What I’m Watching: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 1, Episode 4 “The Disappointment of the Dionne Quintuplets” (B+)

I’m starting to really like and appreciate the rhythm of this show after having some initial misgivings with the second episode, and it makes me very excited for the rest of the season. All of the talking is purposeful and entertaining, and it allows for considerably more material to be covered than most shows are able to do in just one hour. This episode was a superb spotlight for Tony Shalhoub, who was insistent that he’s not the kind of man that owns two TVs, later caved to his wife after she pressed it and made her case, and then withdrew his offer when he got angry at Midge for coming home so late. We saw a bit of how Midge has learned much of what she knows from her mother, who also gets up in the middle of the night to make herself pretty for the morning. Suzie is getting funnier and funnier, and the line that made me laugh most in this hour was her claim that thirty percent of comics die from cord-related injuries. She isn’t happy that Midge is writing everything down, and she definitely doesn’t like people who want to take more than one of her hand-written business cards. Midge has a lot to learn in the stand-up comedy business, and something tells me she’s going to develop a few hobbies along the way, like becoming the emblem of a cause she’s never before heard of because she happened to be passing by at a potent moment. She was especially fierce and unforgiving in her takedown of Joel and the nearly identical life he’s created with a woman who’s not Jewish and who’s not her.