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The Morning Show Episode 4 Recap: That Woman

reese witherspoon and jennifer aniston of the morning show
Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston star in The Morning Show. Pic credit: AppleTV+/YouTube

The Morning Show episode 4 titled That Woman arrived on Friday, November 8 on Apple TV Plus. It starts as Alex Levy welcomes her brand new co-host Bradley Jackson, who calls it a “dream come true” for her. Her first TMS episode includes a fully scripted introduction as well as Bradley’s mom appearing live via satellite and reading cue cards. 

While a montage video of Bradley’s childhood is showing to viewers, she realizes how fake it is all seems and tells Alex off camera. When they get back on camera, she goes off-script to talk about her less than perfect childhood, including getting an abortion at age 15. 

Bradley’s controversial start, apology

Cory Ellison loves that Bradley went off script, but his boss Fred and TMS producer Chip are both irate. Fred yells at Cory over Bradley announcing her teenage abortion to “middle America.”

The next morning Bradley wakes up to social media posts condemning her for the abortion she had years ago. Alex picks Bradley up to go to the show again, saying she will do the next one like yesterday never happened.

Bradley makes a public apology on the show for her casual discussion of such a sensitive issue. Cory, Chip, and Alex meet with Fred to discuss Bradley’s mistake. Fred doesn’t want her doing the interview with Mitch’s accuser Ashley Brown, but the others talk him into it.

Mitch investigation at studio, Bradley’s success

A Stern and Young investigator named Vicki comes to TMS regarding the Mitch situation. She wants to ensure the workplace is safer for everyone. After weatherman Yanko Flores talks to her and says he doesn’t know of any misconduct going on at TMS, he is shown in bed later with TMS assistant Claire who he’s sleeping with. He’s worried that he used his influence in order to have sex with her, but she assures him that isn’t the case.

Anti-abortion protests continue outside The Morning Show studio. However, a huge walkout staged by teenage females occurs at a Mississippi high school in support of Bradley Jackson. Singer Kelly Clarkson appears on TMS and has Bradley come up with her during the performance. Clarkson endorses Bradley as a “truth teller.” 

Later, Fred learns the ratings for TMS in the 18 to 34 demographic are growing weekly which puts a smile on his face. Cory meets briefly with Bradley and tells her she’s “killing it” so far. He asks her how it feels being in Mitch’s old dressing room and if she wonders what went on in there. She says she hasn’t had time to consider it. Cory turns a lightbulb on for Bradley when he says he also wonders who else knew what was going on there.

Chip meets with Alex who says Bradley is exceeding her expectations. Chip tells Alex he’s proud of her. He tells her that Maggie Brenner of New York Magazine wants to do a feature piece on Bradley. Alex says it’s great and really takes the focus off Mitch being gone. However, it’s clear Alex is upset about it after Chip leaves.

Mia details her Mitch affair

More confidential interviews take place with the investigator Vicki asking TMS staff about their interactions with Mitch. That includes TMS show producer Mia Jordan who admits she and Mitch had a one-year affair while working together. Mia says she ended it because it got too complicated, but says things were “perfectly professional” after they broke up. 

Vicki asks Mia about leaking the affair news to The Times, but Mia says she didn’t. She says she complained to HR about Mitch because she couldn’t stand see him doing reports on “Me Too.” However, she says she never intended for Mitch to be fired. Later, the interviewer calls Fred to tell him he’s safe and nobody’s implicated the station yet, just Mitch.

Bradley’s shocking interview with Ashley

Bradley is concerned about interviewing Mitch accuser former TMS staffer Ashley Brown. Mia convinces Bradley that this interview is important for her to bring to the viewers. Bradley trusts her even though she feels she’s pushing someone else’s agenda.

Friday morning arrives and Cory shows up to see the interview live. Alex gives Bradley a pep talk and reminds her to “stick to the script.”

During the interview, Ashley details her flirtations with Mitch. She brings up an incident during a staff meeting where Mitch put his hand on her thigh under the table. She said it was exciting, but “shocking and overwhelming..confusing.” Ashley says the flirting continued a lot and it became consuming to the point she couldn’t focus on her job. She eventually had to quit.

Ashley says she never complained to HR because she was embarrassed about it. Bradley turns the interview upside down when she asks if Ashley felt uncomfortable at the workplace as far as reporting it. People in the control room including Alex plead with Bradley to stop, but she presses Ashley for more.

Ashley says she and Mitch crossed the line a few times in his dressing room. She admits to Mitch calling her in and her giving him oral sex. Ashley says she never told anyone, but everybody knew and she felt that. Bradley thanks her for telling her truth.

Fred is livid about the interview. Bradley ends it and hugs Ashley. Chip walks out and stares down Bradley. Alex chastises her for giving her this opportunity and says Bradley has now put everyone at risk. Bradley asks Alex if she knew what Mitch was doing in his dressing room and Alex storms off. Cory walks out and tells a flustered Chip it was a great interview and he’s looking forward to what’s next.

Watch new episodes of The Morning Show Fridays on Apple TV+.

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