The Morning Show is finally back with Season 3, and those with an AppleTV+ subscription are finally getting to see how Alex Levy, Bradley Jackson and the rest of the UBA gang have been surviving since COVID shut everything down at the end of Season 2. After examining social issues like #MeToo, the pandemic, racism and the ugly inner workings of corporate America in its first two seasons, the popular drama looks to dissect women’s issues this time around, according to executive producer and director Mimi Leder, and she warns that Jennifer Aniston’s character will face quite a tough journey.
Season 3 kicked the action into high gear pretty quickly, with the two-episode premiere launching Reese Witherspoon’s Bradley into space aboard tech billionaire Paul Marks’ (Jon Hamm) shuttle and UBA being hit with a cyberattack. Alex remains frustrated with her role in the company (some things never change) and demands a larger role, discovering that Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) has been scheming (really, they don’t change) with Paul about possibly buying UBA. Mimi Leder, who directed the first two episodes, said Alex will have some hills to climb this season, telling Deadline:
She wants a seat at the table, but getting that seat might cost her more than she ever imagined when Paul Marks walks into the room. So I would say there’s this real power triangle between Cory, Paul and Alex in that part of Alex’s arc. That’s the beginning of her arc, but it’s her finding her voice and finding her power. And it’s a very heartbreaking, powerful story and journey that she goes on to find that voice.
The Season 3 trailer (shown above) teases a bit of this power struggle, when a smug — yet infuriatingly entertaining — Cory refuses to close the door to Alex’s office, but I can’t help but wonder what “heartbreaking” and “powerful” events await the disgruntled anchor. Will Alex find herself in another ill-conceived romance? According to Jon Hamm, that certainly sounds like a possibility, as the actor teased that his story alongside Jennifer Aniston will be “juicy.”
How Alex fares when she goes toe-to-toe with these powerful businessmen is part of The Morning Show’s tendency to attack real-world issues, as Mimi Leder delved into the focus of Season 3, saying:
The themes of this season were women’s agency, women’s reproductive rights, abortion rights. What are the ways in which women’s power is being challenged right now and undermined? Also…we wanted to talk about the threat of the future of journalism and the threat to it all over the world and the threat to journalists. Most notably, we wanted to speak about the state of the truth. Our show is very topical. These are all issues that are happening here.
At the onset of Season 3 we see Bradley trying to help a woman who has been providing safe abortion care to people in Texas, and it sounds like we can expect to dive deeper into that story. And in addition to Alex’s efforts to move up in the company, I’m really interested to see what appears to be an increased role from Holland Taylor’s Cybil, whose motivations have yet to be uncovered.
Another character getting some well-deserved focus already is Greta Lee’s Stella, who not only stood up to Alex for skipping out on the big shuttle launch but seems to have a past with Hyperion CEO Paul Marks.
The EP/director has me excited for all the drama that’s yet to come this season. New episodes of The Morning Show drop every Wednesday on the streaming service, and while you’re there, be sure to check out some of Apple TV+’s other best series.
