Anonymous wrote:The whole "I wish we had landed that helicopter anywhere else" exchange was still missing the point. He was already awful by that point -- covering up the navigation errors of his rocket, firing people to hide the problems, hiding his financials, etc. He was bad news from the beginning. Even if he wasn't trying to sell UBA for parts, he still would have been awful, a liar, and someone you can't trust.

Yeah! But he and Alex wouldn't have been on this crash course then. I thought it was sweet that up until the end, he actually really liked her. It seemed possible he was using her in some way - but in the end, probably not.

Anonymous wrote:Of course we should vilify men like Paul Marks -- he threatened a journalist who investigated him. He lied to NASA and fired whistleblowers. I mean, seriously? Chip's entire speech was to stress that legacy media is on its last leg and that we should all be concerned about that.

It was nice to have context for why Bradley covered up for her brother. And, her confession that she was too scared of having a relationship with Cory. It made me sad that Cory wasn't there for her with the FBI. It would have been much better than Alex.

I didn't love Alex saving the day. I wish it had been more of a group effort (and it was) but having Alex in the spotlight felt unfair to everyone behind the scenes.

With Bradley and Alex reminiscing about everyone it made it seem like the show was over. That's probably also why they ended with Alex being the one there.

It is hard to think that The Morning Show is all that's standing between us and the end of democracy! Like we haven't seen these folks being the world's greatest reporters before, even with Chip's speech - and that's not how most of us think of cable news or network news anyway.

It's all so ridiculous and I love it.

Anonymous wrote:Of course we should vilify men like Paul Marks -- he threatened a journalist who investigated him. He lied to NASA and fired whistleblowers. I mean, seriously? Chip's entire speech was to stress that legacy media is on its last leg and that we should all be concerned about that.

It was nice to have context for why Bradley covered up for her brother. And, her confession that she was too scared of having a relationship with Cory. It made me sad that Cory wasn't there for her with the FBI. It would have been much better than Alex.

I didn't love Alex saving the day. I wish it had been more of a group effort (and it was) but having Alex in the spotlight felt unfair to everyone behind the scenes.

With Bradley and Alex reminiscing about everyone it made it seem like the show was over. That's probably also why they ended with Alex being the one there.

Well, yeah, but then they shouldn't have gone to such pains to make Paul Marks sympathetic - the whole trajectory of the rocket story was super clunky; particularly the linkages to Stella and her best friend. So convenient. And seriously, the whole Deep Throat aspect was so overplayed.

All I know is that they better keep Yanko around.

The whole "I wish we had landed that helicopter anywhere else" exchange was still missing the point. He was already awful by that point -- covering up the navigation errors of his rocket, firing people to hide the problems, hiding his financials, etc. He was bad news from the beginning. Even if he wasn't trying to sell UBA for parts, he still would have been awful, a liar, and someone you can't trust.

Show already renewed for season 4.

Of course we should vilify men like Paul Marks -- he threatened a journalist who investigated him. He lied to NASA and fired whistleblowers. I mean, seriously? Chip's entire speech was to stress that legacy media is on its last leg and that we should all be concerned about that.

It was nice to have context for why Bradley covered up for her brother. And, her confession that she was too scared of having a relationship with Cory. It made me sad that Cory wasn't there for her with the FBI. It would have been much better than Alex.

I didn't love Alex saving the day. I wish it had been more of a group effort (and it was) but having Alex in the spotlight felt unfair to everyone behind the scenes.

With Bradley and Alex reminiscing about everyone it made it seem like the show was over. That's probably also why they ended with Alex being the one there.

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. I sorta hated the finale.
I didn't love the villifying of Jon Hamm's character, which I thought was too simplistic. The real time snooping of her text message to Bradley was laughably insane. I was sad that they broke up.

I hate the idea of a merger with the other network, and there's no way they could have cooked that up that quickly.

What is going to happen to Bradley and her brother? The only realistic scenario, given the real-life sentences being handed down to Jan 6 criminals - is real jail time. In some ways, what Bradley did was worse than her brother.

Agree with this, though I didn't mind the vilification of Jon Hamm's character as I felt it was somewhat earned over the course of the season and that he did a good job selling it. Agree the solution of the merger with the other network felt really sloppy and unrealistic.

The episode mostly just felt lazy and didn't do much to resolve things. I found all the focus on Alex realizing Paul wasn't who she thought she was, and then organizing this coup, too overwrought. She's been dating this guy for like a month. It made her look incredibly dumb to be in so deep with him in such a short amount of time, and to be so convinced that he was a good guy who would never screw her over despite the fact that he rapidly progressed from "I'm going to buy UBA and do great things with it" to "I'm going to buy UBA and then sell it for parts to save my struggling rocket business." She just looks idiotic for ever believing him, so her about face in the finale isn't satisfying at all. And her whole speech about how what changed her mind is learning he'd "silenced a journalist" because "I'm a journalist." This felt like farce -- she didn't care about being a journalist when everyone was rightfully questioning her objectivity in the last couple episodes.

I did find the whole thing with Chip going on air to reveal what was happening with the deal funny, even though it was also ridiculous and incredibly unrealistic (no way they would just keep rolling without cutting to commercial with all those F-bombs, at that point you are risking a lot more than a regular FTC fine, you are risking lawsuits and boycotts and career destruction). But I really enjoy Duplass and it was fun to see him let loose with that even if plot wise, it was really silly.

Agree the Bradley/Hal thing was not resolved at all and I don't get what happened at all. Are they coming back for a 5th season? Will Reese still be on the show? It seems like her journalism career is over.

Ugh. I sorta hated the finale.
I didn't love the villifying of Jon Hamm's character, which I thought was too simplistic. The real time snooping of her text message to Bradley was laughably insane. I was sad that they broke up.

I hate the idea of a merger with the other network, and there's no way they could have cooked that up that quickly.

What is going to happen to Bradley and her brother? The only realistic scenario, given the real-life sentences being handed down to Jan 6 criminals - is real jail time. In some ways, what Bradley did was worse than her brother.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did Marks know about Bradley’s brother and Jan 6?

That's what I was wondering, too - how did he know?

Why was Laura SO angry about the J6 thing? That felt... disproportionate?

And how did she know what Bradley did? Journalists are not mandated reporters. She was not required to tell them her brother was there. (Turning over video to the FBI is a separate matter- but there’s no requirement that she turn over her video unless the FBI took her to court.)

I am the PP - and I think Laura read between the lines when she saw the emails between Bradley and Cory. But I really don't know what she'd expect Bradley to do in that situation, as a normal human being who loves her family. It's not like Bradley showed every second of footage from the Capital - and, like you say, journalists are not mandatory reporters.

I also really don't know how Jon Hamm found out about all this unless he's monitoring which emails are being looked at from the hack. And even then?

I didn't find Laura's anger out of character or surprising. She's angry that Bradley helped one of the J6 people -- she considers them terrorists and I don't think she thinks there are any shades of gray there. The fact that it's Bradley's brother isn't really relevant to her. Laura thinks you get to choose your family and if someone doesn't fit your political or social outlook, they can be excised. Remember she encouraged Bradley to simply cut Hal out of her life over his substance abuse and mental health issues. She just doesn't see family the way Bradley does.

I also think the bigger issue for Laura is the feeling of betrayal. Not just that Bradley concealed this from her, but that she confided in and got help from Cory. It makes Bradley close to Cory, and to Hal, in ways she can't be to Laura because Laura is in the dark. I think a lot of the rage reaction stemmed from that feeling of being put on the outside. Remember her snooping around was prompted by suspicions about Bradley and Cory in the first place. Laura wants to be THE central figure in Bradley's life. It's about control and access as much as it's about politics for her.

This is a really insightful post.

I guess I don't think she's earned the right to feel that betrayed? She and Bradley have been on and off - I'm not sure they've built the foundation of trust that would let her feel like Bradley should disclose her hardest, most complicated, and even most dubious choices. They aren't married or even living together - they break up, get back together. I don't think Laura has any reason to believe that Bradley would confide or disclose every single thing that's happening in her life - esp something Laura would be so judgmental about. Laura might (fairly!) believe that someone who'd do this isn't someone she wants to be with - but. I don't know. This show has all kinds of people making all kinds of terrible decisions - but I also understood why Bradley would do what she did with the video of her brother.

I guess Laura does feel betrayed that Bradley sought Cory's help, not hers. But Cory runs the network - and also seems less judgmental of Bradley!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering whether they are setting up a marriage of convenience for Bradley and Cory for spousal privilege purposes.

Hope so b/c the Bradley/Laura relationship is just not believable at all.

+100

Anonymous wrote:I think PP is suggesting that you can't be forced to testify against your spouse in court. I think that's still a rule existing, at least in certain jurisdictions like Virginia.

marital privilege.

I think PP is suggesting that you can't be forced to testify against your spouse in court. I think that's still a rule existing, at least in certain jurisdictions like Virginia.

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering whether they are setting up a marriage of convenience for Bradley and Cory for spousal privilege purposes.

Could you explain this further? What do you mean?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did Marks know about Bradley’s brother and Jan 6?

That's what I was wondering, too - how did he know?

Why was Laura SO angry about the J6 thing? That felt... disproportionate?

And how did she know what Bradley did? Journalists are not mandated reporters. She was not required to tell them her brother was there. (Turning over video to the FBI is a separate matter- but there’s no requirement that she turn over her video unless the FBI took her to court.)

I am the PP - and I think Laura read between the lines when she saw the emails between Bradley and Cory. But I really don't know what she'd expect Bradley to do in that situation, as a normal human being who loves her family. It's not like Bradley showed every second of footage from the Capital - and, like you say, journalists are not mandatory reporters.

I also really don't know how Jon Hamm found out about all this unless he's monitoring which emails are being looked at from the hack. And even then?

I didn't find Laura's anger out of character or surprising. She's angry that Bradley helped one of the J6 people -- she considers them terrorists and I don't think she thinks there are any shades of gray there. The fact that it's Bradley's brother isn't really relevant to her. Laura thinks you get to choose your family and if someone doesn't fit your political or social outlook, they can be excised. Remember she encouraged Bradley to simply cut Hal out of her life over his substance abuse and mental health issues. She just doesn't see family the way Bradley does.

I also think the bigger issue for Laura is the feeling of betrayal. Not just that Bradley concealed this from her, but that she confided in and got help from Cory. It makes Bradley close to Cory, and to Hal, in ways she can't be to Laura because Laura is in the dark. I think a lot of the rage reaction stemmed from that feeling of being put on the outside. Remember her snooping around was prompted by suspicions about Bradley and Cory in the first place. Laura wants to be THE central figure in Bradley's life. It's about control and access as much as it's about politics for her.

This is a really insightful post.

Anonymous wrote:I am wondering whether they are setting up a marriage of convenience for Bradley and Cory for spousal privilege purposes.

Hope so b/c the Bradley/Laura relationship is just not believable at all.