BILL GOODYKOONTZ

How season 2 of 'The Morning Show' on Apple TV+ wastes Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon

Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

In its first season “The Morning Show” was a great-looking, well-intentioned jumbled mess of a show, but as it hurtled toward its finale, it did get better.

Which is, of course, the direction you want. That offered hope for the second season, which streams on Apple TV+ beginning Sept. 17. It could go either way, continuing to get better or … not.

Having seen the entire second season, I can say that the show, with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell and a host of outstanding actors, does not improve on its first season. It doesn’t get worse, exactly, either.

It just gets gigantic, taking on the world and everything in it, puffing itself and its characters up — Aniston’s Alex in particular can’t seem to distinguish between attempts at personal growth and self-serving boorishness. (Which may be the point, but it’s annoying).

Is 'The Morning Show' meant to be serious?

The show goes so far over the top so many times in so many ways, you begin to wonder if maybe we’ve been watching it wrong all along.

Maybe it’s meant to be camp. Maybe we aren’t supposed to take it seriously. Maybe it’s funny!

Nah.

The subjects are too ripped-from-the-headlines topical. There’s not a note of satire in the entire season. So what happens?

What doesn’t?

If you haven’t seen “The Morning Show,” you should definitely catch up by watching the first season. It begins with Mitch (Carell), the co-host of the show-within-a-show of the title at the fictional UBA Network, fired for sexual misconduct.

That leaves his co-host, Alex, without a TV partner. On an angry whim, she tells everyone Mitch’s replacement will be Bradley (Witherspoon), who has toiled in the fields of local news for years, with no national experience.

The first season navigated their relationship as it developed, to the extent that it did, while parsing out details of Mitch’s behavior, along with its impact on his victims. The season ended with Alex and Bradley commandeering the show and calling out management, with Alex acknowledging she hadn’t done enough. It ended with a blank screen as the network cut them off.

Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon share lunch in a scene from 'The Morning Show.'

'What happens in season 2'

As season two begins, Alex is off in the hinterlands, chopping wood (!). Bradley is hosting “The Morning Show” with new co-host Eric Nomani (Hasan Minhaj). Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup, the best thing about the first season) is now running the place.

An opening in news has a domino effect that, of course, leads to Alex’s return, to not exactly universal approval. (They didn’t bring Aniston back to split logs all season.) She brings back her producer, Chip (Mark Duplass), and it’s all perfectly awkward.

Meanwhile, Mitch is in exile in Italy, camped out in a fabulous villa. He meets Paola (Valeria Golino), who is making a documentary. Paola knows who he is, but Mitch is wary as he tries to sort out what he’s done.

As all of this is going on, Maggie (Marcia Gay Harden), the hard-nosed reporter, is about to come out with her tell-all book about the drama at “The Morning Show,” and it’s supposed to contain some bombshells. It doesn’t take a detective, or an attentive TV watcher for that matter, to figure out what.

There’s more. During the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration Bradley and Eric are hosting someone coughs in the background, and there are reports of a virus in China, and you can guess where this is going, too. Maybe. Probably.

Oh of course you can. Why not use a pandemic that has killed more than 4 million people around the world as a plot device for personal growth? Ugh.

It’s all too much, but it’s never enough — I left out the part about Bradley’s brother. And the internal drama of who will host the presidential debate (it’s 2020 in the show’s timeline). And probably six or seven other things, like Cory's pet project — UBA+, a streaming service. Or Julianna Margulies as host of a news show.

What’s maddening is that the acting is so good. Mostly. Aniston and Witherspoon are obviously talented, but they’re given so many ridiculous things to do. I won’t spoil it, but Aniston’s Alex gives what’s meant to be a heartfelt baring of her soul, and it’s just embarrassing. Not her performance, but what she’s given to say.

Witherspoon tones down the tough hick act, which is an improvement. The best new character is Greta Lee as Stella Bak, a tech whiz UBA hired (and bought her company). As much as I loved Crudup’s performance in the first season, it turns out that his character is best in smaller doses.

And yet, like so many good-looking messes, “The Morning Show” is hard to turn away from. It’s not hate-watching. It’s more a matter of incredulity. Surely they won’t do that, you think.

Oh yes, they will. And more. Good luck keeping up.

'The Morning Show'

New shows stream weekly on Apple TV+ beginning Sept. 17.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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