Insert Billy Crudup’s laugh and my ever-lasting smirk here. In “Update Your Priors,” The Morning Show has never been more entertaining.
The episode starts with Laura (Julianna Margulies) waking up startled from a dream, anxiously reflecting on the fact she’s been dating a terrorism enabler. Fair, if you ask me. Moreover, this is the second time I watched Margulies wake up startled from a dream (the first being in The Good Wife), which isn’t a lot, but it’s funny that it happened twice.
In another part of NY, Alex (Jennifer Aniston) stares concerningly at her fridge. Paul (Jon Hamm) joins her in the kitchen, asking, “What’s going on there, Levy?”. “I’m thinking about the wildfires in California,” she replies seriously, making me laugh out loud. It sounds unnatural and random, and with this show, I won’t even try to guess if it was meant to be comical. Paul then reminds her of the success that will come from destroying UBA in sale pieces, which is seemingly agreed upon. I reiterate my desire to see her betray Paul and let #Paulex burn amid the saving of UBA.
In the All the President’s Men section of the show, Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) is joined by Chip (Mark Duplass) and Stella (Greta Lee) as they try to contact Hyperion employees to share their dirt on Paul. Because I’m not a judge and didn’t pledge to be impartial, I support this “Let’s Bring Paul Down With the Power of Investigative Journalism” committee solely due to Stella’s presence, even if they’re more Scooby Doo than Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. No one wants to talk to them.
Cut to Amanda (Tig Notaro) and Paul talking about the former employee Bradley was supposed to meet in the previous episode, as he’s looking confident that he’ll make Bradley’s Woodward era end. He’s doing some investigation of his own, trying to find dirt on Cory (Billy Crudup). He also tells him not to worry about a mysterious third party buying UBA shares.
Laura continues her own investigation. She talks to her boss about possibly investigating the Jan 6 story without revealing who she’s talking about. She calculatedly calls Hal (Joe Tippett) under the pretense of inviting him to a family gathering, suggesting Washington as the location. He lies to her as she continues to go through this emotional roller-coaster.
Marcia Gay Harden returns as Maggie Brenner, proving this show can and will pull any actor out of their hat. She stops by her archnemesis, Alex, at her office for a quick, hostile talk about the future of journalism. Holland Taylor magically returns as Cybil, who storms into Cory’s office to share the truth about the deal: Paul will destroy UBA and sell it piece by piece, she announces. She also reveals the third party is Fred (Tom Irwin), who cannot wait to see UBA burn to the ground.
With an entertaining jazzy score as the soundtrack, Cory runs to find and shout at Paul, who calmly reminds him they already got all the votes they need for the deal to progress. He unleashes a new side of his Cory-ness, punching a wall as a reaction.
Bleeding, he runs to Alex’s office – in true Will Gardner storms into Alicia’s office fashion – to confront her. Alex doesn’t deny knowing about Paul’s plans but doesn’t let Cory get away with pretending he cares about UBA employees. It’s obvious neither of them do.
In the land of hard truths being thrown around, Laura Peterson is queen. When Bradley drops by, Laura questions her upfront about Jan 6. She points out Cory lied to the FBI for her and calls it “love.” I prefer to call it a crime! As Bradley attempts to justify her actions, Laura sharply tells her she won’t tell anyone about it and that Bradley should leave before she changes her mind.
In one of the best scenes in the show, Julianna Margulies proves looks can kill, as a zoom-in shot of her eyes metaphorically obliterates Bradley and all anti-democratic feelings along with her. If this is the last we’ve seen of Laura, I want her to know she was the best character around, and I wish her flowers, cozy NYC walks, and successful career endeavors. I definitely can’t see her listening to Taylor Swift, but I’ll be blasting Now That We Don’t Talk in her honor.
Bradley runs into Alex at UBA, who then shares Paul’s plans and tells her she’s starting a company of her own. Bradley isn’t on board with this, and Alex leaves without support. But Paul shows up as well, with a less friendly approach. He asks about her brother in an unsubtle threat to make her stop investigating him.
Live on Evening News amid a news report, Bradley breaks down, announcing she’s resigning from UBA. Laura, Chip, and Alex watch from home. As the jazz score returns, Stella runs to Cory’s office, which is my favorite detail in this episode. As they try to process what Bradley did, Cory’s assistant interrupts them to drop the news. A gossip outlet has published a piece on how Cory groomed Bradley when she was hired. Paul’s move, no doubt, he thinks. Oh, and security is coming to escort Cory out of the building.
Mess! Chaos! Drama! Sound the trumpets in the arena! After several boring episodes, I think I get to celebrate when the messiness becomes entertaining again. This is like Riverdale, the messier, the funnier.
See you for my finale recap next week.
Email Draft: Considering Aniston and Witherspoon’s connection with Friends, I’d like to make a small gesture and dedicate this to Matthew Perry (1969-2023).
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