In the fifth episode, we return to March 2020 and witness the characters navigating their lives during the time jump between seasons 2 and 3. Bradley is hosting TMS alongside her girlfriend Laura, while Alex recovers from Covid.
Bradley informs Cory of her decision to live with Laura in Montana, much to his surprise. Meanwhile, Mia embarks on a romantic journey with Andre. In Montana, Bradley and Laura successfully strike a harmonious balance between their professional commitments and romantic relationship to start with. They both agree to keep their relationship confidential at first. However, their union encounters turbulence when Laura makes remarks about Bradley's family without thinking, which upsets her. But instead of flying off the handle, Bradley communicates well with Laura and the two talk through the issue instead of fighting.
Cory embarks on the hunt for a new residence and crosses paths with real estate agent Salma (guest star Sasha Alexander). Following the purchase of a house from Salma, Cory dates her for a while. Meanwhile, Mia is deeply affected by the George Floyd protests, finding solace in Andre's comforting presence. Stella and Cory clash over their content budget, sparking tensions. Cory deliberates on whether to release the Mitch Kessler documentary, a decision opposed by Stella. Nevertheless, Cory ultimately chooses to unveil the documentary, and Andre takes a look. This revelation leads to Mia's distress, prompting her to disclose a brief affair she had with Mitch.
Later in the summer, Bradley and Laura are still happy and Bradley decides she wants to take their relationship public. In a cute scene, the two women tease each other about their coffee-making skills on TMS. Following Andre getting drunk at a bar, Mia finds herself compelled to leave their apartment, spending the night at the office so she doesn't get sick. Cory confides in Salma about his financial struggles at UBA, and she mentions Paul Marks.
Bradley observes Alex excelling in her return to the UBA network news, speculating that she might even replace the current evening news anchor. Upon hearing this, Laura encourages Bradley to pursue this opportunity, though Bradley remains uncertain. It's odd that this is the only scene featuring Alex this episode, I would've preferred scenes of her recovery than multiple scenes of Cory looking at houses that didn't add a lot to the plot.
Later, Bradley receives startling news about her family: her mother has contracted Covid. Despite Bradley's desire to care for her, Hal insists on taking on this responsibility. Laura struggles to grasp the complexities of Bradley's family situation.
Eventually, during a gathering with Laura's friends (featuring a hilarious Cabaret charades performance by Laura), Bradley discovers that her mother has passed away. As time passes, Bradley struggles with being isolated on the ranch and grows increasingly distant from Laura. Frustrated by Laura's attempts to provide comfort and solutions from her perspective, Bradley decides to address the issue by starting a fight. She believes Laura often uses her as a sort of display for her friends. In their unfortunate disagreement, where neither is entirely right or wrong, they openly express their differences, leading to their eventual separation. As a result, both are taken off TMS. This could possibly be how Laura later ends up on rival show YDA, although it's not directly addressed.
In the concluding scenes of the episode, Bradley locates herself at the Capitol Building while reporting on the protests. Unexpectedly, the demonstrations escalate into chaos as protestors breach the Capitol's defenses. This results in Bradley becoming separated from her team. Discreetly, she documents the tumultuous events with her phone's camera. During this, she comes across a man engaged in a heated altercation with a police officer. To her shock, Bradley recognizes the aggressor as none other than her brother, Hal. Following her exit from the Capitol, Bradley confronts Hal at a hotel.
Hal confesses that he had simply intended to meet up with some friends. However, Bradley is furious with her brother for committing a federal offense by assaulting a police officer. Even though Hal insists the altercation was unintentional, Bradley is deeply disappointed. Hal discloses that he is expecting a child with his girlfriend, and he will soon become a father. He implores Bradley not to release the footage of the incident. Upon learning of Hal's situation, Bradley arranges a safe way for him to return home but decides to sever ties with her brother. She assures him that she will handle the situation, and later, deletes the footage featuring Hal's face and the altercation with the police officer before turning it over to Stella.
Following the broadcast of the footage, Bradley and Cory receive a summons from the FBI, connecting Bradley's recording to the assault on the police officer during the Capitol breach. Cory contends that they must cooperate with the FBI and provide the footage from the incident. However, Bradley discloses that she removed a portion of the footage due to Hal's involvement. She implores Cory to assist her in safeguarding her brother. Ultimately, Cory opts to invoke the principle of journalistic integrity to halt the FBI's further inquiry and hand over the already aired footage. As the pandemic subsides and daily life resumes its regular rhythm, Bradley assumes control of the evening news, thinking the footage would not come back to haunt her in the present day... until it does.
