Each and every single episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has thus far given us a glimpse into the future—and each development is more surprising than the next. There’s never a dull moment, even in the flash-forwards.
In the first, we got a look into adult Esther’s therapy session as she prepares to complete medical school, while the second episode of the season revealed that Midge Maisel became a huge star thanks to a 60 Minutes documentary about her life.
And The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5 Episode 3 took us to 1984 Israel where Ethan is finishing “rabbi school”—Midge’s words—and working in the fields planting gardens, which his Jewish mother ruined when she came for a visit in her obnoxiously big helicopter that nearly landed on/destroyed the lettuce heads he was harvesting.
It’s striking to see Midge’s children as grown-ups for a few reasons, though mostly, I think it’s because I never even considered them growing up. The focus has been on Midge and her budding comedy career this whole time, so the children became an afterthought. And I think that’s partially the issue now that they are adults—they weren’t just an afterthought to us, they may have also been to Midge.
There’s no doubt in my mind that she loved her children—we see it in the scenes as she tries to figure out how to get Ethan to sleep in his own bed and when she goes to cuddle up with Esther, who doesn’t want to sleep with her mom and slinks away to her own bed once Midge falls asleep, but after finding her “thing” and deciding to pursue comedy as a career, eventually landing a job on the Gordon Ford show, Midge was no longer just the housewife dedicating her whole life to the children. It’s the classic plight of working mothers, struggling to figure out how to balance it all and still be the best at everything—we have to mother like we don’t work and work like we don’t mother.
And it seems that with Midge, her laser focus on comedy kind of took a toll on her relationships with her children. In both scenarios with adult Esther and Ethan, we see that they don’t fully resent their mother, but they aren’t on impeccable terms with her either—they simply accept that she is who she is and she will never change.
Esther works through her mommy issues in therapy, but with Ethan, Midge doesn’t even know he has a fiancée.
I’m continuing to get the sense that, well, Midge got everything she wanted, but she lost a whole lot in the process.
We haven’t seen Joel or the parents in the future timelines, so I’m eager to see how things turned out for everyone or if they are still alive.
The other thing that really gets me about Esther and Ethan’s adulthood is that it’s not at all what you’d expect from the children of a woman like Midge Maisel, and it goes to show that you really have no idea where your kids will end up or who they’ll turn out to be. They are nothing like the family that raised them, so it’s definitely quite a shock.
The storyline with Midge’s kids to me, as a mother, is also a reminder that you are not your children. The sentiment surrounding motherhood is a lot different now than it was back then, but it’s simply proof that women should pursue careers or take up some hobbies that speak to their interests instead of making their children their whole world because what happens once they do finally grow up and leave the house? Midge has lived a full and wildly eventful life that was all her own—independent of her role as mama.
The episode also delved deeper into Midge’s gig on the Gordon Ford show, detailing the short-lived success of getting her first joke onto the broadcast and approved by the man of the hour himself… four weeks into the gig, nonetheless.
I say short-lived because Ford flubbed the punch line, to which Midge let out an audible groan that was heard by everyone and anyone. And when she tried to apologize for it after, things escalated pretty quickly, with neither Ford nor Midge willing to admit that they were wrong. It was clear that Midge was right about Ford screwing up the timing and getting the wrong laugh, but he also saved face on national television, so it wasn’t a completely lost cause.
Either way, there was a very real fear that Midge was about to get fired, and I’m convinced she would have if she was a man, so I guess this is definitely the part where people say it “pays off” to be a woman. Ford wasn’t upset by their fight making the front page of the paper, instead pleased that it skyrocketed their numbers, making them the #1 late-night show on television. Any publicity is good publicity I guess, right?
As the celebrations hit the rink at Rockefeller Center for a private party, Ford decided to make his move on Midge, and this is where it became very clear how much times have changed. Nowadays, an “innocent” kiss without the other person’s consent would’ve been considered sexual harassment/assault and grounds for firing, not to mention a PR nightmare, but it was simply something Midge brushed off while Ford hid behind his “charms.” It was even more problematic because he has a wife, which means that the chemistry I’ve been picking up on ever so briefly is quite disturbing. Hopefully, Midge won’t be adding him to her list of ex-husbands.
And as someone who has been cheated on by her husband, there’s no way she can ever allow herself to be the other woman.
Joel’s life continued spiraling out of control as his parents descended on his nightclub airing out their marital grievances and scaring customers in the process. While it was absolutely hilarious to watch, Joel wasn’t of the same mindset, nor was Midge when her attempt at standup kept getting interrupted by Moishe and Shirley.
The scene where Shirley cornered Midge in the bathroom may be one of the funniest to date because poor Midge had no idea what to say or how to get out of it. And instead of simply saying “I don’t know what happened to Mae,” she made up a story about her being stuck in China.
You’d think it would just end there, but the very next day, Moishe gathered a team to think of an extraction plan to get his son’s girl out. I don’t even know where they come up with this stuff, but Joel’s parents are quite a trip.
To diffuse the situation, Joel had to come clean about the end of his relationship, also informing them that there was no baby. Shirley assumed Mae lost it, and Joel didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise. The final scene where she brings both blue and pink booties to Moishe and cuddles up to him, a clear sign that they’ve officially made up, was truly heartbreaking.
Susie rallying the hitmen to take care of Rose’s “matchmaking” foes who had a vendetta against her was equally as hilarious. How did Susie go from a manager to the muscle visiting the woman in prison and striking a deal for Rose to allow her to keep operating her business? Either way, I loved every moment of it. It speaks to Susie’s versatility and ability to get any situation handled.
Will Rose’s string of bad luck finally come to an end? Or was it just all in her head?
Not to mention that through all of this, Susie managed to patch things up with Mike!
Also, shout out to this incredible moment because Susie stole the spotlight with this flawless skating scene. That woman is full of surprises!
Alex Borstein (Susie Myerson)
As for Abe, I’ve never seen a man more distraught about a spelling error in my life, and I’d really love to read his 1500-word apology. I have no doubt that piece of content is peak entertainment. As for his pep talk to Ethan that was supposed to help him accept living with fear, well, it definitely backfired, and somehow, now I’m even scared of something improbable happening to me when I walk down the street.
What did you think of the episode? Are you enjoying the final season thus far?
The next Maisel episode will premiere next Friday on April 21!