Interesting People on Christopher Street
In the first episode of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s fourth season, Midge’s show gets underway but it’s not going well. The curtain is stuck, there are no cues for the musicians and the microphones fail. ..
Midge is questioning Bosie about their under-produced burlesque show. She wants to try and turn it into something special, but he doesn’t have the money or the enthusiasm to see that happen. Midge tells the girls that they need to get better for the next show.
Midge heads out on a date with Liam, but finds that he speaks in Spanish most of the time. Eventually, she uses Susie as an excuse to leave, because she realizes that she needs some time alone. ..
Midge is hesitant to date a civilian, given the potential for bad moments. Susie suggests dating a ventriloquist instead.
Susie tells Miriam about her love life, and given that Miriam spends all of her time helping Midge get into trouble and helping her career blossom, she admits that she’s not interested in hearing about Susie’s love life.
The Abe administration is unhappy with Susie staying in their apartment; they want her to leave so that the TV can be turned off at night.
Susie actually shows up in the corridor and asks what’s going on, even suggesting to turn the TV down. Abe brushes it off and tells her it’s okay.
Susie is excited to find an apartment she loves right away. She gushes about the view and how great it looks from her balcony.
Joel tells Mei that it’s about time she meets his parents. She’s not exactly happy about it, and believes they’re going to criticize her and curse constantly about her being Chinese. Joel tries to convince her otherwise but it’s no good. She grabs her gear and runs. Joel is left exasperated. ..
Miriam is out looking for a new bar for her friend Susie to frequent. After getting nowhere, she eventually sits on a bench where a man named Lazarus speaks up. He tells her about a new hang-out spot, and after writing it down, takes Susie there that night. ..
Susie is excited about the apartment and realizes that Miriam has led her to a lesbian bar. Susie is incredulous and reminds Miriam that she’s not in the mood for romance right now. She’s focused on Susie Myreson and Associates and isn’t exactly happy with Miriam interfering.
Miriam opens her show with another rousing stand up, but there are still issues with the curtains and backstage woes. ..
Abe meets Agent Webber where he incriminates Asher and tells the agent that he was waiting outside the building. Asher was the one who lit the fire and committed arson, with Abe severing ties between them. But why?
Abe has been selling out Asher to the FBI for over 35 years now, after an incident from their past. Asher is angry and eventually leaves. ..
Miriam heads to Joel’s bar to talk about her issues. Joel is not exactly thrilled with her working in a strip club, but he eventually caves and lets her do a 10 minute gig, urging her not to stink the place out too much. ..
Susie heads to her new office and begins drawing up a list of things that need to be replaced. While sorting out her desk, Sophie appears. She admits she’s actually unable to be booked and she’s over-expended too. Her manager has left but Sophie needs Susie’s help.
NBC is airing a new game show and Sophie believes she would be a great host. However, no one is returning her calls. Susie admits there’s nothing she can do but with Dawes gone and Sophie left alone, Susie takes pity on her and agrees to help as long as she loses her number afterwards. “What the f*ck is wrong with me?!” She says, exasperating, as Sophie leaves. ..
As the episode comes to a close, Miriam heads back to the strip club and her show does ahead without a hitch. Well, save for Miriam falling in the pit after the show. Other than that, everything has gone swimmingly!
The Episode Review
The first half of “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was largely uneventful, with only Miriam’s determination to “change the game” standing out. ..
Love is a recurring theme in this show, and that’s typified through all of the characters and what they’re going through. While that in itself is interesting, it also loses sight over what this show originally was - a story of a housewife making it big as an empowering stand-out comic. ..
In Miriam’s case, a lot of her issues have been self-inflicted, so it’s hard to really empathize with what she’s going through right now.
However, the show manages to inject just the right amount of comedy through Miriam’s stand-ups, but these are few and far between in what’s otherwise been another pretty mediocre episode. Hopefully things pick up toward the end of this season. ..
