It’s hard to root for anyone on The Morning Show. The series has always thrived on the tension between miserable, obsessive, morally flexible people whose ambitions are sky-high. The political and social backdrop is just that — a backdrop — but it also fuels the drama. It’s a show about people who self-destruct in public, and somehow, it’s always great television.

Among them all, Billy Crudup remains the gravitational center. His Cory Ellison is tragic, enigmatic, erratic, and endlessly compelling. Every time he does the right thing, he pays more dearly than when he’s wrong. Returning to UBN is yet another bad decision in a lifetime of them — but Cory can’t help himself. His madness is magnetic. His chaos, strangely human.

The title “Love the Questions” is deeply ironic because answers, here, are never loving — or simple. This episode is a storm of overlapping crises: professional, personal, ethical, and strategic. A plane in distress, a newsroom without a leader since Mia’s departure, blackmail, forbidden love, commercial pressure, and the ticking clock of live TV. By the time it’s over, we’re breathless — and craving more.

Chaos in the air: between breaking news and internal collapse

With Mia gone, UBN’s newsroom is unsteady, anxious, and leaderless. The last thing anyone needs is a breaking news emergency — but of course, that’s exactly what happens. A plane en route from JFK to LAX experiences a midair malfunction, forcing the skeleton crew to improvise a live broadcast as the story unfolds.

Putting so many neurotic, self-absorbed people in one enclosed space can only work when there’s an even greater disaster happening outside — and barely then.

Yanko, ever the over-thinker, has planned an on-air marriage proposal to Ariana. But real-world events — and the emotional gut punch of learning that Claire is back in New York — derail everything. He knows she’s bad for him, but clearly, he still isn’t over her.

Meanwhile, Alex Levy takes the reins of the emergency coverage. Journalism may no longer be her territory, but without her command, the broadcast would be a complete disaster. Having Chip back at the control room adds a touch of nostalgia for the veterans — and pure terror for the rookies.

Alex, Martin, and the ghost of reputation

While the newsroom burns, Alex faces her own reckoning. Her father, the narcissistic and insufferable Martin, calls her in a rage over plagiarism accusations surrounding his first book. He insists it’s absurd — never convincingly — and, of course, blames his daughter for it.

Then comes the emotional blackmail: he pressures Alex to make the story disappear. When she refuses to bribe Justice, the journalist writing the piece, Martin, can’t fathom why. Integrity means nothing to him — moral standards, in the Levy family, seem to be optional.

It’s a brilliant sequence for Jennifer Aniston, who shines in quiet frustration. She’s a woman trying to hold the world together while every man around her demands she compromise herself to save them.

Bradley, Chip, and the Wolf River case

Meanwhile, Bradley and Chip continue their investigation into Wolf River, the corporate scandal that was buried — and that drove attorney Kenneth Stockton to an apparent suicide.

Bradley turns to Ashley, now working at Eagle News, for help. But nothing comes for free. Ashley wants something in return — a story that could boost her ratings and reputation.

Before the deal is sealed, Alex catches Bradley and Chip scheming backstage. The confrontation is sharp but short-lived; pragmatism wins. Alex realizes that if Bradley backs down, Eagle will run the story first.

So she joins forces with her, sacrificing what Justice demanded — a dossier on the Extinction Revolt movement — as a calculated trade for the truth.

And then, the twist: the man behind the Wolf River cover-up was Earl, Cory Ellison’s personal fixer. In other words, Cory killed the story. The revelation hits just as Bradley begins to let her guard down with him — timing, as always in this show, is merciless.

Cory, Celine, and the perfect betrayal

I warned you — Cory was heading straight for heartbreak. He’ll survive, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for him. He genuinely loves Bradley, and she’s never matched that intensity.

After a rare moment of happiness in her bed, Cory heads to UBN to pitch his grand plan to board president Celine (Marion Cotillard, exquisite). What he doesn’t expect is that she has her own power play. Celine wants to be CEO, and to get there, she needs to take Stella down.

She knows Cory has leverage — and offers him an irresistible deal: $200 million and a movie project, in exchange for Stella’s downfall. Cory hesitates but eventually caves.

When he reveals that Stella is having an affair with Miles, Celine’s husband, he detonates a bomb that will haunt them all. Cotillard’s performance is stunning: every flicker of pain and composure turns the scene into a silent war.

What Cory doesn’t know is that Bradley is about to publish the investigation exposing his role in the Wolf River scandal. Their romance, already fragile, is doomed.

Can he explain himself — or has Cory Ellison finally lost control of the empire he built on manipulation?

It’s messy, fast, cynical — and brilliant. The kind of episode that reminds you why The Morning Show is at its best when everything is falling apart.