The Morning Show Season 4 gets the whole gang back together to punctuate the events of 2024 with heightened UBN drama.
Apple TV+’s The Morning Show is often social media’s punching bag for how outlandish some of its storylines are (Bradley Jackson in space, anyone?), but season after season, the series delivers consistent, bingeable drama, and Season 4 is no different.
Picking up two years after Season 3 and set in the spring 2024, Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) is now an executive at UBN (no longer UBA), and for some reason to shake things up (I’m not entirely sure of the reasoning), they invite Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) back from West Virginia — and probation for editing her brother’s January 6 tape — to return to the TMS news desk. And by “they” I mean Stella (Greta Lee), who’s now in Cory Ellison’s chair (Billy Crudup), and president of the board, Celine (new this season, Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard).
Meanwhile, Cory is now making films in Hollywood and desperately needs funding for his latest project, so he asks Stella for help and gets reintegrated into UBN. It becomes a big ol’ reunion when Chip Black (Mark Duplass) enters the mix to help Bradley with a story. (As it turns out, when Chip isn’t obsessing over Alex, he can find enough time to make a documentary.)
There are still things to love and things to love to hate about The Morning Show. Jennifer Aniston continues to turn out career-best work, and it’s been enjoyable to watch her character grow over the course of four seasons, from pretty unlikeable to unlikely heroine. And yet, when it comes to Bradley Jackson, we’re still supposed to pretend she’s good at her job and that someone would seek her out for an investigative story! Maybe the writers backed themselves into a corner last season when we watched her stand in front of the FBI building, ready to turn herself in. Where could she go from here? Apparently, right back to UBA. Although it’s hard to imagine a show without Witherspoon. The chemistry between Alex and Bradley has always been one of the driving forces of the show.
In terms of outstanding performances, Nicole Beharie once again has a stand-out episode “Amari” where she should earn a spot back in Emmy contention for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She’s been a great addition to this show.
To the haters, I still contend that The Morning Show is the gutsiest show on television for its ability to tackle topics like AI, deep fakes, and anything else that’s trending in the news. Even though we’re watching a yearbook of events, it always feels fresh and of the moment.
And the show is pretty economical with the way it spreads storylines around (our girl Greta Lee gets some scandal this season). Plus, after Forbes published this article about the age bias against women on television, it’s important to note that all of the main female cast members are over the age of 40. A stat both Alex and Bradley would stand behind.
The Morning Show Season 4 streams on Wednesdays starting September 17.
