[S02.E09: Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy]

Agree with the comments on the production value and the talent... 

the part that undid me was when Abe was watching at home and you could hear the echo of all the other TVs watching the same thing in the other buildings. And then Abe looks out to see his daughter across the street on TV. And Rose comes in to say, “this is really happening.” 

The look on Abe’s face was one that was part amazement and almost respect. 

I started to cry. 

[S02.E10: All Alone]

18 hours ago, ChlcGirl said:

I know I'm terrible for saying this but I'm really disappointed with Midge for agreeing to go on a six month European tour.  Yes, it's a running joke that she doesn't parent her kids but where the hell will they go while she's gone??  And at the end she seemed to be fully aware that she was cutting herself off from her family and she was ok with that?

I know it's a tv show and I'm overthinking things but man! Its harsh of her.

And also you don't throw over Zachary Levi to get in one last schtup with Joel.  Stupid girl.

We would never, ever question a man for leaving his children for 6 months to go tour. The kids have a father and two sets of grandparents. That’s sort of the point of the show - a woman who is destined for more running up against the stereotypes of 1950s Jewish society (and well, American sexism). Apparently, we still expect women to conquer the world and tuck the kids in to bed every night. It’s not fair to evaluate her choices in that way... she’s been struggling with this decision for 2 seasons. Being a wife and mother was part of it.

16 hours ago, hincandenza said:

Well, it's the central theme of the character this season: her awakening to how her passion (comedy) is going to leave her alone and disconnected, in equal measure to the success she will experience.

The Declan Howell meetup (and his close-to-the-bone monologue about putting everything into that painting and having nothing left), Lenny Bruce talking/singing about being alone and regretting the isolation, her realization at the reception for her Catholic friend that she's losing the ability to modulate her "club" voice when around family and friends, her instant agreement to a 6-month tour and later realization that it was both totally irresponsible and something she'd agree to again in a heartbeat, and her "cheating" on Benjamin with her still-husband Joel in a desperate attempt to feel something before her new life of being the lonely comic is about to start.  These and other moments are showing us the transformation of Miriam Maisel into "Mrs. Maisel".

Midge is becoming aware that she is in fact a very, very good comic, and she will be hugely successful... and the unavoidable cost is that the life of jello molds and society gossip is going to be cut off to her.

I don't think she'll be with Benjamin in season 3, for that reason.  Midge can't return to being just another happy society housewife he or anyone is expecting as we enter the 1960s, even if he is modern enough to also prefer a "weird" wife to the bland Stepford divas hanging off the likes of Joel.  After all, just after he went through a gauntlet to get her father to okay a marriage, she... turns around and leaves the country for 6 months?!?  The men she was raised to attract, and the home life she was trained from girlhood to be perfect at, are simply not compatible with who she is becoming.

I don’t think Benjamin is completely gone. I think he might be on a shelf. Or he wants revenge. Look at the way that man buys art.

i actually like him and feel like MAYBE he is evolved enough to grow with her. But who knows. 

[Season Two: Marvelous Full-Season Discussion]

1 hour ago, kathe5133 said:

Oh don't get me wrong, he was all that, but he lived his life on the seedy side.  Maybe we could say that Midge could have changed all that, but maybe he could of dragged her down with him.  I get that they want to tie in that like Lenny, Midge is a groundbreaking performer, but if they are going to use a real life character, make him real, or don't use him.  Mention him like they do Bob Newhart, but don't portray him.

Bob Newhart so not groundbreaking... yawn

I sort of hear you. I love that they made him a character. And comedy has a seedy side. Even the ones who appear to be squeaky clean can turn out to be Bill Cosby who was doing what he did to women back in the 60s... thank you, I’ll take Lenny Bruce.

[Season Two: Marvelous Full-Season Discussion]

10 minutes ago, kathe5133 said:

Every time "Lenny Bruce" is on the screen I see in my mind his last photo.  Dead, next to the toilet, with a needle in his arm.  Knowing how the real Lenny Bruce lived and ended his life, I don't understand why we need to see more of him.

Because he was a trailblazer for the rights of an artist for free speech...tragic ending but doesn’t mean he wasn’t brilliant and world changing 

[S02.E03: The Punishment Room]

This is the type of stand up she’s doing. Keep in mind the comments she gets when the bookers find out she’s a comic - do you sing? The belief is that women aren’t funny. The truth is, the best comedians usually go into that place that most people are uncomfortable. 

She’s doing it this way because she’s a groundbreaking comedian. Keep in mind how much funnier she is than some of the men she was behind in episode 2... much funnier. The best men comedians are always edgier than the mainstream men. She’s modeling herself after Redd Fox and Lenny Bruce, not Sophie Lenin. Or Bill Cosby. Thank GOD. Because they aren’t really funny. 

Her skewering of her friend at her wedding wasn’t awful because it was vulgar; it was because she wasn’t a good friend and didn’t realize until it was too late that the whole world isn’t her open mic. She needs to censor herself if only to preserve her relationships. And it’s not the content, it’s the where, why, and how. We all do that. 

[S02.E01: Simone]

12 hours ago, Nidratime said:

This is a question/observation from a friend of mine who isn't on this board. She asked me, if Midge went to Bryn Mawr for college, which is not far from Philadelphia, why did she say to Susie that she had never been to Philadelphia, when Susie was telling Midge of a potential booking there? Surely, in four years, Midge would've ventured to the biggest city closest to the college. (And, actually, at that time Philly was probably the 4th largest city in the U.S. -- so certainly something a Bryn Mawr student would've visited while attending college.)

Thank you! I had this exact same question. Huge gap... I mean I guess her parents could have driven her there via all backroads, but, really? I don’t see that happening. 

And I see Joel as a guy in a city university, not Haverford is Swarthmore. The only other mainline option is Villanova and what Jewish family is ending their son to Villanova?

No, I think he’s meant to be at Penn... 

[S02.E07: Look, She Made a Hat]

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

@veronicalodge44, I agree with your entire post. The one problem with binge releases is the dearth of thoughtful analysis like this for each episode. But maybe this manner of streaming a series faster than the masses of the social media (like ourselves) can devour and regurgitate it is better—like not seeing the Howell painting in this episode. But I do want to savor and recall more of this series than I would with pure binging, so I'm grateful to have threads already set up here for that purpose.

I was dreading Midge getting "a new love interest" this season, but so far, this has been the most delightful pairing since any of Jane Austen's.

Is there something wrong with me if I identified with Susie's sister spending her days thinking of ways to murder her husband? [By "identified with," I don't mean I literally do that, just that I sometimes dwell on things like that, and not with my ex-husband—anymore.]

 

The frequent use of the F word by increasing numbers of Midge's extended family is distracting; I never heard it growing up, and as an adult I only heard my father use tamer four letter words.

No! I’m divorced and it’s because I didn’t dream of this, I dreamed of the phone call telling me there had been an accident, or he had a heart attack, blah, blah, blah...

plotting his murder wasn’t far behind!

[S02.E07: Look, She Made a Hat]

On 12/6/2018 at 1:48 PM, veronicalodge44 said:

pausing mid-binge for a few thoughts on this packed and very enjoyable episode...

 

*rufus sewell is just so yummy, it's ridiculous.  i've been a huge fan of his forever and his turn here did not disappoint.  so adept at both the OTT comedy in the bar and the more dramatic moments at his studio.

 

*the scene where midge and howell stood in front of his 'masterpiece' painting was so well done.  the actors sold it, and the look in midge's eyes when she realizes that his pronouncements about the impossibility of having it all likely apply to her - heartbreaking.  and i was really glad they never showed us the painting, only their reactions to it - much more effective that way, i think.

 

*i love the way benjamin and midge's relationship is unfolding.  she seems to be able to be completely herself -- the 'herself' that has especially blossomed in this last year -- with him.  and i loved their conversation in front of his place, and felt that scene was also all the more effective for showing everything that led to midge deciding to go inside with him, and what had already been implied by that, and nothing after.  it reminded me of hollywood films from an earlier era, where sometimes the suggestion of sex was so much sexier than something quite explicit (though i can enjoy those types of scenes as well, in series like in outlander). 

 

*and in another example of not having to show everything, i like that we got the quietly celebratory scene with midge and susie at the bar, but didn't see midge's preceding set.  her description-- that she just recounted word-for-word the yom kippur break-fast disaster from earlier in the evening--sufficed.  

 

*mrs moskowitz has quietly become a gem of a character, love her being with joel in his new role in the family business.

 

*again, i laughed hard so many times throughout this episode - i'm already looking forward to a re-watch of this whole season to catch all the nuances of the humor again.

You had so many of my thoughts watching this. 

I wanted to see the picture but I’m so glad they didn’t succumb to it... so much better. So much tension.

I love Rufus Sewell - in Victoria, he’s smoldering, stoic and kind. Wise and weathered. In Man in the High Castle, broken and tied by loyalty and driven by fear of what happens if he takes a misstep in the Reich. His character work is brilliant and don’t get me started on how good his accents are...

His drunken performance on the bar? Hilarious. To go from Shakespeare to a dirty limerick while convincing people he was going to fall from the top of the bar... quite comedic gold. The timing! He had Midge going. I didn’t realize he had the comedic timing a range. My apologies, Mr. Sewell. And I want someone to interview him in why he was drawn to this and how he wound up on this show! ASP is so careful about casting so you know there’s a story!

The weird charade between Benjamin and Midge - the “well, you two found each other!”. 

Declan allowing Benjamin to buy a painting but don’t tell me where he lives or I’ll come get it. 

I adore Benjamin. I, too, was like why does she need a love interest. But I feel like if anyone has a chance to support her dream and be okay with her pursuing this, Benjamin’s the guy. I mean, no matter what, she’s the woman who got her a Declan Howell. He wanted a different woman. He’s open. Is he this open? So far he seems to be... 

Declan letting Midge know she might not have anything left for anyone else... that was heartbreaking. Some of the best writing and acting in a show full of it.

Sewell must be nominated for his guest spot.