Celia makes a blunder that unfavorably thrusts Walter back into the public eye.
When Blunt Talk first began, it was hard to understand why anyone on Walter's staff respected him - both as a journalist and a human being. The show is a collection of damaged people brought together by that shared connection. But Walter's eccentricities frequently outweighed the rest of the show in the early going. As the season has progressed however, Walter has been seen as a friend to the various members of his staff. He helped Jim deal with his hoarding problem. He joined Rosalie in the search for Teddy out in the desert. And now, he's helping Celia as she crumbles under the weight of her recent choices. The bonds of friendship between the characters helps explain why they all respect Walter. He does care about them in a way that wasn't completely apparent in the first couple of episodes.Celia has made poor decisions over the course of the season. Sure, Walter and the show want to make those decisions bigger than they actually were. But they were still important for the development of her character. She has been drawn into various vices without actually thinking things completely through. She was happy to date the magician despite all the warnings that he was married because he sexually pleased her. She had fun when gambling because she was surprisingly good at it - until she wasn't. Here, she is happy to reconnect Shelly with her bisexualism just because she asked. She is aware of all of these troubling signs. And yet, she goes through with all of these actions nevertheless. Even in the face of a crucial mistake that could impact Walter's career, she is still stumbling through life.
Walter is accused of plagiarism in "Who Kisses So Early in the Morning?" because Celia hands him her research notes instead of his speech at a college commencement ceremony. Walter has been trying to regain the trust of his viewing public as a respectable journalist. He is a part of the old media that still relishes hard facts and investigative journalism. That was the entire text of his big speech. And yet, his intentions weren't the focus of the story here. His speech isn't seen. The moment where he messes up is the only thing that comes from that sequence. The fallout of that one mistake is the thing that completely dominates the rest of this episode. He has messed up again. He is getting ridiculed online - which threatens to destroy everything he has worked so hard to achieve this season. He has a connection with Bertie again. Bertie calls him dad now instead of Walter Blunt. He's still not the best parent. But he's actively trying to be there for Bertie during this time in his life. He still puts his needs above his child's. And yet, that connection is the symbol for the amount of character improvement he has made this year. If he is disgraced again, will all of that hard work be meaningless? That's his fear - even though he could fail as a journalist and still be in his son's life.
Celia also doesn't want to disappoint Walter. She has idolized and respected him for so long. He was the reason she was able to pull out of the darkness that came following her father's death at age 12. It could be seen as creepy that she has followed him around for so long. He's likely the reason why she entered this business. She could be a stalker. Jim certainly sees that point of view. The weight of her constant mistakes also makes her quit for a brief moment of time. She's too embarrassed by what she has done to the detriment of Walter to continue working for him. She's always wanted to please him. And now, it seems like she is incapable of doing that. She's adrift in life having lost everything that is special to her. She doesn't think she deserves to work for Walter anymore given the mistake with the speech and creating a situation on air where Walter is called out on his past plagiarism.
Of course, Celia was never going to reasonably be away from the show for too long. This show does exist outside of Walter's show. It deals with the character's personal lives. It could theoretically keep Celia around without her being a producer for the show. That seemed very unlikely though. She has a purpose in the show's structure. It would be weird to change that up in the eighth episode of the season. So, it's not surprising at all that Walter ends up trying to make things right and prove to Celia that she is an important member of his team. Yes, she's made mistakes but that only proves how human she is. The Walter-Celia friendship hasn't really been on display until this episode. That does soften the emotional impact of that final scene between the two of them. The laughs that come from the piano Walter and Harry were carrying up her steps falling down and eventually hitting Jim on roller skates was perhaps a bit too broad. It was a direct tie in to the emotional states of the characters but felt a little redundant and going for the easy joke. The Walter and Celia moment in the end did work well. However, it didn't hit as hard as it probably should have. It's a tad puzzling. The show did put the necessary work into the dynamic. But it's uncertain if this will have any effect on the two of them as characters because they are still making the same mistakes they've promised to try and fix.
Some more thoughts:
- "Who Kisses So Early in the Morning?" was written by Jim Margolis & Jonathan Ames and directed by Michael Lehmann.
- The guy who interrupted Walter's big speech when it was clear that he was reading a part of David Foster Wallace's writing was too much personification of the later internet hatred of Walter. The same effect could have been made without this one guy getting very upset in the moment of it. Plus, Walter's reaction to the situation didn't really seem all that great and in character.
- However, it's not all that surprising that Walter may have plagiarized before with his book from 30 years ago. In fact, no one even tries to prove that he didn't plagiarize that line.
- It's still not that good that after every segment on the news show, the producers have to swarm around Walter and tell him how great he just did. The audience is intelligent. Let them decide if it worked or not.
- All the stuff with Teddy, Rosalie and Martin felt odd to have in this episode. It felt shoehorned in so that it could still be building to something for the final two episodes. It was just a tad too distracting in this one - despite Teddy's lucidity.
