The Morning Show Season 4 Episode 7 Review: Person of Interest

Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0

3

The two-year time jump between The Morning Show Season 3 and Season 4 has raised some questions, especially regarding Bradley.

At the very least, I expected her to serve some time in prison for covering up her brother’s crimes during the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

But when we catch up with her in the Season 4 premiere, she’s moved to West Virginia and is somehow involved with the FBI.

The scope of this involvement remained unclear until The Morning Show Season 4 Episode 6, “Person of Interest.” Claire resurfaces and threatens to blow up the lives of two people as Yanko reaches a fork in the road, and Bradley makes a decision for self-preservation.

Hurricane Claire Returns

It’s been so long between new seasons of The Morning Show, so I’m not quite fresh on the details of Yanko and Claire’s relationship.

I remember it being collateral to the Mitch Kessler revelation, as both parties assessed what it could mean to them if someone were to learn of it.

Beyond that, I can’t tell you if there was something real or if they were having fun.

But, based on Yanko’s reaction when he overheard that Claire was back, I’m inclined to think he had genuine love for her, and events in this episode make my heart break for him.

He thought he’d moved on, only for her to drop back into his life with a million and one problems following her.

Yanko has never been a clear-cut character and epitomizes the complexity of everyone on The Morning Show. He has his bad moments and some good ones. This episode is about him doing good.

I can’t begin to imagine being pulled in two different directions the way he is. Scratch that, I actually can, and it’s not fun.

The past is familiar and comfortable, while the future is bright and exciting. Should he choose Claire over Ariana?

He wrestles with this conundrum but eventually makes the right decision. It is objectively the right decision because Claire has too much baggage attached. I would have made the same one.

Bradley Faces a Moral and Tactical Dilemma Again

But Claire’s storm doesn’t just rattle Yanko — it crashes straight into Bradley’s parasitic alliance with the FBI.

It becomes clear that this arrangement between them is putting her at a disadvantage because the FBI has all the power.

They can end her career and take her freedom at a moment’s notice, and just like that, all she’s done to keep her secret becomes for nothing.

This is a really huge moment for Bradley. It presents her with a moral dilemma, something she’s faced before.

Sadly, in this instance, she fails.

However, it’s more complicated than her snitching to the FBI. It all comes down to the nature of lies and secrets. They trap you in a self-weaving web of deceit and cover-ups, and before you know it, you’re part of that web’s fabric.

If she had come clean about covering up for Hal and faced the consequences, she would not be a glorified puppet for the FBI right about now.

She would not have sold out a girl who is being used as a scapegoat by an agency trying to project an image of hard work.

And one can see that she regrets her decision the moment she sees Claire being dragged away.

Will she do the right thing or convince herself that she did this for the sake of the story?

If Bradley’s actions are baffling, discombulating would be the word used to describe the current version of The Morning Show.

It has been lacking pivotal on-air blowouts, a staple of the show since the first season.

Claire’s interview would be that moment, so I’m disappointed when she does not get a chance to inform the public of the FBI’s intentions.

This has all the signs of a great The Morning Show interview, coming close to Alex and Bradley going off-script in Season 1, or Chris exposing Cybil’s racism in Season 3.

The chaos as everyone in the newsroom realizes what’s happening, the journalist’s desire to dig out the truth, and the aftermath as everyone tries to do damage control – these are some missed moments that could have elevated the episode.

Speaking of disappointing, the fact that we don’t see Chris’ interview with the Iranian girl is another instance. For all her faults, Chris is a damn good interviewer, and seeing her at work would have livened the asylum storyline.

It would have driven home just how much this girl stands to lose if her asylum claim fails. It should be a window into the struggles women and political dissidents face in Iran. Instead, it looks like a fun little segment with a celebrity on Ellen.

Despite all that, I’m willing to let the writers cook because they’ve delivered in the past. We may forget everything from this episode in future ones. But as it stands, I’m dissatisfied.

It’s Evening on The Morning Show

“Person of Interest” is a mixed bag. A lot is going on, and the show simply can’t handle that many storylines in one episode. Bradley’s quandary should be the hour’s hallmark, but it feels fragmented.

It is becoming clear that the show has undergone a fundamental change and is no longer about The Morning Show. That’s not good for it.

The glaring overcrowding problem is not doing it any favors, either. Alex is out there chasing whatever she sees in Bro, and this is not an Alex and Bradley show anymore.

And maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing, since it’s called The Morning Show — but it’s barely about the actual show.

With three episodes remaining, we need to rein it in. We need less interpersonal drama and more progressive arcs. No one has any feelings about the news or how it’s affecting the newsroom.

The worst thing an episode of a TV show can do is make me feel nothing. The second worst thing is to make me feel dissatisfied with what I just watched. This episode is heavy on the latter.

I wanted to love this season badly, but I foresee it being as abysmal as Season 3.

Stray Thoughts

• So, Bro and Alex, that comes as no surprise. Interestingly, she hooked up with him after hearing Paul Marks was considering marrying his current girlfriend.

• After the clusterf*ck that was Alex and Laura, I’m ready for a better queer romance arc, but Bro’s sidekick is not the one to bring it. I’m interested in seeing how she operates in that circle because that audience is typically not a fan of queer people.

• We need more Kabir. He’s asking all the right questions, but no answers are forthcoming. 

• It’s quite interesting how UBN moved on from the Stella Bak scandal. Goes to show that the company will always be okay. Maybe Severance was on to something.

• Seriously, no one stopped for Yanko’s proposal? When has there been a better moment to stop in the street than during a proposal?

Over to you, The Morning Show fanatics. What did you think? Will Bradley do the right thing? Do you think that if she’d reached Alex, she’d have made a better decision?

How are you feeling so far about the season and the show in general? It’s always fun to hear your thoughts — drop a line or two in the comments.

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