Maisel VS Lennon: The Cut Contest
Lenny Bruce wakes up in Miriam’s house. He’s disorientated and eventually Miriam catches up and tells him what’s going on. She found him wandering around drunk the night before, and she brought him back to crash at hers. Lenny, now down on his luck, urges Miriam not to get involved next time.
Lenny is clearly unsettled by the change of environment and mentions that he has a daughter. He speculates that they have never spoken about this because his daughter is “a creature of the night.” Lenny eventually hails a cab and heads home. ..
Meanwhile, Susie’s business is doing well, with Sophie sending over a whole bunch of different baskets as thanks for her reigniting her career. Susie eventually delegates over to Dinah, who instantly finds Joel and gets his number. She tries to win her way into getting Alfie a gig, which actually works too. Joel agrees to give him a shot, potentially setting up a monthly slew of shows - but only if he’s good. Susie’s business is doing well thanks to Sophie sending over a whole bunch of different baskets as thanks for her reigniting her career. Susie eventually delegates over to Dinah, who instantly finds Joel and gets his number. She tries to win her way into getting Alfie a gig, which actually works too. Joel agrees to give him a shot, potentially setting up a monthly slew of shows - but only if he’s good. ..
Sophie is doing well on-air and presenting just as she wanted. Abe and Rose are enamored with her, claiming she is their “new Chaplin.” However, Miriam isn’t exactly happy. She blames Sophie for messing up her career but her parents wave her concerns away, claiming it’s “water under the bridge.” ..
Meanwhile, Miriam’s fridge goes out of order but Zelda is unhappy she wasn’t told about it the night before. However, drama in the living room sees Abe (and his new secretary Imogene) and Rose disagree over who should have the room to work. Of course, the latter is playing matchmaker now so she’s technically working too. ..
Susie’s workplace turns into a sea of gifts from Sophie. Susie is overwhelmed and feels like she can’t take it anymore so she asks her butler to take them back. It also doesn’t help that Dinah’s kids are running riot around the office too. Things are definitely heating up here. ..
Moishe and Miriam are discussing a payment plan for their upcoming date. Unfortunately, Moishe’s latest payment is not going to fly this time, but Miriam is determined to leave the club. Things take a turn for the worse at the club though, threatening to see Miriam out on the street again. The crowd is filling up with people Moishe doesn’t want to associate with.
The thing is, the change in clientele has actually been welcomed by the talent backstage and women tip more, helping out the workers. Not only that, drink sales are up too, as people are looking for a way to relax after a long day. You can smell the misogyny from afar but the finances speak for themselves. Susie senses an opportunity and decides Miriam should take a cut of the bar tab, given she was responsible for bringing in the new clientele in the first place. The owner agrees to think about it and get back in touch. ..
L Roy Dunham has written about Miriam again, but Susie discourages her from reading the article – especially as the show was actually pretty good. However, Miriam refuses to let this go and marches over to the paper, determined to confront Dunham. Only, it turns out he’s actually a woman, going under a male alias. She believes Miriam is a goldmine of news.
Miriam tries to play her feminist hand by speaking about her failures and issues as a comic, but Dunham points out that it’s tough being a woman in journalism and writing about Miriam. This dialogue helps improve Miriam’s own career. ..
When Miriam returns home, Sophie is waiting in her living room, entertaining the staff. She needs her help to bring Susie in as her manager. This explains all of the gifts and how she won’t leave her to it. Miriam though is seething with anger and resentment for Sophie.
Sophie knows that she’s in debt, thanks to her hiring a PI, and suggests she comes and present on her show. In doing so, that would allow Miriam to be paid lucratively. Oh, and she’ll also stop Dunham from posting articles about her too. Of course, all of this would allow bridges to be mended and Sophie to go back to being Susie’s client. It’s a pretty good deal in truth, and one that Miriam seriously considers.
Meanwhile, Mei shows up at the club and breaks the news to Joel that she’s pregnant. Joel promises to help her out, and support her through this. He also reassures her that she’s going to be a doctor, although a no-show Alfie at the club is equally problematic right now. Susie catches up with him but he’s spinning out, unsure whether he can actually proceed with this gig. Susie agrees to sort out rebooking him, allowing another 24 hours to get his affairs in place and perfect his act.
Miriam is invited to a small business women’s society where she learns the truth surrounding the basket with the word “stop” written on. These women want her to stop matchmaking, pointing out that they’ve carved up a lucrative slice of the piece each already and there’s not enough to go around. They even use Miriam’s strip club gig as a blackmailing tool to get her to stop.
Eventually, Miriam starts speaking up and doing her shtick before Sophie suddenly takes the limelight and decides to riff. Naturally, things turn sour. Their jokes turn really nasty as Sophie brings up the Shy Baldwin gig and Miriam talks about her drug addiction. Thankfully they’re cut short before things really escalate but this is likely to cause big trouble going forward.
The Episode Review
This week’s Marvelous Mrs Maisel features a strong episode that sees Sophie and Miriam eventually butting heads and seemingly losing whatever hope there was for Susie getting back with Sophie and Midge sorting out her financial woes. The episode is well-written and provides a good insight into their characters.
The comic industry is in a state of flux, with both its traditionalists and progressives struggling to keep up. This is ironic given that both comics are doing it to each other now.
Meanwhile, Mei’s pregnancy is a big surprise to both her and Joel; it’s a huge shock to both of them and they are trying to figure out what to do about it. Hopefully things will go okay when they see Mei, but you never know with Moishe!
