Spoiler’s ahead for the season 3 finale of The Morning Show, titled “The Overview Effect.”
Season 3 of The Morning Show has come to an end. The shocking season finale saw Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) learn of Paul Marks’ (Jon Hamm) betrayal and Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) and her brother, Hal (Joe Tippett), make the decision to turn themselves into the FBI after she covered up his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
First, on the Paul Marks front, Bradley confronted Alex with the possibility that the would-be purchaser of UBA wasn’t above board, something viewers have long known about him.
“Bradley forces Alex to really look inside,” Mimi Leder, the show’s executive producer, told ET. “Who is this guy?… Has she been blinded this whole entire time by falling in love with him?”
Alex decides to find out for herself by setting Paul up, after which she realizes he’s been surveilling people involved in the UBA deal the whole time.
“That’s how she finds out that he is surveilling Bradley, that he’s responsible for everything that’s gone wrong,” Leder said. “… That is the moment she realizes the truth.”
Now for Alex, the question, Leder said, is “What is she gonna do?”
“She’s a very smart woman. How could a smart woman fall into this trap? How could she?” she questioned. “There’s a lot of answers and reasons why we do the things we do, the lies we tell ourselves, the things we do to survive.”
In the end, Alex decides to torpedo Paul’s deal with UBA and instead spearhead a merger between UBA and NBN to save both networks.
“From episode one, she has said that she has wanted a seat at the table, she deserves a seat at the table, she is asking for it. In this episode, she is stepping into her power,” Leder told ET of Alex. “She is stepping into those shoes. She’s not asking anybody. She is walking into her power and to who she is, her powerful self. She proposes a merger between UVA and NBN, exposes Paul for who he really is, and ends their relationship.”
Though Paul, whom Leder described as “a master chess player,” certainly did some shady things, the EP believes that “he really had genuine affection for Alex.”
“I think he loved her,” she said, before noting, “I want to believe that.”
Then there’s Bradley, who up and quit UBA on air after Paul threatened to ruin both her and Laura Peterson’s (Julianna Margulies) careers over the former woman’s Jan. 6 secret.
“I think she’s trying to protect her family. I don’t even know if she’s really thinking about herself in that moment… After Paul confronts her about the Jan. 6 insurrection and threatens Laura’s career, I think she does it for Laura, and she does it for her family, the people she loves,” Leder said. “She was on air. It was the only thing she felt she can do. I don’t think it’s anything she’s planned. I think it just happens, and it’s shocking.”
The surprises don’t stop there, as the episode ends with Bradley and Hal meeting up with Alex at the FBI building, where the siblings plan to come clean about their insurrection involvement.
“I did this shot to mirror them walking into their future,” Leder said of the final shot of the season, which shows Bradley and Alex walking their separate ways. “Who knows what it’ll be? I often wonder about second chances in our culture. Do people get second chances? Do journalists get second chances? Who gets second chances? Who are the people who survive? Do journalists survive this? Do everyday people survive their bad deeds? Will the truth set you free? I hope so.”
As for season 4, for which The Morning Show has already been renewed, Leder admitted “it really hasn’t been written” yet. Even so, it’s safe to say that there’s plenty of drama to come.
“I think it’s left for the audience to imagine. There’s so many ways we can go,” she said. “Does the merger go through? Who’s in charge of UBA? I mean, there’s so many questions to answer. You’ll just have to tune in after season 3 to see where we land.”
Seasons 1-3 of The Morning Show are now streaming on Apple TV+.
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