The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 episode 4 recap & review: Susan

Open Go TV / April 26, 2023 / Reviews

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In episode 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Susie’s past dealings come back to haunt her and Midge has a rough day at work. The episode is streaming on Prime Video.

Recap

Susie gets a call from Frankie and Nicky who tell her that they need Midge to step in for a performance at an industrial musical since their lead dropped out. When Susie says it’s going to be tough, Frankie and Nicky remind her that she owes them for all that they’ve done for her.

The morning after the celebration, everyone at The Gordon Ford Show is suffering a huge hangover except for Midge. She’s summoned by Gordon who once again asks her out but Midge says no.

Susie calls Midge to tell her about the industrial show and adds that they’ll be paid a lot if she does it. She also says that if she doesn’t, there might be hell to pay so Midge reluctantly agrees.

Rose is very excited because she’s going out with Abe to see a play written by his old colleague. Zelda and Janusz appear to be more and more involved in the household chores.

Midge goes to the industrial show and learns that she’s in a musical about private demolition and waste management. She and Susie aren’t exactly thrilled by the assignment but they know they don’t have much of a choice.

Midge reads from the script during her first performance while Susie’s sister Tessie is also a part of the show.

Abe, Rose, and Abe’s colleagues are having dinner after the play discussing how it went. Rose and Abe enjoyed it but have different interpretations of the narrative and they get into an argument over it.

Midge is showing the writer’s room how bad the script for the musical is when they hear Gordon getting very agitated. His comic for the show that night bounces so everyone scrambles to find a new one.

Midge calls Susie and says that she might have an opportunity to be on the show but when she asks Gordon, he says that a rule is in place stating that no one working on the show can ever be on the show.

This frustrates Midge entirely and she botches her second performance in the musical, angering Frankie and Nicky. They threaten Susie and remind her of the consequences of crossing them, which Joel overhears.

He asks Susie what she’s gotten Midge into but Susie just avoids him and leaves. Gordon’s show decides to have their second guest go on longer until Sophie Lennon shows up to save the moment.

Susie confronts Mike about the rule and he tells her there is no fix to it. As she’s leaving the studio, she runs into Gordon’s wife Hedy, and it is revealed that Hedy and Susie were in a relationship in college that did not end on the best of terms.

Review

This episode evokes mixed feelings as it has many of the trademark tropes that make this series great but it still races along with so many things happening and not enough time for them to register.
The decision to have the entire musical run in the episode is the bold one. It’s certainly impressive and it adds some context to the moment later on but it mostly exists as a filler for a huge chunk of the episode.
As a result, several other plots get barely enough time, such as Abe and Rose’s little tiff, or Joel’s appearance for that matter. This episode doesn’t hold up to the overall quality of the series but still has it’s moments.