NOTE: this post contains spoilers for episode The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 episode 3, "Typos And Torsos."
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 continues giving glimpses of Midge's future. In "Typos And Torsos," we see Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) arrive via helicopter in a lettuce field in Israel in 1984. Her now-grown son Ethan (Ben Rosenfield) is working on a kibbutz, studying to be a rabbi, and is engaged. Midge is in Israel to accept an award. She's come to see Ethan and remind him to clean up and wear the suit she sent for the award ceremony. It's always career first for Midge.
When the story shifts back to 1961, it picks up a month into Midge writing for The Gordon Ford Show, when she finally lands one a joke in the monologue, thrilled to feel like part of the team. But Gordon (Reid Scott) flubs the line during the live taping and Midge awkwardly and loudly groans. Gordon is livid. At the post-show drinking session Midge apologizes to Gordon but, being Midge, she's unable to let it go when Gordon declares the joke wasn't funny. They argue loudly and publicly. Midge is sure she's going to get fired.
Midge and Joel (Michael Zegen) are having trouble with child Ethan. He's afraid to sleep in his bed and has been sleeping with Midge. A therapist tells them to mark out two-foot increments in the hallway and have Ethan sleep on a new tape line each night moving him two feet closer to his bedroom gradually. Abe (Tony Shalhoub) doesn't take this disruption well but Midge tells him not to interfere with their plan.
Joel is also struggling as the go-between for Shirley (Caroline Aaron) and Moishe (Kevin Pollak), who insist they won't get back together. They're making Joel miserable, putting him squarely in the middle of their domestic disputes.
Rose (Marin Hinkle), meanwhile, is becoming increasingly paranoid about the matchmaker coterie coming for her. Rose goes to Susie (Alex Borstein) to see if Susie's mob-connected office mates can get her a gun. There's no way that Susie is going to let Rose Weissman get a gun, but the mobsters are sympathetic to Rose and offer to take care of the coterie for her.
Joel's parent problem gets worse when Shirley and Moishe become regulars at the club. They're driving away customers and making Joel’s life miserable but he can't seem to get rid of them. When Shirly corners Midge in the bathroom one night and insists Midge tell her something about Mei (Stephanie Hsu) and the baby, Midge tells Shirley Mei went to visit her family in China but now can't get back to the States because of the revolution.
The next day Joel gets a call from Moishe and when he races to the house he finds an extraction team brainstorming to get Mei out of China. Joel finally tells his parents that there is no baby and no wedding. Shirley is devastated. Later, a sobbing Shirley knocks on Moishe's bedroom door holding up one pink and one blue bootie. Moishe pats the bed beside him and the two curl up together. Could their grief bring them back together?
While Rose is trying to deal with her matchmaking competition, Abe is struggling with his own crisis. He made a typo when spelling Carol Channing's name in an article he wrote for the Voice. In typical Abe fashion, he can't let it go. Because Abe is so emotionally worked up he can't handle his grandson sleeping in the hallway in addition to the upset of making a mistake. He sits Ethan down for a rambling Abe speech that manages to scare Ethan that he reverts back to sleeping in Midge's bed.
Susie gets a call from jail. She's been summoned there by Benedetta (Kelly Bishop). The mobsters framed Benedetta and the other coterie ladies for crimes. Benedetta offers a compromise, letting Rose have the Upper West Side. It looks like Rose will finally be able to continue her matchmaking business without looking over her shoulder.
Midge's day of reckoning at The Gordon Ford Show arrives. She brings a box with her assuming it will be her last day. And based on the looks she's getting from the rest of the staff, everyone is expecting her to get fired. But she doesn't get fired. Gordon announces on the air that night The Gordon Ford Show is the number one talk show in the country and brings champagne out for the staff to celebrate their hard work.
The party continues after the taping as the show staff go down to the Rockefeller Center ice rink to drink, skate and celebrate. Gordon makes a pass at Midge. There's some real chemistry there, but Gordon is married, and Midge is having none of it. So Gordon probably won't end up being one of Midge's four husbands. Who will be? Maybe the next episode The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will give viewers a clue about who will be Midge's next husband.
Susie joins in at the skating rink, but then goes into the show's offices. While she's there she finds Mike (Jason Ralph), who is busy working out the talent appearances for the show. These two frenemies get a little closer to burying the hatchet, but still have some of the best banter in an already banter-heavy show. If there's one thing that Amy Sherman-Palladino is going to do it's have her leads talk fast and banter hard. And no one does it better.
The first three episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 are streaming on Prime Video. New episodes release every Friday.
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