How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall
What is Moishe’s condition in hospital?
In the eighth episode of Marvelous Mrs Maisel Season 4, Miriam and her family rush to hospital to check on Moishe. Shirley believes that Moishe is going to die, while Miriam takes Joel aside who’s distraught and is blaming himself for what’s happened. Out in the hallway, Joel reveals that he got flustered and blurted everything to Moishe in quick succession about Mei. ..
Shirley is encouraged to stay over at Miriam’s for the night. She’s still hung up over Moishe potentially dying, calling God cruel and pointing out she hasn’t even been to Turkey with her husband like she planned either. The pair discuss the nature of death, with Abe convinced that he would be the one to die first rather than Rose. Shirley promises to be there to help if Rose is the first to pass. ..
What happens with Mei? How does she take Miriam’s news?
Susie’s office is filled with phone calls. Given her good work with Susie and now Alfie hitting it off, she’s a busy woman. Miriam manages to eventually get through to her though, asking for cover down at the club as she’s bound to head back down to hospital. Unfortunately, Susie has no one she can offer.
Miriam and Mei meet for the first time at the hospital. Mei wants to chat about their living arrangements and, specifically, how it’s going to work with her own children. Miriam completely overwhelms Mei, who’s left in stunned silence as the gravity of the situation hits home.
Boise rings Miriam to let her know that things at the club are not going as planned and she needs to show up and salvage the situation. After all, there are a number of women in the club and they want to see her perform. Unable to get cover, she hurries back and agrees to do one set before leaving. ..
Does Miriam get a big break?
Miriam’s stand-up gig is excellent, and it’s taken a long time for us to actually get a riff on Miriam’s feelings and thoughts this year. She discusses death, her father-in-law and even calls Joel her husband… correcting herself to call him ex-husband. Her entire set really strikes a chord with the audience.
backstage, she finds lenny waiting for her. he apologizes for his rudeness several episodes ago and points out he has a big opportunity for her. ..
Lenny is called in to open for Tony Bennett at the Copa. However, before he can answer the phone, the police come and take him away.
Lenny and Miriam reconvene in the former’s hotel room. Sparks fly and the pair hook up and make love. However, Miriam notices medicine in Lenny’s bag but he shrugs it off, encouraging her not to worry and that everything is okay. But is it really?
How does Moishe react to Joel’s news?
At the hospital, everything is going well. Moishe is still alive and definitely not dying after all. Abe, flustered, shows up with Moishe’s obituary in his hand. Abe is encouraged to read it, and he struggles to hold it together as he calls Moishe a good man and that he’d miss him very much if he passed.
After the final game of the season, everyone in the locker room was talking. Moishe, who had just said a “thank you” to Abe, looked happy and relieved. It appeared that there was now a lot of respect between them. ..
Moishe heads home and speaks to Joel about Mei. He doesn’t care that she’s Chinese and wants them both to be happy. As for Shirley though, that’s a whole different subject.
In the room next to theirs though, Abe encourages Rose and keeps her going with her matchmaking business. This inevitably causes issues with the other ladies, who all receive a letter from her. “We’re at war.” One of them ominously retorts, leaving this open for season 5.
Why does Miriam refuse to warm-up for Tony Bennett?
Susie and her team of reporters are trying to get Miriam to change her mind, but she’s not budging. They tell her that if she doesn’t want to be an opening act for Tony Bennett, then she should just say so and stop wasting everyone’s time. But Miriam is determined not to let anyone down.
Lenny Bruce ends up doing his Carnegie Hall gig and it’s a huge success. He even gets a standing ovation. Lenny revels in the glory of it all and is very satisfied with the performance.
Is Lenny’s show a success?
Lenny meets Miriam backstage after the show. He is not happy with her because she did not take the time to meet him and greet him after the show. This has really rubbed him the wrong way. ..
Lenny confronts her and reminds her of the business they’re in. Lenny tells Miriam to stop hiding and to claw her way back to the top. Even if it means she’s arrested every night.
“90% of what people see of you is based on how you present yourself.” Lenny reminds her, pointing out that there was a time when Miriam wanted to be a comic and not just funny. If she’s hanging out with Tony Bennett then she looks like she deserves to be there. If she’s doing gigs in a strip club, then that’s all people will ever see of her. ..
How does Marvelous Mrs Maisel Season 4 end?
“Lenny, I think I should go to the show,” Miriam says as they stand on stage together. “The weather is so bad outside, and I don’t want to be there if it’s too cold.”
Miriam seems to be heading down a similar path as Sophie, appearing on a talk show that launched her career and hoping for similar results. However, season 5 may start to improve Miriam’s prospects, as it appears she will finally start to take advantage of her opportunities. ..
The Episode Review
Miriam needs to start working harder if she wants to make it to the top this year. She’s been coasting on Baldwin’s pity party for too long and has been given few opportunities to show her true talent. She needs to head abroad or do opening gigs if she wants to prove herself. ..
Season 4 of “Miriam” feels like a stop-gap in Miriam’s journey back to the top. Season 5 will likely showcase more stand-up comedy, which has been sparse this year. ..
The story involving Moishe having a heart attack feels like a ploy just to bring tension into the story and in the end, he doesn’t even care that Mei is Chinese. The whole subplot with Joel feels wasted, and in fact it’s left unresolved by the end because we don’t actually see Shirley learn the truth. We also don’t see Mei again really after her shocked reaction in hospital, and she could even call the whole thing off too if she ends up that spooked.
Despite its flaws, Marvelous Mrs Maisel has been a decent watch and while it hasn’t fired on all cylinders like seasons past, it’s been good value for its 8 episodes all the same. This finale rounds things out nicely, leaving the door wide open for where this may go next.
