Monday Media on Tuesday - 9/14/21

[owlmoose]

The Morning Show, Season 1: I actually watched the first episode of this way back in early 2020, the last time I left state (for my friend A's baby shower in Boston) -- we were looking for something to watch and decided to try this out. I might have kept going, but we didn't have Apple+ at the time and it wasn't worth getting it just for that. But our weekly TV night group watched the first season awhile ago and are planning to continue with the second as soon as it drops, so T and I decided to catch up. We binged the last four episodes of season one tonight, and boy was that a lot. I've been trying to decide whether the show wants us to feel any sympathy for Mitch -- an emotion I have been rather unable to conjure up. He kept going on about how he isn't a real predator, not like Harvey Weinstein and the Martin Short character (who seems to be a literal monster), and his denials and self-righteousness just made my skin crawl. Then we hit the flashback episode and it turns out I was right. Maybe Hannah never said the literal word "no", but I mean. That scene was not subtle. And yet Mitch still kept insisting that he was "played" and she "used" him, and I'm still not sure whether he actually believes that or is just very good at lying to himself. Would he have confessed in the interview as Cory commanded him to? Hard to say. Fred is also completely irredeemable and I found myself wishing that Chip had tossed him through the glass and onto 5th Avenue. Previews would suggest that Cory's coup was a success, so let's hope for that.

As for the other main players in the TMS drama -- Alex, Chip, and Cory -- I find things to like and admire about all of them, and in other ways it's frustrating. I hate that it took Hannah's literal death to open Alex's eyes, but it seems like the awakening, when it came, was a true one. No matter what that report says, I think Alex and Chip have to be at least complicit in choosing to look the other way, and they probably should have both taken some sort of fall, even if Fred is ultimately the most responsible.

Bradley is an interesting character. I was afraid at first that they'd play her as the conservative white girl on The View, so I was glad they didn't go that direction at all, instead positioning her as an outsider who wants to tell truth to power. I like how Reese Witherspoon played her a lot, and her chemistry with Jennifer Aniston is excellent (and also with Billy Crudup).

From the preview, it looks like the next season will deal largely with race, definitely an issue that came into play in the first season but never took the spotlight. That could be excellent or it could be a trainwreck. I guess we'll have to see.

Comments

[bcholmes]

I had the same worries about the continued inclusion of Mitch in the story line: I kept fearing that they were trying to set up some kind of redemption arc for him. But I ultimately came to the conclusion that the story couldn't have made some of the strong points about sexual assault it was making if they'd shuffled him out of the story sooner. So I don't think the show is asking us to feel sympathy for him; I just think they're showing us a predator who seems likeable (which, let's face it, a lot of people get stuck on: "they can't be a predator; they're one of my closest friends!").

I also continued to be interested in the way that Alex was pretty unlikable at certain points in the story. I think it's rare for a star to play a leading role that makes them seem unlikable.

[owlmoose]

I also continued to be interested in the way that Alex was pretty unlikable at certain points in the story. I think it's rare for a star to play a leading role that makes them seem unlikable.

Definitely. Jennifer Aniston is doing a great job, and it's to her credit that she hasn't shied away from Alex's darker aspects.

I had a chat with my TV night friends about the show last night, where we talked through our thoughts on Mitch some more. We all agreed that we don't feel like they did any sort of redemption arc in the first season, and we hope he's not being set up for one in the second. I am on board for an Alex redemption arc, though, and also for Chip if he sticks around.