The Morning Show Season 2 Episode 9 recap: Will Alex survive the fallout?

Just when we think The Morning Show season 2 can’t possibly get any crazier, they throw another massive twist at us — or five. This week, we finally get to experience Maggie and Bradley going head-to-head, which is a showdown for the ages, as well as see Alex and Laura rehash the past. And they’re not the only ones talking about old times. Yanko also unexpectedly runs into his ex-girlfriend Claire, who we learn is heavily involved in the lawsuit against the network.

Read on to learn what happened in The Morning Show season 2 episode 9, “Testimony.”

The Morning Show season 2 episode 9 recap: What could’ve been

At the beginning of the episode, Alex is still clearly struggling with what to do regarding the Mitch situation, fiddling with the letter he left saying they never slept together and having a visceral reaction to seeing his memorial outside of the studio. She finally makes the decision to quit the show for good, informing Stella and Cory she will give the money back and be gone before Maggie’s book comes out.

Cory doesn’t want to let her leave that easily. After all, he took a big risk on her — a risk everyone knows about — and the Maggie stuff might not even be quite as bad anymore since YDA pulled their interview with her. He encourages her to take some time to get back surgery while Laura continues to fill in, but Alex has made up her mind.

Alex’s week goes from bad to worse. In addition to Chip still being furious at her after their massive blowup last week, she is forced to host the show with her mortal enemy Laura while Bradley takes Hal to rehab. The show, however, goes surprisingly well, with the two successfully hosting a cheesy COVID-driven handwashing segment, which makes Alex reminisce about their friendship.

Alex works up the courage to go to Laura’s dressing room after the show, asking her why she started hating her. Laura reminds her she abandoned her the minute her star started to fade — she didn’t need space; she needed support, and Alex was nowhere to be found. On top of that, Alex liked to gossip about her and her sexuality.

Alex takes this surprisingly well, acknowledging that she likely would have denied it if Laura would have confronted her about all this when it first happened. Still, she tells Laura she enjoyed hosting with her and wished they could have patched things up and been friends years ago. Laura takes this as an olive branch, admitting she was no saint and used to talk trash about Alex behind her back, too.

The Morning Show season 2 episode 9 recap: A memorial

Though an uncomfortable situation for all, Mitch’s ex-wife goes to the studio and invites the crew to Mitch’s memorial service for the sake of their son. While many immediately turn down the offer, Yanko accepts it — something that causes a huge argument with Claire when he runs into her in the city. Claire storms away from him, saying she’s glad Mitch is dead and dropping the bomb that the lawsuit against the studio is being funded by her and her family because she feels guilty about how she treated Hannah the day she died.

The memorial service is a messy affair, with eulogies about people being fake for not supporting Mitch while he was still alive and cancel culture. All of the speeches, however, pale in comparison to Alex’s, who admits she visited Mitch in Italy right before he died and thinks he was finally starting to feel remorse for his actions. After her speech, she meets with Paola, telling her that — if she wants assistance with her documentary — she needs to ask quickly, as Alex’s reputation is likely going to make her unable to help soon.

The Morning Show season 2 episode 9 recap: The interview

Bradley continues to struggle with her brother. Though he agrees to go to rehab, when she tells him she doesn’t think it’s a good idea for them to speak once he gets out, he freaks out on her again. Furious, Hal says that if she plans to cut him out of her life, he won’t go to rehab and will instead overdose on purpose. Though it hurts her, Bradley walks away, saying she can’t tell him what to do with his life. At the end of the episode, one of the doormen hands Bradley an envelope with a bag of cash, which she assumes to be the money she gave Hal for treatment.

That’s not all Bradley is dealing with. She also gets the big job of conducting an interview with Maggie about her book, as Cory thinks she will be even and fair. Neither Bradley nor Maggie holds anything back during the interview. Maggie does everything she can to drag Alex through the mud, talking about her affair with Mitch and bad behavior.

Bradley tries to take the heat off Alex, turning the conversation to how she got her hosting job by unconventional methods and inquiring about why Maggie didn’t have her book revolve around that if she knew. She defends Alex, saying she gave Bradley her start and questioning why so much of the book revolves around a consensual relationship Alex had rather than calling out Mitch for his despicable actions.

Maggie tells Bradley she actually held back about how bad Alex was, telling the story about the night she showed up in the hotel room and begged her to take the part about her sleeping with Mitch out of the book. Instead of this making Alex look bad, Bradley flips it so Maggie looks like the heartless one. After all, Alex was clearly distressed over a mistake she made a decade ago — why would Maggie publish it anyway? Bradley is adamant that this book is about the old Alex and that she has grown and evolved since then. The real question is: has Maggie?

The Morning Show season 2 episode 9 recap: Fallout

Laura is impressed at Bradley’s interview, both at her skills and the maturity in not burying Alex though she had every chance and reason to considering their tense relationship. She’s so impressed, in fact, that she says Bradley is her woman and invites her to visit her in Montana, where she will be retreating for awhile due to the increasingly bad environment with COVID and her heart condition. Bradley is thrilled.

Meanwhile, Alex’s reception is a bit more mixed. Though some people are supporting her no matter what, others don’t forgive her in the slightest for her relationship with Mitch. To make matters worse, she flips the TV on in the middle of the night to see a news program showing leaked footage of her speech at the memorial, effectively telling everyone she went to Italy to see Mitch. Frazzled, she trips on a shoe in her bedroom and ends up in the hospital, not just from a concussion but from COVID as well.

What do you think will happen during The Morning Show season 2’s finale next week? Comment below!