‘The Morning Show’ on Apple: How That “Veruca Salt” Scene Adds Nuance to the #MeToo Movement

The Morning Show opens with a #MeToo controversy. Veteran morning news anchor Mitch Kessler (Steve Carrell) has been ousted from his network gig on “The Morning Show” after allegations of workplace sexual misconduct come to light. He immediately rails against what he perceives as his own victimhood, as his colleagues play damage control.
However behind-the-scenes of The Morning Show, a more complicated situation is brewing. In Episode 2, we learn that a young staffer named Claire Conway (Bel Powley) is in an intense, consensual relationship with the show’s weatherman Yanko Flores (Nestor Carbonell). The situation is revealed when Claire enters Yanko’s dressing room wanting sex. Specifically, she wants to role play as the spoiled fictional child character Veruca Salt from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s clear that this is a kink the two lovers have played out before, and Yanko is worried that they will be found out and his career will be ruined like Mitch’s.

The two lovers discuss the optics of their relationship, noting that they are in a committed, consensual relationship. But when they toy with the idea of going to Human Resources, they immediately realize that their liaison won’t pass muster. Yanko is a powerful star of the show and Claire is a PA half his age.
When Decider spoke with The Morning Show director and executive producer Mimi Leder, she said the scene was the brainchild of The Morning Show‘s writer and executive producer Kerry Ehrin
“It’s a very nuanced scene. It’s a very nuanced subject,” Leder said. “These are two people who love each other and it was really important for us to bring forth that point of view and that question: Is this an abuse of power? Is his character, because he is so much older, and she’s a PA and very young, is he taking advantage of her? Is this misconduct in the workplace — when two people love each other?”

Off-screen actors Nestor Carbonell and actress Bel Powley are 51 years old and 27 years old, respectively. It’s intimated that their characters have an even bigger age gap. The Morning Show grapples with the reverberations of the #MeToo Movement by showing dramatized versions of situations that might be perceived as being “shades of grey.” Leder said this was the point — and that she and the rest of the creators wanted viewers to decide for themselves where the boundaries were.

Leder said,  “It was just the flip side of the coin and I think the audience is the one who has to look at it and go, ‘Is it [misconduct in the workplace]?’ We’re not saying it is or it isn’t. We want it for the audience to decide.”
The first three episodes of The Morning Show are now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes will premiere weekly on Fridays. 

Where to stream The Morning Show