Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's new episodes leave fans hungry
Season four of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel started with a bang and a Ferris wheel, but episode three and four have fallen flat.
Following The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's two episode release schedule, Amazon released episodes three and four on Friday.
Unfortunately, the show's stellar ensemble scenes, strong character moments, and terrific jokes couldn't save the episodes from being largely forgettable.
Both new episodes are more about the storylines of secondary characters: Midge's manager, Susie, and her father, Abe.
Susie deals with the death of a friend, and Abe with the trials of his new job as a theater critic for The Village Voice. The episodes are cumbersome because their plots rely on a pair of obscure characters from the show's past, each with farfetched twists.
It wouldn't be a problem, except that the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel herself is on the bench for most of the two hours-long runtime, leaving viewers wondering: Who are these people and why should we care? Who died? And what fire?
Who are these people? Who died? What fire?
Jackie died.
Who's Jackie? The emcee at The Gaslight – the club where Midge first found her calling – and Susie's corner roommate in her cramped basement apartment.
In episode three, Susie learns that Jackie is dead. She then gets drunk and moves in with Midge and the gang, all while mourning the loss of someone she barely knew as if he was a close friend.
Then at the memorial, it turns out no one else knew Jackie, either: only five people show up. This prompts Susie to spontaneously crash the packed memorial across the hall.
Susie, played by Alex Borstein, gives it her all in a touching speech about a guy she didn't know well. But the absurdity of the moment doesn't hit home. Maybe because we are still trying to figure out why, or if, we should care about or remember Jackie at all.
The episode’s other storyline is all about Abe's work. His gig as a theater critic gets him into a Broadway premiere, and all kinds of trouble. This culminates in the best scene of the episode, with Abe defending his scathing criticism of the show to a synagogue full of angry Jews.
But the review debacle doesn't end there. It turns out that Abe was a bit too honest, and will now have to deal with the FBI because he wrote about a fire he and a friend, Asher Friedman, set some 20-odd years ago.
It is all fun, oddball, and twisty, but fans are left wondering: What's going on with Mrs. Maisel?
Joel sums everything up when he talks about soup
Episode four, Interesting People on Christopher Street, makes it clear that although the show is following Midge as she builds her career on her own terms, this season may be all about the ensemble.
Abe deals with the FBI. Susie gets a new place. Joel deals with his mom attempting to play matchmaker. Their stories are progressing while Midge seems to be paying the bills, and at least it's on her own terms.
In episode three, we find out that Midge is bringing in cash by selling Tupperware, and by emceeing for the strip club she stumbled into.
But in episode four, she's not only following the manager's rules, she is making her own. Midge is making sure both she and the strippers have agency, and aren't simply something men can objectify. It ties in well with the season's theme of female empowerment, laid out in the absurd and brilliant first two episodes.
The strip club manager isn't the only one learning that women aren't to be owned or objectified. Even enlightened Abe is getting schooled that his wife Rose can do what she wants.
A simple exchange about soup between Midge's husband Joel Maisel, played by Michael Zegen, and his girlfriend Mei, played by Stephanie Hsu, puts our feeling about the latest two episodes best: "I don't trust soup. It tells you it's food, but you eat it, and you're never full. Feels like a scam."
Of course, the show's secondary characters have a place in our hearts – and we certainly wouldn't say no to a spinoff that is all about Tony Shalhoub's Abe. But we're not sure that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's side character-driven focus is a good thing.
It's kinda like soup: There are some tasty bits, but we are hungry for more Mrs. Maisel and memorable moments.
Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire