The Morning Show Made a Bold Finale Choice, but What Is It Ultimately Saying?

Keri Lumm reviews the final episode of The Morning Show for Paste, which you can watch in the video above or read the full transcript of below.

Well, that finale took a turn I was definitely not expecting.

One of the most competitive environments around is that of TV news anchor. Anyone who works in broadcasting wants one of those top jobs, and with that kind of competition things are bound to get crazy.

Hopefully, not this crazy in real life.

Bradley has been given a dream job based on basically being in the right place at the right time, and it’s understandable that other weekend anchors are upset that she got the job they had been waiting for. Alex is so defined by her job that it is almost as if nothing else matters, and she will use whatever means necessary to stay on top.

What blew my mind was how the show deals with the loyalties of their staff to keep them in the top position. After all, their job depends on it too. 

And in this whole last episode, we see it all fall apart. All because Mitch was left unchecked in his hornballer ways.

But as we have watched people move through the company via sex and manipulation, one woman who decided to take her promotion instead of filing charges was Hannah. Bradley also uses her new position to push for this story that will take down the network that gave her a job. She gets Hannah to give her all the details, and it is clear that Hannah is not over what happened to her, and that she has been pushed too far.

In the pursuit of truth, Bradley puts Hannah into a horrible episode of PTSD. Now she has corroborated a story and the interview that will be filmed behind Alex’s back.

Then her friend, Claire, finds her. Dead. It was an apparent suicide, and everyone is shaken.

When it all comes out into the open, Alex loses her mind and ultimately speaks out against Mitch and even herself. And in a bizarre turn, we find out that Chip was actually the whistleblower in this whole Mitch take down.

Why? Because he wanted Alex to keep her job and she was about to lose it. And ultimately, he is fired.

It is nice to see Fred get his comeuppance, but was any of this worth it? Someone is dead, lives are ruined. I doubt this kind of drama goes on over at NPR.

This show … it is very soapy and I’m ok with that, but ultimately, I’m left wondering who to root for. Is anyone in this show actually clean? I thought maybe Bradley was the hero, but really, she is sneaky and a problem.

Ultimately, I think Alex becomes her own hero, and I want to believe that her heart change was real and not just a calculated move for the cameras.

I think what this show does really well is illustrate how much harder it is to speak out against systemic harassment in the workplace than it seems on the surface. We are talking about people’s livelihoods. Careers that are are so hard to attain and when you get them you would do anything to keep them. The people in power know that, and it is a self perpetuating cycle. 

Yes, Me Too is here, but unraveling years and years of abuse is much more complicated than using a simple hashtag. 

Keri is a professional chatterbox who loves watching TV & movies, reading about pop culture, and gawking at any craziness on the internet. You can follow Keri on Twitter.

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