Apple TV+‘s star-studded newsroom drama, The Morning Show, knows the value of work and play. Professionally speaking, the stakes are sky high in Season 4. But that’s not to say these characters aren’t enjoying their time out of office…
Over the past three seasons, The Morning Show has given viewers everything from Reese Witherspoon and Julianna Margulies make outs to sex scenes between Jennifer Aniston and Jon Hamm. But in Season 4, it’s Greta Lee’s Stella Bak who finally gets her Morning Show moment between the sheets.
The first two episodes of Season 4 show Stella having super steamy hookups with Aaron Pierre’s character, Miles. She slips away to the handsome artist’s studio, and essentially becomes his muse. While two seem madly in love, in true Morning Show fashion, there’s an unexpected twist. Turns out, Miles is a married man! And his wife is none other than Marion Cotillard’s character, Celine Dumont, aka Stella’s new boss! Dun dun DUUUUN!
While Miles and Stella’s history remains a mystery, we first meet Pierre’s character in a dimly lit restaurant, where he sends Stella a martini as she sits at the bar. When she politely declines, a decadent slice of chocolate cake arrives in its place, “also from the gentleman.” As she locks eyes with Miles across the bar, she slowly savors a bite, maintaining eye contact in her very own Babygirl Milk Moment. As someone who doesn’t like milk and is obsessed with chocolate cake, The Morning Show‘s scene was instantly more impressive to me. But if your sexual appetite still isn’t satisfied by the sweet treat, it will be when the show cuts straight to Miles and Stella passionately making love! Surprise!
The two moan and pant as they hook up to sounds of New York City in front of Miles’ gorgeously lit windows. After sex, they sit together naked in bed, venting about Alex Levy, of course! Before the big reveal that Miles and Celine are spouses, Stella tells Miles in a somewhat teasing tone, “You’re my biggest mistake.” She declines his invite to stay the night, and while viewers don’t fully understand what’s holding Stella back at the time, the chemistry between the two is so palpable it’s hard not to root for them, mysterious circumstances be damned!
The Morning Show reveals the big twist at the end of Episode 1, but Miles’ marital status and Celine’s feelings don’t stop these two lovers from having another romantic rendezvous in Season 4, Episode 2.
After Stella leaves a stressful meeting with her former mentor, Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup), The Morning Show cuts to her, naked in Miles’ bed, flipping open her lighter and having a post-coital smoke. The cinematography and lighting of these moody scenes spectacularly sets the vibes, making Stella and Miles’ trysts feel all the more intimate and alluring. In this particular scene, thunder rumbles and raindrops fall outside, as Miles’ tall window casts a gorgeous pink, purple, and blue glow behind them. Downright dreamy!
In terms of television, affairs have come to feel like easy, incredibly familiar territory. But The Morning Show‘s decision not to hurriedly cut away from Stella and Miles after they’re physical, but rather sit with and savor their bedroom conversations, suggests that their emotional depth and ability to open up with one another is the truest act of vulnerability they share. It’s a refreshing point of view that proves their attraction to each other isn’t simply physical. That said, the sex is still really freakin’ hot!
The two touch on everything from Stella’s career complications and Cory, to racism, Miles’ marriage, and more. When Miles offers to help Stella out with her latest setback, Kyan’s “Lonely River” starts to play and Stella grabs the chain around her (borrowed) man’s neck, pulls him in for a kiss, and tops him as they resume their NSFW activities — which we get a unique glimpse at through Miles’ incredibly sexy window.
While we definitely don’t condone adultery, and it’s hard to champion a couple that’s so blatantly avoiding accountability for their harmful actions while willingly disrespecting someone’s feelings to indulge their own personal desires, Stella and Miles do seem to truly care about each other.
It’s hard to imagine a happy ending for them unless they’re serious about publicly committing to one another, and potentially leaving the lives they know behind. (We can’t stress this enough, Celine is Stella’s boss!) But it’s about time Stella got her groove back and experienced a love story of her own, messy as it may be! We’ll have to wait and see what The Morning Show has in store for these unconventional lovers. But before we go, one final shoutout to that slice of chocolate cake, Miles’ window, and The Morning Show‘s lighting geniuses. These scenes wouldn’t have been as sexy without you!
New episodes of The Morning Show Season 4 premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.