The Morning Show: Exploration of Power during Metoo Era
Apple TV's The Morning Show tackles many proactive topics in the world of morning news. The Morning Show follows the aftermath of a news anchor's exposed sexual misconduct. Mitch Kessler( Steve Carell) is not as affected by this as his co-host Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) deals with the immediate fallout. They were dubbed the mom and dad of America with their over a decade partnership. America started their day with them. Alex is faced with how to handle the mistakes of her former co-anchor and find a replacement. She is also faced with her contract renewal and her place on the show.
Reese Witherspoon fills the ensemble as Bradley Jackson, a small-town news anchor with an out of place southern accent. She gains traction when a viral video of her screaming at a coal protest and lands herself in a position to replace Mitch. Mitch doesn't interact with the cast and has his own plotline. His character serves the purpose of how someone deals with the repercussions and backlash of being me too'd. His character expresses himself through tantrums and constantly feeling that he is not in the wrong. Carell's Mitch is awkward and feels wrongly cast in this role. Mitch's arc is unclear.
The only character who shines through this bloated news drama is Billy Crudup. He plays Cory Ellison, a network executive. Crudup displays the charm and has fun with his character. He effortlessly plays the role and steals the scene every time. He has the best monologues and lines in the show and doesn't have to try hard to get his points across. His scenes with Witherspoon are intriguing and show real on-screen chemistry.
The dialogue is awkward and unnatural. Characters are constantly announcing how they feel to one another. There also seem to be jokes placed in the series but they lack a punchline. The show is trying to be in the universe of the West Wing by trying to reciprocate the same witty, intellectual conversations behind the scenes at the White House. The show fails and is bland. The politics of the show is also uncomplicated and the world of Alex Levy and Bradley Jackson seems almost untouched by real-world issues.
The Morning Show constantly addresses power and who holds it. It doesn't explore why they have this power or how they got it. The Network executives have the power and Levy has power through her fame. The show finds ways to limit her power though. The show covers Me too but never explores the people and institutions that suppress allegations. Everyone seems too consumed with their own image to address anything that happens outside of their circle. The show does have promise in the last few minutes of the third episode when things start to unravel and get messy.