What happened between Bradley and Cory on The Morning Show? Details from the Apple TV+ series explored

Apple TV+'s award-winning series The Morning Show has finally resolved one of its prolonged storylines in Season 4, Episode 3 (Tipping Point) regarding the romantic tension between Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) and Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon).

After years of "will-they-won't-they," the show establishes that Cory and Bradley (spoiler warning!) reconcile emotionally and also proceed to have an intimate relationship. The episode fundamentally changes the character arcs for these two flawed individuals, who have dealt with professional betrayal, personal lives, and corporate politics unfolding since the pilot.

Cory and Bradley's relationship has a past that stretches over several seasons. Cory was a CEO at UBA (a conglomerate on the show), and Bradley was an anchor at UBN (their network).

Their relationship has always been intense, yet complicated by workplace dynamics and personal betrayals. In the Season 3 finale, Cory was fired over accusations related to Bradley, including grooming. At the start of Season 4, Cory is no longer CEO, while Bradley is no longer at UBN.

The idea of both being outsiders is integral to their ability to finally be free to explore their feelings for each other, which is explored in the most recent episode.

---

Cory and Bradley’s relationship reached its tipping point in The Morning Show

From the start of The Morning Show Season 1, the series has built a strong, sometimes tense, mutual attraction between Cory and Bradley, including several occasions when professional boundaries, personal ethics, and timing kept them apart.

During Season 3, Cory is accused of "grooming" Bradley, which has significant professional repercussions for Cory. He is effectively ousted from his CEO position at UBA, although the accusation is portrayed as untrue and primarily a weapon of his professional rivals.

Bradley resigns from her anchor position at UBA on air, mainly due to the imminent revelation of her role in covering up for her brother's actions during the January 6 Capitol attack that left her as vulnerable as possible at the opening of The Morning Show Season 4.

In Season 4, Episode 3 of The Morning Show, we see Cory Ellison and Bradley Jackson meet in person, outside their previous work environment, which had earlier complicated their relationship. While Cory is in New York, working on a deal with UBN, and both characters are now "outsiders" to the network, removing some barriers to emotional engagement.

During their conversation, Bradley directly addresses a significant point of distrust in their relationship: she reassures him that she did not share his knowledge of her deleting footage related to her brother during the events of Jan 6, at the Capitol. This reassurance alleviates Cory’s concerns about potential betrayal and also marks a moment of genuine trust between them.

The conversation climaxes as they finally succumb to their lingering attraction and kiss, something that fans have been waiting for from the beginning. The scene ends with them sharing an intimate moment.

According to Billy Crudup's comments to Deadline, they have always had a complicated relationship simply because they worked together and could never be emotionally aligned at the same time. So now that they no longer work for the same company, there is nothing in their way. He likened their timing to a couple that stays married because "they never wanted to get divorced at the same time."

Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon described Cory and Bradley as "attracted to each other and pulled together."

---

The subplot in The Morning Show, Season 4, Episode 3

While Cory and Bradley finally resolve their emotional tension in The Morning Show, some underlying secrets cast a shadow. TVLine writes:

“What we know, though, and Cory doesn’t: After talking with Claire, Bradley suspects that Cory knows something about UBA’s cover-up of the environmental incident.”

Bradley is looking into Wolf River and gathering evidence of a cover-up. She believes that the leadership at UBA / UBN has hidden environmental wrongdoing in the past. She believes that powerful people in the network are involved in suppressing the story.

Because Bradley is close to uncovering something big, she is wary of everyone involved, including Cory. Given Cory's past role and his current moves (Blackmail, deal-making with Stella, etc.), it is well within the realm of natural suspicion that Bradley would think Cory could be more involved than he portrays.

Their intimate encounter is thus emotionally trusting each other more, but Bradley knows there are still secrets. So the tension is heightened: it is not just romance, but romance with the suspicion of someone possibly being betrayed.

Witherspoon tells TVLine:

“Of course, in true Morning Show style, we finally get this moment between Cory and Bradley. But Bradley’s really, behind the scenes, taking advantage of him. I think it’s so interesting, too, their dynamic. I can’t even make heads or tails of it sometimes, why they’re so enmeshed. And they kind of antagonize each other.”

---

Also Read: "Had mutual affection": The Morning Show Season 4 showrunner and cast explain Cory and Bradley's reunion in Episode 3