The Morning Show: Season Two
Season two of The Morning Show exhibits just what one would expect from this series, based on its first season; political movements and world events used as props and dressings, long runtimes with lots of filler scenes, and comedy actresses Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon showing off their dramatic chops and chemistry. Much like a wannabe Aaron Sorkin film, the likes of The Social Network and Molly’s Game, it’s a lot of storytelling through dialogue and narration, obsessed with creating metaphors before undercutting them with some semblance of self-awareness, and fast clips of typed words spliced together to emulate deep thoughts.
It opens with a quick look into the future episodes of the series, before cutting to long establishing shots of the city, then to a flashback of a happy musical Christmas number, contrasting with the tone of the show. This already presents one of the production’s main problems; lingering shots that do nothing more than slow down the pacing. This stylistic choice cripples the quick environment of the news workplace, and drags down each dramatic turn. It doesn’t help that the scenes are filtered with a sleepy yellowish blue hue that intensifies dullness of it all.
Billed as a dramedy, there’s not much to laugh at this season, despite the cast, which gives them the chance to truly explore new waters in terms of acting versatility. There is, however, something quite comedic in the juxtaposition it tries to create between the two genres, with arguments taking place in the middle of what should be feel-good moments, and jolly background music in the middle of chaos. This creates comedy in dialogue that lacks any real punchlines.
This season carries the same tropes as its predecessor; the way the events play out mirror those in the first season, with Witherspoon’s character (Bradley) once again blindsided by the turn of events. Even the penchant for leaving plot threads unfinished at the end of each episode carries on. They also try to tackle the pandemic, but it’s handled quite obtusely, considering the world is still in the thick of it – hindsight was unfortunately not present in the middle of filming. It always starts with something harmless, a simple line like, “I think I’m coming down with something, standing out in the cold doing this stupid job for you.”
Mae Trumata
The Morning Show: Season Two is released on Apple TV+ on 17th September 2021.
Watch the trailer for The Morning Show: Season Two here:
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