'The Morning Show' Episode 9 sees Hannah struggle to explain to Mitch how he exploited her
Mitch Kessler is not interested in defending his position on the sexual harassment allegations that have been made against him. He truly believes that all of his "affairs" were consensual. He has also believed that his encounter with Hannah Shoenfeld when she was still a junior booker for the show in the past was consensual. In fact, he believes that she used the encounter to get a leg-up in climbing the ladder of success. After all, she did receive a promotion to be the Head booker right after she tried to call out Mitch's behavior in front of Fred Micklen (Tom Irwin).
Hannah's experience with Mitch was buried just as many others' were. However, with Mitch expecting her to give a witness account about Fred, Hannah is unable to let go of how violated she felt in Mitch's company. That incident has pervaded Hannah's life and has stayed with her. She is reminded of it when Bradley Jackson interviewed Ashley at the beginning of the show, and she is reminded of it again when she sees her colleague Claire (Bel Powley) meet Yanko Flores (Néstor Carbonell) in his room during one of the remotes in the present. She sees herself in Claire and so she reports the incident to HR. So she decides to make it clear to Mitch that what happened that night was not consensual.
She was confused, she did not say no implicitly but her discomfort was clear. Her initial response was not welcoming and that should have stopped him, but it didn't. So she reaches his residence where she pours out everything that she had felt then and the day after. Only Mitch is not ready to accept and in fact, he even goes on to say that what he did was seduction, not coercion.
She tries to explain to Mitch that what happened that day was not why she had ended up in his room. She tells him that she always thought of him as a mentor and the attention that he paid towards her was something that made her happy. Mitch instead tells her that she was too naive if what she said was the truth. He asked her instead about why the star of a show would even pay attention to a junior booker if not to show interest in her. He asks her why the same influential anchor would invite a nobody to his room and offer solace. He thinks of all of this as appropriate steps that he took to hint at the fact that he was interested in her. It doesn't, not once, crosses his mind that what he was essentially abusing his position of power.
This space where a man assumes that his advances were reciprocated when all that happened was the fact that he had taken advantage of a confused woman is something that is reflective of real life. Similarly, the confusion and conflict that Hannah feels when it comes to being in touch with Mitch, or now, to even consider helping him by corroborating his statement is something that mirrors reality too. As the two struggle with their own demons, the episode spotlights how actions are perceived by different people and are interpreted by them individually.
Be it feigning ignorance, as Alex did; or assumptions, such as the ones that Mitch is full of, we see the MeToo movement in an entirely different light because of the show.
The final episode of season 1 of 'The Morning Show' can be streamed on Apple TV+.
