What I’m Watching: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 2, Episode 5 “Midnight at the Concord” (B+)

I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of spending another episode in the Catskills since it seemed like it should have been a one-shot field trip from the city, but this was yet another hilarious and entertaining hour. I should really stop doubting this show since it has yet to let me down, faltering only slightly in the second episode before rebounding strongly with the third. Moishe and Shirley’s arrival in the Catskills caused quite a ruckus, and Abe wasn’t at all happy to see them there, especially when Moishe was swearing into two phones while he was trying to concentrate on his carefully-calibrated gameplay. Joel was quite the ladies’ man, though the bowling skills on the young woman most attracted to him were truly heinous. Susie getting spotted by a fellow impostor nearly blew her cover, and she got pretty frustrated over the course of the hour with the telephone operator who started charging her more just because she didn’t like her. I was very happy to see Zachary Levi return as Benjamin, and I still can’t believe I had no idea he was on this show (and I’m being careful not to look him up on IMDB so that I won’t spoil whether he sticks around through the end of the season). He finally warmed to Midge during their car ride when she woke up and started doing fake news broadcasts, and inviting her to a show was a great next step. Telling her he didn’t know if he liked her and her responding that she didn’t know if she could stay quiet was funny, and they seemed to get along well deciding that they didn’t like trials and opting to leave before the second act of the Lizzie Borden play. He wasn’t even floored by her comedian confession, though, unfortunately, he’s not the one she needed to impress. She did spectacularly with her Catskills gig, even after she spotted her father in the audience, but his newfound knowledge of her side job is going to prove extremely problematic given his reaction.