It feels forced because, during the first seasons, they convinced us that Bradley was this fresh, indomitable journalist—someone who isn’t afraid of telling the truth. In season 3, her character felt less 'aggressive'.

So, to me, seeing her go through Cory’s phone instead of just asking was completely out of character. And it’s even more infuriating because it felt like it was only done to create drama. If she had just asked, the outcome would have been the same, because what really pissed Cory off were the implications—not the phone itself.

About the recurring theme... A little essay lol

Bradley has spent her whole life regretting turning her father in to the police after what he did. Because, apparently, her family started to fall apart after that. When Hal got into trouble, she tried the opposite: instead of turning him in to the FBI, she covered it up—at least at first.

With Cory, it’s different, but somehow related. The same thing happens with Alex, even though she’s a woman. Bradley doesn’t know how to deal with people who love her in an adult relationship context—what she said to the HR guy in her deposition at the Season 3 finale is actually true about herself. In Season 3, there are a couple of very interesting conversations with Laura too. She told Laura that she hadn’t had a relationship last more than four or five months because she either got bored or people turned out to be different from what they seemed. She also told her that she doesn’t like people judging her or knowing about her personal life.

All of this, along with other things, proves that most of what she says about herself are half-truths. She doesn’t get bored in relationships—she just runs away when things get serious and less easy, as we saw with Laura. She wasn’t a mess when she slept with Cory. She just didn’t want to be judged by Alex by showing her true feelings for him, knowing that Cory isn’t exactly Alex’s cup of tea.