Does Mitch die in The Morning Show? Character’s fate explored

One of the most shocking turns in Apple TV+’s The Morning Show comes in Season 2, Episode 7, La Amara Vita, when disgraced anchor Mitch Kessler meets his end. Played by Steve Carell, Mitch had already lost everything after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced in the very first episode of the series. His career was destroyed, his marriage ended, and his reputation never recovered.

In The Morning Show Season 2, the show follows Mitch living in exile in Italy, where he isolates himself in a villa and spends time helping aspiring filmmaker Paola Lambruschini, played by Valeria Golino. The storyline builds toward an emotional reunion with his former co-anchor, Alex Levy, played by Jennifer Aniston.

Their fraught history comes to the surface in an extended confrontation, filmed in sequence to capture the raw tension between the two. Soon after, Mitch drives alone at night and faces an oncoming car.

Instead of swerving to safety, he lifts his hands off the wheel, closes his eyes, and lets the car plunge off a cliff. The choice to end his life confirmed that his character’s arc had reached its conclusion, forcing the show and its newsroom setting to deal with the fallout in the following episode.

Why The Morning Show chose to end Mitch Kessler’s story in Season 2

The decision to kill off Mitch Kessler was not a spur-of-the-moment twist but a carefully planned choice by The Morning Show showrunner Kerry Ehrin. She explained that Mitch’s arc had nowhere left to go. After Season 1 revealed his misconduct and the damage it caused to colleagues such as Hannah Shoenfeld, there was no way to realistically bring him back into the world of journalism or public life.

Originally, the script kept his fate more ambiguous, but Steve Carell himself suggested a more decisive ending that reflected Mitch taking control of his final moment. That pitch shaped the version viewers saw, where his death was not an accident but an active decision.

Executive producer and director Mimi Leder expanded on how the sequence was filmed. She revealed that multiple endings were shot, including one where Mitch’s fate was left unclear. However, the creative team chose the version where he let go of the wheel, because it better fit the character’s emotional state.

Leder described Mitch as “completely broken,” unable to undo the harm he had caused, and trapped by consequences that would never disappear. Even moments with Paola, which briefly gave him a sense of purpose through documentary work, could not erase the weight of his past actions.

The Italian episodes were also notable for the dynamic between Mitch and Alex. Their reunion offered viewers a glimpse into a complex relationship shaped by fifteen years of shared television history. They faced the hard truth that, despite the strength of their past bond, they could not go back to what once was.

Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell filmed the emotional exchanges in sequence, allowing them to build continuity across long, tense scenes. Leder recalled one unscripted moment when, after Alex admitted she thought she might be pregnant years ago, the two actors embraced in silence until Carell improvised a sudden, unsettling dance. The move added to the sense that Mitch was on the edge of something dangerous.

The aftermath of Mitch’s death played out in the following The Morning Show episode, Confirmations, where the newsroom had to verify and report on the story. The writers deliberately shifted the focus from the personal tragedy in Italy to the professional mechanics of journalism, showing staff members juggling their jobs while privately processing their own reactions. For Ehrin, this was an opportunity to highlight how death in the public eye becomes both a personal tragedy and a media spectacle—something the characters had to navigate even as they continued reporting the news.

Trending

Follow for more updates.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback