{"id":295132,"date":"2025-11-20T09:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295132\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T09:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:10:09","slug":"torture-scenes-plotting-season-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295132\/","title":{"rendered":"Torture Scenes, Plotting Season 5"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t[This story contains major spoilers from the season four finale of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/morning-show\/\" id=\"auto-tag_morning-show_1\" data-tag=\"morning-show\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Morning Show<\/a>.]<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe Morning Show made good on a daunting promise when it opened its season four finale with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/reese-witherspoon\/\" id=\"auto-tag_reese-witherspoon_1\" data-tag=\"reese-witherspoon\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reese Witherspoon<\/a>\u2018s Bradley Jackson being detained. After previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-women-season-4-interview-1236379178\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-women-season-4-interview-1236379178\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">evading federal punishment<\/a> for her complicity in Jan. 6 riot coverage because she struck a deal with the U.S. government, the TMS anchor ended season four imprisoned in Belarus over a story she has been investigating throughout the entire season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tShowrunner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/charlotte-stoudt\/\" id=\"auto-tag_charlotte-stoudt_1\" data-tag=\"charlotte-stoudt\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Charlotte Stoudt<\/a> says the real-life Russian imprisonment of Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent Evan Gershkovich largely inspired the storyline, which on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/apple\/\" id=\"auto-tag_apple_1\" data-tag=\"apple\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple<\/a> TV+ series saw Bradley being tortured in a cell with blaring lights, head-thumping music and little food or place to lay her head. \u201cBut what we read from Evan Gershkovich and even Brittney Griner [the WNBA All Star detained in Russia], honestly, Bradley\u2019s cell was nice by comparison,\u201d Stoudt tells The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cShe had an okay situation compared to what happens to these very high-profile prisoners. Bradley was in Belarus, but Russia does not mess around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn the end, they couldn\u2019t break Bradley Jackson. And thanks to a Herculean effort from the rest of the ensemble with a coup from Alex (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/jennifer-aniston\/\" id=\"auto-tag_jennifer-aniston_1\" data-tag=\"jennifer-aniston\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jennifer Aniston<\/a>), her father Martin (Jeremy Irons) and Bradley\u2019s ex Cory (Billy Crudup), the UBN team publicly exposes C-suite boss Celine (Marion Cotillard) for her role in the cover-up Bradley was investigating, ultimately pushing Celine out of the top office (and the country), and returning Bradley to the U.S. after 35 days detained. The season ended with Alex and Bradley embracing once again, this time on a tarmac with the futures for them and many others in the ensemble open and unknown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tBelow, Stoudt answers THR\u2018s burning questions on all of that, including filming Witherspoon\u2019s stripped-down torture scenes, if there\u2019s a future for Alex and Jon Hamm\u2019s Paul Marks, whether or not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/the-morning-show-greta-lee-stella-exit-interview-1236406529\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/the-morning-show-greta-lee-stella-exit-interview-1236406529\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Greta Lee\u2019s Stella could make a return<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/morning-show-renewed-season-5-apple-tv-1236373121\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/morning-show-renewed-season-5-apple-tv-1236373121\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">already renewed season five<\/a>, if Cotillard\u2019s days on The Morning Show are over, and much more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t***<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tNow that I\u2019ve seen the finale, I understand <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-women-season-4-interview-1236379178\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-women-season-4-interview-1236379178\/\">why you didn\u2019t begin this season<\/a> with a detained Bradley Jackson after she turned herself in last season finale. During her detainment in Belarus here, Reese Witherspoon was physically stripped down, and Bradley was beaten down. Can you talk about the prep and conversations with Reese to portray Bradley as a prisoner?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI love Reese because she\u2019s so willing to go there. You know the Reese of Wild and the incredible rawness of that performance, and how she can span from that to Elle Woods. She\u2019s so extraordinary that way. Part of the language of this show is that it feeds off of her and Jen [Aniston] and how they inhabit their characters. So we really didn\u2019t talk that much. You\u2019re always worried about staying in the same show, in terms of the style. So we did keep the filmmaking very simple in the sequences, so you didn\u2019t feel like you had moved into a different genre. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhat motivated this storyline most for you?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWe had been thinking about Evan Gershkovich for a long time and that we wanted to say something. There were periods where, especially in the early part of the Gaza conflict, we were hearing of so many reporters either being killed, injured or captured, and about this new hostage diplomacy that can involve journalists. We wanted to touch on what was happening everywhere. And you are right, ultimately everything on this show is character-logical. So it was like, \u201cIs Bradley going to do time?\u201d But the question was, \u201cWhere and how?\u201d <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-season-3-finale-explained-season-4-1235639293\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-season-3-finale-explained-season-4-1235639293\/\">Everyone asked me between seasons<\/a>, \u201cIs Bradley going to wear an orange jumpsuit?\u201d Since that was the expectation, it was like, \u201cHow can we subvert that?\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHow long were you filming Bradley\u2019s torture scenes in the Belarus detention center? And what was set like on those days?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI think it was one day, actually. One very intense day that may not have been Reese\u2019s favorite day on set! [Production designer] Nelson Coates did such an incredible job on the set. It was this really awful green. We were interested in the lights. When you hear about these places, you can\u2019t sleep, you can\u2019t close your eyes. It\u2019s always lit. A lot of times, they just pound the music through for weeks at a time. So just the idea of being able to withstand that seems pretty daunting. But, she\u2019s tough! I wanted to show her scene with the Commandant who was running that detention center that you can\u2019t break Bradley Jackson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI knew when he turned over the napkin he was going to see Bradley wrote \u201cFuck you.\u201d She never caves, despite the torture, or gives up her source. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMaybe that was not such a surprise! But she just can\u2019t give it to him. This is a very tough woman. She\u2019s grown up in this family of addicts with not a lot of money. You can\u2019t break her that easily.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Morning_Show_Photo_041009.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"1496\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tAlex Levy (Aniston) and her father (Jeremy Irons) publicly expose season four villain Celine Dumont (Marion Cotillard) and help return Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) from Belarus.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhen Bradley is detained, the show flashed back to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-billy-crudup-cory-bradley-season-4-interview-1236400969\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-billy-crudup-cory-bradley-season-4-interview-1236400969\/\">Bradley and Cory sleeping together <\/a>to show this vulnerable, intimate moment between them. This season didn\u2019t use as many flashbacks as as you usually do. Why did you want to show this moment now?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIf Cory\u2019s mother hadn\u2019t done what she did [and assisted in her own death], he\u2019d be more focused and able to see what was going on around him, because he\u2019s such an operator. We felt like for Celine to continue moving forward, he would need to be off his game in a profound way. I was also very interested in the idea of choosing your own death. I think that will become more of a question boomers face in the end, so it was important to tell that story of how a woman might make that decision for herself [with Cory\u2019s mother, played by Lindsay Duncan]. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tCory is totally off his game and one of the things he gets to learn is that if you\u2019re really serious about someone you love, the closer you get, they\u2019re going to disappoint you and do the wrong things. He has to be shaken out of his fugue state by Chip [Mark Duplass] confronting him about Bradley for Cory to realize, \u201cI\u2019m mad at her, but she told me, \u2018I don\u2019t know how to do this. Relationships are hard for me. I\u2019m going to mess up, and a condition of going forward is: Please recognize that I\u2019m human and I\u2019m gonna mess up and I\u2019m not your fantasy.&#8217;\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn the moment, he told her, \u201cYes, of course I\u2019ll accept that.\u201d And he makes the joke saying, \u201cI look forward to disappointing you.\u201d Then he realizes it wasn\u2019t a joke. He did disappoint her. Because his anger has blocked him from really engaging with what\u2019s happening to her [when she\u2019s detained]. So that flashback was for him to go, \u201cI made a promise to her that I kind of broke, and I have to now address that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tCory has a lightbulb moment this finale, when things circle back to the beginning to fill in how he landed at UBN to start. Was telling more of Cory\u2019s story something you always wanted to do, or did it come when breaking season four?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWe were always interested in bringing Claire [Bel Powley] back. The show in so many ways is about: How do you make change? Alex says you do it from the inside. Bradley says, maybe you have to do it from the outside. Claire is even further out going, \u201cYou have to blow things up. The system doesn\u2019t work.\u201d What would happen to someone like Claire Conway if she couldn\u2019t get justice for Hannah [Gugu Mbatha-Raw] in a conventional legal way? We also always wondered how Cory was president of entertainment and then became head of news. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI never even spoke to [former showrunner] Kerry Ehrin about it, but we were always like, \u201cHuh, that\u2019s interesting.\u201d Around that time, the Mitch [Steve Carell] thing was happening. Even though everybody loves Cory and is fascinated with him, and loves to see him play chutes and ladders, he is someone who really hasn\u2019t questioned his privilege or his rise, or if other people could have played some part in it. He says to his mother, \u201cWell, I\u2019ve never asked that question because, you know \u2014 me!\u201d So in the world of people going, \u201cI thought I knew who I was, but maybe I don\u2019t,\u201d or \u201cI thought I could see things clearly, but actually, I don\u2019t,\u201d we were just looking for a way thematically for him to undergo his own perception about himself. That was a big theme this season \u2014 perception and trust and deepfakes; a misrecognition of a situation. I was always curious why he had both those jobs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tCory helps to save the day with Bradley. Alex is the one who physically comes to her rescue, but, assuming Bradley will eventually find out about Cory\u2019s self-sacrificial role in her return, are Cory and Bradley endgame? Can they can work back to each other?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIt\u2019s funny you ask that, because it\u2019s a question we are literally working through right now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAre you in the writers room now working on season five?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tYeah, we have been in the room for a few months. It\u2019s a big cast, so it just it takes a while to chip away. With Bradley and Cory, are they twin flames? Are they mirrors of each other and have similar pathologies? Generally, you\u2019re not endgame with your twin flame. Your twin flame is somebody who shows you your pathology so you can address that and move onto a possibly better fit. So we\u2019re talking about that right now, and it\u2019s hard because they have an incredible intimacy on screen that\u2019s very delightful to write and to watch. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe idea of letting them go is very difficult, because they have this connection. There\u2019s something they drop into that I think they would both find very difficult to give up \u2014  that immediate closeness, even though it\u2019s very charged and messy. They are not people who are intimate with many other characters.  That\u2019s what makes them similar. They sort of wall themselves off a little bit, and then wonder why they\u2019re unhappy.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Morning_Show_Photo_041007.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"1496\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tCory Ellison (Billy Crudup) after losing his mother.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tLast season, Bradley was the one whose legal future was in question. Now I ask you the same question for Cory: How much trouble is he in? Is it feasible for him to ever be walking the halls of UBN again?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHe is coming forward and raising his hand. Were he to not do that, and for his somewhat blurry role in this to be discovered [it might be worse], but he is raising his hand so I think that will probably serve him well. He\u2019s getting ahead of it to the extent he can. He is doing the right thing, and yes, he\u2019s rescuing Bradley, but everybody\u2019s rescuing Bradley; it\u2019s a group effort with Mia, Alex, Chip and even [Alex\u2019s dad] Martin. So it\u2019s Cory, but also everyone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThis is the second season in a row you end with an Alex and Bradley hug. So much has happened between these hugs. Last season, you said <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-season-3-finale-explained-season-4-1235639293\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-season-3-finale-explained-season-4-1235639293\/\">that moment <\/a>solidified their closeness as the heart of the show. Where do these women go from here for season five?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThey are ride or die. There\u2019s no question about that. But they\u2019re always going to disagree on the way to do things. That is their fundamental tension. We\u2019ve only ever seen Alex be a part of this larger system. So even though there\u2019s ultimately this, \u201cI will protect you,\u201d or \u201cI will have your back,\u201d there\u2019s a lot of crunch left between them, especially in the environment we\u2019re in right now. They\u2019re going to have very strong opinions on what choices to make. They\u2019re still going to have a lot of arguments. They\u2019re never going to fundamentally decide, \u201cWe\u2019ve agreed now.\u201d There\u2019s always going to be a tension, which is why they\u2019re drawn to each other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIt\u2019s an obvious thing to say, but I feel people do need to feel hope on that tarmac. It\u2019s dark out there, and you can\u2019t see beyond the runway; everything\u2019s in the shadows. But as long as these two women have each other, they\u2019ll be okay. It doesn\u2019t matter how dark the world might become for a time, they\u2019ll always be there for each other. Just saying a simple thing like that actually has some value.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tCeline gets her public downfall in the end, but then we see her on a private plane heading back to her family. This proves the thesis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-women-season-4-interview-1236379178\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-women-season-4-interview-1236379178\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">you told me you and Marion Cotillard spoke about <\/a>in the beginning, how women in these dynasty families get sacrificed and the men are elevated. What do the repercussions look like for Celine, and is this the end of her on The Morning Show?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI think she\u2019s going to have to spend some time on the penalty box. I always say, with any character, that unless they\u2019re dead, they could someday come back. It\u2019s possible. The reality is these people don\u2019t go to jail. There was a certain French dynastic family who did some trading with some sanctioned nations and had to pay a very giant, almost billion-dollar fine, and that\u2019s what happens. They pay their way out of it. It\u2019s very infrequent that anybody does any time.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tCeline remains extremely privileged, but she\u2019s still a woman in a man\u2019s world. You may think she\u2019s evil, and she permitted some pretty awful things on her watch with this chemical company that will always be on her. On this show we explore how we\u2019re all subject to certain forces that seem a little bit beyond our control, so what choices are you going to make in the face of these forces? Often the only thing to do to keep your integrity is to completely walk away. But then you have no voice, no relevance and no power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tSo are you going to let Marion Cotillard walk away, or do you feel like you have more you could do with Celine?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI\u2019m not even trying to be coy. It\u2019s still too early. I\u2019m not sure yet. But listen, it was astonishing to have her show up every day as one of the cast members. She was so game. She just got to work, nothing fancy. She came in and wanted to do good scenes and have fun with people. She fit right in so quickly and effortlessly, despite being this giant, transcendent movie star. She just got down in the mud real quick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhen<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/marion-cotillard-the-morning-show-season-4-interview-1236395080\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/marion-cotillard-the-morning-show-season-4-interview-1236395080\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"> I spoke with her<\/a>, it also sounded like she had a great time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThat\u2019s good to hear. You\u2019re always worried. It\u2019s like you\u2019re throwing a party and like, \u201cWas it fun?\u201d You feel that way with everybody, and this year we had such a crazy guest cast. We were very fortunate to have some of those folks with us.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Morning_Show_Photo_041005.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tMarion Cotillard as Celine Dumont.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAlso at the end, Mia (Karen Pittman) is elevated to the top office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWell, not really.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tYou\u2019re right \u2014 she hasn\u2019t moved into that office. She\u2019s up there, imagining moving in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI\u2019m glad you brought that up. The dust is settling in this situation, and it will for a while. The Stella-Mia story is one that goes across the season even after Stella is gone. Who should have that job? Where do these women belong? And how is that litigated through this friendship that breaks open this season? <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI don\u2019t think they picked anyone for the chariot. It\u2019s more that Mia had her heart on head of news: \u201cIf I just get that, then all my dreams come true, and all this steady work I\u2019ve been doing for this company and all this shit I\u2019ve eaten will be worth it.\u201d Then when she didn\u2019t get that, she was like, \u201cI\u2019ve had a certain mindset and maybe that\u2019s wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tStella gives Mia many gifts on the way out. One is a little dirt to help her negotiate. But an idea that Mia is suddenly able to have is, \u201cMaybe I was chasing the wrong chair. Maybe head of news was too small of a chair. Maybe I want the big chair. Why don\u2019t I walk into that office and see how it feels to touch that desk.\u201d I think she\u2019s saying, \u201cI had the wrong dream. Maybe I need to scale up.\u201d As she says, she\u2019s in her villain era, so she\u2019s like, \u201cMaybe I could have it all.\u201d But it\u2019s still a wish for her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHow would Mia run things differently than the people before her, who so epically crashed and burned?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWe haven\u2019t gotten there yet, but I always feel like Mia is the single most competent person. She works really hard. A lot of the women who both write and watch the show really get Mia. Mia just fucking shows up and is deeply competent. Now we\u2019re getting into five seasons of the show, and, do people learn anything? That\u2019s the question. I think she would certainly try to do it differently. She has a unique perspective, but there\u2019s always the pressure of having to answer to the shareholders. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThat job on some level is both thrilling and a total nightmare, because you have to appease everyone and that\u2019s exhausting. You\u2019re stuck between, \u201cDo I want to do something interesting, or do I want to save money and have the stock price go up?\u201d There\u2019s always a tension between Wall Street and your own vision, but I think she\u2019s been there long enough that she would certainly be aware of what she was walking into. All these crises \u2014 Mitch, the merger. She would be well-armed. But no one is going to just say, \u201cMia, here\u2019s the chair. It\u2019s yours.\u201d People will still be fighting over that chair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI spoke with Greta Lee after I spoke with you about Stella\u2019s exit, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/the-morning-show-greta-lee-stella-exit-interview-1236406529\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/the-morning-show-greta-lee-stella-exit-interview-1236406529\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Greta was honest about her stepping away being her decision<\/a>. She sounded open to coming back for a few episodes, similar to Jon Hamm this season. Are you trying to think of a way to bring Stella back?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIt\u2019s hard to know how long this show could go on. And as you say, this year in season four, we were like, \u201cAlex and Paul [Hamm] need to go off and do different things. They\u2019re not ready to try it again, because they need to have other experiences and learn something.\u201d So I think if Stella were to come back, I\u2019d want to be completely surprised by what she was doing, and see that she\u2019d had enough time to reinvent herself in a super, surprising way. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tEverybody adores Greta and adores writing for her. I really enjoyed digging into this Mia-Stella story and what happens when two people who are very close have a conflict like this, especially two women. Can they stay human in this environment or is it going to tear them apart because of forces of ambition, capitalism and Stella\u2019s big, fat secret [of her affair with Celine\u2019s husband]? Stella unfortunately blows up Mia\u2019s life, but then it also creates this space.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Morning_Show_Photo_041001.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tMia (Karen Pittman) at the end of season four.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tEach season you typically write yourself into an impossible corner. This season, it feels like you left yourself an open runway to take the show anywhere. Will you do a similar time jump? Does it feel like there are several possibilities?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThis show is about the news and the tension of who tells the story, and what kind of story they tell. Because you have to set it in the near past when it comes out, it\u2019s a zeitgeist show where we\u2019re trying to really express what it\u2019s like to be alive and alert to what\u2019s going on in America. Obviously, we\u2019ve gone through a huge change recently [with the election], and there\u2019s a lot of fallout. But this show is not just about the White House. Everything\u2019s changing; AI is coming in more. There\u2019s more mergers and takeovers, and the place is consolidating. News is changing fast, so I think there\u2019s a big wide world. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe presence of billionaires has always been there, but they are beginning to encroach on politics and media less quietly and have such a large footprint on what\u2019s going on. They have so much impact on people doing acquaint things like trying to tell the truth. This show is about showing the larger picture. How are things shifting and how does that make life difficult for our characters? <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tSince the pandemic, it\u2019s unsteady. You can\u2019t quite get your footing. That\u2019s what I feel from people. This sense of, is there a future? Some people think it\u2019s AI and to put all your money there, and others are like, \u201cI don\u2019t want to go back to work. The whole idea of climbing the ladder is a ridiculous notion, and is there even going to be a job to go to in 10 years?\u201d We\u2019re still living in a sense of uncertainty that\u2019s actually very good for drama. So it\u2019s about capturing that feeling, which crosses a lot of worlds, not just politics, but also how we\u2019re living; like the fact that young people do AI vision boards and imagine themselves winning Nobel Prizes. The world\u2019s moving very quickly. It\u2019s fun to see these characters try to catch up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe Morning Show has been renewed for season five, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/friends-the-morning-show-costume-designer-jennifer-aniston-1236430999\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/friends-the-morning-show-costume-designer-jennifer-aniston-1236430999\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">goes into production in January<\/a>. How many seasons do you see the show going?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThese people have not learned everything they need to know about themselves. There are still areas where they haven\u2019t integrated things into their personalities, and are still reaching. Alex\u2019s relation to power was, \u201cWhat do I need to feel like I truly have a voice and power? I thought it was in the C-suite.\u201d Now she\u2019s like, \u201cThat\u2019s not where I belong.\u201d That\u2019s a very common question: How can women actually have some control over their lives? <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tBradley hasn\u2019t found a place to belong. She\u2019s always split between New York and West Virginia. Cory\u2019s like, \u201cIs my mother right? Am I unlovable? Can I ever be close to somebody? And now this person I was close to is now gone.\u201d They\u2019re just like us. Can they get their shit together? Can they figure out what they could be better at? Can they think differently about themselves? And that is what every show has to be about in the end. Can a character move forward and become smarter? An attempt to either find their mission or find some contentment, and once they do that, then the story is over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI inherited these characters. They\u2019re very stubborn people, they don\u2019t want to learn; they want to just keep doing. When you write them, they resist you. They resist their eurekas. Cory had to confront this thing about his mother, and face what people are going to think about him publicly, but he\u2019s still going to be like, \u201cWhat am I making? Where\u2019s my status? Where am I on the ladder?\u201d That\u2019s a compulsive thing he has that I don\u2019t think is going to go away just because he raised his hand and said, \u201cThis company is doing a bad thing.\u201d I think he\u2019s going to keep barreling through. He will always be closing. Will there come a point where he doesn\u2019t need to close something? That might take longer. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWe also have new characters like Bro [played by Boyd Holbrook]. With Chris [Nicole Beharie], we\u2019ve barely scratched the surface. Yanko [N\u00e9stor Carbonell], there\u2019s always another card to turn over, and he\u2019s such a wonderful actor. There are a lot of stories left to tell. The joy of the ensemble means you can keep keep digging. I always feel like people\u2019s first seasons are a character introduction, and then you start scratching the next season. They show up and you go, \u201cHere\u2019s the picture. What\u2019s underneath?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHow have you been finding the reception to this season?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI try to engage minimally, especially when you\u2019re thinking about a new season. It\u2019s very distracting. I\u2019m happy for people to write and say whatever they want. Once you make it, it becomes the audiences\u2019 and it\u2019s not yours anymore, and that\u2019s all good. There are small things that are satisfying, like when I hear that people really responded to<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-chris-confession-nicole-beharie-interview-1236402003\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-morning-show-chris-confession-nicole-beharie-interview-1236402003\/\"> Chris\u2019 interview in episode five<\/a>. When we really labored on and were very difficult and demanding on the actors; I\u2019m happy to see when actors and the writers dig deep and are recognized for doing so. People really went to the bottom of the well with the finale, so I like to hear that it was resonant with the audience.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The_Morning_Show_Photo_041011.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"1496\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tPaul Marks (Jon Hamm) with Alex Levy (Aniston) at the end of season four.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHave you thought about Alex and Paul Marks\u2019 relationship for season five?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI think that dance is not over, that\u2019s for sure. They barely started to have a relationship in season three. It was very fast. It was sort of a collision. What would it look like if they were together for a long time? Alex has not been partnered for a long time. We saw that her marriage in the earlier seasons was entirely performative. So she hasn\u2019t really let someone in deeply yet for a long, extended time. What would it look like if she really tried to do that? What happens if she made an actual effort?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tDo you think you\u2019ll release season five this time next year?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tI think so. I haven\u2019t spoken to Apple about any release dates, but between season three and four there was a writers strike, so that was quite a long delay. So without that this year, maybe we\u2019ll move a little more quickly. That\u2019s when I knock on wood!<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t***<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe Morning Show season four is now streaming on Apple TV+.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[This story contains major spoilers from the season four finale of The Morning Show.] The Morning Show made&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1572,49,48,92410,75,8961,32150,41140,348],"class_list":{"0":"post-295132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-charlotte-stoudt","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-jennifer-aniston","14":"tag-reese-witherspoon","15":"tag-the-morning-show","16":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}