{"id":70974,"date":"2025-09-18T05:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T05:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/70974\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T05:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T05:47:08","slug":"iran-ai-and-bradleys-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/70974\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran, AI and Bradley’s Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSPOILER ALERT: <\/strong>This story contains spoilers for the Season 4 premiere of \u201cThe Morning Show<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Morning Show\u201d is back, and with it comes a whole new web of scandals and crises.<\/p>\n

\n\tTitled \u201cMy Roman Empire,\u201d the Season 4 premiere begins with Alex (Jennifer Aniston), Stella (Greta Lee) and UBN\u2019s new sports chief Ben (William Jackson Harper) presenting to the \u201cTMS\u201d staff about how the network will use AI in its Olympics coverage in order to translate Alex\u2019s reports into countless languages. Various staff members, unsurprisingly, bristle at the announcement, and voice their fears that they\u2019ll lose their jobs to AI, noting that they\u2019ve already lost more than half of their team to post-merger layoffs after UBA and NBN became one company. But Alex promises that AI won\u2019t replace any of them, and Stella says that layoffs are over. The staff does not seem to believe it.<\/p>\n

\n\tLater, Alex goes to tape an interview with Roya Nazeri (Ava Lalezarzadeh), who is set to compete for the Iranian fencing team at the Olympics. But before they start rolling, her father, Arsham (Alain Washnevsky), passes Alex a note that reads, \u201cWE WANT TO DEFECT.\u201d So once they\u2019re on camera, Alex asks a political question that she knows will get Roya\u2019s Iranian government handlers to stop the interview. As the handlers argue with Ben, Alex takes Roya aside to make sure she also wants to defect. When she confirms, Alex texts her personal driver and sends Roya to meet him in the SUV via freight elevator, then triggers a fire alarm. Amid the chaos, she finds Arsham and sends him down the elevator as well. The handlers begin to run in search of Roya and Arsham and catch up to them on the street, but Arsham manages to fight them off as they grab the car door. The handlers get into their own car and intentionally collide with the SUV, but Roya and Arsham successfully escape.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tAlex, Ben, Stella, Mia (Karen Pittman) and new UBN board president Celine (Marion Cotillard) have a meeting shortly afterwards, during which Stella admonishes Alex for assisting the defection, and reveals that it\u2019s not Roya the Iranian government cares about: It\u2019s Arsham, who works for Iran\u2019s nuclear program \u2014 which heightens the business risk for UBN, as they promised the Olympic Committee apolitical coverage of the Games. \u201cIf we lose the Olympics, we lose the network,\u201d Celine says. Stella orders the team not to speak to anyone about what happens, and tells Mia to reassign Alex\u2019s Olympics prep interviews to Chris (Nicole Beharie). When Mia says that Chris is already too busy, Stella tells her to take her off of \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d temporarily.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd who better to fill in than Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon)? After turning herself in to the FBI for covering up her brother Hal\u2019s (Joe Tippett) involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, Bradley left the network to teach college journalism in West Virginia. The FBI agreed not to prosecute her or publicize her own crimes in exchange for information she provided them on Paul Marks (Jon Hamm), so the public story is that she left the network solely because of what her brother did. No one knows the truth besides Alex, Paul, Hal and Cory (Billy Crudup) \u2014 not even and Stella and Mia. So they invite her back, much to Alex\u2019s chagrin.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tErin Simkin<\/p>\n

\n\tAt first, Bradley turns down the offer, but then she gets an anonymous tip that people and animals are being killed by an environmental crisis that the network covered up. She decides to take the job so she can go back to New York to investigate. She and Alex get immediately get into an argument upon her return, with Alex calling Bradley out for coming back without telling the truth about her Jan. 6 involvement, and Bradley retorting about how Alex never publicly reporting on Paul\u2019s crimes.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety spoke to \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d director and executive producer Mimi Leder<\/a> about \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d staff\u2019s messy moral dilemmas.<\/p>\n

\t\tThis show is always ripped from the headlines, and the headlines move really fast these days. What were the most pressing issues on your mind as you and the other executive producers began thinking about Season 4?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is the power season. This is the view from the glass cliff. It\u2019s all these women with power, and when a company is on the edge of failing, can women do it better? Can they run a company without succumbing to the model of the patriarchy? Everybody wants a seat at the table in this season, and we explore what that means. This season is very much about the truth. What is the truth? Deep fakes, lies \u2014 we get into all of it. And as we were filming, we were doing things that hadn\u2019t happened yet in the world, and then all of a sudden they would happen.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe news cycle is so fast. You can\u2019t keep up with it, so you have to pick a time period. We decided to do right up to the Olympics. Biden\u2019s still President. Trump\u2019s a-comin\u2019. Journalists are under threat from deep fakes. There\u2019s hostile regimes around the world; there\u2019s the threat to the First Amendment; there\u2019s the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. We\u2019re in an unprecedented era. We do everything very character-driven. How would Bradley approach a situation? How would Alex approach a situation?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tErin Simkin<\/p>\n

\t\tAlex promises the staff of \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d that they won\u2019t be replaced by AI, but given the trajectory of the technology, that\u2019s a little hard to believe. Do you think she thinks she\u2019s telling the truth when she says it?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, I think Alex does mean it. She does hope that no one will be replaced by AI. And whether it\u2019s true or not \u2014 it isn\u2019t. AI is replacing humans, and it is really scary. The staff at UBN has every right to feel they are going to be replaced, but I think it\u2019s going to be really hard to replace human beings. And the human soul and human intuition and instincts. I mean, how do you replace that?<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat about Stella? She\u2019s more business savvy than Alex. Is she planning to replace people with AI?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI think she thinks AI is a mirror, and it tells us who we are. And that\u2019s kind of scary, but they have to keep up. She\u2019s very into AI. She wants it to work. She believes it can work, so she\u2019s going for it. She\u2019s trying to save her job and make a statement, and be the CEO with a platform. And that is her platform.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe hopes people will not be replaced. But maybe she wants some of her staff to be replaced, you know what? I would say: Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

\t\tThe Iranian defectors\u2019 escape might be the most intense scene \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d has ever done. How did you approach directing it?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI was really excited. I\u2019ve done several films that have a lot of action in it, but it was a challenge to do it on a TV schedule. We shot the action sequence in one evening and prepared it very diligently. An action sequence always works when someone\u2019s life is at stake, or if there\u2019s a human cost to the narrative. And in this case, the Iranians were defecting and running for their lives, and you were with them emotionally. I always start with: What are they feeling? They hold that with them while they\u2019re defecting.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the most important shots in that sequence to me wasn\u2019t in the script. When they get in the car and they\u2019re escaping, I went into slow-motion and did a look between Alex and the father. It was a look of \u201cthank you.\u201d I didn\u2019t want it to be sentimental. I just wanted it to be a recognition of a deep \u201cThank you. Here we go. Is it going to happen? Is it real? Is this the last time I\u2019m going to see anybody alive?\u201d I wanted to slow down and just have a human connection about what Alex had done for him and what he was doing for his daughter. You\u2019re doing all these action shots, but it was most important for me to get those emotional moments.<\/p>\n

\t\tAs the team discusses the defection, Stella mentions briefly Israel and Gaza as they relate to Iran. Will that topic come up any more this season?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was really hard for us to approach that at all, because we shot it months ago, and the the situation in Gaza and Israel was very different in the beginning than it is today. So we did not approach it throughout the season. That\u2019s something you could get really wrong because you\u2019re in a new cycle at that moment. Of course, we talked about it. It\u2019s certainly one of the most important and sad situations in the world today.<\/p>\n

\t\tBradley is usually framed as the truth-teller of the show, but now she\u2019s back at \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d with almost no one knowing about her Jan. 6 cover-up, and she\u2019s very upset when Alex calls her out for that. How does she feel about having secretly compromised her journalistic ethics? Does she really feel like she\u2019s taken care of it since she went to the FBI, or is there part of her that thinks Alex is right?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s truth in both. It\u2019s partly that she thinks Alex is right, and I also feel that Bradley needs to redeem herself from her sins of Season 3. Deep, deep down inside, she\u2019s an incredible journalist and truth-seeker. She\u2019s there because she has a story to tell, and she\u2019s going to find a way to do it any way she can. And telling that story is part of her redemption.<\/p>\n

\t\tThe story she has to tell \u2014 the other UBN cover-up that\u2019s been leaked to her \u2014 what does it mean for that to be her redemption since it\u2019s not connected to Jan. 6? How do you redeem yourself without being transparent about what you did?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tYou redeem yourself by doing a story that is going to change the landscape of the world, of the country, by saving people\u2019s lives. You uncover a cover-up to make things right. That\u2019s what she has to do. That is redeeming. Doing what you do best: telling the truth, getting a story out there that can help save people\u2019s lives. That\u2019s redemption.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tErin Simkin<\/p>\n

\t\tAlex\u2019s ethics fluctuate a lot. After the misstep she made by dating Paul in Season 3, she tries to make it right by blocking his acquisition of UBA, but as Bradley points out, she never goes public with the information she has on him. How does she justify that?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAlex needs to prove that she can run UBN better than any man can. Alex is looking at how to navigate power in this new dynamic, and I think every single woman on this show faces certain challenges. And does she expose Paul? You\u2019ll just have to see.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd in terms of helping the Iranians, she\u2019s going on instinct. She\u2019s going from her heart. She had to do it because it was the right thing to do. She didn\u2019t think about it. And I love that about Alex.<\/p>\n

\t\tLike Alex, Cory is clearly going to struggle with Bradley\u2019s return. Do you think they\u2019ve had much contact over the years after the investigation into their relationship? Does he still have feelings for her, or is he angry at her?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tCory is all those things. I think he\u2019s angry. I think he loves her. I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve had much contact, and when you don\u2019t have contact and then you see each other for the first time in a long time, it just all comes right back. They have this unspoken desire for each other, even though he\u2019s certainly done her wrong in the past. It\u2019s fascinating.<\/p>\n

\t\tSpeaking of messy desires, let\u2019s talk about Stella. She\u2019s finally CEO after working so hard, but the business is vulnerable enough without her starting an affair with Celine, the board president\u2019s, husband (Aaron Pierre). What\u2019s going on with her? She\u2019s usually so much more put together.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a recipe for self-destruction, and it\u2019s very interesting to see someone who\u2019s so in control and so on top of her game do something that could end her career. It\u2019s just a very destructive character flaw that Stella carries. And I think we all have flaws. We don\u2019t all have affairs with people, but\u00a0she\u2019s walking a tightrope. We\u2019re going to see if she gets to the other side or if she falls.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for the Season 4 premiere of \u201cThe Morning Show.\u201d \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,19,17,48956,40664,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-70974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-mimi-leder","13":"tag-the-morning-show","14":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}