Oh, So That’s Why The Morning Show’s Cory Is the Way He Is — Read Recap

Bradley tags along on an unasked-for deep dive into the Ellison family dynamic in this week’s The Morning Show. I’d feel bad for her, except that her deliciously awkward day with Cory and someone from his foundational years provides some of the season’s most unhinged zaniness. Thanks for taking one for the team, Bradley! 

Back at UBA, Chip finds out that Alex and Paul are together… and the rest of the world isn’t going to be far behind. Read on for the highlights of “Strict Scrutiny.” 

MEET THE PARENT | Near the top of the episode, Leonard comes to Cory to demand that the network head “shut her down.” Though it’s not immediately clear which “her” he’s talking about, the woman in question — a political strategist — seems to be bringing some unwanted attention to the Paul Marks deal. A short while later, when Bradley swings by to apologize for the chaos that was Hal in the previous episode, Cory says he’s going to Connecticut for a quick meeting and cajoles her into coming with him. 

The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” is playing in the car as they pull up to a house, and Cory takes a moment to listen to the chorus before he unbuckles and gets out of the car. I love Bradley’s WTF? Face, which only gets WTF-ier when an older woman opens the door and Cory hugs her: The strategist is his mother, Martha.

Martha was Geraldine Ferraro’s press secretary, and she wows Bradley when she pins a Mondale/Ferraro button on her and declares her an honorary campaign member. But Martha is a fan of Bradley’s, too, calling it “a proud moment for women everywhere” when Bradley said on TV that she had an abortion. Bradley doesn’t know what to say when Martha then laments that she didn’t have a choice about what to do when she got pregnant, but guys, we’re at Ground Zero of Cory Ellison’s Formative Years: I’m actually a little surprised it took this long for  things to get weird.

We learn that Cory hasn’t seen his mom since shortly after the pandemic began, and she’s put out when Bradley says they can’t stay for dinner because she’s got to get back for the evening news. Martha starts railing about how Cory is about the same age as his father was “when he left us,” and pretty soon, Cory and Bradley have agreed to stay for a meal.

READY FOR A MUSICAL INTERLUDE? | During the meal, Martha hints that when she saw Bradley arrive with Cory, she hoped maybe they were romantically together; apparently, she’s never met anyone he’s dated. Cory probably would react more to this, except he’s reeling from Bradley telling his mom that she and Laura are going to give their relationship another go.

The conversation continues — at one point, Martha proclaims, “You have to open the oyster of the world with a f—king sword!” Ah, so THAT’S where he gets it! — until Bradley prompts Cory to get to the point of why they’re there. Margaret is offended that her son thinks she’s meddling in his affairs, but she agrees to back off. Then both she and Cory are absolute beasts to Bradley when she offers to help them clear the table.

If you haven’t seen the episode, I need you to understand that NOTHING that comes next in this recap is a euphemism. It all ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Margaret fumes about how when women get older, no one wants to hear their wisdom. “You want us to be silent, quiet as the grave,” she tells Cory, who responds not with words but by sitting at the piano in the living room and accompanying himself as he sings Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Martha joins in on the chorus. In my notes, I jot down a phrase for which I should probably have a keyboard macro by now: WHAT IS THIS SHOW?

You might think all of this sudden emoting-via-Motown would take me out of the moment, but that isn’t what does it. Because Cory’s mom being as big a wackadoodle as her son? Eh, that tracks. The thing that abruptly ends my suspension of belief is when Bradley wanders into the room mid-musical interlude and is MOVED instead of being like DUDE I SHOULD BE GIVING CHIC GRAVITAS TO MILLIONS RIGHT NOW. She’s thinking about her dead mom, and Cory apologizes for not being there for her when it happened. Bradley says he doesn’t have to say that. Then Martha chimes in: “He does, because he’s managing you. He’s been doing it since you arrived.” Oh wow.

But wait: Mom’s not done. She goes on to rant about how everything Cory does is an act, and “you should stay away from him. He’s alone because he should be alone.” Then she tells her son to leave. “You only came to see me because you wanted something, and you won’t come back until you want something again,” she says angrily. “You really are just like your father. There’s something wrong with you.”

In the car, Bradley tries to buck him up, wondering if Martha spoke to Cory like that when he was a child. He makes excuses, saying that his mom has been alone for a long time. Bradley gently reminds him that she’s his friend. “We are two people who use each other, Bradley. That’s it,” he spits back. (Yeah, OK bud. Tell that to the lone photo on your desk.) She’s not convinced by his mean words, and says so.

REAL SUBTLE, GUYS | The rest of the UBA crew is heading to a benefit party that evening. Despite being incredibly cozy at her place at the start of the episode, Paul and Alex agree that the board members and the media won’t like the idea of a UBA anchor dating the network’s future owner, so they decide they’ll be the “appropriate amount of friendly” at the party. And by that, they apparently mean “exchange whispered compliments on the red carpet and make such prolonged and suggestive eye contact that literally anyone can tell you’ve seen each other naked.”

The charade doesn’t have to last long, though: Paul gets news that The Vault has a photo of them “and it’s pretty clear that we’re together.” He floats the idea of just coming out as a couple, but she’s all for paying the site not to run it, and “this never happened.” But Amanda’s got bad news: The Vault won’t budge.

Elsewhere at the party, Stella’s friend, Kate, shows up unannounced to let Stella know she’s been fired from Hyperion. “Paul and I had a philosophical disagreement,” she says, urging Stella to investigate what’s going on at their old company. When she doesn’t immediately agree, Kate is irate. “He owns you. You just can’t f—king see it,” she says, bringing up how she was with Stella the night that she got her stomach pumped, but apparently none of that matters now. “You will always choose him,” she says, leaving as Stella watches, eyes full of tears.

‘ABORT THE COURT’ | Everyone’s mingling and sipping Champagne when the news of the Supreme Court brief leak breaks: Roe v. Wade will be overturned. Christina rages about it in the ladies’ room, her anger only ramped up when a woman dismissively remarks, “At least we’re in New York. We’ll be OK.” The anchor writes “Abort the Court” on the mirror in red lipstick, takes a selfie next to it as she puts up her middle finger, then posts the pic on social media. (She washed her hands somewhere in there… right?)

Cory has returned by this point and is donning his tux in his office when Stella tells him about the post. She also has some key intel that Cory does not, so she makes a choice and shares: “After the deal goes through, Paul’s going to push you out. He offered me your job.” Man, I love Billy Crudup for the way he delivers his next line: “This day, it is FULL of surprises!” Ha! The fallout? She’s going to be a bit of a spy on the inside, earn Paul’s trust, “see how it plays out.”

Then Cory heads out to the party, where Leonard dogs him again. But this time, Cory is filled with mom-created ire, so watch out, Leonard! He yells at the older man to get the board in line “right behind me” or he’ll move him out of play. “Fred and Cybill didn’t get the memo, and their heads are on spikes in the armoire in my office where I keep my extra shirts,” he warns.

Over in Alex’s office, Paul and Alex are bummed that events related to their jobs mean they won’t have a chance to talk about the photo, or much of anything, for a little while. She says she wants another lost weekend when he’s back from Hyperion’s engine test. “I want more than a weekend,” he says, and they kiss… just in time for Chip to walk by the office, see what’s happening and lose all will to live. Just guessing at that last part, but I feel pretty solid about it.

Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!