The melodrama in The Morning Show has reached stratospheric levels — and thank goodness Billy Crudup was finally recognized with an Emmy, because Cory is clearly having the most fun. His mix of dramatic and comedic precision reminds us just how ridiculous this all is — but still, absolutely addictive.

After an implausible opening, with the unbearable Alex Levy triggering an international diplomatic crisis, we are thrown into a whirlwind of ambition and dirty tricks — coming precisely from those who used to sell themselves as virtuous and serious. It’s a twist that can feel exhausting at times, since there are no real “good guys” left in this story — everyone is a little bit of a villain.

A High-Gear Episode

Season 4 picks up right where the premiere left off, going full throttle. If the first episode was already dizzying, this second one shifts into an even higher gear, deliberately disorienting the characters — and us. Everyone feels trapped by their circumstances, unsure where to turn. The drama is spread thin, and at times it’s hard to keep up, but the result is captivating and builds to a ruthless cliffhanger that makes it clear this season is just getting started.

Yes, it’s all bonkers — but longtime viewers know that’s part of the charm. Most of the critical backlash this season focuses on how it handles hot-button political issues and its refusal to outright condemn its selfish (and sometimes right-leaning) characters. But The Morning Show has never promised to mirror the viewer’s politics. It’s a high-gloss soap opera using real-world headlines as set dressing, performed by brilliant actors in Emmy-worthy performances.

Bradley Under Pressure

Bradley’s triumphant TV comeback immediately goes off the rails when she’s forced to explain Hal, who was radicalized during the pandemic and ended up imprisoned for storming the Capitol. It isn’t exactly morally satisfying that Bradley has managed to skate by after covering for him, but that’s the fun: watching her stumble and almost implicate herself while she scrambles to figure out who “GaiaWarrior96” really is.

She turns to Chip. After a quick chat, he remembers being told to spike a story about a chemical company that was later cleared of wrongdoing. Bradley’s source doesn’t show up to the secret meeting — an absence that feels telling — and later, Chip has an epiphany: the emails to Bradley use British spelling, leading him to suspect the whistleblower might be Bradley’s former assistant, Claire Conway.

Alex in the Crosshairs (and in Deepfake Hell)

Alex gets pulled into the drama as well, though more peripherally. Expecting a meeting with Stella about Bradley, she instead walks into an ambush by the legal department and Celine, who grill her about the Iranians — suggesting she planned and facilitated the defection without informing anyone. There’s even CCTV footage of Alex talking with Roya, apparently saying things she swears she never said. The result? Alex discovers she’s the victim of a deepfake.

Her paranoia is both hilarious and unsettling. She goes to Cory, who warns her that Celine might take this to the board and suggests she “kiss the ring” of Leslie Reynolds. She tries to get Mia to give her airtime on The Morning Show to share her deepfake story, and when that’s shot down, she turns to Bro — enduring his unsubtle workplace harassment — in an attempt to guest on his unsupervised show and plead her case there. One of the episode’s best moments has Alex googling “Alex Levy deepfake” and coming face-to-face with results she wishes she’d never seen.

On her way to see Leslie, Alex literally stumbles into Bradley’s subplot, finding herself in the middle of an Extinction Revolt protest outside a renewable energy summit. She livestreams the event and interviews a protester who claims the summit is just a cover for shady oil deals. When Bradley sees the footage, she notices the symbol on the protester’s shirt — the very same one (and likely the same shirt) as in the video of the black-toothed child sent by GaiaWarrior96.

Alex is cleared almost as quickly as she was implicated: Celine visits her at home to explain that the security team discovered the audio was doctored and suspects the Iranians did it in retaliation. But that explanation doesn’t exactly put Alex — or us — at ease.

Cory, Always Cory

Cory has his own arc, pitching Stella for funding for his movie — and getting shut down. Later, Stella mentions this to Miles, who invites Cory over to talk him out of schmoozing UBN. Big mistake. Stella leaves her lighter behind, which Cory immediately recognizes. After confirming with the building staff that she’s been visiting regularly, Cory ends up with exactly what he needs: kompromat powerful enough to blackmail Stella into giving him a new deal at UBN. After all, he was never on the good guys’ team.