So far, his day has consisted of leaving Alex a scathing voicemail that included calling her an emotional murderer and self-esteem parasite and ended with his fiance storming out after he made a bad joke about having sex in Alex’s office to get back at her. Stella, naturally, runs to fetch Chip, who has also had a less-than-stellar morning himself.

Cory pounces on the opportunity, telling Stella to get Alex in to break the news by any means necessary. While in a meeting discussing how they can twist the excerpt from Maggie’s book into a redemption arc for the network, they get a call from an obscure Italian newspaper asking for a quote about Mitch’s death. This is a lesson that’s going to become very important very soon. When Stella asks Cory if he’s okay in the elevator on the way to the office, he acts even more unhinged than usual, giving her a rapid-fire speech about how, in this job, you can’t absorb other people’s feelings. It’s no secret that Cory and Stella are having a bit of a rough go of it right now, what with the lawsuits, bad press, and Alex MIA. The Morning Show season 2 episode 8: Breaking news and breaking down

Half life 2 episode one walk through