This week’s episode of The Morning Show dares to confront the horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic, a cataclysmic event that shook our entire existence. Even after we hit normalcy, most mainstream shows have avoided this dark chapter in history to take center stage in their proceedings. However, The Morning Show doesn’t shy away from this and discusses UBA’s difficulties and nuances during the pandemic.
Without any ado, let’s discuss season 3, episode 5 of The Morning Show, to find out how it ends!
Episode 5 begins in March 2020, with the pandemic just unfolding. Host Bradley faces a dilemma on how to keep producing quality content for UBA+ while keeping herself and everyone safe from the virus.
She makes a bold decision and moves to Montana with Laura. There, they set up a makeshift studio and broadcast the news from their cozy cabin.
Meanwhile, Mia, another UBA+ employee, finds love in lockdown with Andre Ford, a journalist. They share a charming apartment and enjoy each other’s company. We see their relationship grow through a montage of sweet moments and intimate scenes.
Cory also has a budding love interest when he meets Salma, a realtor who shows him around various properties during the pandemic.
The summer heat brings Bradley and Laura closer together as they contemplate revealing their secret affair to the world. Meanwhile, sparks fly as Cory invites Salma on a date. They finally see each other’s faces without the masks, and we see good chemistry developing.
However, the world is not all sunshine and roses. In May 2020, the brutal killing of George Floyd ignites a wave of protests and a surge of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The entire crew, especially Mia, is deeply affected by the injustice and violence and feels hopeless and shattered. They need to decide what footage to show to the public, leaving the entire media house perplexed.
Meanwhile, Cory and Salma become a couple, and he confides in her about the network’s financial troubles. Salma has a knack for finding the wealthy and influential. She suggests Cory should target Paul Marks, an affluent neighbor, as his next funding source.
Hal breaks the tragic news to Bradley that their mother has succumbed to COVID-19. The loss of her mother shatters her, and her relationship also begins to strain as the seasons change. Bradley lashes out at Laura, blaming her for everything that goes wrong in her life. She even accuses Laura of being a pompous snob.
Meanwhile, Stella and Mia brainstorm about who could replace Mitch as the host. They consider Chris Hunter, a famous journalist. Mia reveals to Andre that she had a romantic affair with Mitch and loved him deeply. This confession shakes Andre, forcing him to risk his life by going out for a drink during the peak pandemic.
Mia is furious with Andre for putting himself and her at risk, which seems to end things for the couple.
However, Mia is not the only one who walks away. Bradley, too, ends her relationship with Laura after a heated argument and flies to DC for a work assignment. Elsewhere, Andre accepts a dangerous mission in Afghanistan.
As the nation plunges into the dark winter of 2021, the Capitol is besieged by a violent mob of attackers. Bradley revives the fearless journalist in her and captures the entire thing on camera. However, her world crumbles when she discovers her own brother, Hal, among the attackers, assaulting a cop. This instigates her to do something controversial.
Bradley records his face and then helps him flee the scene. However, she erases the evidence of his involvement from her footage before showing it to Stella.
They decide to air a special report on the Capitol attack. Bradley seizes the opportunity to demand the anchor position of the Evening News, using her exclusive footage as a bargaining chip.
Meanwhile, Cory meets Paul, a billionaire tycoon, on the beach. He strikes up a friendly conversation with him and casually suggests that Paul should invest in the media industry.
This begins a long and complicated relationship that will shape the future of UBA and the entire show.
1. Covering for the Criminal: Ending Explained
This week’s episode ends on a murky note as many moral grounds are challenged by the UBA employees, especially Bradley and Cory.
Bradley visits Cory’s lavish residence to discuss the Capitol attack’s footage. The FBI is after the video evidence of the Capitol riot, where an unknown assailant brutally beat a cop. However, Bradley knows the truth: it was Hal who did it, and she has erased the video to protect him. She begs Cory to cover for her.
Cory agrees to hand over only the footage from the special report, leaving out the crucial moments of the attack. He claims he is doing this to safeguard UBA’s reputation and Bradley’s future. However, there is more to his decision than that: he still harbors feelings for Bradley, even though he knows they can never be together.
Bradley expresses her gratitude, but Cory brushes it off. He doesn’t want to dwell on their complicated relationship. Bradley gets what she always wanted: the anchor position on the Evening News. Although now she has to live with the guilt of what she has done.
2. About The Morning Show
The Morning Show (also known as Morning Wars in Australia and Indonesia) is an American drama streaming television series starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell, that premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019. The series is inspired by Brian Stelter’s book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV.
Reese Witherspoon’s Bradley Jackson and Jennifer Aniston’s Alex are a newbie and a veteran morning show host, respectively, who are thrown together after Aniston’s former on-air partner (Steve Carell) is fired following a sexual harassment scandal.
Alex (Aniston) fights to retain her job as top news anchor while sparking a rivalry with Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon), a haphazard field reporter whose series of impulsive decisions brings her into a new world of television journalism.
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