‘The Morning Show’ Needs to Quit Stalling and Explain the Dirt on Paul Marks

OK, The Morning Show, we get it: Paul Marks (Jon Hamm) is, shocker, an evil billionaire hiding something huge from everyone. As Paul works on his deal to merge his company, Hyperion, with UBA, we learn that his secret is massive and could put an end to UBA. It’s, like, super shocking, guys. Too bad The Morning Show likely won’t be telling us what it is until the final moments in the Season 3 finale. Until then, in Episode 8, TMS is going to taunt us with this hidden info whenever it can.

News of Paul’s relationship with Alex (Jennifer Aniston) has leaked on a knockoff-TMZ celeb gossip network. Everyone at UBA is pissed. “I can’t believe after Mitch she’s still pulling this shit,” one staffer whines. In light of the leak, Alex opts to push her Alex Unfiltered interview with Paul to next week, even though Cory (Billy Crudup) and Chip (Mark Duplass) have re-edited it to be as juicy and sexy as possible.

Instead of Paul, Alex wants to find someone to talk about the possibility of Roe vs. Wade being overturned—remember, we’re now in the early spring of 2022. Chris (Nicole Beharie) has revved up her audience after posting that “Abort the Court” selfie, which pleases her, but her co-anchor Yanko (Néstor Carbonell) is pissed because she “told the court to abort itself.” Maybe don’t take rally cries so seriously, dude.

Someone Major Is About to Be Fired From ‘The Morning Show’

Alex wants the head of Planned Parenthood, or a woman senator, or anyone with some prominence in reproductive rights to speak, but no such luck. No outspoken leader wants to go on air beside a woman sleeping with noted megalomaniac Paul Marks. Chip finds the first blogger who wrote about the court potentially overturning Roe to come on, and Alex unhappily settles for her. The woman uses her airtime to grill Alex instead, saying that big CEOs like Paul lobby politicians and ultimately have a say over the entire future of American lives.

Here’s a good quip from the interview, aimed at Alex: “People are going to ask questions like, ‘Is she actually capable of speaking truth to power?’” Alex does what she can to refocus the conversation back on Roe, but it’s no use. Alex is forced to reckon with her relationship with Paul, and at this time, he’s more important than her journalistic integrity.

A few soundstages over, Cory holds a brainstorm with Stella (Greta Lee): What are they going to do about Paul? Cory now understands that Stella is the Stanford Student (the one, if you’ll recall, that was wronged by Paul a few years ago), suggesting that may be why Paul offered her Cory’s UBA president position—he wants to be sure she’s an asset, not a liability. Stella warns Cory that she believes something terrible is happening over at Hyperion. (There it is! That menacing and foreboding thing we know nothing about!) Cory doesn’t give a damn. If he must, he’ll take his $150 million buyout and waltz into the sunset.

Stella takes her concerns to Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) to investigate, worried that her Hyperion pal Kate (Natalie Morales) will never speak with anyone from UBA again after Stella shut down her concerns. Bradley does a bit of research on Kate, then starts to communicate with her through messages on coffee cups, in parking garages, and in mysterious hideaways. It’s very All the President’s Men, which is to say—apart from the fact that we don’t glean any new info in this episode—these scenes are gripping.

But the more Bradley digs into Hyperion dirt, so too does her lover Laura (Julianna Margulies), instead into Bradley’s insurrection situation. Laura begins her hunt after gossiping with her coworker Audra (hi, Mindy Kaling!) about how weird it was that Cory introduced Bradley to his mom. Audra, who needs to be my best friend, tells Laura to go parse through the UBA hack to find out alllllll the drama on Bradley. Audra knows what’s up. Apart from some odd memos between Bradley and Cory, all Laura can find is info about the subpoena that leads her to Hal (Joe Tippett).

‘The Morning Show’ Episode 6 Grills Elon Musk (Or, Rather, Jon Hamm)

Laura confronts Bradley about Hal’s involvement at the Insurrection. Bradley folds in an instant, telling Laura everything. Laura wants out. The two break up, and it’s final (probably?) this time around. Refusing to come out of the closet is one thing, but covering up your brother’s treason is something Laura (or anyone, for that matter) will never get over.

Another update on a TMS couple: After weeks of Mia (Karen Pittman) trying to locate Andre (Clive Standen) in Ukraine, her ex appears on YDA (UBA’s competitor) to promote his war photo collection. Mia confronts Andre, who tells her to book him through his agent, but by the end of the episode, the two are nearly smooching again. Happy for them, I guess?

After Alex bombs her Alex Unfiltered interview, she blames Chip for his inability to find a better guest. The pair fight about everything and nothing: Paul, Cory, COVID, relationships, blah blah blah. Ultimately, Alex fires Chip.

Cory wants to show Paul that he’s unafraid of being fired. At a photoshoot staged to announce the deal, Cory threatens Paul with the fact that he has all the connections in the newsroom. Paul can’t just court Alex to win over the entire company. Paul shakes him off: “It’s interesting. You talk a lot about Alex, but she doesn’t really mention you.” An actual billionaire would never have this much rizz.

With Cory and Alex still entranced by Paul, the only hope UBA has of freeing itself lies in Bradley and Kate’s hands. Unfortunately, Paul knows Kate is stirring the pot. But does that really matter? He shares his plans for UBA near the end of the episode: After the deal goes through, Paul will sell all of the company for parts and start from scratch. The only woman left standing will be Alex. What does she care about more—a free press or herself? Maybe after that bombshell secret leaks, it won’t even matter.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.