The Interview

Alex begs Bradley to come back

**The Interview** is the tenth episode and season finale of the first season of *The Morning Show*.

## Short Summary

TMS faces a fateful day as a plan to shake up UBA is set in motion.

## Full Summary

Yanko drinks alone at a bar. He sees a weather report on the screen and starts talking about El Niño, boring the bartender and the other patron. He laughs about something so destructive being named after a little boy.

Mitch welcomes Cory, Bradley, and Chip into his place. He's ordered Thai food.

Alex greets Marlon Tate as he steps off the elevator into her home. He's honored to meet her.

Mitch explains that Fred knew everything about what he was doing. Chip says they need proof. Bradley reminds him that he said he had someone who could coroborate Fred's complicity. He tells them it's Hannah, that they slept together in Vegas. All Chip knew about it was that Fred pushed him to promote Hannah and fire Jared. He thought it was odd at the time, but didn't question it. Mitch says questioning it would ahve been hard.

Marlon knows Alex has worked with Chip for a long time and it'll be hard. Marlon thinks people outgrow each other sometimes. He thinks TMS needs to show a new Alex Levy.

Mitch thought what happened was just human, but realized later that Hannah was working him. Chip calls him out for painting himself as the victim there. Bradley asks if Hannah knows about this and Mitch says he only said someone was doing a story on it, not Bradley's name. Bradley says it's not ready for air. It's too important to rush it. Chip reminds them that they don't know when the internal investigation is going to drop. When they do, Chip will never work again. Cory says it has to happen as soon as possible. All four of them know about this secret plot to take over the airwaves of TMS. And Alex knows and isn't happy. Every day that passes makes it more likely someone else will find out. It has to happen now or it won't happen and they'll all end up in trouble over it. Bradley says she has to talk to Hannah first. Unless she does, she won't do it.

Fred has dinner with Maggie. She heard about the evacuation for the wildfires. He says he got some crap from his neighbors about the piece TMS did on private firefighters, but they did okay. Maggie was impressed that Fred didn't try to stop that piece from airing. Fred says he's there to deliver news, not stop it. Maggie transitions into talking about a piece she's working on about UBA. Fred asks if she's stabbing him in the back. She says that's not her goal, but if she does, she doesn't want it to be a surprise. Fred says he's always supported her. She has supported him in turn. If it's not her, it'll be someone else. Stories like this one don't stay buried anymore. She's thrown it away before, but it has wlays come back. She'll give him a fair shake, but he's not interested in that. She makes it clear she's writing the peice. He can't do anything about it. History has already been written. She says she'll be in touch and leaves. Once she's gone, Fred calls Vicki and is angry that she didn't know Maggie was doing the story. He tells her to wrap up the investigation and report her findings by Tuesday morning.

Alex lies awake as her clock ticks over and her alarm goes off.

At the station, Greg, Isabella, and Sean brief Alex on her schedule. Alex says she needs a minute and goes to see Bradley in her dressing room. Alex says she just wanted to check in. Bradley has no answer to the question of how she's doing. Alex goes next to Chip and they're awkward with each other. Rena tells Chip Cory is calling, but Chip says he'll have to call back.

Chip gives Joel a story and looks over at Hannah. Joel tries to talk to Chip about the story, but Chip brushes him off.

Hannah stares at a text message from Maggie Brener, asking her to call. She gets a call from Derek Colby on her other phone. He's the EP of UBA 365 and he offers her a producer job in LA. It's an upper-level position. Hannah asks if she can call him back because she's in the middle of sometime. Claire comes in and tries to talk to Hannah, but Hannah ignores her.

Claire walks past Yanko and gives Bradley a thermos.

Mia goes over the show with Bradley. Bradley sees Hannah nearby talking to Isabella and excuses herself. She asks if she can talk to Hannah after the show in her dressing room. Bradley goes back to Mia and tells Mia it was just something personal. Bradley talks on the set and tells Daniel she's great when he asks. As Alex approaches the stage, Sean asks if she needs water and she says she doesn't. Daniel asks Alex if Bradley knows and Alex says she will soon. Julia says they're live in ten seconds. As Alex sits down, Isabella hands her revised copy. Julia counts them in and they start the show.

Hannah comes into Bradley's dressing room after the show. Bradley tells her about the interview. Hannah is shocked and upset that Bradley's been talking to Mitch about her. Hannah says she can't use her name. She knows something is happening with everything that's happened, with Maggie and the job offer. She'd like to leave New York, if she's being honest. She doesn't know why this is all happening right now and doesn't want any part of it. Bradley says UBA is trying to silence her and they have the opportunity to change that. Hannah says that's not her job. She's not there to service Bradley's agenda. She just wants to live her life and asks Bradley to leave her out of it.

Rena gets a call from Cory saying Fred wants to meet Chip at 4:00 PM. He thinks it's going to be about clearing Chip's schedule.

Julia tells Chip it wasn't that bad, but Chip says it was. He doesn't want them to be the sloppy show. He notices Rena hovering and she quietly tells him about the meeting. He tells people he wants to nip it in the bud because they're his guys. They're unsung heroes and he's sorry about that. He agrees to call it an off day. All is forgiven. He apologizes for yelling and tells them they have it because they're his guys. He thanks them and leaves.

Bradley gets a text from Hannah asking to talk to her.

Bradley asks what changed Hannah's mind and Hannah says she felt guilty thinking about other people in her position. Bradley appreciates it and asks if she can record the conversation, just for herself. Hannah says that's okay. Bradley asks hannah about her experience with Mitch and the aftermath. Hannah tells Bradley about the whole trip to Vegas. It felt good to have Mitch notice her. Then she talks about going to his hotel room. Then she says when they got back to work, he barely acknowledged her, which angered her. She went to Fred and told him what had happened. And Fred offered her a promotion, saying she had been doing good work even though he had no idea who she was. Bradley asks how this affected her job and the rest of her life. Hannah struggles, so Bradley asks if she's getting help processing this. Hannah says she doesn't need help because it's all over. She insists that she's fine and doesn't want to dwell on it. She wants to accept her new job before Bradley does the interview and get out of New York. Bradley tries to help her calm down. Hannah asks what she has to say to get Bradley to leave. Does she have to say she was violated, scared, and powerful? She thinks about it every day, hundreds of times. It's defined her. It's who she is now. It feels awful to live with this feeling that it's somehow your own fault. Bradley says she's worried about Hannah, but Hannah says she's tough. Bradley says she doesn't have to do the interview, but Hannah says she should. Bradley should do what she couldn't. She tells Hannah to call her anytime and assures her it wasn't her fault. Hannah tells her to leave. Once she's gone, Hannah starts to cry.

Fred asks Alex how she liked Marlon. Alex says he's good and passionate. Fred says Marlon loves Alex. Alex asks for a minute. It's a lot to get used to. Fred says Alex just needs to say the word and Marlon's deal will close. It'll be an adjustment, but Greg will still be her guy. She'll have the network's support. She'll even get co-anchor approval in writing. She wins. Alex wishes she could blink the last three weeks away, but Fred says Chip made his bed and so did Mitch. Alex still wants to save Chip's job somehow, but Fred says there's no way. They have to send a message that that behavior won't be tolerated. They have to show there are consequences for their actions. He reminds Alex of the speech she gave after Mitch was fired. Alex reluctantly agrees. Fred also says not to feel bad about Bradley. Bradley will get a great payoff. Alex says whatever happens to Bradley for the rest of her life is on Alex. James peeks in to say that Fred's meeting starts at 4:00 and it's 3:55. Alex has to find a way to tell Bradley that Daniel's coming in. Fred tells her it'll be good for the show and for her.

Alex and Chip pass each other on the escalators. She looks at him briefly and then turns away.

Chip enters the office and Fred tells him to have a seat. Chip decides to stand instead. Fred tells him the investigation has finished and they found Chip responsive. They have pages of evidence to back it up. Chip says he must have had some great fiction writers put that together for him. Fred says it gives him no pleasure to do this. Chip is angry with him for lying about this. Fred tells him he's fired effective immediately. They'll annnounce it with the report tomorrow. James has a box for his things waiting outside. He should take what he can carry and they'll have the rest sent to him. Fred also tells him he's angry at Chip for not killing that private firefighter story when he said to. That fire came really close to his house. Chip says his show bought Fred that house and he'll burn it down if he wants to.

Chip goes out onto the street. He gets a call from Bradley, who has just talked to Hannah. She got enough for the interview. Chip tells her to do the interview tomorrow, early in the show. He'll let Mitch and Cory know. Bradley says she'll let Hannah know, becuase they offered her a job in LA.

Claire calls Hannah, but gets her voicemail. She leaves Hannah an apologetic message and asks her to meet. She says she'll be stalking Hannah until she accepts the apology.

Bradley listens to the tape of the interview. When someone knocks, she turns it off and lets Chip in. Bradley's nervous about the interview. Chip tells Bradley he wont' be at the studio tomorrow because he got fired, right before she called. She has to announce the results of the internal investigation on the air tomorrow and Marlon Tate will be taking over as EP. Bradley says they're done, but Chip says that it's still do-able. Bradley can't see how to do it without Chip's help. Chip says it's the right thing to do. They need to nail Fred and they'll have to pull the plug at some point during the broadcast and the investigation findings will never be released. Bradley realizes that's what it's about for him. Chip says no one's motives are pure. They argue over their motives and Chip says they have to do it. Bradley says it's just her because Chip got fired. Bradley's not even sure how she got the job and she feels like she's failing. She dragged Hannah into it and now Hannah's breaking. She's suffering and Mitch is telling the truth about Fred but no one cares.

Mitch asks Cory how they're doing this now that Chip has been fired. Cory says to leave that to him. He just has to show up. Cory's there to tell Mitch not to mess with Bradley. He saw the way Mitch spoke about Hannah playing him, so he's not convinced Mitch gets it. He doesn't want Mitch to get on air and pretend to be an innocent victim while accusing Bradley of being an enabler. Mitch makes a joke about it, but Cory says to think of tomorrow as the first stop on his road to redemption. If he wants that, he needs to change things. Cory's never been a fan of Mitch. But Mitch is smart. He could find himself a new audience. He needs not to blow his first show back. Cory says if everything goes right, he'll be in position to help Mitch out with that. Tomorrow is Mitch's shot. He has to confess or he's done.

Hannah says she's very interested in coming to LA to meet about the job. After she hangs up, she stands still on the street before starting to walk again.

Mitch wakes to his alarm going off at 3:30 AM.

Chip meets at a cafe with Rena and asks her to sneak Mitch into the studio without Alex knowing. She thinks Chip has lost it. Chip explains what they're trying to do with Fred. He also advises her to look for a new job, but she's already been looking for years. Rena asks how it's happening and Chip tells her the plan. Rena asks if he trusts Cory and he says he has to. Rena says she'll have to trust him, too. Chip is sorry he had to drag Rena in, but she would have been insulted if he hadn't.

Claire buzzes up to Hannah's apartment, but gets no answer. She goes inside the building when someone else comes out. She goes up to Hannah's apartment, where the landlord is calling police. The landlord asks Claire if she knew Hannah. Claire enteres the apartment and sees Hannah's body on the floor, pale and covered in vomit.

At TMS, Fred introduces Marlon to the crew. He tells them all how Chip was aware of Mitch's behavior and allowed it to continue. As he talks, Bradley gets a text from Claire asking her to pick up her phone as it's urgent. Fred says they can all feel safe working under Marlon and turns it over to him. Marlon was one a PA on Rise and Shine Seattle. He's done everything they'll be asked to do. Bradley steps away to answer Claire's call as he continues talking about his career. Claire struggles to speak as she tells Bradley that Hannah's dead from an overdose. There was no note, so it might have been an accident. Claire doesn't know. Bradley tells Claire to do what she has to do.

Bradley returns to the set and walks up to the front, interrupting Marlon's speech. She tells everyone that Hannah has died. Everyone is shocked and horrified. Peopel start crying and hugging each other. Fred calls for them to take a moment to honor and remember Hannah. Bradley walks out past Alex, who has just walked in. Greg tells her he has bad news. She thinks it's about Chip's firing, but he tells her that's not it and pulls her aside.

Bradley goes back to her dressing room and calls Chip to tell him the interview is off because Hannah died. She thinks it's their fault. She can't do it. He understands and says he'll let Mitch know.

Alex cries in her dressing room. Bradley comes in with her bag. She tells Alex she doesn't know where she's going, but she's leaving. She tells Alex what she was going to do and tells her what happened between Mitch and Hannah. She wanted to blow up the network to get the best story. She pushed Hannah even though she knew Hannah was struggling. It opened up something Hannah couldn't handle and now she's dead. Bradley is leaving. Alex is horrified and follows Bradley out onto the street. She tells Bradley it's not her fault and not to take it on herself. She had the best intentions, but Bradley says that doesn't matter and part of her intention was to blow Alex up with all of this. Alex says she probably deserves that. Alex tells Bradley what she did, with going to Fred to get Bradley fired. Alex begs Bradley not to leave. Alex says she didn't know about Hannah or Mitch or Fred. Alex continues begging her to return. A tourist asks to take a picture with Alex and does so even when she says no. She takes his camera from him. She yells at him that he's not available to her just because she's on television. No means no. Bradley stops Alex and tells her she'll go back upstairs if Alex gives the tourist his phone back. Bradley tells Alex it's just for today.

Marlon asks Bardley and Alex where they've been. Greg whisks Alex away after Bradley assures her she'll stay. Marlon says he's arranged for grief counselors to be available for them. Once he's gone, Bradley tells Cory she's done. He tells her she can't just leave. She has evidence against the head of the company. She can't stay pure by moving on. The next job isn't going to be better. She should stay and fight.

Claire runs through the city.

Mitch goes to leave his apartment, but Chip stops him and says they're not doing it. He tells her that Hannah is dead from an overdose. Chip then punches Mitch. They start fighting and Chip admits that he's the one who leaked the story to the Times. After a struggle, Chip gets up and walks out. After he's gone, Mitch starts crying.

Claire is at the studio. She finds Yanko, who stops when he sees her. She runs to him and hugs him. He says he's sorry.

Chip leaves a message for Alex telling her they were investigation Mitch but they were getting rid of her. He had to leak it to the Times to save her job. He knew they'd have to keep her if they had to get rid of Mitch. He needed her around. It was always for her.

Alex thanks Bradley for staying as they walk to set. As they step onto the stage, Julia says they're live in 30 seconds. Marlon tells Alex and Bradley he can't imagine how hard it is for them and he appreciates their professionalism. He wants them to do this one for Hannah. Alex throws her drink in his face and tells him to get out of her face. Isabella takes her empty mug away and gives her new copy as Valerie does her final touch-ups. Bradley asks if she's okay and she says she is. She stops a stagehand from mopping up the water, saying no one cares. They just have to do this. Julia counts them in and they start the show. Alex tries to do the show as normal, but she can't speak, so she has Bradley take over. Alex gets up and walks off the set. As Bradley continues the story, Alex asks the camera operator his name. He says it's Joe and Alex says she's never met Joe in 15 years.

Backstage, Donny asks Marlon what he wants to do. Marlon tells Greg to get Alex back in her chair. Greg asks Alex to sit down, but she refuses.

Alex interrupts Bradley's story and says they haven't been honest with the audience. She's not talking about the news. She's talking about themselves.

Marlon tells them to get ready to go to tape early.

Alex says they don't tell the audience everything. Not even a little. The set is a lot different from how it appears. Some bad things are going on there. Bradley asks if they're doing it. If so, they need to tell the truth quickly because they're about to shut the feed off.

Marlon tells Donny to roll the tape, but Cory tells him not to do that.

Alex and Bradley report on Fred's actions.

In his office, Fred is watching and starts cursing. He runs to James's desk.

Marlon tries to force Donny to roll the tape, but Cory and Mia hold him back.

Alex admits her own fault in the whole situation. She never called out the actions that she should have. Bradley talks specifically about Mitch's actions during the Vegas trip.

Hannah's body is zipped into a body bag.

Rena sees Fred in the hallway and runs to warn them. Mia and Cory lock the doors to the control room, keeping Fred out as he bangs on the door.

Alex reports on how Fred's actions created a toxic work environment.

Lizzy watches the show in shock.

Alex says she saw how it affected the women and never stopped it because she was succeeding.

Chip stands out on the street crying.

Alex apologizes to everyone, but one person in particular she was unfair to. She says she'll do everything she can to make it right to them. Bradley says the abuse of power and corruption needs to end. They can't accept a culture of silence anywhere. Alex has the camera pull in closer. She says as many Fred Micklens are out there, there are more Alexes and Bradleys. Bradley encourages them to get loud, but her next statement is cut off as the broadcast ends.

Chip sees the broadcast get cut off as he stands in the middle of the street.

Mitch sits alone at his dining room table.

## Cast

### Starring

* Jennifer Aniston as Alex Levy
* Reese Witherspoon as Bradley Jackson
* Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison
* Mark Duplass as Chip Black
* Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Hannah Shoenfeld
* Nestor Carbonell as Yanko Flores
* Karen Pittman as Mia Jordan
* Bel Powley as Claire Conway
* Desean K. Terry as Daniel Henderson
* Jack Davenport as Jason Craig (credit only)
* Steve Carell as Mitch Kessler

### Guest Starring

* Janina Gavankar as Alison Namazi
* Tom Irwin as Fred Micklen

### Special Guest Stars

* Marcia Gay Harden as Maggie Brener
* Hayes MacArthur as Marlon Tate

### Co-Starring

* Oona Roche as Lizzy
* Ian Gomez as Greg
* Victoria Tate as Rena
* Augustus Prew as Sean
* Hannah Leder as Isabella
* Andrea Bendewald as Valerie
* Shari Belafonte as Julia
* Eli Bildner as Joel
* Amber Friendly as Layla
* Katherine Ko as Dhillon
* Michelle Meredith as Lindsey
* Joe Pacheco as Bart
* Christian Zuber as James
* Lisa London as Landlord
* Andrew Bridges as Male Tenant
* Kelli Dawn Hancock as Woman at Bar
* Tommy Buck as Tourist
* Josh James Sloan Jr. as Camera Operator

## Notes and Trivia

* At the end of the episode, a shot shows Mitch reacting to UBA pulling the "plug" on the show. However, this puts him in his house on the other side of New York, rather where he was in his apartment moments before.
* When Alex asks Bradley to take over the news, the teleprompter mistankely shows the script. (Long silence Bradley) Alex: "Can you take over this one?"