The Morning Show Season 2, Episode 4 recap: Kill the Fatted Calf

This week on The Morning Show Season 2, things are getting political…and we’re not just talking about the presidential election. Power plays are in full swing, big gambles are being taken, and everyone is hungry for their chance in the spotlight. The pressure is on, and the stakes are as high as they get.

While Alex’s career has never been better, things have rarely been worse for the rest of the crew. Yanko finds himself dealing with new accusations of cultural appropriation while Mitch is desperately trying to keep his sexual misconduct ones buried. Bradley gets into bed with Laura (literally), Daniel desperately attempts to sing his way into success, and Stella and Cory try to keep the operation moving without killing each other.

Read on to find out what else went down.

The Morning Show Season 2, Episode 4 recap: Broken vases, repaired friendships

After a cuddle session, Bradley tells Laura she’s going to demand that Cory let her moderate the debate, which surprises Laura — nobody gets to talk to Cory like that. Bradley spills their history, telling Laura how the network fired Cory and suspended her until she went off on the board. They then made Cory the CEO, and his first action was rehiring her.

Laura tells Bradley that Cory might be getting fired again soon due to low ratings and his emphasis on UBA’s streaming service. Despite this, she encourages Bradley to make up with Cory in the meantime. After all, he’s still her boss, and she needs to place nice for the sake of her career.

Bradley takes her advice, visiting Cory and apologizing to him for the way she acted. Though the conversation gets predictably heated, the two reach a truce once Cory promises Bradley he’s always on her side. Bradley admits he hurt her, and anger is the only way she knows how to channel that kind of pain.

Bradley relays the conversation to Laura and the fact that she’s made peace with not moderating the debate. The network clearly wants Alex, and they’re not going to have two straight white women do it. Laura gets caught on the word straight, but Alex shrugs it off, saying she is straight to most of the world and doesn’t feel the need to label everything.

Her nonchalance rubs Laura the wrong way—she came out in 1997 and suffered the consequences. Bradley now has the chance to use her identity to her advantage and won’t do it. Laura tells Bradley she thinks she’s repressed from growing up in a conservative environment, and Bradley blows up on her, smashing one of her vases and storming out.

But it quickly becomes apparent that Laura hit a nerve. Though Bradley considers coming out to Stella to convince her she can offer an interesting perspective for the debate, she chickens out at the last second. This almost-conversation leaves her shaken, and she finds herself back at Laura’s house with an apology gift card in hand. She says she’s sorry for being a pain in the ass and not knowing who she is, throwing herself into Laura’s arms.

The Morning Show Season 2, Episode 4 recap: The “it” factor

Though Bradley gives up on moderating pretty quickly, Daniel doubles down on his efforts. He tells Mia he’s done turning the other cheek, imploring her to plead his case with Stella. Although Mia does her best, Stella quickly shuts down the idea, saying she doesn’t think Daniel has the charisma he needs to keep rising in his career.

Daniel is frustrated when he hears this, thinking there is racism and homophobia at play. He decides to take one last significant risk to show everyone what he can do, stepping in to spontaneously perform a song live for Alex’s return when their special guest has to cancel last-minute.

The Morning Show Season 2, Episode 4 recap: That earned connection

While everyone else is fighting for the chance to moderate the debate, Alex wants no part of it. She gets especially irritated when Stella continues to ask her, as she thinks Stella is too young to be telling her what to do and has an annoying air of morality about her.

This puts Stella in a tough spot, as Cory puts intense pressure on her to get Alex to agree. The two get into an argument — Cory doesn’t know why he hired Stella, and Stella doesn’t understand why she decided to work here since nobody ever listens to what she says anyway. She thinks she’s just there to get Cory points because she’s an Asian woman.

Despite her frustration, Stella does try one last tactic to get Alex on board. She tells her she needs to be the one to do it since she’s earned a connection with the women of the country, and they trust her as a feminist hero. Alex isn’t sure this is true, but Stella’s assurance is enough to convince Alex to moderate.

The Morning Show Season 2, Episode 4 recap: Pasta and press

In Italy, Mitch continues helping Paola with her documentary, and the two grow closer, singing silly songs and even eating dinner together. Though Mitch is becoming fond of Paola, when she tries to kiss him, he jerks away.

But it’s clear this budding romance (or lack thereof) will likely be the least of their worries soon. Paola calls him one night with news that one of her interviewees has contracted COVID, and she and he might have it, too. She extends the invitation for the two of them to quarantine together.

And that’s not all Mitch is dealing with. He also gets wind that Frank is attempting to start a smear campaign against Hannah in the press and calls Cory to give him a heads up. He puts the pressure on him to stop it so he can go on living his quiet life.

Cory turns to Cybil, asking her to tell Fred to kill the story as a friend, but Cybil refuses, insinuating that Cory is a pushover who needs to tell Fred himself. She needs him to stop being so sensitive about the situation—this is a business, and morality doesn’t need to enter the equation for Hannah and her family.

What did you think of the episode? Comment your thoughts below!