S02.E10: Fever

[txhorns79]

Quote

TMS covers a growing crisis that turns personal for Alex and Bradley.

Streaming early, 11/18/21.

[coconspirator]

So Chip’s big plan to get closer to Alex is to put himself in her apartment and almost guarantee he’ll contract Covid?!

[txhorns79]

I feel like the writers only wrote half a script for this episode, and the cast was told to improvise the rest.  The episode was kind of a trainwreck.  

Who was the audience for Alex's stream of consciousness Covid program?  If I was watching that in real time, I might think she was mentally ill.  She seemed all over the place, and was not particularly coherent.  I honestly half-expected her to die in the middle of the show.   

[Snazzy Daisy]

Too much time wasted on Alex and her Covid suffering, Bradley looking for her brother and Covid arguments. It’s disappointing and underwhelming.👎

Based on season 2 itself, content and plot wise, this show shouldn’t be renewed.

[BingeyKohan]

The Alex COVID Hour on UBA+ was a literal hot mess. (What was with Chip’s dopey ‘yes, this is going great!’ faces?) The only believable part was Bradley nonchalantly switching it off. But … in the twisted logic of this show it will be a massive, humanizing hit for Alex. What I think the writers were up to is resetting the Alex character to get back to the version of her in the red power dress at the table with the execs early in S1. 

I also have to be that guy who points out that what Paolo made is NOT. A. DOCUMENTARY. She pointed a camera at someone and asked one question and he answered. Unless she edited a lot more material into it but if she had I don’t think Corey would have sat still and watched the whole thing. 

I would love a tally of how many days Alex has actually been on the air in the time that this show has tracked. S1 only covered about 3 weeks and Alex was on the air for that. She was not on the air at all in the intervening time between S1-S2. S2 has covered about 2 months. It feels like within that time frame Alex has maybe been on the air for a total of a week, if that? Bizarre for a show that is grounded in this woman's professional life.

 

Edited November 19, 2021 by BingeyKohan

[Armchair Critic]

Sorry Daniel, you will never have "it". 

[marceline]

This didn't feel like a finale at all. It actually felt like filler. The only parts about this that leaves me with any sense of suspense is wondering what will happen with Paola and Mitch's interview and whether Daniel makes it to his grandfather's alive. (Seriously the whole time he was on the phone with Mia I was waiting for police lights. I mean dude was wearing a hoodie.) Everything else just left me cold.

I did appreciate the show letting us see Alex's suffering. People are going to want to memory-hole what COVID was like. Pop culture needs to document it.

Chip is dangerously codependent.

I'm guessing we were supposed to think Bradley's reunion with her brother was supposed to be heartwarming. I find the idea that Bradley would just be able to walk around the city handling fliers without getting recognized once utterly laughable.

[txhorns79]

9 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

 

Based on season 2 itself, content and plot wise, this show shouldn’t be renewed.

It really did feel like they had no idea what to do with any of the characters.  I think I had read that Covid caused them to have to re-think the stories for the season, but what they came up with was just a mess. 

[Penman61]

When your shit show becomes a shitshow...

[TimWil]

Good god. Absolutely ghastly,

I can never unsee Jen Aniston in a fetal position lying naked in the shower. Or unhear the verbal diarrhea which Alex spewed at us for what seemed like an eternity.

In the bonus segment following the episode a producer says “And the audience is screaming ‘KISS HER!’l at Bradley and Corey. Which was not only screamed by nobody ever but is actually a grotesque thing to say considering the scene takes place on the night of the day when Covid was declared a pandemic.

Another thing-in the scene which took place on Wednesday, March 11th, a lot of the crew of TMS could be seen holding copies of Maggie Brenner’s tell all book The Wrong Side of the Bed. However in a previous episode it was made clear the publication date was the following Tuesday, March 17th. I doubt that advance copies were provided to TMS, especially after Bradley’s confrontational interview with Brenner.

Fuck this show. I really hope we don’t get a Season 3 because the scenes of the BLM protests alone would be excruciating.

ETA-a post from another message board which I 100% agreed with:

Just finished the finale. Jesus Christ that was terrible. First of all, anyone alive during the pandemic knows that Covid tests were barely available in March 2020. The idea that Alex took multiple tests or the entire staff of TMS could easily be tested is absurd. Equally absurd is the idea of Cory and Bradley barging into the hospital at the height of the pandemic--with no PPE to boot. That's only topped by Chip deciding it's worth getting a new, potentially deadly virus to produce Alex's inane ramblings for UBA+. And then the inane ramblings themselves…holy shit. Were we supposed to be impressed by that drivel? Any actual news anchor who carried on like that would instantly lose all credibility and their entire career. Worse, the show spent two seasons telling us that Mitch needed to examine his actions and their effects on others but then ends with Alex deciding that a big "go fuck yourselves" to anyone who's taken issue with her actions is laudable? Wtf. In the same vein, we were treated to endless talk about Mitch's abuse of power but the producers think having the head of the network declare his love to one of its anchors is a romantic, totally unproblematic moment? In the bonus feature the show's female producer says the audience is screaming "kiss her." Really? Not only was that *not* what I was thinking, but that flies directly in the face of the the two seasons of #metoo shit they lectured us on. Finally there's Daniel. He's still a whiny bitch and the actor is fugly and charisma free. He should follow Mitch and drive off a cliff.

Edited November 19, 2021 by TimWil

[txhorns79]

33 minutes ago, TimWil said:

 

In the bonus segment following the episode a producer says “And the audience is screaming ‘KISS HER!’l at Bradley and Corey. Which was not only screamed by nobody ever but is actually a grotesque thing to say considering the scene takes place on the night of the day when Covid was declared a pandemic.

It's really gross because Cory outed Bradley to the tabloid, did he not?  I can't even imagine what she would have to say to him and his declarations of love if she knew that. 

[marceline]

18 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

It's really gross because Cory outed Bradley to the tabloid, did he not?  I can't even imagine what she would have to say to him and his declarations of love if she knew that. 

That's what I thought he about to confess. The "I love you" thing was such a let down. Then there was also Bradley ignoring Laura's phone call. I have no interest in a Laura/Cory/Bradley triangle. But.... if Cory and Bradley hook up I'm hereby calling them "CoBra." 😄

[Carolina Girl]

I don't think there's a single person on this show whose story arc I give a flying f**k about.  

I see the "set-ups" for a Season 3.   I think right now its about 50/50 they get one.  

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

4 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

It really did feel like they had no idea what to do with any of the characters.  I think I had read that Covid caused them to have to re-think the stories for the season, but what they came up with was just a mess. 

They should have opted for the alternate universe, Covid-free storyline instead. Damages done to many of their characters cannot be undone and hard to be redeemed. 

[LADreamr]

I don't care about Bradley, but at least she was some brief respite from the never-ending Alex self-pity.  Jesus.  I went through Covid early, with no support system and had just lost my father to it and had to go through a furlough from my job while I was still trying to recover, and I didn't go anywhere near her levels of self-centeredness.  

At the beginning of the season, I was wishing the show could just be a little bit better.  But at this point, it needs a complete overhaul.

[nlkm9]

Yeah that scene at hospital was so absurd!!! Noone recognizes her ??!!. Puhleese

[funnygirl]

Daniel was handed the opportunity he's been bitching about for two seasons and he turned it down. A noble cause, family first. However, I don't ever want to hear him bitch about being looked over again because when opportunity came knocking he slammed the door. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

Me! Me! Me! 

[BusyOctober]

Absolutely NONE of this season made sense.  It was 10 episodes of Aniston and Witherspoon trying to out do each other with their Emmy reels (and side note to the Academy, DO NOT feed their vanity or reward Apple+ for this shitshow).

 Who thought showing us 30 minutes of Alex sweating and suffering through COVID a would be compelling tv?  Most of us watching either had COVID or knew several people who did.  Most of us probably know at least one person who died during the early months of the pandemic.  It just happened, so thanks but no thanks for the up close and personal view of what COVID looks like. 

And since both Alex and Bradley have been written as insufferable self-centered assholes, why would anyone be invested in either of them, or their health and welfare?  There isn’t one main character that I would  tune in for if there’s a 3rd season.  I  think I only liked seeing scenes with Cybil or Mitch.  I would rather have had more focus on Mitch’s ex-wife and kids and the aftermath of Mitch’s awful behavior.  The rest of the of the cast was uninteresting for 10 episodes.

Chip is a stupid fool, throwing away potential happiness to be an emotionally abused doormat for Alex.  Daniel is not charismatic or talented enough to be lead anchor.  Anytime Corey speechifies he sounds like he’s on a cocaine fueled rant. And he’s a shitty network exec!  He convinced the network to blow $25million on Alex’s ‘comeback’!!  She worked all of what? Three days before spiraling into her pity party and going AWOL!  Mia wasn’t given enough to do to be interesting. Stella was a boss in name only.  I never cared about Laura’s or Maggie’s side stories, and I think both actresses were wasted doing this soap opera. 

Season 2 didn’t just suffer from a sophomore slump, it hit the skids and went into a death spiral.  I can’t imagine this getting picked up for a 3rd, but since it’s owned by Apple and they have enough money to literally wipe their asses and flush it, The Morning Show will probably be back.  But I won’t be.
 

 

[SoWindsor]

It really bugged me that they were calling it Covid. It was not known as Covid in March 2020. It was called coronavirus and then Covid 19 and then Covid. 

All those scenes of Alex suffering seemed like it was over the course of many days but it was just 1 day? That didn’t make any sense.

This season jumped the shark!

 

[Blakeston]

It was gross to watch the Behind the Scenes feature and hear the makers of the show talking about how Alex's journey toward her big speech was "beautiful."

The woman has been an insufferable selfish narcissist all season, and they've shown us over and over again how she's hurt people. Then, as a coup de grace, she exposes god knows how many people to COVID - knowing the whole time that Mitch was exposed, and she shouldn't be near anyone.

And we're supposed to think it's "beautiful" that she's decided that she should never be criticized?

For people who are so determined to explore privilege, the makers of the show are planting themselves pretty firmly in the "pretty rich white ladies can do whatever they want" camp.

In other news...

Laura doesn't even appear in the finale. She was 100% right about Bradley's family being toxic, but we're supposed to think she was wrong, and then forget that she existed, apparently.

We know that she has a heart problem, and we just know that she spent lots of time with Alex, but they see no point in even giving us an update on her health. Not a great way to treat a queer character, especially when she's being brushed aside for Bradley to have a straight love interest.

And we're left hanging with Daniel and his elderly relative. Daniel, the Black man who kept getting brushed aside on the show-within-a-show, has now being brushed aside by the actual show.

And if Cory and Bradley have such a close bond, why didn't we ever see them being close? I guess scenes with no yelling are just considered unwatchable.

Season 1 ended up being so good! I can't believe they couldn't come up with something better for season 2.

[ruby24]

This was a bizarre episode. Nothing anyone did made any sense.

Am I supposed to be rooting for Cory and Bradley? Because I'm more rooting for Cory and Stella at this point. At least they're kind of funny together. I have zero understanding as to why he is "in love" with Bradley.

Alex's ramblings on UBA+ was ludicrous. That was NOT good TV, Chip, stop nodding your head like it's some kind of genius ranting. Also, you're a fucking idiot, trapping yourself inside with someone who's got covid.

Speaking of that, whoever pointed out no one was calling it Covid yet, YES, thank you! I swear at this point in time it was still "coronavirus" pretty much everywhere. Come on show, you don't remember this? It was last year! Covid became shorthand in probably fall 2020.

Bradley, what the fuck did you think was going to happen if you drop someone off at rehab and then yell at them that you never want to see them again before they even get in the door? What the hell is wrong with you?

This felt so much not like a finale that I had to look it up and see if there was one more episode coming, because nothing was wrapped up, but also nothing was left as a sort of cliffhanger, it just ended.

[Rebecca berkowit]

This show is terrible.  Nothing any character does or says makes sense, either as something a real person would do or say or as something consistent with what THAT SAME CHARACTER did or said in the previous episode or even scene!  It’s like it was written by someone who has watched a lot of tv dramas and thought they could do it themselves.  “Let’s do that thing where a character melts down on TV and just tells it to us straight!”  “Let’s do that thing where a character is falling in love and the audience knows it but the other character doesn’t and then he declares his love for her in the middle of the street!”  “Cancel culture is a phrase I’ve heard, let’s put that in!” “Let’s have all our minority and female actors preach to the other characters constantly about how they’re being treated badly on account of their ethnicity/sex, because, awareness!”  “And while we’re at it, let’s have one character be a guy caught up in the Me Too thing, and …ooh, edgy…let’s try to redeem him!”  I imagine these were the conversations.  And then they just wrote a bunch of generic speeches reflecting the above, and pasted them into the mouths of their characters at random.  The ideas don’t make sense, the motivations aren’t there, the characters are all wrong, the situations don’t apply.

Also, Alex is shown battling Covid, with terrible chills and fever, suffering suffering, (oh the suffering,) but SHE DOESN’T COUGH ONCE?!?! It’s a RESPIRATORY ILLNESS.  COUGHING IS THE PRIMARY SYMPTOM.  Coughing constantly, so hard you can’t breathe.   Everyone talks about it.  It attacks the lungs.   It lasts for months in some people.  The cough is a hallmark of the disease.  We know Aniston can vomit convincingly (is she going for a special vomiting Emmy we don’t know about?), but she can’t manage a cough?  (Maybe not during her speech, but for the hours and hours she’s alone and sick in the house?).  
 

That is all.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Rebecca berkowit

[dmc]

Yes I agree with everyone, this show is dreadful.  

People who write fan fiction probably have better Morning Show scripts on Live Journal.  Maybe they can ask Tina Belcher for some erotic friend fiction.

This entire season was a writing catastrophe.  

Cory constantly sounds like he is on speed.  His metaphors are weird and don't make sense.  Actually all his actions this season don't make sense period.  

Bradley has seven different disingenius plots going none of which remotely seem realistically written.  

Alex's character went from believable last season to stagnant and awkward to watch this season.  The Covid show was the bottom of the barrel.  Also what is happening with that Chip relationship?  It's the most unhealthy toxic crap to watch!  Also since Alex has stated repeatedly she isn't feeling it...it's another inappropriate work relationship.

Also this show is no fan of the LGBTQ community between outing people for being gay circa 1992, they introduced the Reese/Laura relationship which is clearly a foil for the Bradley/Cory relationship they keep shoving down our throats skipping over the fact that he's her boss who seems virtually obessed with her and that this show started with sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Then they give us a side story of Under the Tuscan Done of Mitch being cancelled in Italy. If they wanted Mitch in this season, why not just leave him in effing NY. 

NO to Season Three and no Emmys except to the makeup person who realistically made Jennifer Aniston look like she had Covid.  

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2021 by dmc

[whiporee]

Here's the good stuff:

I thought Chips idea was good, and I thought the stuff with Alex showing what it was like going through COVID was good, and would have been must-see TV. But it needed to be a week later -- March 11 was when things started to look disastrous, but I don't think most people had really really settled into how crazy this was all going to end up. But I liked the idea of an American icon there and discussing what it was like would have been worth watching. 

And if you like Jennifer Anniston, it was worthwhile to see her -- forget this Alex person she was playing -- telling all of us to fuck off loudly and clearly. I don't like being told to fuck off, but I can see how that would have been cathartic to someone who has spent her. 

Now the rest:

Corey used to be fun. This year he simply has not been. I don't know if it was because they were showing the pressure of the job, or because they thought it was more fun to show him breaking and losing his joi de vivre, but he wasn't entertaining or hopeful. He just seemed stressed and joyless. 

So if you take Corey out of this group, there's nothing fun anywhere. Nothing interesting about Bradley, unless it's 1996 and we're seeing hot girl-on-girl action between Nurse Hathaway and Tracy Schmidt. Nothing interesting about Anniston unless you just like seeing her melt down. Again. And again and again. I don't know enough about anyone else to care except Mitch. And in the end, he's the most intriguing character of the season.   

[Maximona]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:59 AM, marceline said:

This didn't feel like a finale at all. It actually felt like filler. The only parts about this that leaves me with any sense of suspense is wondering ...whether Daniel makes it to his grandfather's alive. (Seriously the whole time he was on the phone with Mia I was waiting for police lights. I mean dude was wearing a hoodie.) 

I know!  I was thinking the same thing!

I guess we viewers should all be grateful that Daniel didn't pause for a pit stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, or something.

6 hours ago, Rebecca berkowit said:

Also, Alex is shown battling Covid, with terrible chills and fever, suffering suffering, (oh the suffering,) but SHE DOESN’T COUGH ONCE?!?! It’s a RESPIRATORY ILLNESS.  COUGHING IS THE PRIMARY SYMPTOM.

No, actually, Alex did cough.  It didn't sound like a COVID cough—I will out myself here as an emergency room nurse—but it was a cough.  

Alex faced with the prospect of her own extinction—or death, as we non-Alexes like to call it—was comedy gold.

In fact, this entire episode was pretty hilarious. Although not intentionally, I suspect.

[Armchair Critic]

Alex claimed she was tested for Covid after her flight and she tested negative. I assume that was before she got on the small plane where Chip picked her up. 

I figure Corey will be fired if he lost the company all that money. I can't imagine he or Alex redeemed themselves with her Covid show but then again they made it look like it was a triumph. We all knew when he talked about Tom Hanks appearing that it was doomed.

Chip is going to lose his fiance and seems like he will get in trouble for lying about having Covid.

I remember Corey saying in the first season to Bradley (when he was helping her pick out clothes) that she reminded him of his mother who was a single career woman. So maybe that's some of his attraction to her?

I frankly won't miss the Laura character if they don't bring her back. I prefer Maggie Brener if you are going to have a smart, bitchy type character. Stella doesn't do much for me either but I enjoy Holland Taylor's character. I like Mia's character and am rooting for her, not so much for Daniel. I also like Yanko (I am afraid they will turn him into a MAGA.)

I don't know if Aniston and Witherspoon will want to come back for a 3rd season if this season did not do well. But I admit if this show comes back I will watch it.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Armchair Critic

[SG429]

UBA's Morning Show certainly turned into a minor character on "The Morning Show" this year. Successful soaps seem to keep the juicy soapy bits intertwined with the original concept. Here the characters occasionally mention it. Hard to believe that a network time slot that is a cash cow IRL would be treated so cavalierly for so long, with so much upheaval and inconsistency, by high-priced executives, talent and production. Ratings, corporate, press, shareholders would all be putting pressure to fix it. Especially after they promised viewers and advertisers Alex but only delivered Julianna Margrumpy.

[SunnyBeBe]

Well, it seems that you all have pretty much covered it all.  For this episode, my reaction included: confusion, disbelief and disappointment.  And, I kept thinking that it wasn’t a season finale….that I was mistaken….I’m not mistaken, right?  Lol
 

Does anyone know who the writers are who come up with this stuff?  Do they actually discuss it with other people to see if it makes sense or seems like it would be a good idea?  
 

Do they consider their target audience and how the actions of these characters might be perceived?  Do they want characters that the audience hates?

 What are they trying to convey in this series? 

 How do the actors react when trying to act in these scenes?  Do they get angry? Are they embarrassed?  I’m sort of embarrassed for them, actually.

 How is possible to write a series about someone like Mitch, but create other characters who are despised just as much?  Maybe, that was their goal….idk….I’m not sure it’s worth figuring it out.  I may watch a third season….I don’t want this show to cause me to dislike Anniston and Witherspoon.  Right now, I feel a little sorry for them.  
 

Does anyone know of any other show worth a flip on AppleTV?  I’ve tried a few and they all are terrible, imo.  So, going to drop my subscription, at least until season 3 of this show.  

[TiredMe]

The episode was dreadful, as were many of the episodes this season. Partly due to coverage of Covid,  been living with this crap for nearly 2 years, I don’t want it to be on my screen too. But also the writing was terrible. I won’t care at all if it’s cancelled. 

[dmc]

15 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Well, it seems that you all have pretty much covered it all.  For this episode, my reaction included: confusion, disbelief and disappointment.  And, I kept thinking that it wasn’t a season finale….that I was mistaken….I’m not mistaken, right?  Lol
 

Does anyone know who the writers are who come up with this stuff?  Do they actually discuss it with other people to see if it makes sense or seems like it would be a good idea?  
 

Do they consider their target audience and how the actions of these characters might be perceived?  Do they want characters that the audience hates?

 What are they trying to convey in this series? 

 How do the actors react when trying to act in these scenes?  Do they get angry? Are they embarrassed?  I’m sort of embarrassed for them, actually.

 How is possible to write a series about someone like Mitch, but create other characters who are despised just as much?  Maybe, that was their goal….idk….I’m not sure it’s worth figuring it out.  I may watch a third season….I don’t want this show to cause me to dislike Anniston and Witherspoon.  Right now, I feel a little sorry for them.  
 

Does anyone know of any other show worth a flip on AppleTV?  I’ve tried a few and they all are terrible, imo.  So, going to drop my subscription, at least until season 3 of this show.  

Thank you for mentioning the biggest connundrum of the series.  Mitch is just as problematic as everyone else.  Yet, Mitch being awful is acknowledged and we are supposed to ignore everyone else is too.  

There is a world where the show could be televison is a toxic environment and everyone is problematic that works within it.   But that isn't the story they are trying to tell, they are trying to convince these are all good people trying to clean up Mitch's mess.  

And you have suspend disbelief to watch it.  

 

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by dmc

[SunnyBeBe]

Them addressing covid doesn’t bother me. As a news show set in NYC, it seems unavoidable. Plus, it changed life as we know it.  
 

Where was Chip’s girlfriend when he put the phone in the bed to keep it open for Alex all night?  
 

When I think about Cory, I’m reminded of when NBC hired Conan O’Brien for The Tonight Show.  I won’t give the details, but it was a fiasco.  They ended up realizing what a lot of people knew beforehand and paying a lot of money to get out of it.

[SunnyBeBe]

Here’s a link that list the writers.  It seems that Mimi Leder is the lead director and producer on the show, so bears some accountability.  Overall, it seems they are quite pleased with their product.  🥴 I wonder if they read what the viewers think about it.  I can’t imagine they make much money on subscriptions, based on their series.  Dickinson, The Shrink Next Door, Truth Be Told….ugh….

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7203552/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm

Edited November 21, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[dmc]

13 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Here’s a link that list the writers.  It seems that Mimi Leder is the lead director and producer on the show, so bears some accountability.  Overall, it seems they are quite pleased with their product.  🥴 I wonder if they read what the viewers think about it.  I can’t imagine they make much money on subscriptions, based on their series.  Dickinson, The Shrink Next Door, Truth Be Told….ugh….

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7203552/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm

I got my subscription free when I bought their 1500 dollar phone.  I feel this site is a good collective of viewers with varied opinions.  I know because frequently we discuss issues here.  And everyone hates this show!  Also the critics hate it too.  But they probably have spent a lot on it in salaries alone

Edited November 21, 2021 by dmc

[SunnyBeBe]

1 minute ago, dmc said:

I goy my subscription free when I bought their 1500 dollar phone.  I feel this site is a good collective of viewers with varied opinions.  I know because frequently always discuss issues here.  And everyone hates this show!

Well, I’m getting ready to purchase a new phone, so I may get a free one as well.  Lol 

I would love to love season 2 of this show and this network.  They need to help me. 

[dmc]

6 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Well, I’m getting ready to purchase a new phone, so I may get a free one as well.  Lol 

I would love to love season 2 of this show and this network.  They need to help me. 

LOL you will, 12 months free of the biggest collection of eh shows.  I honestly don't think their streaming has been that successful so they hope if they give it to you free, you will forget to unsubscribe in a year LOL

Edited November 21, 2021 by dmc

[Carolina Girl]

3 hours ago, dmc said:

LOL you will, 12 months free of the biggest collection of eh shows.  I honestly don't think their streaming has been that successful so they hope if they give it to you free, you will forget to unsubscribe in a year LOL

I know!   I’m planning to cancel.   Discovery is a better bargain.  

[dmc]

12 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

I know!   I’m planning to cancel.   Discovery is a better bargain.  

I love Discovery!

[Refresh]

I just need to vent about this awful, stupid show because no one I know IRL watches it. I could quote everyone here. 

The writing was so bad. Nothing felt real in the slightest. Is it that the big names wanted the majority of the lines? I just don't understand why they abandoned other character storylines, because in my opinion that is what was successful about the show last year, the Hannah storyline. It gave some heart to the show. A whisper of humanity. Last year the TMS top talent / exec producers horrible behavior and shenanigans were juxtaposed with how it effected those without power. That's why it barely worked. 

I don't know what this season was. Well, maybe we do. This season was a wealthy white privilege-fest.  Keeping just enough lip service for the POC characters like Mia but without any substance at all.  Setting what seems like the most boring show ever, against a timeline that is still fresh in our memories? Living through the beginning of March 2020 was like watching a slow moving car crash you might end up being in. And as much as I wish it wasn't the case, the POTUS at the time had some influence on that tone. He's nowhere to be found in this show. I see why it didn't' want to get political but all those punches were pulled by him not even existing. 

Oh and then the stupid Cancel Culture storyline. I find it hard to believe any of these people are worried about being cancelled by the public. Maybe there's small worry that public pressure could effect the decision of their employers or brands they work with but eh, it's not actually the cancelling, it's how it effects their jobs and lifestyle. And for Mitch that would be... an upgrade? Not working, eating Gelato and living on Lake Como? Sounds good to me. They're all in their own bubbles with yes people left and right. Do they actually care about their reputations from some random on the street? I'm not convinced. Not all but most notable people that have been "cancelled", are ones that didn't feel they did anything wrong when they did it. That's the whole problem! That's why it exists! To hold people accountable. (Not saying it always works that way but the original intent I understand). The long list of #metoo men, the Canadian dog lady in central park, even the hand sanitizer guy.

I remember a time in the early-mid 2000s when public figures screwing up was followed by public admissions, apologies, claims they were addicted to XYZ and that they were going into rehab. Ahhh, I miss those pre-Social Media days. Sometimes.

Last bits:

When Bradley is texting her brother it's green message bubbles. Which means he has a non-Apple phone. Because of course. Eyeroll. Way to dig your Android competition Apple. Drug addicts are Android users. Neener! Neener! He doesn't have find my phone. Blah blah blah. Barf.

When Alex said  on her streaming show (paraphrase) "Who is your tailor having sex with?" OMG. Are you kidding me? I don't know if it's worse that they wrote that trying to show how out of touch she is because she presumes everyone has a tailor or if they're really that dumb that they think people have a tailor.  Either way. If she was truly America's sweetheart like they keep trying to beat us over the head with, as a journalist,  she would have some connection with the lives of everyday people to know that most people don't get their clothes tailored. 

I watched this season like a fool waiting for it to get better. If it gets renewed, and I dearly hope it is not,  it's only because Apple is paying the leads boatloads of money. They can't actually believe this is a good show. 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Refresh

[SHD]

I wonder if they would’ve killed off Alex if they hadn’t just offed Mitch a couple of episodes before. This show really needed more Carell this season to keep it on track. The seasons seem disconnected from each other.

Having said that, I went along for the ride all season. But my free year of Apple+ will be up before S3 hits (if they get one) and it wouldn’t inspire me to shell out for a continuing subscription (though Ted Lasso will).

[Stuffy]

I’d like a season three only because I’m wondering if part of the quality drop was due to Covid and the scrapping of their original plans. There had to be more changed than just adding the Laura Peterson character. Also, it’d be nice for Jennifer and Reese’s scenes/storylines not to be separated due to Covid bubbles. I hated the Italy stuff, so that’d probably be gone too.  As good as Steve is I never cared about Mitch. I never understood Alex’s pull towards him because I swear their first time having sex sounded like date rape when they talked about it back in season one.  I definitely could be remembering wrong. 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Stuffy

[TV Diva Queen]

13 hours ago, Refresh said:

 

When Bradley is texting her brother it's green message bubbles. Which means he has a non-Apple phone. Because of course. Eyeroll. Way to dig your Android competition Apple. Drug addicts are Android users. Neener! Neener! He doesn't have find my phone. Blah blah blah. Barf.

 

Ha - I said the same thing when I saw the green bubble - I yelled to the TV "its a damn Apple show, why the hell is he green"  then my daughter who's home from college, sitting next to me on the couch, looks up from her laptop and says "apple doesn't let bad guys use iphones in the movies" I googled it and she was right, bad guys get green bubble and on the very RARE occasion they'll allow blue bubbles on the phones, but there's a whole thing to it that has to do with their storyline.  Guess the brother isn't redeemable and he's green forever. .  

[KarenX]

Yeah, it wasn’t great, but this is a show I watch on my phone while washing dishes and I didn’t need great.

But the whole Laura/Bradley storyline was toothless and tepid (i was certain Bradley was trying to manipulate/use Laura) and I am not excited to see Alex set up to be some kind of RWNJ talking head for FoxNews and The View.

I guess if they do that then we can see Chip, a man who believes himself to be decent, orchestrate her success there and the writers try to make us understand how conflicted he might become and I am Not In The Mood for that at all or ever.

[RunningMarket]

Chip has to be in love with Alex, right? Otherwise, there is no logical explanation for his behaviour - I mean, lying about having COVID so he can hang out in her place, and ignore calls from his fiancé, who is likely freaking the f out at that (incorrect) news?! 

I echo the earlier posts about how this many people would not be calling it "COVID" at this point. I am Canadian, but I tune into American news as well, and I remember that for the most part, US-based stations called it "Novel Coronavirus" for much longer. 

I may be the lone dissenter in that I didn't hate the Hal storyline. Letting go of a family member isn't easy, no matter the circumstances. 

Alex's rambling and massive narcissism this entire season has been beyond grating. Congrats, I suppose, to JA, who is decidedly not Rachel Green anymore. 

Edited November 22, 2021 by RunningMarket
Grammar

[Sweet-tea]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:43 AM, txhorns79 said:

It really did feel like they had no idea what to do with any of the characters.  I think I had read that Covid caused them to have to re-think the stories for the season, but what they came up with was just a mess. 

This episode was embarrassingly bad. Did someone actually write that nonsense Alex was spewing? She was all over the place and not in an interesting way. 

It seemed like there were four or five different stories going on and none of them were coherent. As a whole, it wasn’t cohesive. 

What are we supposed to think about Cory declaring his love for Bradley? Are we supposed to care, because I don’t. Maybe that’s the problem. 

I can’t figure out what happened to this show. I need to do some research and look up the writers of each episode of the first season vs. the second, because something went very wrong in S2. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Sweet-tea

[desertflower]

I think they missed an opportunity to make Alex likable. They were on the right track with her apology to Laura and her last couple conversations with Bradley. She came off more humble. And as for the Covid show, if they had stuck to just educating about Covid and apologizing to her coworkers that would’ve helped a lot. But the “Alex Levy train” nonsense just took her backwards again, and the interview with the doctor just came off as unhinged. I think people like to see a little vulnerability with their news people once in a while (example: Hoda Kotb cried on air on the Today Show at the beginning of Covid. It seemed to be genuine emotion and I for one liked her better for it.) But there’s a line between vulnerable and a big hot mess, which is what Alex is 99% of the time. JA is good at playing that but we need some dynamics; she needs more quiet, sane moments mixed in. They wrote her cranked up to 10 the whole time. And Chip is just bizarre, as noted in an earlier post he MUST be in love with her, right? His actions are absurd. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by desertflower

[90sfan]

They left so many stories unanswered that it makes me think that the writers have worked on network series that have something like 20 episodes per season. They started so many stories that they didn't/couldn't circle back to...not that any of the stories were that well thought out or developed.

I like a lot of the actors on the show and I really liked the first season, which is why I watched these. I also had hope that it would somehow make sense at the end. This last episode felt nothing like a season finale. So much made no sense. This is the least of it, but when Alex was doing her hair and makeup for the UBA+ show, I didn't understand why. If the point was to show someone going through it, then why not just show it.

Does anyone know when they filmed? I think that when they wrote the season it was still too soon after covid began that they didn't have enough perspective. While we're still in middle of a pandemic, almost 2 years from the start gives us a different perspective than if it was summer or fall 2020. I get why they wanted to include covid and there was potential for good story in how it "crept" up on us and then one day everything shut down, but there were too many other stories they were trying to do so it made the season feel directionless.

[SunnyBeBe]

I didn’t understand why they had Alex get her hair styled and makeup done before the show either.  The entire point was to show how she was doing with covid. Just look natural.   And, maybe her brain was all mixed up due to covid, fever, delirium, etc.  If so, she still had the energy to be a smart ass.   Why did they make her so curt with the doctor?  Asking him if he was afraid to die…then challenging his response….it seemed nit picky and uncalled for.  Just the kind of thing you wouldn’t want to watch.  Lol Thanks Chip for this great idea.  Your idea of making Alex more likable needs tweaking.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

I had a question but found out the answers through The Google.

Edited November 26, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Sweet-tea]

On 11/23/2021 at 7:46 AM, desertflower said:

I think they missed an opportunity to make Alex likable. They were on the right track with her apology to Laura and her last couple conversations with Bradley. She came off more humble. And as for the Covid show, if they had stuck to just educating about Covid and apologizing to her coworkers that would’ve helped a lot. But the “Alex Levy train” nonsense just took her backwards again, and the interview with the doctor just came off as unhinged. I think people like to see a little vulnerability with their news people once in a while (example: Hoda Kotb cried on air on the Today Show at the beginning of Covid. It seemed to be genuine emotion and I for one liked her better for it.) But there’s a line between vulnerable and a big hot mess, which is what Alex is 99% of the time. JA is good at playing that but we need some dynamics; she needs more quiet, sane moments mixed in. They wrote her cranked up to 10 the whole time. And Chip is just bizarre, as noted in an earlier post he MUST be in love with her, right? His actions are absurd. 

ITA! What you said about how Alex was cranked up perfectly described my impression watching her this season. It reminds me of someone on The Voice or American Idol yelling through a song without any of the quiet moments. It’s hard to listen to, because we’re not given any relief from the intensity. That’s how I felt most of the time watching Alex. She wasn’t like this last season. 

Where does Chip’s wife fit into his Alex-obsessed world? Wouldn’t she be a bit threatened or at least irritated by how much time he’s spending with Alex, especially staying with when she has COVID? 

What are we to make of Bradley’s non-reaction reaction to Cory professing his love for her? Is Laura coming back? Does Bradley love her or is she also into Cory? And what was the point of the subplot with her brother? It wasn’t interesting and didn’t tie in to any of the other stories. It seemed like the writers threw it in there to make Bradley seem more vulnerable and relatable, because she was horrible the first half of the season. 

What will be the fate of the show and who will be hosting it? Is Daniel coming back? 

They left loose ends dangling all over the place.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Sweet-tea