The Morning Show Season 2 Moment That Fans Think Jumped The Shark
"The Morning Show" recently wrapped its second season, leaving the fates of its central characters in flux as the pandemic takes hold of the U.S. The Apple TV+ series explores the behind-the-scenes drama at the fictitious UBA network, particularly its flagship morning TV show.
Season 1 chronicles the rise and fall of Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell), who is accused of sexual misconduct. The aftermath of the allegations uncover other dirty secrets at the network and puts the career of Mitch's co-host, Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston), in peril. Shot in the wake of the Me Too movement, Season 1 of "The Morning Show" explores the far-reaching consequences of predatory behavior in the workplace both for the victims, the perpetrator, and anyone who chooses to look the other way.
Season 2 picks up a few months after the events of the Season 1 finale, with a disgraced Mitch hiding out in Italy. At the same time, Alex returns to the spotlight while dark secrets about her past relationship with her former co-host threaten to destroy her beloved public persona. Season 2 follows the main characters as they try to reconcile who they are as friends, lovers, co-workers and navigate their complex personal relationships under the public's watchful eye. Despite a strong sophomore season, some fans think "The Morning Show" jumped the shark and took to Reddit to discuss when the series veered off course.
Alex Levy's ill-fated trip to Italy doesn't sit well with fans
Redditor u/Prax150 had many issues with Season 2, Episode 7, "La Amara Vita." With Maggie Brener's (Marcia Gay Harden) tell-all book about the "The Morning Show" scandal about to be released, a frantic Alex heads to Italy, which is in the throes of the pandemic. Her goal is to get Mitch to write a statement denying they ever had sex. "The premise itself strains credulity (Alex travelling into the heart of a pandemic for something that could be a phone conversation, even if in reality she wants to confront Mitch about everything, but it falls apart because I think even the performers don't believe what's going on here," U/Prax150 wrote.
They also disapproved of the plot twist of Mitch taking his life once he realizes redemption is entirely out of reach. "And to top it off, the whole time you're like, they're gonna kill one of them off by the end of the episode, aren't they? Sure enough, Mitch drives off a cliff like this is a literal soap opera?" U/Prax150 asked.
Many viewers feel Season 2 is disappointing in general. "I thought season one was amazing when it was about a total cut-throat race to fill a power vacuum with Game of Thrones-esque betrayals for power, but all in a corporate setting," wrote u/TomNookGestapo. However, they felt that the antics of all the on-air talent, particularly Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon), and Alex who melts down at every turn, should have resulted in their firings.
Most viewers prefer season 1 of The Morning Show
While U/Prax 150 appeared eager to jump-start a dialogue about Episode 7 in particular, many Redditors seem to have issues with Season 2 in general. "I enjoyed season 1 – I thought it had a lot more depth than people gave it credit for, and was an interesting take on #MeToo. I got about 3 episodes into season 2 before giving it up. Sounds like it gets even worse," stated u/Brilliant-Disguise. Redditor u/RayZinnet added,"exact same here."
Other viewers felt the show mishandled the COVID-19 storyline or should have excluded it altogether. "The Morning Show" ignoring the pandemic seems unrealistic since the pandemic dominated the news headlines for most of 2020. "This second season hasn't really known where to go. They felt the need to write Covid into the story and it hasn't been that compelling. If they had a plan with the cast before Covid struck, I wish they would have just stuck with that and zoomed the timeline ahead to 2022/2023 or whatever," wrote u/SymphonyNo3. Perhaps, some viewers are just suffering from pandemic fatigue and prefer to enjoy TV as an escape from what's going on in the real world instead of getting a reminder.