The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 episode 5 recap & review: The Pirate Queen

Open Go TV / May 2, 2023 / Reviews

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In episode 5 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Midge volunteers to perform in front of potential sponsors and gets into trouble, while Susie does everything she can to help another one of her clients. The episode is streaming on Prime Video.

Recap

In the flash-forward, Midge visits Joel in prison and they bicker over the fact that Midge isn’t doing significant work anymore. They also imply that Joel is in there for having Midge’s back.

Back in the present, Joel and Archie are looking to buy an old Catholic school and turn it into a supper club. Joel tells Archie his doubts about Susie’s relationship with Frankie and Nicky.

Business is booming for Susie as she tries to talk some sense into Alfie. Dinah and Maggie are trying to get ahold of the studio where Susie’s client James auditioned for a war movie.

She learns that David Weston is the man responsible for making a decision and makes it her goal to get in touch with him. At a meeting with Gordon Ford and his writers, his producer George tells him the “Diddy Doo” diaper cream wants to sponsor the show but Gordon refuses.

Midge offers to step in as entertainment for the boat ride that George had already paid for and he is pleased with her pitch. Rose, Shirley, and Midge help Zelda get ready for her wedding to Janusz that is happening in the Weismann’s house.

During their vows, Janusz says that Zelda will never have to work ever again. Abe, Rose, and Midge panic when they hear this news and scramble to figure out how to stop it.

Joel talks to Midge about Frankie and Nicky and asks her to take care of herself. They share a passionate kiss before she leaves for her gig on the boat.

Susie has no luck locating David Weston but has one final lead she decides to follow. Midge performs her set on the boat to great response but things get worse from there.

After stopping one of the executives from harassing a waitress, she plays with his jacket and mistakenly drops it into the ocean. Thanks to an insane series of events, Midge ends up facing criminal charges and being classified as a pirate.

Susie finally finds David at a nudist bathhouse and confronts him. She tells him not to hire James so that she can earn so much more money from him when he’s out touring. She’s confident that this tactic will work and it does, with David hiring James.

By signing a nobody to David Weston’s film, Susie’s name travels as a pretty darn good agent, and Susie treats herself by getting fitted for a new suit.

Midge completes one of her usual sets and runs into Gordon outside the club. He asks her if he can buy her dinner and she takes him to a nearby diner. He once again asks her out on a date but she refuses.

She says that the moment they get together, it might jeopardize her reputation in the industry as she’ll be known as Gordon’s girl who probably slept her way to fame. Gordon reluctantly agrees to this and they have a dance right there in the diner.

Review

Following the previous episode, this one is definitely a step up as they go back to what works for the series. Midge has a killer set, she has some fun exchanges and some romantic moments too.
The flashforwards don’t seem to be working for this writer. They’re supposed to be a device building up intrigue for what is going to happen in the final few episodes but they just feel a little too detached and remove some of the surprise factor.
The interaction between Hedy and Susie was very brief and not at all followed up in this episode which is a strange decision. It is one of the few moments that feels like a tentative misstep unless they resolve it really well before the end.