The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 4/ Episode 7 “Ethan… Esther… Chaim” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Alongside Joel finally telling Moishe about Mei, Alfie performs and causes trouble after hypnotizing Rose, and Susie considers firing Dinah.

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Aired	3/11/2022
Network	Prime Video
Directed By	Daniel Palladino
Written By	Daniel Palladino
Introduced This Episode
James	Jay Will

Recap

Have I Got A Gig For You – Susie, Gloria, Miriam, Nicky, Frank

Getting Miriam a headlining gig where she can do her act the way she wants is hard. She has had some flirting success, but with her pissing off a lot of local venues or Susie doing so, getting the people of Gordon Ford to see her is difficult. Especially since having them come to an illegal strip club is out of the question. And while Nicky and Frank, Susie’s mafia friends, are invested in Miriam, neither Susie nor Miriam have them use their talents to help fix some of their sordid relationships.

But, while Miriam may not be an easy sell for Susie, Gloria is able to sell Miriam just fine. Her dad is a senator, seemingly representing a state, and because Jackie Kennedy wants a female comic and Gloria knows Miriam, she puts her up to it, and Miriam books the job. Now, yes, there are a load of questions here regarding why Gloria is a stripper at an illegal place if her father is a senator, and Miriam wants to ask this. However, curiosity could kill the gig, so she sets that question aside for another time.

Now, as for how the gig went? At first, it went well. As Gloria advised Miriam, she kept it clean and got good laughs about how perfect Jackie is. However, upon Miriam mentioning her dating life, things went left, for she talked about being the other woman, and the talk of affairs leaves Jackie in tears.

Have You Thought This Through? – Joel, Miriam, Moishe, Nicky, Frank

Joel reveals to Miriam all his struggles ranging from Archie losing a bag of money, Mei being pregnant, and more. But, what Miriam focuses on is Mei being pregnant since she, like everyone else, doesn’t know Mei much. And, of course, being that Joel is struggling with what to do about the whole Mei situation, he isn’t ready for anyone, especially Miriam, asking 21 questions.

Hence, Miriam goes back and forth with herself over Nicky or Frank looking into Mei. But with the boys seeing themselves as family, they do so as a favor only for us to learn from Frank that Mei’s people are so dangerous he wants his name not uttered a syllable about this and that he is tapping out. Which for Miriam is suspicious, but with Joel saying he is going to tell his dad about Mei, to prep her for her parents talking, she hunches it off. They’re in New York and interact with seedy people. What are you going to do?

This brings us to Moishe’s reaction: Let’s just say he falls off his chair in such a way that it makes you wonder how Shirley will act when she hears the news.

That Didn’t Go As Expected – James, Dinah, Susie, Alfie, Rose, Abe, Miriam, Noah, Astrid

Despite Dinah being able to roll quite well with the punches, Susie wants to fire her. The reason? Dinah has a lot of personal drama between two boyfriends and kids running around, making Susie feel like she isn’t professional enough for the agency. But, on the day she is to be fired, Dinah not only gets Miriam her dress back from the house of the man having an affair but helps Susie discover James.

Who is James, by the way? Well, a local talent that is a bit rough, but who Dinah thinks could be good for Susie, and she agrees. For as shown by Alfie, Susie has an eye for people, and even if they are rough, insecure, or need some polishing, she can work with that. In fact, Alfie performs this episode and is a hit! But he also causes issues for Rose as he hypnotizes her and performs Miriam’s act. This leads to the reveal that Rose is a notorious flirt, Noah has a lot of time with hand cream, and Abe and Rose don’t have sex often.

As you can imagine, this causes nothing but chaos, and while Miriam is embarrassed, even shocked her mom saw her perform, this does provide an opening for Rose to talk about the Matchmaking Syndicate that has gone from harassing her to now even scaring Abe so bad he went into a Catholic church! But, despite the obstacles, Miriam encourages her mom to continue and enjoy herself.

Things To Note

1. Lenny is playing Carnegie Hall soon, which makes it around February 1961

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. How did Dinah get Miriam’s dress back after her messing with that married man?
2. What was the aftermath of Sophie and Miriam’s back and forth? Did NBC ban Miriam from the building? Is Sophie no longer in pursuit of Susie? I assume Miriam lost the gig, but what about everything else?
3. Did Miriam get further blackballed after making Jackie Kennedy cry, or did she win some over?
4. Considering Rose knew Miriam’s act word for word, did she secretly like it?
5. Why is Gloria working at Wolford’s if her father is a senator? Clearly, if she can get Miriam a job, they have a good relationship. So, is it that she just likes dancing, and her job doesn’t threaten his candidacy?
6. When the matchmakers said they were at war, what actually happened? Was there violence or just pettiness? If not, the harassment Abe went through?

What Could Happen Next

1. Something coming out of Miriam’s gig for Jackie Kennedy
2. Dinah going from secretary to helping Susie recruit Black acts

Review

Highlights

The Funniest Episode Yet

Whether you want to talk about Rose doing parts of Miriam’s act we haven’t seen or Miriam performing in front of Jackie Kennedy, this episode probably was one of the funniest of the entire season. Mind you, do any of the jokes have staying power, where you’ll repeat them in your daily life? No. But for a show about a stand-up comic, most of the funny moments are off stage, so seeing two people perform was quite a treat. Especially since Rose’s imitation of Miriam is so lovingly comical.

Joel & Miriam’s Friendship

To go from married to divorced, and now being beyond co-parents but actually friends? It has been a journey for these two, and we do love that they can maintain some form of a connection beyond their kids. It really shows that these two loved each other beyond the superficial and whatever pressures their family presented.

While she can be a mile-a-minute talker, Miriam makes for a decent confidant and friend who can be vented to, even if sometimes she slips up. Then, when it comes to Joel, he is a decent guy outside of the affair. Someone reliable and supportive when called upon.

On The Fence

Feeling Like Miriam Is In A Rut

With the next season being the last, I hope that Miriam can break her rut. It seems just as she is on the cusp of becoming one of the biggest American female comics, something happens. If it isn’t pissing off Sophie it is Shy. She made a joke about affairs in front of Jackie Kennedy, and it seems she keeps getting into her own way by insulting the person who could take her to the next level.

But with this being the penultimate episode of the season, maybe she may have found herself winning over someone during Mrs. Kennedy’s luncheon who themselves, or their husbands, have the power to put Miriam over?

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