That Woman

Bradley and Alex do their first show together

**That Woman** is the fourth episode of the first season of *The Morning Show*.

## Short Summary

TMS experiences severe growing pains as it embarks on a new era.

## Full Summary

Alex starts the show and introduces Bradley, who isn't sitting beside her. She calls out to Bradley, who steps out onto the stage on Mia's cue. Alex welcomes her and they sits back down. They both talk about how excited they are to be working together. They say they felt an instant connection when they met.

Fred is watching and is still angry at Alex.

Cory watches from the gym and says it feels bland, but Cecily tells him that's just the show.

Alex says they have a surprise for Bradley. They have Bradley's mom on a video call. Alex asks Sandy about Bradley's childhood.

In West Virginia, Sandy is reading from her own cue cards. She talks about Bradley being helpful and smart as a child.

*Sandy cooks food in the kitchen.*

Sandy says it was such a happy time for their family.

*Sandy tells young Bradley to get herself together or she'll end up sucking dicks under the promenade.*

Alex says Sandy put together a video of Bradley growing up and they roll it. As it plays, Bradley expresses how the introduction is making her feel. She says the script they showed her for her mother reflected some version of reality. Alex tells her it was flat, but just go with what they wrote. As the video ends, Alex and Bradley start talking again. Bradley goes off-script to say her childhood wasn't always as great as it seemed. She doesn't want women watching to think you have to have a perfect childhood to be successful. Bradley admits she did stupid things at times. She got suspended multiple times. She cost her track team a championship because she had alcohol on her. She had an abortion when she was 15. Everyone watching from off-set is horrified. Bradley pauses for a moment.

Fred is angry at Bradley.

Cory is invigorated by what Bradley's said.

Sandy and Hal are shocked that Bradley had an abortion.

Alex says that's a lot for a 15 year old. Bradley says it was. But that's what she means. Life is hard sometimes.

Chip calls for them to go to weather.

Bradley continues, saying people get through things. Life isn't always sunshine and roses.

Fred calls for someone to get Cory and Chip on the phone.

Bradley continues talking.

Cecily tells Cory that Twitter is blowing up.

Donny asks if they should cut it for the west coast feed. Mia says the women's groups will skewer them if they do that. Chip tells him to leave it in, but cut to Yanko immediately.

Bradley says she wanted to be transparent with America and everyone on the show. Alex thanks her for opening up as they notice people moving around the set.

Yanko starts his weather report.

Chip tells Mia to find things from later in the week to fill the time. He tells Layla and Joel to re-work things to make it work. Mia thinks maybe Bradley just slipped up because it's her first day, but Chip says it was deliberate. They're cutting Bradley's air time so as not to give her the opportunity to say anything else. Rena comes in and says Fred is on the phone and wants to talk to him. Chip tells her to tell Fred to go fuck himself.

Bradley tries to talk to Alex, but Alex just shakes her head. When they go to commercial, Alex asks if Bradley fucked up or if it was intentional. Bradley doesn't know.

Yanko says Bradley's a category five, but Claire thinks she's amazing.

Bradley gets lots of looks as she returns to her dressing room. She lies down on the floor until Mia comes in. After seeing Bradley, Mia says she'll be back in a bit so they can talk.

Fred is angry. He tells Cory advertisers are already pulling out. Cory needs to fix it because it's his failed experiment. Fred said Bradley was untested and unvetted and he was right. Cory just laughs as Fred rants about Bradley.

Alex listens to a report about Bradley's actions as she rides home. She asks the driver to turn it off.

Bradley returns to her room and tells her mom over the phone that what she said was the truth. Sandy's upset that Bradley never told her she could have had a grandchild. She would have raised it. Bradley points out what kind of job she did with Bradley and Hal. She couldn't bring a child into their home. Sandy hangs up on Bradley, who starts crying.

**Tuesday**

Bradley's alarm goes off at 3:30 AM and she gets up. She checks her phone and sees many hateful tweets about her.

Bradley gets into the car next to Alex. Bradley asks if this is where she takes her out and shoots her. Alex says it's worse. She's taking Bradley back to the studio, where she'll get back on that horse and do the show like yesterday never happened. Bradley says this job is really messed up. Alex says all jobs are like that. That's life. Alex has to make it work because she picked Bradley and everything is on the line for her. She can't let this be her. They have to win this. Bradley says Alex can escape. America doesn't know Alex chose Bradley. Alex says people on the inside know. She would rather die than let them win. Bradley says she'll try.

On air, Bradley addresses the viewers directly, apologizing for discussing her abortion so causally and promising to work to earn their forgiveness, trust, and support going forward.

Fred doesn't want Bradley doing the Mitch victim interview after what she did. Chip points out that no one is talking about Mitch now because of what Bradley did. Fred doesn't like that another scandal has pushed the old one out. UBA has a reputation and Bradley has destroyed it. Alex calmly says that Bradley will be doing the Ashley Brown interview. They've already run the promos. Bradley will do the interview well. They can't look like they just changed their minds. They have to stay bold. Fred thinks they can respond to what Bradley did by taking the interview away, saying it will look like someone's actually running things. Cory says half the country hates Bradley, but the other half loves her. If they pull the interview, the half that loves her will spread their message all over the internet. They'll paint them as silencing a woman for talking about her uterus. Woke Twitter will never forgive them. Chip says they've already course corrected and they need to let it work. Advertisers will come back. Cory says they need to calm down and get on the ride. Bradley will save them. Alex says that's why she picked her and says they're welcome.

An ad plays for Bradley's interview with Ashley.

Chip tells Mia Bradley's still doing the interview, but he wants to prepare a contingency plan. Rena tells Chip that the investigator they hired has arrived. Mia wants to delay that, but Chip says they can't. They just need to be careful. They need to have each other's backs so they can survive as more comes out about Mitch. They need to protect the show.

Vicki Manderly introduces herself to the crew. She's heading the investigation into Mitch Kessler and will be speaking to all of them individually. She doesn't want them to be scared and assures them it's all confidential. She just wants to understand the culture that allowed Mitch's behavior to go unchecked so they can work together to make it a safe workplace for everyone. Their help is appreciated. Chip says they're there to help.

Yanko says there was gossip about Mitch, but never let himself believe it was true. Vicki asks if he thinks it's an environment that condones sexual misconduct or if he knows of any. He says no.

A reporter from ENL talk about Bradley. She was hired as a conservative voice, but now they're just using her to push their liberal agenda. Another reporter questions that.

Yanko and Claire watch the report from bed and Claire rolls her eyes. She says they're completing missing the point. Bradley's neither conservative nor liberal. Yanko says she's a performance artist. She's controversial, which Claire thinks is great. Claire starts to kiss Yanko, but he stops her. He asks if he did those things to her, like what Mitch did. Claire is offended at the implication. Yanko mentions his conversation with Vicki, in which she talked about things that sound like them. Claire tells Yanko her family could buy and sell him and his entire family tree a dozen times over. Her father has nothing to do with UBA and could still have Yanko fired with one phone call. If there's a power imbalance, it's the one she has over him and she doesn't plan to stop taking advantage of him anytime soon. She starts kissing him again.

**Wednesday**

Bradley's alarm goes off at 3:30 AM and she gets up.

Alex finishes a segment and teases the next one when they return. Bradley then talks about her upcoming segment interviewing the author of the newest "ya" sensation. She pauses for a moment, laughs, and corrects that she meant YA sensation. She's so tired right now she can barely see straight.

Everyone backstage smiles as Bradley continues.

Alex says they need to sleep tonight so they can both be ready for Kelly Clarkson on their next show. Bradley's the biggest Kelly Clarkson fan, so she may not sleep tonight. Julia signals for them to wrap it up, so they finish up quickly.

Anti-choice protestors hold signs and chant outside the studio while pro-choice protestors stand on the other side with their own signs and chants. Sean and Rena are horrified that they're not going away. Sean thinks Bradley will be the death of them, but Rena won't let that happen. They enter the studio.

Bart tells Vicki he never saw or heard anything. He asks if someone said he did.

Alison says she never slept with Mitch. That Page Six article was lying. She says Mitch was a flirt, a good one. She is too, to be fair. And so is Alex.

Claire says she's only been at the show for 18 months, but everything she's observed has been aboveboard.

Alison liked having Mitch around. He was fun and she misses him.

Alex watches a news report about students in Mississippi walking out of class to show support for Bradley.

In her own room, Bradley watches the same report.

**Thursday**

Bradley's alarm goes off at 3:30 AM and she gets up.

Kelly Clarkson performs on The Morning Show. Kelly invites Bradley up onto the stage with her, telling her she loves her and stands with her. Bradley sings along with Kelly.

Fred learns their numbers are improving, especially with 18-34 year olds.

Bradley ends the show and tells everyone to stay tuned for The Twist.

Hannah says the culture was fine and everyone loved Mitch. He made everyone feel like family.

Nicky doesn't have a lot to say about Mitch. He was king of the world and knew it. Nicky saw how he talked to people and how he hugged women. He thought he was untouchable.

Cory goes to Bradley's dressing room excited to see her. He just stopped in to say hello. Bradley wonders if he's there to tell her to behave herself, but that's not it. She's killing it, but she's not sure that's true. She's preparing for her interview with Ashley. Cory asks if it's weird to be in Mitch's old dressing room. Bradley says sometimes it is. Cory wonders what happened in there. Bradley wonders, too. Cory also wonders who knew. He leaves Bradley to her prepping.

Chip goes to Alex's dressing room. Alex stops him before he can say anything. She's fine that Kelly Clarkson liked Bradley better. Chip says the buzz around Bradley will die down, but Alex doesn't want that. It's great. Alex made her. Bradley's exceeding her expectations. Alex would like some credit, but she can't let that get to her. Chip's proud of her. Then he tells her that New York Magazine called and Maggie Brener wants to do a feature piece on Bradley. Alex says that's good. It takes the focus off Mitch being gone.

Vicki clarifies that Mitch seduced Mia. Mia says it didn't feel that way at the time. They had an easy working relationship and it became very attractive. Then Mitch started talking about his marital issues. He was lonely. So was she. Their world was the job. And he let her in. He created intimacy where she felt seen and respected. She admired Mitch and he knew that. They didn't sleep together until right before the election. Vicki asks how long it lasted and Mia says about a year before Mia ended it because it got too complicated. Vicki asks if there were repercussions and Mia says no. Vicki understands why Mia spoke to the Times, but Mia says it wasn't her. Vicki assumed it was because she's the one who made a complaint to HR a week before his termination. Mia says she made the complaint because she couldn't stand watching Mitch report on MeToo anymore. She wanted that to end, but she didn't intend for him to get fired.

Vicki tells Fred that no one has implicated him or the show yet. Just Mitch. She needs to conduct her investigation, speak to everyone, and find out where he's vulnerable. He's not out of the woods yet. He asks her to keep him posted.

A commercial plays advertising the interview with Ashley again. Bradley doesn't like the difference between what the network is selling in that ad and what she's actually prepping for. Mia says they need eyeballs, but Bradley doesn't want to disappoint them. It could backfire. Mia says it's a strong interview. Ashley is ready. They've done great work. Bradley says it feels too safe, too soft. They had a flirty dynamic and Mitch pushed it too far. It never crossed the line, but Ashley felt the pressure and quit. It's not nothing. It's awful, but Bradley feels like she's pushing someone else's agenda. Mia says she's helping tell Ashley's truth. Bradley says it's been vetted by so many people trying to minimize damage to the network. They'd never let it happen if she implicated the network or anyone but Mitch. Mia says the interview is still important. Ashley's experience is common and it's relatable. It'll mean something to the audience. Mia says Bradley's had a long week, but she's done great. She tells Bradley just to bring it home.

**Friday**

Bradley's alarm goes off at 3:30 AM and gets gets up.

Cory enters the control room. He wanted to catch the show live. Mia asks Chip if he knew Cory was coming and he says he had no clue.

Bradley says when they come back, she'll be sitting down with Ashley Brown. Once they're clear, Alex tells Bradley she'll be great. She just needs to stick to the script. Alex is with her the whole time.

Claire leads Ashley into the studio and Bradley greets her. They sit down and Julia counts them in.

Ashley explains that she was working with the sound department, putting mics on people before they went on. Mitch would flirt with her as she put his mic on. She liked the attention at first and even flirted back, but didn't intend for it to take the turn it did. Ashley explains that in 2009, there was a big production meeting. Everyone was there. She was next to Mitch, which he'd ensured would happen. In the meeting, she felt a hand on her thigh. His hand lingered and then squeezed her thigh. It felt sexual. It was exciting, but also shocking and overwhelming and confusing. She didn't react in the moment, but knows she should have. It was so public, she didn't have time to think. So she did nothing, which opened a door. The flirty thing they had increased and became consuming. She couldn't focus on her job. All she could think about was what Mitch would say. She knew what he wanted and she wondered if she should give it to him or what would happen if she didn't. She never did, but she was still scared. She felt like her career was in his hands. It got to be too much, so she quit. Bradley asks if she ever told anyone. She says she never did. Bradley asks why she didn't. She says she felt embarrassed. She didn't want Mitch to know she was complaining. Bradley asks if she felt it would get back to Mitch.

Chip comments that that question wasn't vetted.

Ashley fumbles as Mia asks Bradley over her earpiece where she's going. Bradley tells Ashley she knows it's hard to be there with people she used to work with. Bradley asks if there was something about the culture that made it impossible to complain.

Everyone watching off-set is shocked.

Ashley says she didn't say anything because she didn't want anyone to know. Bradley says people had to know Mitch was flirting with her, as he'd done it publicly. Ashley's not talking about flirting. She's talking about what happened.

Chip asks Mia if Bradley hinted at this during prep and tells Mia to tell her to stop. Mia goes to do that, but Cory tells Mia not to stop it.

Bradley assures Ashley she's safe and she doesn't want her to say anything she's not comfortable with. But the truth matters.

Alex tells Bradley to pull it back, but Bradley ignores her and pulls her earpiece out, then tells Ashley her truth could help so many other women.

Rena comes in and tells Chip Fred's on the phone, but Chip waves it off.

Ashley admits that she and Mitch crossed the line a few times in his dressing room. He would call her in, they would start kissing, and she would perform oral sex on him.

Cory ignores a call from Fred.

Ashley says Mitch never forced her, but she didn't know how not to go through with it. She never told anyone, but everyone knew.

Fred's assistant tells him Cory's not picking up, angering Fred.

Ashley says she could feel people she respected looking at her differently, losing respect for her. It was hard. She felt like she was watching herself from the outside. She saw herself how everyone else saw her, as a slut sleeping with Mitch to help her career. She didn't recognize herself. Mitch did that to her, branded her. Then she was drowning and no one threw her a lifeline. She was alone even surrounded by people. Bradley thanks her for telling her truth.

As the show goes to commercial, everyone watching in the studio is stunned.

Bradley asks Ashley if she can give her a hug and offers her a tissue.

Alex asks Bradley what that was. She brought Bradley in and bet on her. What she did was reckless. She put the show and everyone who works there in jeopardy. Bradley asks if Alex knew about what was going on with Mitch. Alex is offended that Bradley would ask and doesn't answer.

Cory tells Chip the interview was excellent and he can't wait for the rest of the show.

Bradley walks off the set.

## 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 (credit only)

### Guest Starring

* Janina Gavankar as Alison Namazi
* Tom Irwin as Fred Micklen
* Brett Butler as Sandy Jackson

### Co-Starring

* Joe Tippett as Hal
* Ian Gomez as Greg
* Victoria Tate as Rena
* Augustus Prew as Sean
* Hannah Leder as Isabella
* Shari Belafonte as Julia
* Joe Marinelli as Donny
* Amber Friendly as Layla
* Katherine Ko as Dhillon
* Eli Bildner as Joel
* Michelle Meredith as Lindsey
* David Magidoff as Nicky
* Christian Zuber as Fred's Assistant
* Natalia Warner as Cecily
* Ahna O'Reilly as Ashley
* Roman Mitichyan as Sam
* Harley Graham as Young Bradley
* Zakary Risinger as Young Hal
* Kelly Sullivan as Vicki
* Clayton Farris as Segment Producer
* Jack Armstrong as Beau
* Shelley Robertson as Janet
* Joe Pacheco as Bart
* Alexandra Fatovich as Michelle
* John Patrick Jordan as Tom
* Nikhil Pai as Research Expert
* Jaco Caraco as Guitarist
* Jason Halbert as Pianist