition of running a news empire, but swallowed by the ability – and funds – of billionaires like Marks/Matsson to change the rules of the game.

Therefore, it is a good idea for The Morning Show to walk in the shadow of the 2023 phenomenon series and we can celebrate an intense, tense season that changes everything we have seen and followed up until now. It will be complex for Bradley to forgive Cory, even with everything he did to compensate and hide his love for her. It will be even worse for him to regain credibility to lead a new company, I really don’t know where they will take the character. Bradley, who was openly blackmailed by Paul, can still turn the tables by exposing him, but there is no way to overcome the federal crime against the FBI. That leaves the tedious Alex, who wanted to rule the UBA and at the same time stay on the air. I know I complained about Bradley, but I’m almost apologetic. The character that demands the biggest change is Jenniffer Aniston, who has suffered for three seasons to give her some meaning. And Paul Marks? This one is a little longer. Apparently, it will be Chip (Mark Duplass) who will take down the billionaire, but for all this to happen, more episodes are needed. There’s no time. We will see the victory of the dirty game… will any media company escape being destroyed? Hollywood seems to think not…

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