Testimony

Alex and Bradley do the show together again

**Testimony** is the ninth episode of the second season of *The Morning Show*.

## Short Summary

Alex and Bradley try to accept change as a new book promises shocking revelations.

## Full Summary

Alex returns home and collapses on her bed. A moment later, she startles and gets back up. She goes back to her purse and gets out the statement from Mitch, still sealed in the envlope. She sleeps on top of the covers with the envlope in her hands.

Bradley lies awake on her couch while Hal occupies her bed. When he wakes up, he comes out and asks her if they should talk. He asks if she's in trouble and apologizes for coming to her work. What she was doing hurt him. He admits that he wanted to hurt her like she hurt him because he's pathetic. He doesn't deserve another chance, but he asks her for one anyway. He says he'll go to rehab and he'll let her pay for it. He'll stay instead of letting their mom pull him out. He'll fix it.

Alex looks at the envlope and then closes it in a drawer.

As they ride in a car, Doug tells Alex there's nothing to be nervous about. She just has to take her lumps. She says she knows what she needs to say, but he wants her to let him do the talking. He wants the car to pull around back, but Alex says it's fine, despite the chaos in the front. As she walks in, Alex is bombarded with questions about Mitch. There's a memorial with several candles and a picture of Mitch onto which someone has written, "Monster."

Cory tells Alex he's sorry for her loss. He knows she and Mitch had a complicated relationship. Doug says it wasn't complicated. They were partners. One of them was a sexual predator who was fired and one suffered the consequences. Stella reminds Doug that Alex just visited Mitch in Italy. Doug says that's a private matter that they wouldn't have known about if one of their employees hadn't committed fraud to get into her credit card and email. Alex then says it's fine. Doug reminds them that Alex has time off written into her contract. She just decided to take it earlier than they expected. Cory says Doug can either let them talk or he can wait in the hall. Then he says Alex is family. They love her no matter. They'll support her through the backlash if there is any. Alex then says she's giving the money back. Cory says they don't want that. Alex says she's doing it. Coming back was a mistake. Doug will still get his cut, but the money is going back. March 16 will be her last day. Cory knows that's because Maggie's book comes out on the 17th. Alex says it contains some damning information about her. Cory asks if she feels comfortable sharing what that information is. Doug says she doesn't and there's a chance it won't see light of day. YDA shelved their interview with Maggie. Cory asks Doug and Stella to give him a minute alone with Alex. Doug hesistates until Alex tells him to go out. Once they're gone, Alex tells Cory she's going to be cancelled for things she did. Cory says unless she's made racist or homophobic remarks, he won't void her contract. He tells her to go ahead and have the surgery on her back. Laura will fill in for her and she can make her triumphant return to prime time. Alex admits to him that she slept with Mitch. He tells her they have no idea how the book is going to play out. Alex says that Mitch is a sexual predator. Cory's feminist hero slept with the enemy, on purpose. Not coerced. While she was married. And she doesn't regret it. She doesn't want the money. She's just done. Cory still refuses to take it back. He uses a pinball analogy to try to convince Alex to ignore the inteference. He continues the analogy and says he's not going to take the money back. He's put his quarters in and nobody's going to forget that he pulled the plunger. Despite this, Alex is still insistent that she's leaving. She tells him to take care of the show and himself.

As she steps off the elevator, Jimbo welcomes her back. She goes to see Bradley, who is surprsied to see her. She apologizes for leaving and thanks Bradley for covering for her. She says she'll be back Monday. Bradley says she won't be there on Monday as she has to drop her brother off at rehab. Alex says then it'll be her and Daniel, but Bradley says Laura offered to fill in for her on Monday, so maybe Alex should come back Tuesday instead. Alex says it'll be fine. She'll come back Monday anyway. Bradley then asks Alex to go get a drink with her next week. When Alex came back, she had all these barriers up and that wasn't fair. Alex says she would love htat, but Bradley might want to distance herself from Alex a little. For her own good. She asks Bradley to trust her on that. Bradley asks if she's okay. Alex says she'll be fine and tells Bradley to have a good weekend.

Rena leads Paige into the studio. Jimbo says he's sorry for Paige's loss and she thanks him. Paige clarifies that people know she's coming. Rena warns her that some people will be there and some won't. When Alex spots Paige, she hides before Paige can see her. Paige feels weird doing this, but she has to. Rena says at least she's not wearing a mask, like Rena herself is. Paige says she has an excuse to be cautious. Paige asks if Mia is avoiding her, but Rena says she had somewhere else she needed to be. Rena calls everyone's attention. Paige introduces herself for those who don't know her. Alex quietly watches from the next room, unseen. Paige says she's just spent the last day planning a memorial for someone she hated and calling all the people she thought might attend. Then her son asked her if all Dad's friends would be there. She's at the studio because she's a mother. Mitch's body is still in Italy, if that makes it easier for anyone. It's a week from Monday. She apologizes and thanks everyone for their time. As she goes to leave, she spots Alex. She looks at Alex for a few moments, but says nothing and walks out.

Bradley drives with Hal in the passenger seat. They're both quiet.

Alex asks Gayle why they're not talking to Biden because they should be talking to the winner. Gayle says Biden did the Sunday show, so now they have Greg Schultz. Mia welcomes Alex back as she passes in the hall. She warns Alex that they're trying to get ahead of the coronavirus thing, so they're setting up little studios in everyone's homes, in case the virus gets bad. She promises it won't be invasive. Alex spots Chip down the hall as Mia is talking. Alex doesn't think the studio is necessary and excuses herself. She goes to Chip. She didn't expect to see him as she hadn't heard from him. He says he'll stay until she finds someone else to produce her or until she gets cancelled. Whichever happens first. As he walks away, Laura approaches her. She wants to make sure she and Alex can both be prefessionals. Alex says she can.

Laura and Alex step onto the set and take their seats. Valerie does last-minute touch-ups for Alex as Alex asks Laura to tee her up for a story that happened this weekend. Laura says she will and Julia counts them in. A clip plays of Biden celebrating his win in South Carolina, then getting support from Pete Buttigieg, who has dropped out of the race. This is followed by a report on the second death from coronavirus on US soil. Alex quietly tells Laura the coronavirus doesn't even seem real. Laura says in 1989, Ebola hit US soil and we never knew about it. It was in Richard Preston's book. Alex doesn't want to imagine having to live through all that again. Once the clip's over, Alex and Laura start the show.

In the control room, Rena tells Mia they haven't been able to get a hold of the COVID-19 tests. Lindsey asks what she's getting the tests for. Mia asks if Lindsey watches the news.

Gwen Zeegers-Bottum, UBA's chief medical correspondent, is back on the show to teach everyone proper handwashing technique to help combat the coronavirus. She does a demonstration as Laura and Alex follow along. They make up their own handwashing song.

Hal suggests to Bradley that they go to Disney World when he gets out of treatment because they never got to be kids when they were young. The one vacation they took as kids was a nightmare becuase their parents got wasted at EPCOT. Hal says they'll do it right. Bradley says she can't get away like that. Hal tries to suggest other things. Bradley tells him to stop. She says she loves him, but she won't be able to see him or talk to him when he gets out. She can't go backwards. It was hard enough to get where she is. She can't even fix her own problems. She wants good things for him and their mom, but it's not a good idea for them to talk. Hal is upset with her for leaving him there. Bradley reminds him that he said he wanted to get better, so she researched and found the best place. All he has to do is go inside. Hal says there's not point if his family won't be there when he gets out. He starts yelling at her as she goes back to the car, saying he won't stay there. Bradley says she can't make him go to rehab. She hopes he does, but she can't make him do anything. She's paid for the hreab and tells him to figure it out. She's leaving and he can't go with her. He accuses her of betraying him. She offers him all the money in her wallet. He says he could use that money to buy drugs and OD then he won't be her problem anymore. She tells him to stop trying to manipulate her. It's his life. He needs to figure out what he wants to do with it. She gets back in the car and drives away.

Alex goes to see Laura, who is talking to Gwen about how the real at-risk group is the elderly. As Gwen leaves, she tells Alex to call her if her back starts acting up again. Laura asks if Alex is going to Mitch's memorial. Alex doesn't answer, but asks if she remembers when a bunch of them went to go see Bring in 'da Noise, Brin in 'da Funk. Laura is confused, but remembers. Alex says it was fun. Laura agrees. Alex asks why Laura doesn't like her. Laura's surprised she doesn't know. Alex says one day, they were friends, then Laura pretended she didn't know her. Laura saw it differently. She asks Alex if she rememebrs what was happening around that time. Alex says it was really hard on Laura and Laura needed space. Laura says she never asked for space. She points out that Alex wanted to be friends when she was successful and then didn't when she wasn't anymore. She indicates her belief that Alex is the one who outed her. Alex admits that she did talk about it. It was gossip. Everyone talked about it. It seemed a lot less vicious back then, which Laura says is because no one was gossiping about Alex back then. Laura doesn't believe Alex had ill intent, but they are their actions. Alex wishes they'd straightened that out sooner. Laura asks what she would have said if she'd asked if Alex was gossiping. Alex admits that she probably would have denied it. Alex enjoyed doing the show with her ane said it would have been fun to be friends the last few years. She's sorry she screwed it up. Laura admits she gossiped about Alex, too.

Alex's alarm goes off and she gets up.

Alex steps onto the set to smiles and welcoming faces. She goes to take her seat next to Bradley. Julia counts them in and they start their Super Tuesday show.

Peter Bullard introduces Cory as the next guest on his show. Cory takes his seat and Peter asks about the streaming service. Cory explains why he was so adament about starting one. There are many opponents.

Alex watches Peter's show from her bed. After Cory finishes talking about UBA+, Peter asks about Maggie's book. Cory's not concerned and even invites Maggie to do an interview with them.

Yanko eats a corn on the cob and watches a video of Anthony Fauci talking about the virus. He looks up and spots Meredith. He asks if she's stalking him, as that's twice in one month. He's even more shocked when he sees that Meredith is there with Claire. Claire reminds him that she's the one who introduced Yanko to the place they're at. Yanko asks what they're up to. Claire says she can meet up with Meredith later so she can catch up with Yanko.

Bradley is watching an infomercial when Cory calls. She doesn't want to talk about why she's not okay. She say him on Peter's show and says he was good. Bradley's surprised to learn that Maggie accepted Cory's offer of an interview and that Cory wants her to do it Monday night. He admits he's concerned about the book and Alex is, too. They haven't read it, but Bradley will get an advanced copy. Cory wants her becuase he knows she'll be fair. She agrees to do it and he says he'll set it up.

Claire realizes how late it is and says she should leave, despite having a good time with Yanko. Claire's leaving next week, but asks if Yanko wants to meet up before then, on Monday. He says he can't do Monday, but he can do Tuesday. She realizes he's planning to go to Mitch's memorial. She's horrified because Mitch raped Hannah. Claire's glad he's dead. She hopes Fred and his $119.2 million are next. Yanko says he might have to give that back because Hannah's father is suing him and the network. Claire knows because she's been bankrolling the lawsuit. She feels guilty over how she treated Hannah the day she died. Yanko says she can't blame herself for what happened. Claire tells Yanko not to tell her what to do and leaves.

Sasha tells Bradley to buzz if she needs anything. If she needs a break, someone will escort her outside. Bradley then sits down with Maggie's book. She checks the index, which shows many references to Alex. She starts reading the book, which heavily discusses Mitch and Alex's relationship, including their sexual relationship. Maggie's book goes on to say Alex is damaged. Bradley finishes reading and closes the book.

Chip asks if they're still doing Mitch's memorial. Alex thinks they are. Chip doesn't think it's a good idea for her to be in a crowded place and she doesn't owe it to Mitch. Alex says it's not his place to protect her anymore.

Uncle Mike talks about Mitch's love of baseball. He likes to think Mitch is with his mom and dad now. Once he's finished, Dick Lundy steps up to go next. He is upset that none of the people there supported Mitch after during his life. Lauren Kessler tries to get him to stop, but he's undeterred and makes off-color jokes. He says Mitch would have laughed at them. Paola quietly smiles to herself at that. He wants the world to stop judging people for having other sexual desires. The audience, including Jimbo, Bart, Donny, Lindsey, and Joel, is visibly uncomfortable as he continues talking. Dick is sorry that he never got to make peace with Mitch. Mitch was a good friend for a long time. The audience is silent as he returns to his seat after finishing.

Fred is shocked to see Alex walk into the memorial reception. He passes her without saying anything. Paige and Lauren stare at her wordlessly. Finally, Paola stands and waves to Alex. Alex is glad Paola made it. Paola thanks her for arranging the flight. Paola feels weird being there when Mitch isn't, but she's glad to see one friendly face. Alex tells Paola she promised Mitch she'd introduce Paola to the right people in the business to help her when she's ready. Paola says she's thrown herself into her work since Mitch died, but she's not ready yet. It's been an emotional time and she'll let Alex know when she's ready. Alex isn't sure how long people will be returning her phone calls, so she urges Paola to make it quick. Alex calls everyone's attention to herself. She wasn't going to come, but she felt she had to come and say a few words about what Mitch meant to her. She begs Paige for her patience. Alex says some people are never satisfied. She includes herself in that group. You should always be striving for more, for the next rung on the ladder. Always keep wanting more. But if you spend all your time wanting more and striving for more, you don't spend any time living. Mitch made unforgiveable choices. Alex admits she went to see Mitch in Italy. She saw him the day he died. And she wants everyone to know he was starting to understand the effects of his actions. He was remorseful and wanted to be better and do better. It's not enough and it never will be, but she wants everyone to know that. And she wants him to be remembered for that, too. Mitch had a beautiful family including a wife he knew he didn't deserve. Alex addresses Paige directly, saying she's sorry for everything, before leaving.

Maggie tells Bradley that the day she interviewed Bradley right after she started at TMS, she also went to Alex's fundraising party and Alex claimed she'd coached Bradley on how to get Ashley Brown's truth. Maggie asks if that's true. Bradley says it isn't.

Doug's voicemail asks if Alex is watching the interview and begs her to call him back. Alex turns on the interview.

Bradley asks if Maggie knows how she got the TMS job. Maggie has a sense of it, but didn't put it in the book. Bradley was disappointed about that and wants Maggie to break it there, as it's an interesting story. Maggie recalls that Bradley wasn't really in consideration. Then Alex announced her as new co-anchor out of the blue. Everyone was shocked, but Alex had backed them into a corner, so they had to go with it. Bradley says that's an interseting story. And it's true. So she wants to know why Maggie didn't print it. Maggie then reminds Bradley she lied in her interview and has just admitted it. Bradley freely admits that she lied. She didn't want people knowing her private business. It doesn't make her look good right now. But she has done a pretty good job and wouldn't have had that opportunity without Alex. She wonders why so much of Maggie's book is dedicated to Alex and Mitch's consensual relationship. It was an extramarital affair, but that's nothing compared to everything Mitch has done. Why did Maggie need to rope Alex into it. She asks if Maggie has something personal against Alex. Maggie claims she doesn't. She actually held some things back because they seemed unkind. She tells the story of Alex coming to her hotel room the night before the debate begging to read the book and then to take out the part about her sleeping with Mitch. Bradley says a woman she's known for many years came to her in distress over a mistake she made ten years ago and Maggie published it anyway. Bradley asks Maggie who the worst person she ever slept with was. Maggie tries to change gears and says her book is about a corrupt network hiding sexual misconduct. There are plenty of stories about the real Alex Levy. Bradley agrees about the network, but finds it interesting that Alex is on the cover of her book. This Alex is the one who gave Bradley her career. Maggie says Alex didn't do that for Bradley. She did it for herself.

Chip watches from his bed while Bradley continues, saying Maggie is where she is becuase she's publicizing a high-profile book with stories from years ago. The one story she didn't publish is the one about a changed woman, who came to her to beg for mercy and she declined. Instead, she's on the cover of Maggie's book. Bradley reminds her that she and Alex risked their careers breaking the story about Fred Micklen on TMS. She knows Maggie knows because they scooped her. There are a lot of stories about Alex Levy in the book, but that's the old Alex and she believes people change and grow. Bradley's evolving herself and wonders if Maggie is. It's time for a commercial, but Bradley says they'll be back with more Maggie.

Alex turns off the TV and checks Twitter, where the feedback is positive. Alex is shocked and thankful.

Laura says Bradley's interesting. When they first met, she always talked about how much she didn't like Alex. Tonight, she could have buried Alex, but she went out of her way to defend Alex instead and buried the person who wrote the book that had everything Bradley wanted exposed in it. It doesn't make sense to Laura. Bradley says she believes everything she said, but doesn't think Maggie was being fair. How she feels about Alex is irrelevant. Laura says Bradley's impressive, which Bradley likes better than interesting. Laura tells Bradley that with her heart condition and COVID, she's going to her place in Montana for a month or two, until it's over. She'll miss Bradley. She wants Bradley to think about coming to stay with her. Bradley says she's on TV five days a week. Laura asks her to give it up for her. She doesn't like it when her woman works. Bradley is shocked and asks if she's serious. Laura laughs and says she isn't serious. She has a little studio on the ranch. Bradley asks if she meant Bradley's her woman. Laura says Bradley scares her a little, but Bradley's something like that. They lean in for a kiss. They're interrupted by a knock at the door. Laura goes to the bedroom while Bradley goes to answer the door. It's Harry, the bellman, who has an envelope someone dropped off for Bradley. Bradley opens it to find the cash she gave Hal. She asks Harry when it was dropped off and asks him to find out for certain because it's important.

Alex wakes up and checks her phone. Overnight, the Twitter chatter has turned against Alex. She turns on the TV to find Desiree Bowers and Yancy Hinkle of ENL reporting on leaked footage of Alex's speech at the memorial, which they believe contradicts Bradley's assertions that Alex has changed. In addition to her connection to Mitch, she also exposed her co-workers to the novel coronavirus. Alex sees the clock on her night stand, which says it's 3:31 and quickly moves, but trips on a pair of shoes and hits her head as she goes down.

Alex wakes up in a hospital bed to the sound of her phone ringing. A news report says they're making tents outside hospitals as there's no space inside to treat patients. She answers her phone. It's Doug. He tells her Chip found her. She has a mild concussion and he's sorry about the other thing. She thinks he's talking about her getting cancelled, but he meant something else. He tells her they tested her in the ER and she has COVID. The hospital around her buzzes with activity.

## Cast

### Starring

* Jennifer Aniston as Alex Levy
* Reese Witherspoon as Bradley Jackson
* Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison
* Mark Duplass as Chip Black
* Greta Lee as Stella Bak
* Julianna Margulies as Laura Peterson
* Bel Powley as Claire Conway
* Nestor Carbonell as Yanko Flores
* Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan
* Desean K. Terry as Daniel Henderson
* Ruairi O'Connor as Ty Fitzgerald

### Special Guest Stars

* Martin Short as Dick Lundy
* Marcia Gay Harden as Maggie Brener
* Valeria Golino as Paola Lambruschini

### Guest Starring

* Embeth Davidtz as Paige Jacobs
* Dave Foley as Peter Bullard
* Tom Irwin as Fred Micklen
* Will Arnett as Doug
* Joe Tippett as Hal Jackson
* Victoria Tate as Rena Robinson
* Hannah Leder as Isabella
* Tara Karsian as Gayle Burns
* Joe Marinelli as Donny Spagnoli
* Joe Pacheco as Bart Daley
* Shari Belafonte as Julia
* Eli Bildner as Joel Rapkin
* Michelle Meredith as Lindsey Sherman
* Andrea Bendewald as Valerie

### Co-Starring

* Stefanie Stevens as Dr. Gwen Zeegers-Bottum
* Taylor Cooper as Meredith
* Patrick Bristow as Gordon
* Sean James as Jimbo
* Countrified Wedman as Paparazzo
* James Gleason as Uncle Mike
* Patti Tippo as Lauren Kessler
* Ann Hu as Sasha Press Coordinator
* Chris Wolfe as Yancy Hinkle ENL Anchor
* Sohmm Kapila as Desiree Bowers ACSN Anchor
* Alex Alcheh as Harry Hotel Bellman
* Paul Norwood as Randall