The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 2/ Episode 2 “Mid-Way to Mid-Town” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
Miriam has her first paid gig but the camaraderie she got from Lenny Bruce is missing. As that happens, Abe and Joel pull a 180 in their lives.
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Miriam has her first paid gig but the camaraderie she got from Lenny Bruce is missing. As that happens, Abe and Joel pull a 180 in their lives.
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| Network | |
| Amazon Prime | |
| Director(s) | Amy Sherman-Palladino |
| Writer(s) | Amy Sherman-Palladino |
| Air Date | 12/4/2018 |
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This Is A Maisel Company: Joel, Shirley, Moishe
With Joel no longer working for his uncle, and perhaps looking for a distraction after things went belly up with Miriam, he focuses on his father’s company. For with him overhearing Shirley and Moishe argue, he decides to do some investigating. Know what he finds out? His parents’ books are a mess, his dad paid off an auditor to never come back, and they are borrowing money from loan sharks. Oh, and they have a guy who only works Fridays, before 1 PM, to fix machinery.
To him, this is unacceptable and while there is some pushback, Moishe gives in. Of course there are some conditions, from both sides, like Archie being protected at Joel’s former job, among other things, but nothing Moishe isn’t willing to agree to. Especially once he sees his son is willing to negotiate in good faith about some people he, Joel, wanted fired.
I Actually Do Listen You Know: Rose, Abe
While Miriam returns to New York, Abe spends the rest of his vacation in France and leads Rose to think he is going to stay. After all, he finds his people, is attempting to learn French, and it is like he is courting her again – that is how much it seems he is trying. Yet, the truth is while learning what he needs to do as a husband, he has no intentions to stay in France.
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That comes as a shock to Rose, especially since he doesn’t say anything until she is picking out a French version of their NY apartment. Yet, in the long run, she decides to leave Paris. It isn’t clear if the wake-up call he gives is the trigger or not, but she doesn’t fight it. But, showing Abe does listen, we learn he has worked his seniority to get Rose the ability to audit art classes and has signed them up for dance classes. In doing so, Rose is more excited than we’ve ever seen her in New York and it seems she may maintain that Paris spark.
Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It: Susie, Miriam
Aside from Miriam still not telling anyone she is a comic, and instead waiting for them to trip over it like Joel or her co-worker, her life is going okay. Joel tries to buy her an apartment, which is awkward, and provides more material, and she has her first paid gig. Something which starts off exciting until it slowly but surely turns into a s*** show. How? Well, her slot keeps getting pushed back, she ends up with mustard all over her dress, and she has to follow a well-known comic. The issues don’t end there though. The lighting guy leaves so Susie has to handle that and people start leaving as well.
Luckily, Miriam knows how to roll with the punches so even when it comes to her fellow comics sexist comments, she finds a way to use that in her act. Something that gets her in trouble with the owner, for she goes IN on all the guys, but he gives her a warning more so than announces she is blacklisted. So, in the long run, the night is a win.
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Other Noteworthy Facts & Moments
- It is said that Harry Drake is the one who sent goons after Susie.
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- What was the trigger that led Rose to give up her Paris dreams? Money or being unable to convince Abe to stay?
Highlights
Joel & Abe Stepping It Up
To be frank, men in this show are mostly trash or rather, they have mostly been trash. However, you have to appreciate this season beginning with them, well Joel and Abe, addressing their issues and trying to change. With Joel, since he is the reason Miriam lost their apartment, he found her a new one she’d like.
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Also, rather than not contribute to the household, just listen to his parents’ lives go down the trash shoot, Joel steps up and gets his hands dirty. He tries to fix a machine, gets someone to decipher the books, and probably shows as much passion about something, for the first time, as we see Rose passionate about Paris.
Speaking of Rose, Abe finally steps up as a husband and seems to not make everything about his wishes and whims. Over the course of the episode, he learns why his wife loves Paris so much and while he can’t bring a lot of that back to NY, he does find ways so that she can be happy. For it finally seems like Abe gets it. That the adage, “Happy wife, happy life” isn’t just a cliché phrase but the truth. Something that, honestly, doesn’t require a huge amount of effort. Talking to a colleague, signing up for dance classes, that doesn’t take moving mountains or buying expensive things. Just a bit of listening, a few conversations, and some money exchanging hands.
What will that give Abe? A wife who doesn’t feel like she isn’t listened to, trusted, and feels out of place in her own home. Thus leading her to revert back to the last time she felt like she had control over her own joy and a community invested in solidifying it.
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Miriam’s Roast of the Sexist Comics
Sexism is something many shows are tackling and one of the ways The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel often handles it is with comedy. It shows the absurdity of it and also pushes the men to understand how terrible it feels. Take how Miriam talks about one comic and says as someone oppressed, abandoned and more, she and he are the same. Like any good joke, there is truth, and a bit of darkness, in the joke, but the delivery helps you get it. Life is not simple and comes with some default pitfalls just by trying to make it to a decent end. Why complicate it for others? Why be an ass when you can be like Lenny and be encouraging? Maybe waiting to see what can go down before you start opening your mouth? Even then, say something constructive?
Hence why the club’s boss was probably in such a tizzy. No one ever talked to those guys like that and he didn’t know how to handle it. Yet, between the booker, or him if he is the booker, you have to wonder did neither one know who they were booking?
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