S05.E09: Four Minutes

[Chalmer]

Did they ever show why Midge and Suzie “broke up “?

[Toonces464]

7 hours ago, AriAu said:

4. The way she touched and smiled at the framed picture of her and Joel from their wedding day makes me think they got back together....and that he had passed away by 2005.

That's the way I took it too.

Great finale. I'll miss this show so much.

[Gloriosa]

When this show first started, I recognized Rachael Brosnahan as the call girl from House of Cards.  The roles are so completely different.  She really is a good actress. 

Susie's get-up at the end was so hilarious.  That hair!  She was always a hoot. 

I enjoyed the whole series, as much for its visual appeal as for the characters and stories.

[CarpeFelis]

21 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I would have found this a lot more impressive if Midge's triumphant routine had actually made me laugh. It didn't.

Same! I didn’t think the jokes were really all that funny.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Chalmer said:

Did they ever show why Midge and Suzie “broke up “?

Not that I could see, but it seemed Mob related, perhaps because Joel went to prison?
When Midge was asked about her breakup with Susie in that interview, I wondered if it was a fake break up. Maybe also related to the Mob.

[Fake Jan Brady]

1 hour ago, Chalmer said:

Did they ever show why Midge and Suzie “broke up “?

Yes, in episode six: The Testi-Roastial. Midge and Suzy have the fight in the synagogue after Joel is arrested and the letter he gives Midge reveals Suzy's mob connection/Joel buying Midge out of trouble. The long-time loss of income and Joel being arrested causes her to lose all trust in Suzy.

It was a helluva scene.

[SeanC]

8 hours ago, bourbon said:

I had a hunch all along that the framing device of this season would be Midge looking back on her successful career. I just hoped she would be surrounded by children and grandchildren and not walking through her cold and empty palatial apartment in the Dakota. I guess we all define happiness in our own way. I just wish the ending didn't seem like a stern warning...Be careful what you wish for, ladies, you'll end up sad and alone and watching Jeopardy on VHS. Ambition isn't a crime. Maybe you can't have it all. But can't you have more than *that*? 

I didn't hate it. If they were aiming for a downbeat, bittersweet ending, they got it. But I will look at the whole thing through a different lens now.

Is she sad at the end? She seems pretty content watching TV with her closest friend.

While we were shown that Midge has tensions with both her kids, they'd both be 50ish by the time depicted, and her one grandchild that we know of would be college-aged. Regardless of her relationship with them, they wouldn't be hanging around her house every day.

[Lake Erie Lass]

The final routine on the Gordon Ford show was a nice mix of Midge poking fun at the origins of her comedy and an acknowledgement of the difficulty of choosing a career path that was not readily available to women. I loved the response of everyone associated with the show to her routine, from Gordon being wowed and going back to his desk to enjoy her set, as well as the male writers pride in her routine. It reminded me of when she got the last time slot on the telethon, and with nothing to lose, went for it.

On the night she made her debut at the Gaslight, when Midge went to the Communist bar with Susie, Susie said “I don’t mind being alone, I just don’t want to be insignificant.” They both achieved their dream of fame and fortune. Midge knew from the beginning that fame would come at the cost of her family. So it was bittersweet to see the juxtaposition of her wealth vs. her solitary lifestyle.

 I will miss this show. 

P.S. I LOVED the red suit and hat Midge wore when she bailed Susie out of jail. I hope multiple Emmys come their way this fall for the actors and costume designers.

 

[TiredMe]

I’m a total sap and generally judge a finale by how much I get chocked up at its ending and because it’s ending, I was unmoved for this one. It was just there. 

[Cosmocrush]

22 hours ago, CinAZ said:

Even Joel’s parents were tolerable.

I admit I cracked up at the whole falling in the shower and can't get up bit.  

 

9 hours ago, bourbon said:

Maybe you can't have it all. But can't you have more than *that*? 

Not then.   I think that would be pretty tough in that era.  That's why there were so few very successful women who also had families. 

 

[kwnyc]

One of the things that occurred to me as we saw Lenny's downward spiral at the start of the episode was the destruction (self-destruction) of a genius. The world wasn't ready for what he had to say. At the same time, bland, blonde, preppy Gordon Ford has the number one late-night show in the country. He's what America wants to see.

Midge's material came at a cost: playing the role of Young Wife until her husband walked out...and then her finding her way to her own two feet was the source of her comedy. Too edgy for Gordon Ford...but at least able to make her way in comedy with Susie kicking down doors for her, and her own intense ambition. (I went to see Judy Gold's show, and she said that comedy comes from pain, and from being an outsider. She said the funniest people are the ones who are women, POC, queer or otherwise outsiders...except for Jim Gaffigan, but he's Catholic.)

And as noted, if by the mid-'60s, Susie is representing Dick Gregory, Eartha Kitt & Phyllis Diller, she's taking chances on outspoken, political clients. (Didn't we also find out she repped George Carlin?) Susie did pick talented, strong individuals who were groundbreakers. And of course, she broke Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. ;-)

The Joan Rivers comparison was clearer as the show drew to a close: Joan had a huge apartment which was apparently one of the most beautifully decorated in New York...she entertained a LOT, and also never stopped working. And if you saw the Rivers documentary a few years ago, she also had a little room where she hung out and watched TV (and which had every joke she'd ever written on file.)

Since "Hacks" was also inspired by Joan Rivers, as an older woman, I enjoyed that take on how a pioneer might have aged and I could also see Midge pulling the stunt pulled by Jean Smart when she paid a hack male comic $1 million never to walk onstage again.

I did cry, but not at the end...but when Susie cried at the end of Midge's set on Gordon Ford's show.

Midge & Susie were the central relationship of the show, and I'm glad we saw them happy and enjoying each other into this century.

ETA: There's an excellent documentary about the history of the Automat, definitely worth streaming.

Edited May 27, 2023 by kwnyc

[Red Fields]

I adored that Susie routinely fed the pigeons on the inside windowsill in her office. I knew it was a bad idea for Midge to put her arm on it and chuckled when she got poop on her elbow. That dress was really nice too.

I agree that the heart of the story was the deep and enduring relationship between the two of them. I teared up at the end and really enjoyed the whole Maisel ride.

[bourbon]

2 hours ago, SeanC said:

s she sad at the end? She seems pretty content watching TV with her closest friend.

While we were shown that Midge has tensions with both her kids, they'd both be 50ish by the time depicted, and her one grandchild that we know of would be college-aged. Regardless of her relationship with them, they wouldn't be hanging around her house every day.

The show seemed very intentional here. True, her kids and grands wouldn't be hanging out, but they could have lingered on photos of her with them (instead of just a lingering shot of her and Joel) or there could have been a throwaway comment about them when she was meeting with her assistants. Instead we got shot after shot of her wandering around her vast, empty but ornate home. Emphasis on empty. It wasn't accidental. 

And does she seem sad? I don't know. Watching TV "with" Susie a continent away wasn't, for me, a super uplifting ending. Instead of a fun, frothy show about a housewife-turned-comedienne with a dream, the finale and whole season has felt like a cautionary tale -- be careful what you wish for, because you'll end up alone. Sure, she chased her dream and got it, but the show's message seems to be...at what cost? 

Edited May 27, 2023 by bourbon

[janie jones]

On 5/25/2023 at 8:09 PM, Blakeston said:

I would have found this a lot more impressive if Midge's triumphant routine had actually made me laugh. It didn't.

The funniest thing about Midge's set was Alfie appearing out of nowhere.

On 5/25/2023 at 8:52 PM, kwnyc said:

But it was nice to see how the writers applauded her triumph.

The curtsies!

22 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Oh, yeah, now we know it was Susie she was getting the call about at the end of the last episode. 

It was? Was she meeting her to have Susie tell her that she talked to Hedy?

4 hours ago, Gloriosa said:

When this show first started, I recognized Rachael Brosnahan as the call girl from House of Cards.  The roles are so completely different.  She really is a good actress.

They (I think Rachel Brosnahan and the Mrs. Maisel accounts) posted an instagram video before this season started that showed her and Alex Borstein dressing up as various TV duos. I hadn't realized before seeing that how much Rachel Brosnahan acts with her entire body.

What was the palm reader shop they showed during the final credits?

Edited May 27, 2023 by janie jones

[wmdekooning]

12 hours ago, AriAu said:

(news flash....Don Draper did not "teach the world to sing"),  we knew there was no happy ending for him or for him and Midge.

That is true there was no happy ending for Midge and Lenny, but it was no less heartbreaking to see Midge gutted by the realization and Luke Kirby gutted me when he told Susie, “Save your favours…”

[shapeshifter]

11 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

that awful taxi traffic scene, according to that article posted above by @retrograde.

I kept expecting a reveal that the cabbies were on strike and so Abe would want them to walk, but no:

12 hours ago, retrograde said:

FWIW the Palladinos say 

 

The Palladinos also reveal how Gordon felt about Midge’s bit:

Quote

TVLINE | How much of Gordon Ford’s enthusiastic reception to Midge’s four-minute set was genuine and how much of it was him just saving face?
AMY | It was 100 percent genuine. His pride is so big that for him to be won over he really had to be won over.  His territory had been peed on. He was instructed to do something he didn’t want to do. We wanted it to be genuine, [almost like him admitting], “I was a d–k. You were the real deal.”

https://tvline.com/2023/05/26/mrs-maisel-season-5-finale-explained-amy-sherman-palladino-interview/

I am now motivated to rewatch the finale to see if Gordon’s face matches this — which is what I basically thought.
 

Edited May 27, 2023 by shapeshifter

[bybrandy]

56 minutes ago, janie jones said:

It was? Was she meeting her to have Susie tell her that she talked to Hedy?

She was bailing Suzie out of jail because Suzie had a bender slept it off in the park and attacked the cops who tried to move her along. She was arrested but it wasn’t going to come to anything because Suzie played poker with the police chief. 
 

Suzie told Midge about her relationship with Heddy and Midge apologized for making Heddy go to a woman who hurt her so badly but Suzie brushed it off and said it was right to get Midge her break. 
 

1 hour ago, bourbon said:

True, her kids and grands wouldn't be hanging out, but they could have lingered on photos of her with them (instead of just a lingering shot of her and Joel) or there could have been a throwaway comment about them when she was meeting with her assistants. Instead we got shot after shot of her wandering around her vast, empty but ornate home. Emphasis on empty. It wasn't accidental. 

But Midge is fine. She’s quiet. She’s content. She can be alone in that apartment and be fine. Midge in 1958 couldn’t be alone or quiet. 

The piano was absolutely covered in framed photos presumably some of her children and grandchildren are there. 

 

1 hour ago, bourbon said:

And does she seem sad? I don't know. Watching TV "with" Susie a continent away wasn't, for me, a super uplifting ending. Instead of a fun, frothy show about a housewife-turned-comedienne with a dream, the finale and whole season has felt like a cautionary tale

She is laughing her ass off with Suzie watching Jeopardy. They are platonic soul mates.  She might maybe be lonely in that big house but she absolutely isn’t when she’d on the phone with her friend. 
 

During the roast she even says nobody makes her laugh like Suzie. She certainly isn’t having that much of a gas with her joyless son and his joyless wife. 
 

But if she wanted to be with somebody she would be. She has the money and fame to have her house jam packed with people. She has the money to stop working. She doesn’t because she loves it. Because she didn’t pick the stage over chilling with Ethan and Esther because she was broke. She picked the stage because she loved it. If she wanted to be chilling with Ethan and Esther she’d have married Zachary Levi’s character. That isn’t who Midge is. 
 

And that not be a choice every woman or even most might make but that is who Midge is the day we met her and who Midge is in the end.  And that’s fine. She’s fine. She’s spending the night hanging out with her best friend in the world. 

[millennium]

2 hours ago, bybrandy said:

But Midge is fine. She’s quiet. She’s content. She can be alone in that apartment and be fine.

She's not fine.   She's wearing Bea Arthur's hand-me-downs.

[Aulty]

4 hours ago, janie jones said:

What was the palm reader shop they showed during the final credits?

That's from the first season. It's Rose's psychic. She consults her multiple times about various things and Midge's broken marriage.

[EtheltoTillie]

11 hours ago, Oosala said:

 

If you're looking for fantastic series-ending episodes, I strongly suggest watching Six Feet Under.  In my book, that finale was, bar none, the best one out there.  And I really enjoyed that show.  It was back in the days when Netflix sent you a DVD in the mail, and my then-husband and I really loved it when the new discs arrived.

 

If you're looking for fantastic series enders, in my book, nothing beats The Americans.  Throwing that out there for those who haven't seen it and are looking for new shows now that four good series are ending.

Edited May 27, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[DRose]

I‘m totally devastated. The finale was so very sad. To see her life in 2005 was very hard to take. Everyone‘s gone and all alone in that big house. It makes you think that the most beautiful part of her life was BEFORE her career got off the ground. The little flat with her parents, the fun times with Lenny... Thinking about all that made me cry. 

What a wonderful series. Great actors. Great writers. And the choice of music was brilliant. „Have I stayed too long at the fair“ was the perfect song. 
 

Luke Kirby was so great as Lenny I really wished he would get a series of his own as Lenny.

I will miss it so much. „The marvelous Mrs Maisel“ will stay my favorite series forever. 
 

Glad I found this forum today. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

This feels like a big hangover the day after.

 

[SHD]

The Palladinos sure like their series to have bookends. The song Girls Talk was the credits song in the very first episode and also ended the series finale. The difference is that Dave Edmunds' version was used first and Tegan and Sara's version was used to end. Seems intentional that the song narrative shift went from a male version to a female version, maybe to reflect Midge starting in a "man's world" where she didn't have a lot of power to realizing her dream and having control of her own life.

[janie jones]

8 hours ago, bybrandy said:

She was bailing Suzie out of jail because Suzie had a bender slept it off in the park and attacked the cops who tried to move her along. She was arrested but it wasn’t going to come to anything because Suzie played poker with the 

Oh that's right. I completely forgot Susie was arrested.

[alalaxmom]

9 hours ago, bybrandy said:

She was bailing Suzie out of jail because Suzie had a bender slept it off in the park and attacked the cops who tried to move her along. She was arrested but it wasn’t going to come to anything because Suzie played poker with the police chief. 
 

Suzie told Midge about her relationship with Heddy and Midge apologized for making Heddy go to a woman who hurt her so badly but Suzie brushed it off and said it was right to get Midge her break. 
 

But Midge is fine. She’s quiet. She’s content. She can be alone in that apartment and be fine. Midge in 1958 couldn’t be alone or quiet. 

The piano was absolutely covered in framed photos presumably some of her children and grandchildren are there. 

 

She is laughing her ass off with Suzie watching Jeopardy. They are platonic soul mates.  She might maybe be lonely in that big house but she absolutely isn’t when she’d on the phone with her friend. 
 

During the roast she even says nobody makes her laugh like Suzie. She certainly isn’t having that much of a gas with her joyless son and his joyless wife. 
 

But if she wanted to be with somebody she would be. She has the money and fame to have her house jam packed with people. She has the money to stop working. She doesn’t because she loves it. Because she didn’t pick the stage over chilling with Ethan and Esther because she was broke. She picked the stage because she loved it. If she wanted to be chilling with Ethan and Esther she’d have married Zachary Levi’s character. That isn’t who Midge is. 
 

And that not be a choice every woman or even most might make but that is who Midge is the day we met her and who Midge is in the end.  And that’s fine. She’s fine. She’s spending the night hanging out with her best friend in the world. 

Snagged this picture from Rachel Brosnahan’s FB page. I’m not seeing any kids or grandkids on the piano. 

[Sailorgirl26]

Midge got fired because she went around the boss to get what she wanted. Regardless of whether she was a hit or a flop, there is no way she could have continued on the show because there would be chaos and Gordon would no longer been seen as being in control of his own show. 

You don't go around the boss. Not only did she go around him, then she went rogue and took the mic? Flat out insubordination by today's standards--let alone 1950s-60s--and even worse, it was a woman doing it. 

Gordon asked her on the couch because of the audience reaction and because the audience didn't know the backstory--he was being a good tv host. But as the name on the show and the ultimate decision maker about on-air talent? Bye-bye Midge. 

[fishcakes]

I saw this yesterday and I'm still crying a little (I cry all the time, so don't go by me) and thinking about the end, which to me is the sign of a good finale. I liked the flash forwards all season and now that the finale has aired, I really appreciate how much of the heavy lifting they did. Giving us bits and pieces over 9 episodes is so much better than a linear season followed by a "here's what happened"-heavy final episode.

Does Midge end up happy? I think mostly yes. She knew early on that trying for fame was a choice that was going to exclude other choices. And we know in the intervening years, that idea was reinforced for her when she tried marriage again and again and it didn't work out, so I think she's finally made her peace with it. It's certainly poignant to see her walking through that huge, unpopulated apartment and eating in the kitchen with a only a magazine and her kitchen staff behind her for company, but at that point, she's 79 or 80 years old. Being a woman alone at that age is not that uncommon.

This article is about whether Midge and Joel ever reunited and what happened to Joel and the short answer is no and he's dead. But I'm a firm believer in the audience being able to contribute whatever they want to the empty spaces, so if anyone's preferred version is that they remarried and lived happily together for years, then that's okay too.

A couple of things I really loved: first, Rose's petulance about Midge not calling her to tell her about the Gordon Ford appearance. When we first met Midge, she aspired to have her mother's life, right down to the weird bedtime routine of cold cream and rollers after the husband is asleep and removing them before he wakes up. When Midge rejected that life, Rose seemed to take it as Midge rejecting her, causing her to question her own place and value in the world, as we saw in the Paris episodes. So it was touching to see how much it meant to Rose that Midge had everyone call her for hours on end to tell her to be at the show. Also another nice moment was Abe telling Midge he was proud of her before the show (even though it wasn't nearly as funny as him in resort wear staring stone-faced at her Catskills standup routine way back when).

The second really nice bit was Gordon calling Midge over to the couch after her set. Being on Johnny Carson's show was what all comics aspired to, but the holy grail was getting called over to the couch after. They were all instructed to look at him after the set and if he waved them over, then they'd get another few minutes on the couch, but more important, it meant that he liked them and would have them back for future appearances and that was huge back in the days of only 3 networks and no cable or streaming. So Susie and Mike's "holy shit!" reactions were apt, especially since Gordon had been such a bag of dicks over her appearing in the first place.

A of little things too: Shirley and Moishe in the shower, Susie chasing Mike through the offices, Susie and the birds, remembering the dumbness of Penny Pann.

It just hit all the right notes for me. I loved it.

Edited May 27, 2023 by fishcakes

[fishcakes]

Crap, on this new forum layout, I keep quoting myself when I mean to edit the original post.

Edited May 27, 2023 by fishcakes

[watch2much]

Bittersweet ending.  But it's clear that performing is the most important thing in her life.  When going over her schedule about performing in England, they say Dec. and she says "I want to be in NY for the holiday" but then says if necessary Dec. will be ok.  Then having to work every possible time.  Why was she still so driven?  Even Susie seems to be enjoying herself more.

[iMonrey]

I was critical of the flash forwards all season long. I just didn't feel like the show needed them and that they were a distraction from the story I came to love. But I did like the flash forward at the end of this. It really worked for me and brought the whole thing full circle. Back down to just Midge and Susie, like it should be.

And then I was sad because it was over. I'm really going to miss these wonderful characters and this incredible show.

RE: Midge's standup routines. I never really found them LOL funny either. But I think the conceit of the show is that her act was just so novel and different that people really embraced it for that. Standup routines in the 50s and 60s were typically hacky and gimmicky. Her act was novel in that it was more conversational, which today is pretty standard.

The parallels to Joan Rivers' career are pretty clear, and I thought the entire Gordon Ford scenario all season was a deliberate parallel to when Rivers got her big break on Johnny Carson. She was a writer at the time - for Candid Camera, not The Tonight Show. But like Gordon Ford, Allen Funt had a rule that none of his writers were allowed to appear on TV. Rivers was called in as a last minute replacement on Carson, as a TV writer. It launched her standup career and Funt fired her the very next day for breaking his rule.

[Suzn]

Seeing Lenny Bruce in that shape about a year before he overdosed is why I could never look upon him as a romantic character.  His demons did not allow for that.  They went as far as they could with his relationship with Midge.  Even if he had cleaned up, I don't think they would have been more than they were. They connected over being standup comedians and physical chemistry, but really nothing else.

It seems that most things were wrapped up, but I would have liked a bit about the other three marriages.  Apparently they were simply not important enough to show and had already come and gone as of the 60 Minute interview in 1985. Joel was always important to her, but not being his wife.

It was not a happy ending but not tragic either.  It was a logical ending to Midge's trajectory.  She was mostly alone except for Susie, but what else could be expected?  She never cultivated any other relationships, certainly not with her kids.  They are giving her as much attention and time as she gave them growing up.  This is emphasized with the picture upthread of the photos on her piano - her with celebrities, not family.

I never really liked any of the characters.  Both sets of parents seemed oblivious and dim witted  and the others were mostly ruthless in going after what they wanted, however Joe was self-sacrificing in protecting Midge - that may have come out of his guilt, nonetheless he put her first.  As I said, I never liked the characters, but I found their story compelling and have been re-watching the whole season, piecing together the big picture.  

[daisybumble]

I find it interesting that we are never told anything about Midge's other marriages (other than the one to Philip Roth that didn't happen.  That was a very expensive cake).  I happen to be reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, so I want Midge to tell her story!

I didn't find the ending sad at all.  Since we never saw her dote on her own children when they were small, I don't expect to see her character immersed with children or grandchildren now.  Kids grow up and move away.  And just because she was alone in a palatial apartment at that moment doesn't mean that is how her life is all day, every day.  The fact that the dining room was all set up implies to me that she's having some big bash the next day.  Even the biggest society matron is going to have quiet time at the end of the day.

Oh, I just realized something - is Midge now a bit like Sophie Lennon?  Living alone in a palatial, gorgeous home with an army of staff and servants to take care of her every need. 

I like that we had the visit to Bryn Mawr.  I attended a women's college in the 90s, and took a flip through some old yearbooks.  The ones from the 50s flat out admitted that most girls were there to learn to knit, develop a smoking habit, develop their bridge game, and catch a husband.  Midge probably had the same MO, and did end up with the 50s dream - husband, beautiful home, two children, everything perfect.  But the fact that she could pivot so quickly once things started to fall apart shows that she really did desire more for herself, or perhaps realized that she could have a fulfilling career and that the things she had always been told were the ideal really wasn't right for her. 

Can I tell you how much I loved seeing Susie in a caftan with wild, long, curly, grey hair?  Susie is one of my favorite television characters ever - can we just give Alex Borstein the Emmy now? 

[ichbin]

12 hours ago, bourbon said:

And does she seem sad? I don't know. Watching TV "with" Susie a continent away wasn't, for me, a super uplifting ending. Instead of a fun, frothy show about a housewife-turned-comedienne with a dream, the finale and whole season has felt like a cautionary tale -- be careful what you wish for, because you'll end up alone. Sure, she chased her dream and got it, but the show's message seems to be...at what cost? 

That's the part of how things went that I am having trouble with.  The first few series overall were frothy, colorful, and funny. Absurd and not exactly real world. By series five it was firmly into dramedy territory ending with the splash of a large bucket of cold water thrown in. 

[revbfc]

It was a bittersweet finale, but I liked it.  Ending with Susie & Midge talking shit to each other on the phone was comforting.

 

[janie jones]

Did they ever say what "don't" meant? When she found her fortune cookie fortune, I thought it was that note at first.

[Saph]

18 hours ago, Chalmer said:

Did they ever show why Midge and Suzie “broke up “?

Never mind, I see it was answered above. 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Saph

[ahpny]

On 5/26/2023 at 12:26 AM, areca said:

Midge's monologue was incredibly boring, failure to launch.  We're supposed to believe this started her career?

Yes, and it worked for me. I did laugh, though not as hard and often as Gordon. It was good enough in the context of the show to suggest the future success we know she had.

On 5/26/2023 at 8:46 AM, maggiegil said:

Can anyone explain to me what the point of bringing Milo Ventimiglia back for that scene at the start of the season?

The only point I can see is the Palladinos like the actor and knew their audience (which includes many Gilmore Girl fans) would too. Alternatively, maybe there was some aborted plot point that never panned out?

On 5/26/2023 at 10:39 AM, DrSpaceman73 said:

In the end after all the men and family and everything she ends up in a big house alone. Actually kind of sad. 

On 5/26/2023 at 1:11 PM, bourbon said:

Once they opened the season with Midge's semi-estranged children, there was nowhere else they could go.

Oddly, that reminded me of a very different show, with a very different trial-blazing woman protagonist: Nancy Botwin from Weeds. She also succeeded, professionally and financially beyond, anyone's expectation. But in the end Nancy alienated everyone, and no one, including her children, wanted any personal relationship with her. Midge hasn't been nearly as cruel (or felonious), but still ended up similarly alone.

23 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I could be very wrong, but my initial reaction to that "you're fired" was Gordon forcing Midge out of the nest / writer's room. 

I took that to mean this and more. It wasn't just a push out of the nest, it was a blessing (and an order) to begin bigger things. Just as the Grinch's heart grew 3 sizes that day, during her "set," Gordon's dickish heart melted so much that she got the apparently rare and coveted "couch invite." A truly-impressed and not-at-all angry Gordon was anything but vindictive; a sort of "friendly fire."

But the "rule" itself was a bit of non sequitur. Why was the "rule" in created in the first place, and why was it adhered to for all this time? What was the point? Who did it benefit? Without some further context, the Gordon's motivation is pretty opaque. "Because I said so," is pretty much all we got.

20 hours ago, Oosala said:

If you're looking for fantastic series-ending episodes, I strongly suggest watching Six Feet Under.

The "Hollywood" ending here worked great, and I thought, as with the entire series, it was quite enjoyable. But unlike the that of Six Feet Under, I'm not sure people will still be talking about it 20 years later. We'll see. 

[luvthepros]

On 5/25/2023 at 11:09 PM, Blakeston said:

I would have found this a lot more impressive if Midge's triumphant routine had actually made me laugh. It didn't.

I LOVED IT! I hung on her every word. She was absolutely amazing. I even laughed too with tears in my eyes. Actually, I cried through most of the episode.

[chitowngirl]

13 minutes ago, ahpny said:

Why was the "rule" in created in the first place, and why was it adhered to for all this time? What was the point? Who did it benefit? Without some further context, the Gordon's motivation is pretty opaque. "Because I said so," is pretty much all we got.

The rule was the Producer who got outed’s rule. I imagine it was a rule so comedians wouldn’t take writing jobs in order to get on the show and then leave. It kept the turnover down.

[Good Queen Jane]

It's a minor point, but it kept bugging me. Since all of Midge's friends and family were at the taping, who was watching Ethan and Esther?

[MerBearHou]

I teared up so much and smiled so, so much during Midge's standup moment on Gordon's show -- I felt like a proud mom or friend of Midge's.  The moment just felt so big for all of us who've been on this journey with Midge over the years of the series.  The monologue didn't make me laugh -- honestly, Midge's standup routines never make me LOL -- for me, her humor is more observational than ha-ha-hilarious.  Kudos to the writing for taking Midge and us on that roller coaster of highs and lows and back to highs with Midge appearing on the Gordon Ford show at long last -- made it all the sweeter.  

[millennium]

5 hours ago, alalaxmom said:

I’m not seeing any kids or grandkids on the piano. 

Or Forrest Gump, for that matter.

I don't buy marriage to Paul Simon.  It seems ridiculous and insulting to the character, like they traded her credibility for a punch line.

[luvthepros]

On 5/26/2023 at 2:57 PM, MerBearHou said:

I could be very wrong, but my initial reaction to that "you're fired" was Gordon forcing Midge out of the nest / writer's room.  She didn't seem upset when he fired her -- it was kind of a knowing look like "I know, I've got to make something out of this moment and move on".  

Gordon did say to the audience that this was the first of many appearances Mrs. Maisel will appear on his show. With that statement, I did not think Gordon was a dick. He fired Midge as a writer and knows going forward she will be appearing as a stand up comic on his show. Gordon did appear to really enjoy her act.

[Riplet68]

I saw Gordon’s “you’re fired” as a kudos to her. Knowing she was going to leave for bigger things and jokingly saying it. I liked the ending, loved  Susie’s assistant.

[luvthepros]

21 hours ago, SnapHappy said:

I'm satisfied.  They couldn't cram in everything that everybody would want, but I liked the quiet ending.  2 best friends on separate coasts spending the evening together. 

According to vintage movies & shows, mega-rich people with mansions always have their formal dining rooms set, just in case an impromptu dinner party is laid on.  Seeing that didn't surprise me. Or all the rooms done up in high style.  Very Midge to have her home perfectly and immaculately turned out.

I loved the long white hair, caftan and gold lame Dansko clogs on Suzie.  SO perfect for her later years.  And her continuing bird love was great. 

Can I say the makeup on those two was superb?  When Suzie was lying on her couch, you could see the age spots on her hands & arm that Alex Borstein definitely doesn't have.  And Midge moved like a woman in her 70's.  Really well done. 

Lenny just broke my heart, but I'm still in love with Luke.  

And I also think Gordon's "You're Fired" was his version of "Ok kid, you've got the chops...Go hit the big time". 
 

 

 

 

Two comments about the aging of these two actresses.....

Why was Susie's hair that texture and curley? As a younger woman, her hair was thin and straight as a pin.

Midge should have put on a few pounds by the time she was in her 70's. She still had that awesome figure from when she was a younger woman.

 

[luvthepros]

18 hours ago, TiredMe said:

I’m a total sap and generally judge a finale by how much I get chocked up at its ending and because it’s ending, I was unmoved for this one. It was just there. 

Just the opposite for me. My eyes were misty though most of this episode. I'll miss these characters terribly. I wish it was shown that Midge got back with Joel. They both still loved each other and were devoted to each other. That's my take, anyway.

[Kirkydee]

I always like Midges routines but I love observational comedy. Just as someone else posted - the Era defined Midge. Late 50s/ early 60s female comic performing blue.  Other comics at that time were gimmicky. I didn't even smile one iota at the upthread Joan Rivers piece. And I always found Rivers to be schticky and grating. 

[SnarkShark]

I didn't think the jokes in that four minutes were anywhere near the best they've had that character tell, but I did like the plot they used to set that up.  THAT was well written, even if the jokes weren't really.  And actually, I did like the predictive joke tie-ins back to what we've already seen of her adult children.

The Jeopardy ending was pretty good.  We needed to see that things worked out with those two, and this was a creative way to do it.  It's strongly implied they do this daily, or as often as possible with Midge constantly traveling.

I also liked those end credits.  It took me embarrassingly long to realize what was going on with them.  That it was establishing shots for all our characters, but then marched through the timeline of the show (but never showing Midge, or any of our characters). 

 

 

53 minutes ago, luvthepros said:

 

Midge should have put on a few pounds by the time she was in her 70's. She still had that awesome figure from when she was a younger woman.

 

If they're using Joan Rivers as part of her template...Joan never put on weight. 

If we saw Midge even a bit older (80s) I imagine like Joan she'd look TOO skinny... kind of skeletal.  I had older female relatives who aged like that.  Super-skinny, then eventually TOO skinny.

[Daff]

On 5/26/2023 at 2:47 AM, PurpleTentacle said:

Those were some of her greatest hits, she put together for a wide audience to hear for the first time.

On network TV. As someone mentioned above, it had to be clean. If it wasn’t, Gordon would pay the price, which is why he backed out at the last minute. Ultimately, he didn’t trust her, but she knew better than to say anything risky based upon Lenny’s troubles with his subject matter. I think we were supposed to attend to the studio audience reaction to her 4 minutes, rather than the content (which we’ve heard before). “Mainstream” appeal carried her off from there. 

[millennium]

40 minutes ago, SnarkShark said:

If they're using Joan Rivers as part of her template...

... then Midge should have had plastic surgery to make her look like the Joker.

Edited May 27, 2023 by millennium

[EtheltoTillie]

@millennium is on fire with the comedy.  Better than Midge.