Pratik Handore
Apple TV+’s ‘The Morning Show‘ season 3 finally confirms the mastermind behind the UBA hacking, and it is none other than tech billionaire Paul Marks. The UBA hacking is an important plot point in the third season, but Paul’s involvement in the incident is not revealed until the finale. Moreover, his motivations behind the action directly lead to Paul’s downfall once his unethical practices are exposed. As a result, viewers must be looking for answers about why Paul had the UBA hacked. The revelation also directly impacts the characters’s trajectory and raises questions about Jon Hamm’s future in the hit drama. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Hacker Revealed
‘The Morning Show’ season 3 introduces viewers to Paul Marks, a tech billionaire with space exploration aspirations negotiating to buy the UBA. However, Paul refused to buy the legacy media company after a hack leaked all the private data of UBA and its employees. While Cory searches for the person behind the hack and asks Paul about the same, an exact culprit is not revealed until the season finale. In the third season finale, Paul nearly completes the deal to purchase the UBA but is thwarted at the last moment by Alex. Later, Alex confronts Paul with Stella and Kate’s help, revealing the secrets Paul was trying to cover up. During the space launch in the series premiere, a security malfunction on Paul’s company, Hyperion’s part, caused a shutdown of the event’s broadcast. Paul blamed the malfunction on the UBA.
A short while later, the UBA was hacked, presumably by Russians. However, in the finale, Kate implies that Paul was behind the hack as he tried to use the incident to bury the news of Hyperion’s security malfunction during the launch. Thus, it is safe to say that Paul is the mastermind behind the hacking that brought a sea of trouble for the UBA and its employees. Moreover, the reveal confirms the suspicions that a tech billionaire like Paul buying a legacy media company would be catastrophic for journalistic freedom and integrity. Ultimately, Paul getting the UBA hacked underlines the billionaire’s desire to control the media narrative around Hyperion’s repeated failures. At the same time, it also highlights Paul’s twisted methods to take control of the UBA by forcing Cory to sell the network at a price he deems fit.
Jon Hamm’s Future on the Morning Show
At the end of the show’s third season, Jon Hamm’s Paul Marks finds himself in an extremely tricky situation. Paul is forced to back out of the deal to buy UBA. On the other hand, Hyperion’s space research program is behind schedule and bleeding money. Paul wanted to use the money from the UBA’s sale to fund Hyperon’s space research. However, in the end, Paul’s plan is thwarted, and it seems like his unethical practices are exposed to the world. Furthermore, Paul also lost the coveted NASA contracts, leading to an utter downfall. His relationship with Alex also ends, adding insult to injury. Thus, it seems like Paul’s storyline in the series has concluded, with nearly every major plot thread concerning the character being resolved in the third season finale.
Hamm is a busy actor with a slew of other projects he is expected to appear in the coming months. While ‘The Morning Show’ has been renewed for a fourth season, Hamm’s involvement is by no means confirmed despite the actor being credited as a series regular for the third season. Season 3 explores the moral implications of a tech billionaire buying a legacy media company, which is, in turn, reflective of certain real-world scenarios. The ending of season 3 hints that the writers have explored every possible angle of this point of conflict. Hence, there is a strong possibility that Paul Marks will no longer be a major player in the show moving forward. However, Hamm could likely return as a guest star for future episodes if the writers find a compelling storyline to explore with his character. For the time being, it seems like Hamm’s time on ‘The Morning Show’ has come to an end with Paul’s downfall.
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