Midge and Susie are right back where they started in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 premiere. After two years of her standup career soaring to unexpected heights, Midge's world comes crashing down after Shy Baldwin kicks her off his tour. Now it's back to New York City and the Gaslight, which leads to some major callbacks to the Mrs. Maisel pilot in the premiere.
The only difference is now Midge is older and wiser (albeit not wise enough to see why her jokes about Shy's sexuality were unforgivable), and even though she's experiencing some major déjà vu, she's a different person than she was when she got up on that stage for the first time after Joel walked out on their family. Likewise, Susie isn't ready to call it quits as a manager, even though she's been warned that holding on to Midge as her client could be detrimental to her success.
At the start of Season 4, both women are at a crossroads. They're settling into old routines while trying to map a way forward, and the echoes of who they were are haunting them. Whether it's Midge arranging her bedroom in the least logical way possible to banish bad memories of Joel or Susie once again watching Midge do her thing from the back of the Gaslight, Mrs. Maisel is bringing the central characters back to their roots before they strike out into the cutthroat world of professional comedy again.
In true Amy Sherman-Palladino fashion, the throwbacks to Season 1 are brilliant. Read on to see all of the ways the Season 4 takes Midge and Susie right back to the beginning again.
The Season Opens With Midge Doing Standup
In the pilot, Midge does her first unofficial standup routine at her own wedding. She's dressed all in white like the picture perfect bride she's striving to be, but she's one shrimp joke away from making the entire room explode into chaos. Two years later, she's in the Gaslight dressed entirely in black with zero desire to be the perfect anything. It's a flawless juxtaposition that shows just how far Midge has come, even though she still drops jokes that turn her life upside down.
Midge Has A Breakdown In Her Underwear
Midge is once again having a breakdown in her underwear when Season 4 begins. Only this time, she has Susie by her side, and her state of undress is due to anger over her career. However, as far as she's concerned, yet another man has ruined her life.
Which Leads Her To The Gaslight
Just like in the pilot, all roads lead to the Gaslight. Only now Midge and Susie are crashing there, because neither one of them are ready to tell the world about Midge being kicked off the tour. Still, it's important to note that the even after all of their success, the Gaslight remains a sanctuary for both women.
Midge Is Living With Her Parents Again
Midge doesn't move in with her parents until around episode three of Season 1, and she does so out of necessity. This time around, she invites her parents to move in with her so they can all pool their resources (and let's be real, help with childcare). When she had to move in with her parents after her split from Joel, it felt like a failure, but now Midge is strong enough and practical enough to realize having her parents close by is what's best for her entire family.
And She's Working The Neighborhood For Tab Increases
Once upon a time, Midge had every butcher, dry cleaner, and milkman eating out of her hand. But now that she's not legally Mrs. Maisel anymore, she's forced to schmooze for credit increases in order to keep her house running until she has some money coming in. Married Midge likely never could have imagined there would be a time in her life when she would be a single women living from paycheck to paycheck, but this version of Midge is willing to do whatever it takes to stay afloat until her career is back on track.
The Pyrex Is Back
That trusty Pyrex once landed Joel gigs. Now it serves as a reminder of who Midge was, which leads to her giving it a place of honor in the kitchen.
Susie Watches Midge From The Back Of The Gaslight
In the pilot, you can practically see the wheels turning in Susie's mind as she watches Midge perform for the first time. In the Season 4 premiere, she looks on with admiration, yes, but also concern. Her friend is determined to say whatever she pleases onstage, but Susie knows that's not a sustainable goal if either of them wants to make a real living in comedy.
Midge Gets Arrested (Again)
Finally, Midge gets arrested again, but this time she's not even remotely phased. Where once it felt like the end of the world to end up behind bars for a night, Midge now knows it's just part of the gig.
Midge and Susie have changed so much since The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel pilot. But it's clear they still have a lot to learn, as evidenced by all the ways the Season 4 premiere channeled Season 1.
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