The Morning Show Review: Confirmations (Season 2 Episode 8)

Despite ostensibly killing off Mitch Kessler at the end of last week’s installment, The Morning Show Season 2 Episode 8, “Confirmations,”  can’t seem to let him rest in peace, devoting the bulk of yet another hour to this character who really never should have part of this season in the first place.

On paper, the idea behind “Confirmations” isn’t terrible, showing us the Morning Show staff breathlessly attempting to confirm the truth of Mitch’s death before announcing it on air.

The problem is — none of us care if Mitch is alive and aren’t exactly what you’d call upset about his death, and the many (many!) scenes featuring various people furiously making phone calls feel pointless since we all already know that he is dead and Alex is fine. 

Mostly I just can’t believe we’re spending another week on a Mitch-related subplot when there are so many other things this show could be doing. Like, literally anything else! 

On a different show, this episode’s C plot, which involves Bradley Jackon’s brother Hal stomping down to the UBA offices high out of his mind, causes a scene, tells everyone their father killed a kid in a drunk driving accident – while he and Bradley were in the car!! — and then being dragged out by security would be the focus of the hour, here, it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment surrounded by enough other insanity that you might just forget it happened entirely. 

The Morning Show honestly makes me feel like I’m taking crazy pills this season. 

Though, am I the only one who found Laura’s “advice” — that Bradley should get therapy and ditch the deadbeat family members who judge her — to be…a bit much?

Like, you’re supposedly her girlfriend now and you know her so little? Yes, Bradley’s been deeply messed up by her family and she’s got a lot to process. But, insisting she’d be fine if she just got rid of them is…well, it’s certainly a choice! 

Truly, I’m not sure who Apple thinks was tuning in to The Morning Show that was this invested in Mitch and his story. This is the eighth installment of a ten-episode season and other than Bradley sort of exploring her sexuality, I really couldn’t name a  consistent or legitimate arc for any character, because the show is so consistently struggling to get out from under the Mitch of it all.

What’s worse, is that The Morning Show still has no idea what it is trying to do with Mitch’s character, even in death. It’s not clear whether the truth of Mitch’s suicide will ever come to light or if it is meant to be seen as some grand act of penance or what exactly we’re all supposed to take away from it.

It often feels like The Morning Show thinks it’s telling a big and important story with Mitch, but his presence has never done much more than muddy the proverbial waters of the show’s message. Though the story repeatedly says Mitch is a Bad Man, the show also seemed content to let him live in its margins, never truly making a narrative choice about what being a Bad Man means. 

Now, with Mitch dead, the show will never have to pick a lane about what — if any at all– punishment he should face for his actions. (And no, a trip to a company villa in Italy is not a punishment, despite what Steve Carrell’s constant glum face might seem to indicate.) 

I guess what I’m really saying is that for a series ostensibly about the #MeToo movement, The Morning Show ultimately resolves its inability to commit to a point-of-view regarding what should happen to men like Mitch by Kelly Taylor-ing the question, as though choosing essentially erase Mitch from the canvas is also not a deliberate action. 

On the plus side, Karen Pittman deserves serious accolades for her performance this week as Mia wrestles with the very real feelings she developed for Mitch, and the very real truth of the awful man he was. Her reaction to the news of his possible death was subtle in a way that this show is not very good at (ever) doing, and even her (seemingly inevitable) screaming scene involved her unpacking what feels like a lifetime of professional trauma. 

Mia deserves better than this show. 

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• Truly still in shock about how this show had Mitch sleep with his Italian lady friend Paola last week, just to have her tell Alex how much he loved her this week after he was dead. What is the point of anything!?!?
• It’s possible that Mitch’s ex-wife Paige is my favorite character on this show now?
• What happened to the whole Yanko gets canceled subplot? I mean, I don’t actually care because it was bad, but also suddenly he seems fine?
• The second-hand cringe of the shrieky Chip/Alex argument in the car is truly something else.
• I question how they’re going to redeem Alex from all of this becuase it seems pretty evident she is indeed a bad person. 

What did you think of this episode of The Morning Show? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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