NOTE: this post contains spoilers for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 episode 2, "It's a Man, Man, Man, Man World."
Just as we did with episode 1, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 episode 2 opens with a flash forward scene that gives a glimpse at what Midge's future holds before picking up the threads of the story back in the '60s. This one was a real nostalgia piece for anyone that grew up in the '80s: Mike Wallace doing a 60 Minutes profile of an older but still glamorous Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) dressed in an '80s glam pink sequined suit appears.
Midge has had incredible success. She's won an Emmy, a Grammy, and a slew of other awards. She's also done comedy tours all over the world, even joining Bob Hope entertaining the troops in Vietnam. And she had a controversial show at Carnegie Hall in 1971 that gave her the street cred to become popular with college kids.
But it's not all been fame, glam, and money for Midge. She's been married four times but is currently single. And shockingly, while Susie (Alex Borstein) has become the go-to manager in Hollywood with a roster of huge stars, Midge and Susie are no longer working together. When Mike asks Midge what broke up that relationship Midge refuses to talk about it.
Midge then shows off some of her most iconic outfits, telling Mike Wallace about each one. It's a nice little walk down memorable moments from past seasons, like when she pulls out the outfit she wore the first time she stormed the stage the Gaslight and started her comedy career. And the outfit she wore her first day as a writer on The Gordon Ford Show.
We then switch back to 1961. Joel (Michael Zegen) wakes up at his parents house heavily bandaged and in pain. He went on a bender and after Mei (Stephanie Hsu) dumped him and got in a fight. Archie (Joel Johnstone) took him to the emergency room and then dropped him at his parents. When Joel goes downstairs, Midge shows up with the kids.
Midge tries to find out what happened with Joel. He blames her for Mei's decisions, which was a very Joel thing to do. Get it together Joel. The common denominator in all your failed relationships is you, buddy.
The night before Midge starts her writing job she calls Susie at 5 am to come over and help her pick out an outfit for her first day. She's not sure how to dress for a sit-down job because she's only ever had standing jobs before. Susie picks out an outfit for her, the same one that was in the collection being auctioned off in the opening scene.
In a very That Girl sequence, Midge takes the subway to the 30 Rock building to begin her new job. But on the way she sees Sylvio (Milo Ventimiglia) on the train. After a cat and mouse chase that is more Tom and Jerry than actual cat and mouse, Sylvio catches her and finally explains what was really happening when his wife walked in (they're separated and she's taken everything from him). He leaves the door open for them to meet again in Riverside Park and Midge doesn't totally shut him down. Maybe Sylvio ends up being one of her four husbands? The only husband known at this point is Joel, there are three more to go.
Abe (Tony Shalhoub) gets quite a surprise when he has lunch with the glamorous heiress and playwright Penelope (Lucy Taylor), who Abe is interviewing for the Voice. She hits on him by putting her hand on his thigh. Rose (Marin Hinkle) also has a rough day at work when her office, the tearoom, burns to the ground, what Rose believes is just the latest in a string of attacks by the other matchmakers. She's starting to get worried.
At first, neither Rose nor Abe want to discuss their bad days, but at dinner Rose spills on her secret. Abe, on the other hand, doesn't say what happened with Penelope, but he does place his hand on Rose's thigh in a very forward moment for the two of them (at least it was after 7 pm).
Midge's first day doesn't go well. She is clearly a fish out of water. People aren't rude to her — except Mike (Jason Ralph), who hates Susie, so by extension Midge — but the other writers aren't taking her seriously. She's left to sink or swim on her own and it dulls her quick wit and effervescence a little bit. She fights for some of her jokes but none make it into the show. She's transfixed by the process of doing live TV though.
When the writers go out for drinks after the show, Gordon Ford (Reid Scott) makes an appearance, invading the bar that the writers treasure as a "Gordon free zone." He seems to have a little spark with Midge, so maybe there will be more than just a professional relationship between those two at some point. Though of course that does draw the judgment of the other writers, throwing a potential wrench into Midge's hope of getting to know them better.
After drinks Midge heads to the burlesque club to do a set and she drops one of the jokes she fought for in the writers room. It gets a raucous laugh and she feels vindicated because she knew it was funny. Now she just has to keep her tits up and confidence high to fight her corner in the writers room.
We already know that Midge is going to have a fabulous career, which is not a surprise. Trust your instincts Midge, and there's no telling what you can achieve.
The first three episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 are now streaming on Prime Video. New episodes premiere every Friday.
