The central drama of the final episode is rescuing Bradley, detained in Belarus, and she is not in a hotel but in a filthy cell, unable to sleep. Nothing looks promising for an American journalist. She has been missing for 28 days, and not even pressure from the network demanding her whereabouts changes anything. Between the Paris Olympics opening ceremony and Bradley’s arrest, UPA must be soaring in ratings, but that does nothing to help her. Repeating that she is not a spy convinces no one.

The environmental investigation becomes a key political thread

Cory is, of course, following the news closely, and I’m betting he will not only save the day but return to the position he was fired from. He is in love with Bradley and ambitious, and he never acts without considering his own interests. For now, he is involved with Celine.

Chip and Alex have put their past issues aside and are working together to uncover what was covered up in the environmental disaster. Their goal is to trace Bradley’s path, which leads them straight to Martel (Celine Dumont’s family business). Exposing everything will push the story back into the headlines and increase pressure on the government to intervene in Bradley’s release.

Cory’s resentment, guilt, and breaking point

Only now does Alex remember that Bradley had questioned Cory about the story, and he said he knew nothing (which they now assume was a lie). Chip confronts him and is surprised, not because Cory repeats that he truly didn’t know at the time, but because he seems indifferent to bringing Bradley home. Cory reminds Chip that Bradley lied to him, invaded his phone and computer searching for information he didn’t have, and at the same time witnessed his mother’s death while he was trying to deal with grief. In other words, Bradley is not at the top of his priorities. But Cory is shaken when Chip mentions how remorseful Bradley was and how much she regretted ruining everything between them.

Bradley remains under torture, unable to sleep for weeks, but does not break: she gives the soldiers no names. And Cory remembers the moments he shared with her, after years of unspoken affection, when he finally heard what he had longed to hear and believed they were beginning a relationship. He wanders through New York lost in thought until he finally turns to his mother’s documents, which confirm the cover-up. Cory needs to choose a side.

Deepfake, AI, and the return of a forgotten ghost

At UPA, Mia is approached by Ben Ross, who asks for help analyzing a report from when she was still in charge. There are signs of suspicious changes to Alex’s avatar in Stella’s AI project — the deepfake we had all forgotten about. Mia investigates and notices that the team responsible was Ben’s, but there is also an anonymous insider involved. They scheduled a meeting in the control room at 11 PM. It is a producer, Bart, whom we have never seen. Alex is informed immediately.

Celine is at the center of everything, always one step ahead

Celine wakes up to Cory visibly tense, and he directly asks whether she is behind Bradley’s detention, making it clear he knows Martel is involved in the scandal. She denies it, but does not convince him. He offers to hand over definitive proof against Martel if Celine commits to helping free Bradley. She agrees, but says she will do it “for him.”

Alex, unaware of Celine’s connection to the Bradley situation, is furious when she discovers Celine was behind the deepfake. She threatens to expose her unless she resigns, but Celine is prepared: she reminds Alex that her trip to the opera, negotiating with Russians, was illegal — meaning the one who should resign is Alex. Paul Marks is called in. He simply says: She is Alex Levy. Investigate.

Public implosion: Alex exposed, Cory torn, Celine cornered

Alex goes to Cory’s apartment and, even as he tries to warn her to stop talking, she spills everything. Too late: Celine walks in. Alex’s disappointment rattles Cory for the first time. The next day, on air, Alex says goodbye to UBN. And even with Celine watching, she does not tell the truth — she simply says that journalism is not dead.

Miles, missing for months, returns to his wife, leaving Celine irritated but not surprised. He brings proof that she had been in his studio — meaning she tried to blackmail him. Being the villain has its price, and once the tide turns, it turns completely.

Miles also confronts Cory, who is not intimidated and insists that he and Celine are aligned and helping each other. Miles humiliates him: he is, and always has been, the scapegoat. And then he reveals the worst part: Martha, Cory’s mother, helped bury the story to protect her son’s job at UBA.

The press conference that turns everything upside down

Alex wanted to stew in her forced retirement alone, but received a visit from her father. With Chip, Martin outlines possible scenarios, and the most difficult — yet most effective — is for Alex to violate her NDA.

Cory tries to stop Alex from holding the press conference, but fails, and Celine then attempts to block the broadcast, which Mia ignores. Cory storms into the event because the plan had already been coordinated with Alex. Thanks to him, Celine ends up admitting, on air, that the Dumonts will prevent Bradley’s release if the truth comes out. Nothing could be more damaging than that statement.

Cory’s arc reaches its limit

As expected, this was the season that completed Cory’s arc. He sacrificed himself for Bradley, for Alex, for UBN. And he now believes that confronting his mother about Wolf River pushed her into a corner with no way out. But he is not a bad person.

The ending and the inevitable promise of another season

The episode stumbles with some unnecessary slow-motion moments, but moves forward because it needs to tie up many threads. Mia becomes the head of UBN. Paul and Alex essentially reconcile, and he lends her the jet so she can rescue Bradley, who spent 35 days detained. Alex tells her, “You changed everything.”

And now the question returns: does the series still have the energy for more? From the original The Morning Show setup, almost nothing is left… so what could possibly come next?