After the Events of last week’s episode, I am thrilled to be back and reporting on The Gay Happenings on The Morning Show! For the blessed few among you who have decided to keep up with this silly show exclusively via my recaps here, last week, Alex traveled
to Italy to yell at Mitch and get him to sign a piece of paper saying that they have never slept together. (They did.) They yelled at each other a lot, then kind of made up, and at the end of the episode Mitch dies in a car crash. Surprise!

As you can imagine, the bulk of the episode is concerned with the TMS staff confirming (episode title!) and processing Mitch’s death. But because this episode is technically set the day after Bradley is outed, our Girlfriends In the News are working on some things as well! Bradley wants to apologize to Laura re: the fight they had last night about Bradley being too fucked up to talk to her family about her queerness and the fact that her brother slash Plot Device is currently crashing on her couch.

Bradley and Laura have made their separate ways to work, a montage scored very subtly by Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Sixteen Tons. (St. Peter, don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go // I owe my soul to the company store.) Upon arriving, Bradley has her assistant book her brother a flight back home, then calls Laura to tell her that she made use of those things called boundaries! She didn’t talk to him about it or anything, just booked him a flight! Problem solved! Laura is like “hmm okay that is not exactly what I meant by boundaries, but also, is it possible we could have this conversation literally at any other time? Or at least before I have to co-host a Morning Show with my girlfriend?”

Left: “What do you mean you don’t want to talk about our relationship ten minutes before we have to go on air??” Right: *siiiiiiiiigh*

Bradley is a little miffed by this, and only more so when Laura says “there is not enough hair and make up in the world to make me look like I’m enjoying this.” I am assuming that she means just like, generally having to deal with co-hosting amid the rumors and gossip but I doooo think she’s also a touch pissed at Bradley and, well, ouch! They are quite frosty to one another on air— Bradley actually straight up ignores a direct question from Laura! Rude!

They are both so mad but they look so hot??

Halfway through the broadcast, they are waiting for second confirmation on the Mitch story when Bradley’s producer tells her that Plot Device is here. Yep, he did not take to Bradley’s boundaries very well at all, and it’s clear he’s been using, as he wanders through the halls of TMS and sings Simon and Garfunkel The Boxer. I imagine the music supervisor on this show has regular mud fights with the music supervisor on The Handmaid’s Tale to decide who gets to use the rights for the most obvious needle drops. For some reason, Bradley does not take him to her dressing room, but rather to the public cafe area to get a cup of coffee and beg him to stop causing a scene.

Laura comes to see if Bradley is ever coming back to set, and Plot Device immediately clocks her as The Girlfriend. Bradley tells him about Mitch dying in a car accident, and that the staff is waiting to report on it, trying to make him understand how much she needs him to be quiet. Instead, he starts talking about their dad, who killed a child while drunk driving, and when Bradley says that he can’t do this to her right now, he snaps. He starts breaking mugs and anything else he can get his hands on as the crowd of onlookers grows. Laura calls security, and they haul him outta there while Bradley is sobbing and frankly it is just a huge bummer.

And look, if we are only going to get a little bit of gay content in this episode, I am incredibly grateful to them for giving me this gift of a scene, simply overflowing with Mommi Content. I mean:

Not pictured: Your recapper screaming into a pillow

Bradley thinks she is a horrible person, and Laura tells her that she is not, she is just a person who grew up in a crazy environment and learned behaviors that are not helping her now. She wonders if Bradley has ever been to therapy. For those keeping score, yes, this is the third time Laura has brought up therapy. She really is putting the L in LGBTQ! And she knows it’s hard, she has had to cut people in her life off too, and it really sucks. But living like this is not working, so maybe it’s time Bradley makes a change? Plot Device is Bradley’s baby Plot Device! She can’t just cut him off. Laura suggests rehab, and when Bradley sighs in a very defeated way, she says: “Honestly? Honestly, honey, I think you might have to walk away.” Her hand is resting on Bradley’s thigh, and I am positively losing my mind at the extremely Mommi vibe Laura is rocking. Like!

*passes out*

The episode ends with Alex telling Bradley that she should be the one to break Mitch’s death, and Bradley delivers a somber, surprisingly thoughtful and clear eyed obituary, with Laura by her side. And now there are only two episodes left! What does this mean for our favorite Girlfriends in The News?

As ever, I will be here to update you and guide you through any and all gay moments that happen this season! And if you like, you can read my old school, Television Without Pity style recaps via my (free) newsletter, Chaos, It’s The New Cocaine where I am bravely recapping every episode in painstaking detail, yes, even the straight stuff.

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