What I’m Watching: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 4, Episode 3 “Everything is Bellmore” (B+)

I could have told Abe, who shares both my name and my line of work, at least currently, that it’s not a good idea to review something put on by someone you know. It’s even worse when you’re expecting it to be a smash, and in this case, while that turn of events could have been predicted, the intensity with which he ripped it apart while, in his mind, being kind and talking only about the theater industry was still quite extravagant and entertaining. The only thing that could be more dramatic than interrupting a bar mitzvah service because the rabbi wanted to call Abe out on not being loyal to his people would be Abe getting called in with Asher to the FBI for having burned down a building years earlier. I did enjoy Moishe wondering how he could have been selected for an aliyah at the bar mitzvah only to discover, when someone else was called up, that it had been a mistake. Rose’s matchmaking career will surely be impacted by Abe’s review, though it may be balanced out by not having to distract Susie with a bowl full of ice cream. That was quite the monologue that Alex Borstein delivered as Susie hijacked another funeral service to honor Jackie, with the episode dedicated to the memory of actor Brian Tarantina, who died in 2019 at the age of sixty. Midge is trying to work her comedy audience at her new place of employment to lackluster effect, but at least Lenny’s visit was only encouraging.