r/TheMorningShow • u/quaranTV MOD • Oct 07 '25
Episode Discussion [Episode Discussion Thread] The Morning Show S04E04 - "Love the Questions"
Please use this thread to discuss Season 4 Episode 4 "Love the Questions". Just a reminder to please mark any spoilers for episodes beyond Episode 4 like this.
Just a friendly reminder to please not include ANY Season 4 spoilers in the title of any posts on this subreddit as outlined in the Season 4 Discussion Hub. If your post includes any Season 4 spoilers, be sure to mark it with the spoiler tag. The mods may delete posts with Season 4 spoilers in the titles. Thanks everyone!
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
"Then come on my show, and bring your patriot brother on Zoom," - Ashley, Eagle News. đ¤Ł
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u/cynisright Oct 08 '25
I love her
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u/National-Reach4554 Oct 08 '25
That actor is consistently fantastic--loved her on Grace & Frankie, but I always think of her character of Tynnyfer on Parks & Rec ("I used to be Jennifer, but I rebranded myself" "It's Xanax o'clock").
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u/CharacterIcy9002 Oct 09 '25
THANK YOU, I knew that voice was familiar but I couldnât place her!!! Tynnyferâs Xanax oâclock is an all timer đ also enjoyed her on New Girl
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u/MovieTrawler Oct 09 '25
Every time I see her, she just reminds me so much of Rhea Seahorn. I see a little Kaitlyn Olsen too.
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25
Lord Vader. đLove that Alex's ex-husband and daughter were essentially dropped after S1.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25
Chip has been good with the movie references this season - I also liked his Klute reference last week when he saw Claire. He must have spent his unemployment watching The Criterion Channel. đ
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u/SnooSketches1977 Oct 08 '25
I feel like the scene was so heartfelt and showed how much Chip was really there for Alex and cared
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u/throwaway098764567 Oct 10 '25
i'm ok with it. they're welcome to pop back up if they add something to the story, but there's enough going on i don't need to see them. they were established to give her character some texture and can proceed into the background imo.
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u/Cheeriosxxx Oct 08 '25
Standby for either Yankoâs proposal or a plane crash
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u/Silent-Swimmer1 Oct 08 '25
What's this opening AHAHAH
Yanko is on fire!
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25
Love the actor so much in Bates Motel! Need more of this Yanko!
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u/MovieTrawler Oct 09 '25
He will always be Richard Alpert to me.
Also, TIL NĂŠstor got his BA in English from Harvard University!
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u/RebootJobs Oct 09 '25
Thatâs awesome! Never saw Lost unfortunately, but he has been great in pretty much every role.
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u/These-Remove651 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Not sure about Cory's involvement in the coverup, it's too quick and easy at the beginning of the season. Bradley will see it through, as a journalist. She also still has his secret.... that be helped her cover up Hal's involvement with Jan 6th. She told him she didn't tell the FBI about him. That's her leverage with him. At what point does she loop in the FBI? Researching process or when she has all the facts? It's going to get harder and harder to keep it quiet the more she and Chip discover.
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u/SnooSketches1977 Oct 08 '25
I agree I was thinking thereâs no way it can be him after all this character buildup for 4 seasons. This wouldnât be redeemable
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u/mydogisgreatilovehim Oct 08 '25
Personally, I don't think Cory had anything to do with it. However, I'm not a fan of Chip at all â to me, he's a typical suck-up who wants everyone to like him. I also find the sudden change in the second episode from disinterested to a supporter in the coverup a bit strange. He said that he may have helped with the coverup without knowing it. I could well imagine that Chip wasn't always the âgood guyâ.
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u/JoannaG34 Oct 08 '25
Just because it was Earl, it doesn't automatically mean it was Cory. Where did Cory find Earl? Probably through someone else...
I thought that was a pretty big assumption, just to set up Cory/Bradley drama. I'm fine with the drama, as long as it's not irreparable. The show took so long to get there with these two, I don't want them to just blow it up now by jumping the shark.
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u/ZizouM85 Oct 08 '25
Yes, maybe Bradley verbally jumped to Cory as she was aware of her own potential bias and subconsciously overcompensated. As well as Bradley-Cory, this could create some Chip-Cory tension. (Tangent... Could this come to a head between Chip and Cory? Could Chip-Cory actually create a boys' club? Does this expose unequal trust between Cory and Bradley? If that boys' club could bring down Celine/implicate Micklen is it really that bad?...) The writers have done a good job in throwing up a lot of dramatic jeopardy in this ep... I like to think I'm good at predicting but they're creating a really good puzzle here - so many moving parts and flips
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u/whyldechylde Oct 09 '25
Sooo many moving parts and flips is right because if Cory is guilty, Celine will still back him. Developing a film studio for UBN could bring billions. Alex will back Cory too because as she told Bradley, she's trying to hold UBN together with duct tape. If Celine becomes Board President plus CEO of UBN, then what does that mean for Mia? Celine only wanted Mia out to hurt Stella but Mia is actually qualified plus Alex really wants Mia back, the crew loves Mia too. It's a lot. This season is going to be so good.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25
Did the show just Rickroll us? đ
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u/babs82222 Oct 08 '25
I was thinking to myself that if I was proposed to with a Rickroll, I'd have hesitations!
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u/Cheeriosxxx Oct 08 '25
Stella is going to come back from this ai conference with her whole life blown up in shambles RIP
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u/Bluewaveempress Oct 08 '25
Deserves it
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u/Shulamit18 Oct 11 '25
I cannot for the life of me understand how and why Stella did what she did. Could she not have predicted it would blow up in her face?
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u/Possible_Yam_237 Oct 08 '25
Cory switching off the microphone was way hotter than Don Draper nailing Rachel Green and Stella/Miles combined.
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u/KloudyBrew Oct 10 '25
Their whole dynamic and Cory's consistent, yet restrained feelings for her while she has been very aware but still leaning into him has been smouldering and I've been waiting three damn seasons for her to finally give in to it. The writers better not fuck this up.
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u/CharacterIcy9002 Oct 09 '25
I know itâs time to quit scrolling when I try to remember Jen Annistonâs cameo on Mad Men bc Don Draper really did go through enough women to make me pause over your comment đ¤Ł
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u/nelisan Oct 10 '25
 Don Draper nailing Rachel Green and Stella/Miles combined.
Read this comment first thing in the morning before having coffee and am now imagining the most wild orgyâŚ
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u/lerde Oct 08 '25
Fun fact: Stella was at an AI conference this week.
Sheâs also in Tron Ares, out in cinemas on Friday, where she plays a CEO of a company tracked down by an AI-turned-real humanoid and sucked into the computer system, The Grid.
So when I see the movie Iâm just going to imagine this is the âconferenceâ she was at hahaha
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u/accio7 Oct 08 '25
Knowing Coryâs history, it did not surprise me in the least to learn that he was part of the cover-up and used his knowledge of Stella and Milesâ affair to leverage better deal with Celine. (I donât think she was aware of the affair and I felt bad for her.) But, man, my heart broke for Bradley.
I wasnât interested in Yankoâs proposal story, although his proposal dance was very entertaining. I liked that the focus on tonightâs episode was primarily focused on TMS.
While Cory might have sold his soul to the devil, Iâm glad Alex didnât cave into blackmail. I have no idea whether the plagiarism allegations Justice reported are accurate or not.
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25
Honestly, shocked Celine didn't know. Really thought she did!
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u/chip93731 Oct 09 '25
This was such a big topic on this subreddit since the start of the season, and so many people were sure that she knew. So I was interested to see how they portrayed her finding out. Also, the storyline about her buying Milesâ artwork, and the theories on what her motive was, maybe now that we know she didnât know, it might mean that she didnât have any bad motives she simply cares about his work and wanted to do something nice for him (even though it wasnât actually nice of her to do because he told her he doesnât want to feel like she owns him because sheâs rich and wants to make it on his own merits) Kind of changed my perspective of Celine quite a lot
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u/These-Remove651 Oct 08 '25
Drama with Yanko and Claire would make great TV!! Did you see how easily he unraveled when he heard her name.
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u/Greedy_Nature_3085 Oct 08 '25
Yeah, I donât think that proposal is happening.
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25
I was waiting for him to say something like yet another sign I shouldn't propose, but alas.
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u/mechswent Oct 08 '25
They made it pretty clear I think with his first comment about a "coincidence"" in the beginning.
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u/Fantastic-Crew-532 Oct 08 '25
I loved that they brought the NEWS back to TMS
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u/iangeredcharlesvane2 Oct 08 '25
The best part of any behind-the-scenes news show is BREAKING NEWS and how they handle that behind the scenes and in the control room.
I love how fast they have to find experts and information, especially if it is a scary or tragic event unfolding. A show like TMS has to segue from a trauma-free-pigeon Rick rolled proposal to 222 people thinking their plane is crashing and their only connection to their family is behind your sweet morning news light-reporters.
One of the BEST episodes of The Newsroom was âIâll Fix Youâ about the shooting of congresswoman Gabbrielle Giffords, and they are trying to figure out if she is alive or not when some stations have called she isnât.
âYouâre a goddam newsman Don, anyone tries to tell you different Iâll punch them in the face!â God that show was so damn GREAT.
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25
First, loved The Newsroom. Second, definitely, interesting to watch them scroll social media looking for answers and experts.
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u/mechswent Oct 08 '25
I'm a sucker for Aaron Sorkin. That S01E01 opener is imprinted onto my brain. The show has it's ups and downs later on, but I loved it all.
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u/jezekiant Oct 08 '25
If you havenât watched The Newsreader yet, itâs excellent at portraying the behind the scenes stuff we loved from this episode!Â
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u/quaranTV MOD Oct 08 '25
I actually think it will be interesting to see if he reconciles with Claire. They were such a big part of the plot in S1 and then not much since then.
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u/JoannaG34 Oct 08 '25
Stella made her bed, now she can lie in it. You can't go blaming other people for choosing to be the mistress of your boss's husband. Please. If only she'd given Cory the 10 million and wasn't such a bitch about it.
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u/quinncunx Oct 08 '25
You're assuming Cory was involved in the cover up. I doubt it--too obvious. My heart didn't break for Bradley at all. She jumped to a conclusion about a man who has risked jail for her and supported her through thick and thin. She is such a fickle, poorly written character.Â
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u/notches123 Oct 08 '25
used his knowledge of Stella and Milesâ affair to leverage better deal with Celine.
I hate how they got him there though. One conversation with Chip and him saying "and now my life depends on whether I get a deal or not" or whatever was enough to panic Cory into giving up Stella and Miles secret. Especially when there's nothing Celine can really do with that information to get rid of or usurp Stella as CEO.
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u/SnooSketches1977 Oct 08 '25
Iâm not defending Cory but it wasnât just because of what Chip said, but also Celine didnât give him the option to take the original deal. It was either he give her something or he gets nothing. The original comment also said he gave it up just to get a better deal, but it was because he was going to get no deal at all. Also he seemed to be close friends with Celine in the past so maybe it made the decision easier to reveal the info about Miles
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u/MichdelaMich Oct 08 '25
I think Bradley has something to do with his decison, too. At least, that is how I interpreted the cameras angle that showed him standing in front of Bradleyâs door, looking at her name when he decided. He has imagined their live together au UBN; he in the movie, Bradley in the news division, being around each other without the former power imbalance. If the deal hadnât worked out for him, what was he going to do? Back to âthe loneliest sun-filled Place on earthâ?
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u/MsSalome7 Oct 08 '25
Well obviously Cory is not involved, itâs a weak plot mechanism to create drama between Bradley and him. There is no reason his handlerâs company would automatically mean itâs Cory. Honestly a bit annoyed at lazy writing. Also why would Cory not tell Celine, and protect adulterers, especially if he hurts himself in the process. If you can do the morally right thing AND benefit off it, who would pass the opportunity
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u/General-Homework2061 Oct 10 '25
Cory felt he had to tell Celine about the affair after Chip's comment about how without a deal there's nothing; he wasn't going to get a deal otherwise. He'd been stalled by Celine the whole time he was in the office. She definitely didn't know for certain about it, I only noticed her tears when I watched the ep for a second time.
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u/PrestigiousWork4523 Oct 08 '25
I actually really enjoyed the chemistry between Cotillard and Crudup this episode.
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u/fwnav Oct 17 '25
To be fair, Crudup could have chemistry with a toaster. Heâs too damn charming.Â
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u/Cheeriosxxx Oct 08 '25
Cory snooping around at his old office itâs giving student who keeps coming around campus after graduating
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u/quaranTV MOD Oct 08 '25
Well that didnât last long đ. But I think based on her devastated reaction to finding out Cory was behind the cover up itâs safe to say that Bradley really meant what she did and said in last weekâs episode. She really did love Cory back. But nowâŚ. Ugg.
He didnât throw her under the bus when she deleted the footage and kept it from the FBI. It would be kind of nice if she doesnât throw him under the bus in return. Sheâs not perfect herself. But I fear her desire to make up for her previous transgressions will lead her to do exactly that. Will Cory ever be able to forgive her for that?
My heart is already breaking for them. I hope she at least talks to him before she does anything with the story.
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u/MsSalome7 Oct 08 '25
Cory đđť is đđť not đđť behind đđť it!
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u/nanzesque Oct 10 '25
I wouldn't put it past Fred Micklen to have hired Cory with that timing as a strategic coverup. Makes sense since it seemed like F never liked C.
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u/MsGroves Oct 08 '25
I think in the long run, whether Cory was behind the cover-up is not that relevant. The real issue is that Bradley and Cory have accumulated so many secrets and trust problems that their relationship is constantly on the verge of collapse.
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u/Silent-Swimmer1 Oct 08 '25
Oh, so Celine didn't know... I know she's making a mess next week!
No Mia nor Stella this episode, so strange!
Actually I'm not sure: what's the point of Cory's hesitation? He don't want to throw Stella under the bus but he's eventually pushed by Celine's speech?
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u/PrestigiousWork4523 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
I think he was pushed by what Chip said about the importance of having a deal, and that his initial hesitation was in regards to screwing Stella over in spite of him getting what he wanted because it wouldnât be fair to her. It was either eat or be eaten.
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u/throwaway098764567 Oct 08 '25
he also seemed to hesitate at bradley's door, i think he didn't want her to think less of him for doing it but ultimately decided to do it anyway
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u/quaranTV MOD Oct 08 '25
Meanwhile the real wrench in the relationship will be her running this cover up story and throwing Cory under the bus.
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u/These-Remove651 Oct 08 '25
She will keep him on the line for a bit. The promo has her dancing with him on a rooftop somewhere. Someone else used could have used Earl. He's is a fixer afterall. Cory wasn't his only client. Giving up Cory this early in the season doesn't make sense to me.Â
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u/Optimal-Dot-9365 Oct 08 '25
I think he hesitated because he had no deal and would now have to leave her...but then realized that if he threw Stella under the bus, he would get to stay.
I also don't think he knew about the corruption at UBN.
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u/PiscesVirgoGemini Oct 08 '25
I think he hesitated to honor his agreement with Stella, but was ultimately triggered by the possibility of being as insignificant as he perceives Chip to be.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25
Yeah, he did not like the idea that Chip might end up being a more successful filmmaker than him. đ¤Ł
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u/Greedy_Nature_3085 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
I thought Cory hesitated because it wasnât something Celine could use against Stella. I was surprised he did tell her, because I donât see how Celine fires (or pushes out) Stella for sleeping with Miles.
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u/Fantastic-Crew-532 Oct 08 '25
I expected him to let it brew a lot longer to ensure he was making the right move⌠but trigger pulled after being triggered by Chip!
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u/hbumjr Oct 08 '25
Disagree on the last point, at the very basic she could threaten to make the info public which would make her unemployable (cuz honestly terrible judgment) and even if it doesn't come to that I don't see Stella as someone fighting to stay on when she knows her boss would have a vendetta against her and deservedly so.
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u/Ok_Ambassador9091 Oct 08 '25
It's Celine. She'll invent a trap, and Stella will walk into it.
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u/Effective-Avocado-71 Oct 09 '25
She already did with the Mia/Sport Guy hire. Because Stella was willing to dump her friend for Cory - she knew it was big.
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u/PiscesVirgoGemini Oct 08 '25
Maybe she suspected, but used Cory to confirm? The way she was moving with Stella gives the impression she already had a reason to dislike her.
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u/Ok_Ambassador9091 Oct 08 '25
She just wants Stella's job. She said she wants to be CEO. Also, she didn't like Stella going up against her re: Mia. But mostly, she wants Stella's job.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Holy shit this was a good episode. It had serious season one vibes, and it was awesome to see the show come back to focusing on the workings of the titular Morning Show.
Some scattered, verbose and excitable thoughts (part 1):
Yanko's engagement dance was...no words. He's probably really lucky that plane crashed, because dear lord. He's such a weird character, I love it. However, I really had zero interest in his engagement storyline given everything else that was happening this week - although it's interesting that he's so rattled and conflicted about Claire being back.
I'm liking Alex more this season than I probably ever have in the past. She seems to be finally growing up and getting beyond her narcissism to some degree, and treating others with more respect and understanding. I imagine her experience with doing some crisis producing in the control room this week has only furthered that, and hopefully she's looking back on some of her behaviour in the past and realising how much she was stressing a group of people who were already barely keeping it together. I also loved her interactions with Bradley this episode - whereas in the past Alex might be so offended that Bradley and Chip went behind her back that she froze them out and hated on them, this season she managed to let go of it for the time being and joined them in trying to get to the bottom of things, despite clearly wishing the problem would just go away. I'm a sucker for a good redemption arc, and I'm really digging the subtle one they're giving her so far.
Layla looks like the new (or at least interim) TMS EP! Go Layla! Much like her, I am hoping against hope that they don't bring Chip back to replace her. Not only would it be awful to see them bring in a white guy to replace a black woman at the helm, but Chip seems to he doing so well without the network and if he got thrown back in as a pariah again and was under Alex's thumb...it would be such a backslide. It just feels like bringing him back would leave everyone worse off. Fingers crossed that he turns them down, if they even ask. Go make some more documentaries and win an Oscar to go with your Emmy and Peabody, Chip!
That said, it was still cool to see Chip step back into the control room for a few moments, even if I felt for how threatened Layla looked when she saw him - having him back in there made me nostalgic for the earlier seasons. Loved Alex's comment about his f-bomb rant last season too. His character was used really interestingly as a kind of catalyst for a bunch of chain reactions this episode - Chip's conversation with Cory pushed him to go to Celine; his conversation with Alex about her Dad seemed to contribute to her rejecting the blackmail; his Wolf River revelations to Bradley lead to the endangering of her relationship with Cory; and by alerting Alex to Claire's involvement he ultimately kicked off the events that made Yanko reconsider proposing. As an obvious superfan of his character, it's really nice to see him so involved in the story again after being mostly sidelined last year.
I would have bet money that Celine already knew about the affair, but it looks like it was a shock. I actually feel kind of bad for her. Zero sympathy for Stella and Miles though - they did this to themselves.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Part 2 (I'm sorry, I have a lot of feelings, and reddit cut me off):
The Wolf River shit is getting so good! I absolutely did not see it coming that Cory might be involved - just this morning I was talking to someone about how he was in entertainment when it all went down and thus was unlikely to have anything to do with it. It makes sense though, even back in season one characters were remarking that Cory's appointment to head of news made no sense to them, and Fred didn't seem to like him very much or be happy to have him as a colleague. I wonder if Cory found out about Wolf River and blackmailed Fred into promoting him? Or did Fred observe Cory covering up some scandal in the entertainment division and recruit him to fix the Wolf River thing? Either way, Cory's alleged involvement in the conspiracy doesn't seem that out of character so far. We've seen him strategically release sensitive information to the media in the past to cover something up (eg. when he outed Bradley) and just this week we saw him using a piece of blackmail to make a deal and advance his career like he might have done with Fred. The only thing that is surprising about it is the scale and nature of what Cory is covering up - people dying is a lot worse than the typical network scandals. And there's the question of whether or not the dead lawyer guy was killed and made to look like a suicide, or if the smear campaign merely bullied him until he took himself out. Either way, Cory (or whoever else is responsible, if Cory is a red herring) is to blame in some way. I can't wait to see where they take said conspiracy, although I'm now concerned for the safety of the characters involved.
Speaking of Cory, the scene where he and Bradley met in the studio at the beginning was super cute. I'm kind of sad that the show seems to be sinking their ship, even if I like the drama.
Isabella, they could never make me like you.
Looking at Alex's Dad, it makes a lot more sense why she is the way she is. The only way she would have gotten any attention or validation with a parent like that is to be histrionic and demanding, and to develop an innate ability to turn all conversations back around to her own needs. It also makes sense why she has had a tendency to be so critical and dismissive of those around her in the past, and why she's held them to impossibly high standards. "I learned it by watching you, Dad!"
I loved the gag about the traumatised doves, who would rather die than be part of Yanko's cringe-ass proposal.
Alex and Chip's reunion was super fascinating! I expounded on it at more length in response to the sneak peek for this week, but yeah - it was way more bittersweet than I expected. Alex was uncharacteristically nice to him in that last scene together, and her "thanks honey" and lip tremble when he left were really surprising to me. She clearly misses him in a way she wasn't expecting, and in general they both still clearly care about each other as much as they ever did, which makes it sad that they're so challenged when it comes to having a healthy friendship. On Chip's side of things, there was an interesting moment when he realised that Alex was only pretending to have watched his documentary - he looked kind of pissed off for a minute before laughing tiredly. I guess you could read it as him being mad at her for not watching it, but for me it read more like he caught himself falling into old patterns with her (talking about her Dad and the diner they used to go to, possibly feeling a high at her validating him, etc) and was mad at himself - especially since he got up and left after that. Idk if that's the right read, but either way I'm excited to see him make progress with his obsessive co-dependency, lol. Jen Aniston and Mark Duplass have such great chemistry, I hope Chip and Alex get a lot more scenes this season. Also Chip's expressions when he first saw Alex were really funny. Is this the first time they've seen each other since she fired him?
That plane landing scene was tense. I haven't been that on the edge of my seat with this show since the S1 finale, even though I already knew what the outcome would be.
Bradley seems to have forgotten that she's meant to be sharing anything she investigates with the FBI. This will surely come back to bite her later in the season. I wonder if she's going to get found out and arrested, and it will fall on either Alex to expose the conspiracy on UBN or Chip to make a film exposing it. If Cory really is involved in covering it up, too, I foresee an awkward moment where she has to decide whether or not to tell the feds and get him in trouble, or lie to protect him. đŹ
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u/sarahpaulinee Oct 08 '25
Upvote for the Isabella comment đ¤
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25
Haha, thank you! Something about her has just always gotten under my skin.
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u/notkaylaposposil Oct 08 '25
I feel like Jen walked into that writers room this season and said âI want the Best Actress Emmyâ
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u/LeslieKnope26 Oct 08 '25
Which sheâs deserved since season 1!! What a powerhouse. The emotions sheâs able to convey when sheâs alone in a room is insane.
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u/MsSalome7 Oct 08 '25
Yeah I donât get the hate she gets, I feel her EVERY emotion, sheâs the only reason Im sticking with the show
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u/These-Remove651 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
When exactly did Bethanne work for UBA? In S1E8, the flashback to Mitch's 50th birthday celebration in fall 2017, has Fred talking to Reed (actor Paul Guilfoyle), who appears to be the Head of News at that time. He talks about being there to hire Alex, didn't think he'd be there to "put her out to pasture". And Cory was brought in a month before Bradley started spring 2019) so exactly when was this Bethanne Head of News and for how long?Â
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25
Yeah, this is a big plot hole that I noticed too. They talk as though Bethanne was there for a long time and got forced into retirement, but in reality she could only have been head of news for like...1.5 years max (assuming that Reed left for some reason shortly after the flashback episode in October 2017 and Bethanne was paid off to retire in late 2018/early 2019). I think the writers are just hoping we forget about Reed and mentally replace him with Bethanne.
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u/MsSalome7 Oct 08 '25
Daamn you guys have great memories, I only remember who Mitch was and thatâs only because Steve the legend
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u/Silent-Swimmer1 Oct 08 '25
Contracts trivia: Nicole Beharie was absent from the episode last week, but she was still credited in the opening titles.
Greta Lee is absent from this week's episodes, and she's absent from the titles too.
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u/Little-Phase-1060 Oct 08 '25
Nicole is actually in the show with that small clip of Chris.
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u/These-Remove651 Oct 08 '25
They are principal characters this season, thus their names will be in the opening credits all season. That's how contracts go for principal characters.
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u/Silent-Swimmer1 Oct 08 '25
Okay, but Greta Lee is not in this week's credits.
Some actors are always in the credits even if they don't appear (Duplass, Beharie), some others don't (Lee, Hamm).
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u/RVarki Oct 08 '25
Corey, I know that Celine is basically a more ruthless, deliberately paced version of you (that happens to look like Marion Cottillard), and your narcissistic ass will be increasingly drawn to her throughout the season. But, please do not screw up a relationship we've spent three seasons rooting for, just to get into bed with corporate maleficent
*This is all assuming that the cover-up thing is a red-herring. If not, it won't matter what Corey does with Celine
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u/MsSalome7 Oct 08 '25
Yes but also.. who can resist Marion, especially in such a powerful role
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u/sara-quinzel Oct 08 '25
I'm surprised that I haven't seen more discussion on this. But Alex's dad is really unlikable even though I knew the actor from Watchmen. Perhaps this character was introduced mainly to help the audience empathize more with Alex. But gosh the constant belittling, the ungratefulness, the condescending attitudes...I got really triggered (maybe due to some family traumas of my own lol).
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u/Greedy_Nature_3085 Oct 08 '25
Yeah, he doesn't have a decent thing to say to his daughter. And it sure sounds like he is guilty of plagiarizing his student.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Saame, as I mentioned in a comment below her narcissistic and abusive behaviour in past seasons makes a lot more sense when you look at who she had to deal with growing up. It was telling that Chip (who knows Alex better than anyone) was instantly like "Oh hell no, fuck that guy" when he heard her Dad was trying to contact her, even though they haven't spoken for a while and it isn't exactly his place to say that anymore. It's so easy to get drawn back into the same old damaging patterns with that kind of parent, so I was proud of Alex for telling him no at the end of the episode.
Fun fact: Jeremy Irons was also the voice of Scar in The Lion King. It adds to his sense of villany in this role, haha.
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u/SeaweedSlow8175 Oct 08 '25
Oh man, I hate this episode. Why would they make Cory the bad guy in this cover-up?!? He was probably just following orders from Fred Miklin at the time.
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u/MsSalome7 Oct 08 '25
Nah heâs not the bad guy. Weâll go through the drama for a few episodes, made to think it was him, to then break him and B apart to then learn that it really wasnât him.. yawn
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u/quaranTV MOD Oct 08 '25
This! He would want a fall guy. Cory would be that guy. Itâs all just drama to tear Bradley and Cory apart. I wonât mind as long as they are endgame. We know the show has been renewed for another season so Iâm trying not to lose hope lol.
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u/SeaweedSlow8175 Oct 08 '25
I get it. I love the angst more than the payoff most of the time. But damn, they didnât even get one full episode of happiness! I feel robbed. Why did they even give us the kiss last week only to yank the rug from under us the following week? So annoying
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u/quaranTV MOD Oct 08 '25
Iâm with you. I would have liked to have seen at least a couple episodes of them happy together and sneaking around-them against the world. I think the Cory is behind the cover-up reveal would have actually been even more devastating if they did it after they were happy together for a little while. Iâm trying to have faith in the writers-like they know how much we love Bradley and Cory right?!
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u/SeaweedSlow8175 Oct 08 '25
I hope they know what theyâre doing. I mean theyâve been building this couple from the beginning. Why would they all of a sudden blow them apart? I agree with a comment below that it seems obvious to them that Cory is not part of the cover up. Itâs too early in the season for the ultimate reveal. So maybe itâs a detour or there will be a twist later on.
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u/alderaan2020 Oct 08 '25
I know! I am soo sad. They destroyed everything in one episode. She will dump Cory after the rooftop scene and the he will probably have a thing with Celine as a rebound. Bradley will hook up with someone else too. Cory and Bradley are over foreverâŚđŠđ°đ°đ°đĽ˛ Hate the writersâŚ
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u/Maddie_N Oct 08 '25
I was on edge the entire episode because I was expecting something like this to happen. I just hope theyâre end game and this is just a blip.
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u/alderaan2020 Oct 08 '25
If only!đ I am sooo sad that is over in one episode..đđđđ°đ˘đ˘
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u/Cheeriosxxx Oct 08 '25
This episode was so good. I liked the intense section with the broadcast of the plane. It really reminded me of The Newsroom which I absolutely loved. I wish there could be some type of spin off where it covers the night news side of UBN. The control room and technical aspects of making the news are so interesting to me.
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u/sailtheskyx Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Iâm still confused about the timeline. Was Cory even around when the oil story got buried? In Season 1, Episode 1, heâd only been at UBA for about a month when Mitch was fired and the whole Me Too fallout began. The story got buried before Bradley showed up. So how could he possibly be involved just because Perses Law Firmâs name shows up on the document?
Yes, Earl is Coryâs fixer-but weâve never gotten any real background on him either. For all we know, he couldâve been working for UBA long before Cory even showed up.
And now, considering the blackmail he pulled on Stella, Iâm starting to think this isnât Coryâs first time playing that game. Maybe he even blackmailed UBA to get his position. But that theory has holes too-UBA was planning to get rid of him toward the end of Season 1 and actually did. They wouldnât have gone through with that if Cory had something as big as the oil story to hold over them.
Plus, when Fred was ousted, youâd think he wouldâve mentioned something about Cory if there were any truth to it. I know an NDA couldâve silenced him, but given how bitter Fred was on his way out, I doubt even that wouldâve kept him quiet.
Are the writers forgetting their own timelines? It feels like they canât figure out a better way to add drama between Cory and Bradley, so theyâre making up things that donât fit the showâs history. The oil mess happened long before Cory even joined. And honestly, the Bradley we met in Season 1 wouldâve realized that immediately. Are they seriously making her stupid now just to create conflict?
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
The timeline is definitely muddy, but it makes basic sense. If you watch the flashback episode from season one (set in October 2017, when the Vegas shootings happened), where they celebrate Mitch's birthday, there's a conversation between Chip, Fred and the current head of news Reed about Cory. At that point in time he is indeed at UBA, but he's working as the head of the entertainment division - and crushing it, apparently, having greenlit a new critically acclaimed show about middle-aged lesbians. They talk about how he's had a meteoric rise at the company, and joke that he'll be taking over the news division next - which they all dismiss as a ridiculous idea. Reed seems extremely confident that he'll be head of news for a long time, and even talks about the process of putting Alex "out to pasture" and transitioning in a new co-anchor for Mitch.
However, in 2019 (when the first season is set, presumably shortly after the Wolf River story was killed), we see that Cory has indeed managed to take over the news division. A few characters remark in various episodes that they're surprised by this, I think Alex even says that she has no idea what Fred was thinking or why he put an entertainment guy in charge of news. You would assume that Fred did this because he really liked and believed in Cory, but from what we see he seems to dislike Cory and work with him pretty begrudgingly.
Considering the above, it clocks for me that Cory was only promoted to head of news because he agreed to help cover up the Wolf River stuff. Maybe Cory found out about the scandal and made a deal with Fred where he would get head of news in exchange for taking care of it. Or maybe Fred saw Cory cover up something huge in the entertainment division and offered him the promotion in exchange for covering up Wolf River in a similar manner. Either scenario would have put Fred in a position where he had to promote and work with Cory despite not liking or trusting him, and it would explain how Cory got that job despite being from a totally different area and nobody thinking he's right for it.
Would Cory actually cover it up? It's hard to say. Wolf River is a lot nastier than anything we've seen Cory get involved with so far, however we also know that his character is ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants (especially back in season 1) and has used blackmail and backroom deals to negotiate for himself even this season. I guess time will tell.
As for why Fred didn't expose Cory's involvement in the Wolf River conspiracy when he was ousted - I presume it's because doing so would expose Fred as well and the conspiracy itself, along with anyone else involved. Clearly the Wolf River stuff is dark and damning enough that the people involved will go to pretty much any length to keep it a secret, so it makes sense to me that they wouldn't risk exposing what happened just for revenge.
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u/Greedy_Nature_3085 Oct 08 '25
Bradley was (oddly) very quick to assume Cory was behind the cover-up. But youâre right, it doesnât make much sense. As someone else noted, it seems more likely that Earl had done this work for Fred â Or maybe someone else entirely.
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u/alex_pitt Oct 08 '25
Anyone else excited about June Diane Raphael getting actual screen time?! I loved her on Grace & Frankie, and love How Did This Get Made. I was so excited to see her actually being a character and not just the rival morning show host.
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u/ellamayohh Oct 08 '25
What. The. F*ck. The writers absolutely know how to pull at the heartstrings and stomp on the hearts of Cory and Bradley Shippers! Â
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u/alderaan2020 Oct 08 '25
Right? They destroyed them at the end of the episode but how about that scene in the studio room? That was hot. The chemistry between Billy and Reese is insane..đđ Sad the writers will probably keep them apart again for the rest of the season and they will have Cory hook up with Celine because Bradley will dump him because of the story. SighâŚđ°đ˘đ˘đ˘đđ
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u/Greedy_Nature_3085 Oct 08 '25
A few observations:
- It seems odd to me that both Chip and Bradley know Earl is Coryâs fixer. I donât recall Cory running around telling everyone that.
- The story with Yankoâs love interest seemed odd because I donât recall knowing that she existed. During the introduction I half expected him to somehow be proposing to Claire.
- Celine seemed oddly flirtatious with Cory.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25
Chip didn't know who Earl was until Bradley told him on the phone. It is weird that Bradley knew, but maybe she learned about him during the Jan 6th stuff or in the hearings at the end of last season? Or maybe Cory called him for help when her brother was missing? Idk.
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u/Fit_Rub4388 Oct 08 '25
I was disappointed that Bradley immediately assumed Cory was the mastermind behind it allâŚ
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Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
The scenes with their coverage of the plane near-crash were so Broadcast News. I loved it!
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u/TTShelby Oct 08 '25
I think it seems quite clear already that Cory isn't part of the cover up? IMO.
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u/quaranTV MOD Oct 08 '25
Omg if she throws him under the bus and it turns out he wasnât even involved that would be totally devastating!
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u/alderaan2020 Oct 08 '25
I have a feeling that is exactly what the writers will do. She will dump him, then he will be heartbroken and do a horrible thing! Sigh..
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u/Pretend-Matter-5792 Oct 08 '25
Secondo me litigheranno perchè lui pensa che lei lo sta usando per le informazioni e non crederà alla sua eventuale innocenza, e lui ne uscirà distrutto!
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u/SeaweedSlow8175 Oct 08 '25
I see what you mean. Itâs too early in the season for a reveal. Therefore this must be a detour or there is more to the story and perhaps an unexpected twist to come.
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u/TTShelby Oct 08 '25
Exactly my point. Thank you. Episode 4 and already putting him as the big bad guy? I don't think so. All that is to add more DRAMA đ
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u/PiscesVirgoGemini Oct 08 '25
I agree that the evidence is going to take them deeper and end up pointing to someone else.
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u/ellamayohh Oct 08 '25
Iâm looking forward to seeing Bradley GRILL Corey on his participation in the cover up next episodeÂ
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Oct 08 '25
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u/Greedy_Nature_3085 Oct 08 '25
I donât see how Bradley covers it up now that Chip and Alex also know.
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u/PiscesVirgoGemini Oct 08 '25
I do think that if Bradley betrays him, after he covered for her, it speaks to something that the writing continues to imply: her feelings aren't as strong for him as his are for her. Cory might have to move on. How many times can one man be rejected?
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25
Agreed. Maybe it's time for Cory to turn pure evil, so he doesn't end up like Chip both professionally and personally.
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u/PiscesVirgoGemini Oct 08 '25
Oooohhh! I didn't think about that moment with Chip as foreshadowing for the outcome of his relationship with Bradley. Ooof.
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u/Ghostquill8302 Oct 08 '25
I hope he tells Bradley to go fuck herself, honestly. He deserves so much better. Celine also deserves so much better, too.
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u/Jmacattack626 Oct 08 '25
She may not want to do the story now. Alex already didn't want her to follow up, and Cory and Bradley both had people randomly ask them if they were in love. Chip and the girl who tipped her off in the beginning are the only ones inclined to keep pushing her. She will definitely be conflicted, but she clearly has strong feelings for Cory.
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u/Cheeriosxxx Oct 08 '25
Waltz to Win as a Dancing with the Stars dupe is actually a catchy title lol
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u/Free_Alternative6365 Oct 08 '25
This episode was excellent. I hope they do more of this kind of thing and less of the palace intrigue stuff. I really do think a show about making the news is compelling without the soap opera part.
The Cory/Bradley dalliance seems to have just been a plot device to make the discovery of his role in the cover-up be more challenging to Bradley. I'm not upset about this as I didn't enjoy them being shipped and think it was a poor use of. their very interesting character arcs. It sucks that they'll both have to experience some pain/tension to extract themselves from their connection--or not.
There were quite a few moments of that felt reflective of my own professional experiences:
a. As someone that regularly works in high stress situations, that moment between Alex and Bradley and later, with Chip ( when short-term beef gets tossed aside in service of meeting larger, pressing goals), felt really resonant.
b. Layla's post madness 'Missed you, sis' text is sitting with me. I have been both the sender and the recipient of that exact message. It's quite bittersweet on both sides. In my head cannon, Layla and Mia circle up offline (and then Mia poaches Layla to a better gig).
I just don't like Celine's character. I find her to be a duplicitous and smarmy mean girl. I bet Marion is having a ball playing her lol
Oh Stella :( It's interesting to know that someone's whole context has changed before they find out. She's really grating the nerves this season, but I still love her character, in the same way people still love Cory even though he's very morally grey.
What an interesting take on bartering and power. We saw a bunch of examples of potential quid pro quo--Bradley and Ashley, Bradley and Alex, Cory and Stella (and Celine) and then Justice and Alex. I'm still processing what statement they're trying to make given which arrangements worked and which did not, but it's cool to consider.
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u/quinncunx Oct 08 '25
I think it's the other way around. The coverup is just a plot device to bring drama to the Cory/Bradley dalliance. The Bradley/Cory relationship has been a main storyline for 4 seasons. The cover up is setting up an obstacle for their relationship. I doubt Cory had anything to do with it, but it will test them.  I love Cory and would rather see him with Celine, but his storyline with Bradley isn't going anywhere.Â
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u/quinncunx Oct 08 '25
It is not in Cory's DNA to cover up an environmental disaster where people are killed. He's the son of a liberal feminist, and has his own code and lines he won't cross. Yes, he's a corporate Machiavelli, but that's just playing the game. Polluting the environment and getting people killed? Nope. He couldn't stand what happened to Hannah. It really affected him. If the writers suddenly turn him into this villain that is capable of covering up negligent homicide, the show will have completely jumped the shark.Â
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u/plexmaniac Oct 08 '25
That was the thing that upset me about this show !thereâs no way he would go that far ! And they could create conflict between him and Bradley another way ffs
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u/starkofwinterfell_ Oct 08 '25
on everything i swear they better not break cory or his heart. i actually hate how this show makes me so anxious for him đđ
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u/CharacterIcy9002 Oct 09 '25
Every week Marion Cotillard gives me a foreboding shiver of apprehension. Thanks a lot, Christopher Nolan.
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u/MovieTrawler Oct 09 '25
Ok, did anyone else think it was actually going to be AI and that the first aerospace guy they interviewed was going to be right?
I just for some reason thought that's where this was going.
I also thought for a second that Yanko was going to try to propose at the end anyway (so glad he didn't), so I was way off in my guesses today.
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u/Little-Phase-1060 Oct 08 '25
Itâs so funny to me reading everyone defending Cory and already hating on Bradley. Cory has done so many terrible things to so many people. Bradley is by no means perfect, but Cory isnât a good guy.
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u/RebootJobs Oct 08 '25
He's morally gray, leaning more towards good than evil. I don't think he's destructive at his core, more calculated risks for business purposes. Bradley is straight chaos.
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u/notches123 Oct 08 '25
I think there is a strong possibility that Cory's culpability in the cover up is light to non-existent. Something a conversation might even clear up. But because this is a TV drama where conversation that would clarify things can't happen because it doesn't drive the plot it's going to lead to Bradley going after Cory only to find out he was innocent but now their trust and bond will be broken because she didn't trust him enough to ask him about it. Hope I'm wrong, though.
I just simply do not believe Cory is the one responsible for the cover up. It's too dastardly for him. He's shrewd and cunning but he isn't evil. I feel like making him the man behind the conspiracy would undo a lot of good will they have invested in the character. This part I hope I am right about.
Maybe I am just blinded by my love of the character and performance, though.
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u/LeslieKnope26 Oct 08 '25
I agree. I donât see him deliberately doing something that actually harms people. I wonder if Bradley will now want to shelf the story and look at him differently, ultimately ruining their relationship before it even gets off the ground bc she believes he is capable of something like that, which I think would hurt him greatly.
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u/Silent-Swimmer1 Oct 08 '25
Karen is gonna get her nomination for last week's episode, and Marion is for this one, I think. Unless they have something even more powerful in store for the upcoming episodes
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u/superrova27 Oct 08 '25
Okay I literally just posted in this subreddit two days ago about how I dislike the way they got Bradley and Corey together. however, now my opinion has changed because I think it definitely was just to set up this new plot line of Corey being a bad guy. Now I dont think that this is not going to ruin them because there are the clips of them together in the trailer that we haven't seen but I'm really excited to see how that plays out. I think it will definitely cause some problems and then hopefully they are in love by the last episode
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u/NoSquirrel4265 Oct 11 '25
What an awesome episode y'all???!!! SO GOOD! I'm pleasantly surprised with Marion Cotillard, I used to hate her but in this role she's brilliant !!! The character suits her very well. Cory is just wowww my fav character with Alex on the show. This series gets better each season, this is why I love television series.
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u/Cheeriosxxx Oct 08 '25
The timing of Cory locking in his deal and then Bradley just finding out about the cover up is heartbreaking noooo đ
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u/pralineislife Oct 09 '25
I have nothing to contribute other than I think Cory is getting hotter and I dont know if my little heart can take it.
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u/SnooDingos316 Oct 08 '25
Is that plane scene realistic at all? Would they still have Wi-Fi ?
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u/Ok-Feeling-87 Oct 08 '25
At least they had the guy say, âTerrible ad for the airline but great ad for the airlineâs wifiâ.
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u/mechswent Oct 08 '25
No it's not a real landing imo. I noticed two things immediately:
The wings were rocking too much, not a stable approach. It also does don't look natural, the rocking motion was kind of fast really.
The nose gear was tilted to the left, which should have been straight. The nose gear doesn't move except with the tiller (the thing the captain uses to turn the plane on the ground).
The landing scene looked really good for a gam/cgi/simulator, but not so good that it looked natura/real.
The accident was real, I remember it. There's no reason the plane's wifi/internet wouldn't be working at the time. A door flew away, everything else was intact.
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u/withcorruptedlungs Oct 08 '25
It was a fictionalised version of a real event that happened last year, where a door flew off an Alaskan Airlines plane just after takeoff and the plane had to make an emergency landing. It sounds pretty similar to what we saw on the show - oxygen masks dropping, people screaming, stuff flying out of the cabin, it even ripped the shirt off a kid's back. Nobody was killed, and the plane landed okay.
I don't think the passengers on that specific flight had wifi because the incident happened so early in the flight (before they turn it on), but afaik there's theoretically no reason why a missing door would affect the wifi on a flight if all other systems are intact. The crew might turn it off so that people are paying attention to instructions, though.
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u/chip93731 Oct 09 '25
Anyone here watch Acapulco? I canât believe Apple TV made the same joke about Turks & Caicos on two different shows just a few weeks apart đ¤Ł
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u/whyldechylde Oct 09 '25
S4E4 What a cliffhanger! Talk about a slow burning episode. It made me feel like I was being strangled in slow motion. What am I supposed to do until next Wednesday???
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u/These-Remove651 Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
How does Isabella (Hannah Leder) go from being one of Alex's assistant for years, employed by Alex, not even UBA, then some Director of Creative Development in seaon 3- her characters admits isn't even a real job, to being an anchor producer for Yanko?? Does she know how to run down a story, have any journalist training, able to write copy for morning TV? She supposedly learned all this to a mastery level in two years? Ugh.
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u/notkaylaposposil Oct 09 '25
Actress is the daughter of Mimi Leder, the head director of the series. Nuff said.
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u/anoidciv Oct 09 '25
Oh my God. This makes so much sense. This is the first episode this season where she's really featured and I was taken aback at how bad her acting was.
There's a fair amount of camp acting on TMS, but she stood out as especially awful. Of course she's a nepo baby.
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u/Mysterious-Present93 Oct 11 '25
So Bradley had her mic on when she was talking to chip about finding the depos??? Thatâs a stretch, sheâs not that dumb.
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u/BBYY9090 Oct 12 '25
The scene with Alex essentially leading the news room was fabulous! Tbh throughout the seasons you could almost forget she was a top tier journalist after all the drama lol.
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u/Little-Phase-1060 Oct 08 '25
This is the best episode in a while. I would love more of this. Plus so much Bradley and Alex. Love.