The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 4/ Episode 5 “How to Chew Quietly and Influence People” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

In the first episode this season, not written nor directed by its creator, Miriam confronts Shy when invited to his wedding, and Sophie ends up on a talk show.

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Aired	3/4/2022
Network	Prime Video
Directed By	Scott Ellis
Written By	Kate Fodor
Introduced This Episode
Solomon	Scott Cohen
Gordon Ford	Reid Scott
Dinah	Alfie Fuller

Recap

A Big Opportunity That Requires Discretion – Solomon, Rose, Miriam

Rose’s matchmaking skills take her from middle income to the rich. I’m talking railroad, shipping, steel, old money rich in the form of Solomon Melamid. He wants his two daughters married to people who aren’t stable (as in horse) boys or someone trying to take advantage of them. You know, someone who, since apparently they can’t do it, can marry into the family and take over the business.

This opportunity is one of a lifetime for Rose since, alongside Solomon’s two daughters, he has multiple sisters who are single, and while Rose doesn’t speak about lacking money, this could help bolster the lie of her and Abe buying Miriam her old apartment. But that name, Miriam, could be what messes all this up.

You see, Solomon wants discretion while working with Rose, and Miriam being an emcee at a burlesque club, a strip club in Rose’s mind, doesn’t scream discretion. If anything, it screams scandal, so she tries to get Miriam to stop but with this being a steady paying gig? Miriam refuses because she, like Rose, sees herself having a big break due to her current opportunity and isn’t giving that up for nobody. Though, with a note to Rose saying, “Stop,” there could be a real threat to her continuing what she is doing – despite her success.

It Was All Business But, I Thought We Were Friends – Shy, Susie, Miriam

Thanks to Shy’s PR team, Miriam and Susie are invited to Shy’s wedding, and while there, they act up a bit. They make sure to ruin flower arrangements, get the most expensive thing the bar has, and Miriam even knocks over what a poor waiter was holding and makes a small scene.

But, after a certain point, when she sees Shy and notices all the old crew isn’t there, Miriam shifts her mindset, and when she sees Shy go to the bathroom, she goes to talk to him. Now, despite his shock at first, the two easily get into their rhythm, with Shy even talking about hanging out again. However, all Miriam wanted to do was apologize for what she said, explain herself, and question why Shy dumped his old crew?

Well, his answer was a new sound, but it seems his team saw what Miriam did as a means to get rid of all of them, including Reggie, and they are thankful she opened the door. In fact, she also seemed to have given them more power over Shy, hence them watching him like a hawk, and to shut Miriam up, they offered her up to $12,000, which would be, according to Saving.org, equal to $113,796.73 in today’s money. Yet, Miriam says no, despite how much that hurts Susie, for she promised Shy she wouldn’t speak and thus doesn’t want to take a payoff to prove she will.

Don’t Blow It, Kill It – Joel, Shirley, Moishe, Sophie, Susie, Gordon, Mei, Dinah

At this point, Joel’s phone is blowing up because Shirley wants to match him with someone, and his ignoring of the phone, knocking on the door, and bell ringing, just gets to be too much for Mei. So, she decides it is time but backs out the night of. This leads to Joel lying and Shirley not picking up on it, but Moishe does and notes he just wants his kid to be happy.

Speaking of being happy, to make Sophie happy, Susie gets her on the Gordon Ford show despite having nothing to promote beyond her next chapter. This, getting her on a talk show with nothing to promote, just furthers Sophie’s love for Susie since she kills it out there being herself, not Sophie from Queens. And while Gordon doesn’t necessarily hold back with the questions, Sophie rolls with the punches and is such a good sport that she wins everyone over. Which might be why Susie leaves, to Sophie’s dismay, before the interview is over.

But, what can Susie say? She has tons of mail, phone calls, and lacks a secretary. Not to say she has trouble finding one that wants to interview, for she meets with a dozen of them. However, Dinah, a Black woman who waited 7 hours, gets the job just for patience and flexibility.

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Is it in poor taste to have a Jewish actor’s character get excited about a “shiny nazi Mercedes?”
2. Who was knocking at Joel’s door and ringing the bell?
3. Was it one of Solomon’s daughters who slipped that “Stop” envelope?
4. Who was on the ground that Miriam had to jump out of the car to get to, while leaving her bag?

What Could Happen Next

1. Susie meeting her match with Dinah, in terms of someone who not only can match her energy but get her life together
2. Shirley having a fit over Mei or thinking she is beautiful and lowkey fetishizing her features – there are only two options here
3. Shy coming back into Miriam’s life in such a way people think Shy is having an affair
4. Solomon’s daughters making Rose’s life so hard she’d rather tap out than continue

Collected Quote(s)

You ever feel so close to something you really want, so close that you just can’t stand it, so you destroy it? You-you blow it all up?
— Sophie

Review

Highlights

A Different Side To Sophie

Sophie is often made to be a joke. She is kooky, rich, out of touch, and a bit ridiculous. Yet, in that interview, with seeing her more serious side and hearing her fearful of accomplishing something she has wanted, rather than continue the easy thing, we got a human being. We didn’t have yet another character whose purpose seemed to be being laughed at, but now someone who you’re supposed to feel something for. Which has made Sophie more than a lovable comedic character whose surprise appearances are always welcomed and more of a character you want to be reoccurring and whose development is more consistent than 90% of the characters on this show.

Rose Having A Notable Opportunity & Getting A Mystery Card

Rose’s storyline of being a matchmaker is a Godsend, for it gets her out of the house, away from Abe, yet still keeps her tied into the show because she can brag to whoever listens. But, what really makes this interesting isn’t her coming at Miriam’s neck about her job at the burlesque club, but that card.

As shown with Joel, people are in secret relationships, so it makes you wonder, with Solomon’s girls living in New York and having past dalliances with stable boys and others, what may Rose uncover? Will she discover they like to go to Christopher Street and part in the village? Maybe they have someone and live in the city to keep it secret? A lot could be uncovered, and we’re ready to find out what may specifically.

Miriam’s Talk With Shy

While Miriam has Lenny, he comes and goes like a stray cat, and those two, clearly, do not talk on the phone. So while she has Susie and Imogene, I would submit Miriam doesn’t have the kind of friends she needs. That is someone who understands the life of getting on stage, putting yourself out there, struggling with dating, and just someone she can relate to.

Enter Shy, who gets it. Yes, his career is beyond what Miriam’s is, and being queer puts a very different spin on struggling with dating. Yet, they could have a conversation without it becoming a match of wits or having it where everything gets questioned for its legitimacy, which is rare in Miriam’s life.

I mean, take note, almost every conversation with her family, Joel and his parents included, becomes some sort of debate or interaction like a farce play. Then with Susie, while Miriam accepts and adores her, there are certain boundaries that Miriam forgets. Leading to each time she is reminded they aren’t really friends, just friendly because of their business relationship; you can see Miriam gets shaken.

With Shy, you can see that all over. As she did with Susie, she ignored boundaries or forced boundaries to be put up, and in Miriam’s desires to be close to someone, platonic or not, she just keeps finding disappointment. But while Susie can be bought with a $5 bill, Shy needed a real apology, or Miriam needed to say one to get that weight off her back.

But, perhaps to show growth, in Miriam noting she isn’t going to pretend what Shy did wasn’t horrible, she rejects pretending they could be friends again. Though considering how Shy will throw away people for money and career longevity, maybe it was for the best.

Susie Has A Black Secretary

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is one of those weird shows where, despite being in New York, it’s like minorities don’t exist. Black people, Latinos, Asians, anyone with pigment in their skin is rarely seen, and the few that are appear to be written to speak enough to potentially compensate for the notable absence.

I mean, even at Shy’s wedding, he was the only one who really talked. Especially in terms of someone who wasn’t working the event.

This is why Dinah working for Susie is going to be interesting and their dynamic. Especially since we don’t know if Dinah is code-switching to get the job or if she is really this ace who is flexible, as long as she is paid on time. So, here is hoping as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel gets further integrated on screen, it feels less like tokenism and more like this show takes place in New York, and everyone is as progressive as they want to appear.

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