Rather than dropping a single episode for each week or unloading the full season in one fell swoop, Prime Video has opted to deliver a double dose ofThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiseleach week. “Everything is Bellmore” and “Interesting People on Christopher Street” function as the two extremes of what the series is able to give audiences.
While “Everything is Bellmore” has plenty of cheeky Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) moments, it is largely focused on Susie (Alex Borstein) grappling with the tragic loss of her friend, colleague, and roommate Jackie (Brian Tarantina). It’s a beautiful portrayal of grief, the way that death haunts you after a sudden loss, and learning about who someone really was posthumously. The plot is tinged with even deeper sorrow considering the episode is a send-off to Tarantina, who passed away suddenly in 2019. Borstein nails the way that Susie comes unmoored due to his death, and she fully seized the opportunity to play in the spotlight for once.
Susie’s grief may be the central focus of the episode, but there are plenty of other stories happening within her orbit. The Weissman-Maisel family and Susie venture out to see a theatrical performance being put on by a family friend from the Catskills. The musical (with onlyonesong, reprised five times) is so disastrously bad that Abe (Tony Shalhoub) is left with no choice but to deliver a negative review inThe Village Voiceso damning that it causes serious fissures in the Jewish community—some that run even deeper than he had intended them to. Including one that might carry serious legal ramifications along with it.
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Midge secures herself a job as the MC at the strip club, though her busybody nature has her trying to improve working conditions, streamline performances, and take over where the do-nothing management Boise (Santino Fontana) fails. In typical Midge fashion, she manages to take her new predicament in stride with her bawdy sense of self-deprecating humor.
If you, like myself, have been wondering when Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) would finally show up (considering he’s featured on this season’s poster) “Everything is Bellmore” delivered. He shows up at the strip club with a few of his buddies, and he is just as surprised to see Midge there as she’s surprised to see him. She begs him not to watch her set, but he sweet talks her with a long-winded anecdotal story about embracing distractions. I caught myself wondering ifAmy Sherman-Palladinohad intentionally hoped we would engage with the deeper context of bringing Lenny into this season in the very same episode that Susie is dealing with a profound loss in her life. It’s a very real concern for fans of the Lenny-Midge dynamic, considering Lenny Bruce is a real person who tragically died in 1966. Though with the confirmation thatnext season would be the fifth and final act ofThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it does seem like the story will wrap up before Midge has to deal with his loss.
Susie continues to deal with her grief in “Interesting People on Christopher Street” as she sets out to find herself a new office and Midge sets out to find someone for Susie to love. It all transpires because Midge goes on yet another disastrous date with some doctor who tragically isn’tZachary Levi’s Benjamin and Susie has to come save the day with somber news about a sick child, which is the worst possible excuse to use in front of a pediatrician.
To some degree, Midge’s attempt to find Susie her happily ever after at a lesbian bar feels like an overcorrection following the criticism the series received after Midge decided to out a queer Black man last season. While there certainly were gay and lesbian bars on Christopher Street in the 1960s, this duo is walking a dangerous path that could lead them behind bars, not just at a bar. For better or for worse,The Marvelous Mrs. Maiselhas been fairly historically accurate in most areas, so it would make sense that it likely hasn’t divorced itself from the cruel reality of what the LGBT+ community faced in the sixties. Season four is set nine years before Stonewall, which is located on Christopher Street, so perhaps the series is just trying to set the scene.
Across the two episodes this week, Joel (Michael Zegen) is dealing with his own tricky situation as his mother continues to try to set him up with potential girls, all the while he is in a secret relationship with Mei (Stephanie Hsu). She is understandably hesitant about meeting his parents—not just because she’s not Jewish, but because the sixties aren’t entirely kind towards interracial couples. Mei snidely remarks that she’d be fine with being a mistress if Joel had to marry some nice Jewish girl and when he balks at the idea, she pointedly reminds him about what he put Midge through.
Abe’s friend and fellow activist Asher (Jason Alexander) shows up to deal with the fallout of Abe implicating them for a federal crime in his review, though the FBI ends up being the least of Abe’s concerns when he learns that Asher and Rose (Marin Hinkle) used to date. It’s hard to figure out whatThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiselis aiming for with Abe’s arc across the last two seasons, though Shalhoub does such a brilliant job with playing him as a straight shooter in hilariously uncomfortable moments.
During one of her bits, where she talks about wives knowing that their husbands are cheating on them or hanging out at strip clubs, Midgeclearlyruffles a few feathers—though nothing comes from it in “Interesting People on Christopher Street.” As she rambles about lonely housewives, Boise is clearly agitated, which seems to imply we’ll learn more about whatever his backstory is. You don’t just bringtheSantino Fontana in without fully utilizing him.
