Through Bradley and Laura’s Montana Quarantine, The Morning Show Thoughtfully Examines Destructive Grief
Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+
Grief has been portrayed endlessly on television—and for good reason. As one of the most ubiquitous emotions, we will all grieve something or someone at some point in our lives, and that pain reaches across borders, languages, and belief barriers in its universality. And The Morning Show is no stranger to it either; in Season 1, Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) grieved her normal life, Alex (Jennifer Anniston) mourned her former glory, Hannah (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) longed for her peace and privacy, and in Season 2, the series showcased the lead-up to COVID and all the anguish that would follow in its wake. Now in its third season, The Morning Show scales back from its larger early-pandemic ambitions to focus on Bradley, her relationship with Laura (Julianna Margulies), and the loss of her mother in Episode 5, “Love Island.”
In many ways, the beginning of Episode 5 feels like something straight out of Bradley and Laura fanfiction. The two are now permanently hosting The Morning Show together in Alex’s absence, solid as ever after the shaky footing they found in the Season 2 finale, and Bradley leaves New York to begin quarantining at Laura’s Montana ranch. Their easy cohabitation is sickeningly sweet, and their conversations surrounding their feelings and vastly different upbringings showcase this couple in a tentative honeymoon phase. It’s near-perfect in their little bubble as Bradley decides that it isn’t a big deal if they act a little flirty on air, marking a major milestone in her journey from her forceful outing in the previous season. They play lesbian charades, they talk about their feelings, they have mature and honest conversations about their traumas—and then it all comes crashing down when Bradley’s mother passes away from COVID, and she wasn’t there to say goodbye.
From there, the episode begins to catalog the slow rot that begins to fester in their relationship as the seasons change. Bradley has always been a hot-headed character, she’s always been quick to snap and throw a mean comment when pushed. But the grief smothers her fire to a slow simmer. We watch as Bradley and Laura’s relationship dissolves not all at once in a burning blaze of smashed vases and hurled insults, but instead in a slow, acidic erosion. Bradley pulls away, Laura tries to reach out, Bradley needs her space. She begins to grow resentful of the Montana ranch—it looks more like a prison now than the sanctuary it had once been. All the precautions taken to protect Laura from the virus feel stifling instead of necessary sacrifices to protect her lover (Laura looks particularly stricken when Bradley asks if they can just go to a restaurant, as it marks the shift in what she deems a risk worth taking; Bradley’s restlessness trumps Laura’s wellbeing). Their relationship spoils over months, poisoned by Bradley’s persistent grief and self-loathing, so by the time they do have their massive, blow-up fight filled with baseless accusations and long-suppressed frustration, the relationship was practically unsalvageable. Laura becomes collateral damage in a battle Bradley must fight within herself, one that is built on guilt and shame over her own complicated feelings about her mother, and her lack of reconciliation with her death.
And there, in the slow decay of this once-beautiful relationship, is where The Morning Show makes its most poignant commentary of the season. Because, sure, as much as this series thinks it has to say about newsroom inequity or January 6th, the examination of Bradley, her grief, and her self-destruction is the most compelling and sound through-line. As Bradley begins to push Laura away, The Morning Show posits that grief warps and shifts your worldview. It ultimately takes the things that are meant to be most important and shuffles them, bringing long-buried emotions to the surface.