The Kármán Line
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Episode 1
| "The Kármán Line" | |
|---|---|
| The Morning Show episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Mimi Leder |
| Written by | Charlotte Stoudt |
| Cinematography by | John Grillo |
| Editing by | Carole Kravetz Aykanian |
| Original release date | September 13, 2023 |
| Running time | 54 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"The Kármán Line" is the first episode of the third season of the American drama television series The Morning Show, inspired by Brian Stelter's 2013 book Top of the Morning. It is the 21st overall episode of the series and was written by executive producer Charlotte Stoudt, and directed by executive producer Mimi Leder. It was released on Apple TV+ on September 13, 2023.
The series follows the characters and culture behind a network broadcast morning news program, The Morning Show. After allegations of sexual misconduct, the male co-anchor of the program, Mitch Kessler, is forced off the show. It follows Mitch's co-host, Alex Levy, and a conservative reporter Bradley Jackson, who attracts the attention of the show's producers after a viral video. In the episode, the characters face new realities as the series jumps to March 2022.
The episode received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the tone compared to previous seasons.
On March 10, 2022, Alex (Jennifer Aniston) now hosts her variety show podcast Alex Unfiltered on UBA+. While interviewing Esther Perel, Alex is left questioned over her possible loneliness in life, just as she prepares to take part on a space flight on the Hyperion One shuttle.
Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) is now working at the evening news edition, and has ended her relationship with Laura (Julianna Margulies) after staying with her in Montana. While she wants to talk about abortionist Luna Garcia in Texas, Stella (Greta Lee) forbids her from doing so. While receiving an award from the American Alliance of Journalists, Bradley runs into Laura, and both exchange different perceptions of where their relationship went. During this, Cory (Billy Crudup) is warned by Stella and Cybil (Holland Taylor) that he must stop cutting costs across the network to invest into UBA+.
Alex, Cory, Stella and the crew of TMS arrive at Texas to meet with the owner of Hyperion, Paul Marks (Jon Hamm), who will accompany Alex and Cory on the shuttle. Paul takes Alex on a ride to show his massive property around the area, which impresses her. However, she is taken aback when he mentions a deal to buy UBA, something she was not informed. She confronts Cory, who admits that the network is going through financial turmoil and secretly went behind Cybil's back to get Paul involved. He also reveals the flight was very pivotal in securing the deal.
When Cory forbids Bradley from reporting Luna's arrest, Alex and Chip (Mark Duplass) decide to help her by abandoning their tasks and going to a protest site just hours before the liftoff. Without Alex onboard, Cory convinces Bradley to replace her in the flight, despite not preparing. As the shuttle takes off, the network broadcasts a live stream from inside the shuttle as it reaches the Kármán line. Bradley is marveled at the view and begins to describe it, when the broadcast is cut off, shocking everyone.
Development
Production
The episode was written by executive producer Charlotte Stoudt, and directed by executive producer Mimi Leder. This was Stoudt's first writing credit, and Leder's eighth directing credit.[1]
Writing
By setting a time jump to March 2022, executive producer Michael Ellenberg said, "we wanted to get far enough to see what happened with the UBA+ launch and get us on the other side of the pandemic so we're closer to where we are right now. Even though it's set a year in the past, it feels like right now. That was really our goal. We want to be tackling the noisiest, most controversial things in our culture and also give our characters a platform to see them in challenges that we hadn't seen them in before."[2]