Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Season 4 Ending Sets Up Midge’s Final Act

Warning: SPOILERS for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 Finale – “How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?”

The ending of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 sets up Miriam “Midge” Maisel’s (Rachel Brosnahan) final act in season 5, which will also be the final season of Amazon Prime’s Emmy-winning comedy series. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 is poised to pick up where season 4 left off as Midge once again has to reassess the state of her comedy career and decide whether or not she wants to wholeheartedly pursue her dreams.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 ended with Midge, her manager Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein), and her extended Jewish family of the Maisels and the Weissmans on the cusp of great change. Midge spent the bulk of Mrs. Maisel season 4 working in her new job as the in-house comic and emcee at the Wolford, an illegal strip club. While Midge improved the conditions for the performers and brought in a new clientele for the Wolford, the club got raided by the police, putting the establishment’s future in doubt. Meanwhile, Midge keeping a low profile at the Wolford didn’t stop gossip columnist L. Roy Dunham (Hari Nef) from targeting Mrs. Maisel with continued hit pieces. However, Midge did come face-to-face with Shy Baldwin (LeRoy McClain) in Mrs. Maisel season 4, and she got the closure she needed after he fired her at the end of season 3.

Ultimately, everything in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel centers on Midge and what she is willing to do to make her dreams of being “the best” comedian come true. A Mrs. Maisel season 4 job offer from her hated enemy Sophie Lennon (Jane Lynch) to be the warm-up act for her new NBC game show instantly disintegrated when the insane Sophie tried to undermine Midge, resulting in a vicious duel of cruel barbs between the two comediennes. One thing The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4’s ending made clear is that Midge’s decisions are inevitably untenable and she has to change everything and go for her dreams in Mrs. Maisel season 5.

Lenny Bruce Explained What Midge Was Doing Wrong In Mrs. Maisel Season 4

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4’s finale paid off four seasons of palpable sexual tension between Midge and Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) so that they finally slept together. Besides Susie, Lenny has always been the biggest believer in Midge’s talent, but the legendary comic also got through to Midge in a way Susie has been unable to. Lenny went to bat for Midge in Mrs. Maisel season 4 to get her an opening act gig for Tony Bennett at the Copacabana, but she flatly turned down the offer to stick to her manifesto that she would no longer be anyone’s opening act. (Midge already broke her rule to be Sophie Lennon’s opening act and it was an instant disaster.)

After Bruce played a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall, fulfilling one of his dreams, a furious Lenny tore into Midge and made her see what she’s been doing wrong throughout Mrs. Maisel season 4. Although Midge is right that the Wolford gave her a steady paycheck and control over her act, Lenny was also right that Miriam has been using the Wolford as an excuse to hide from the harsh aspects of the comedy business that can hurt her. After Shy Baldwin broke Midge’s spirit, she has been desperate to avoid the humiliation of being fired again, but Lenny made her realize that there’s no badge of honor to be like him: constantly getting arrested placing his career in repeated jeopardy. Lenny laid down the gauntlet that it would break his heart if Midge blows another chance at becoming a star and, hopefully, he finally got through to Mrs. Maisel.

However, after sleeping with Lenny, Midge discovered his drug habit and realized he’s an addict. Although Bruce assured Mrs. Maisel that it’s nothing she has to worry about, history records Lenny Bruce will die in 1966. This gives Lenny approximately 5 more years to live in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel‘s timeline, but given how all of Mrs. Maisel‘s 4 seasons have taken place between 1958-1960, it’s unclear whether the series will do a time jump that will depict Lenny Bruce’s tragic death in Mrs. Maisel season 5.

Susie’s Agency Is Thriving And She Is Losing Patience With Midge

Susie Myerson and Associates became a legitimate talent management agency with a Times Square office in Mrs. Maisel season 4. But Myerson grew more and more frustrated with Midge, her number one charge, since it became impossible for Susie to promote Midge because no legitimate booker would come to see her perform at an illegal strip club, which was the only place Mrs. Maisel did her act. As Susie gained a new secretary in Dinah (Alfie Fuller) and expanded her clientele to include Alfie the magician (Gideon Glick) and a Black comic named James (Jay Will), Midge became less important to the agency. Midge’s manifesto of never doing opening act gigs also infuriated Susie since Mrs. Maisel turned down the lucrative Tony Bennett gig at the Copacabana.

This isn’t to say that Susie will ever abandon Midge. Meanwhile, Midge rightly suspects that Nicky (John Scurti) and Frank (Erik Palladino), the violent mobsters who have invested in Susie’s business for “a taste” of her successes isn’t kosher. Yet Susie owes Frank and Nicky not just her office/apartment but her life as well. Susie’s last words to Midge in Mrs. Maisel season 4 were that she was tired of listening to her, which is the biggest rift between them since Susie agreed to manage Sophie Lennon at the start of Mrs. Maisel season 3.

The Maisels Met Mei Lin And Are Preparing For Her Baby With Joel

Moishe Maisel’s (Kevin Pollack) heart attack scare after Joel (Michael Zegen) told him that his girlfriend Mei Lin (Stephanie Hsu) is Chinese and pregnant actually brought the Weissmans and the Maisels closer together. Although, Shirley (Caroline Aaron) hasn’t yet realized that Mei Lin is Joel’s girlfriend and she still thinks Mei is the hospital’s mah jong girl. But Abe (Tony Shalhoub) writing Moishe a heartfelt eulogy made him realize how much the Maisels mean to him, and Moishe dearly appreciated Abe’s words. This is remarkable considering how much Abe and Rose (Marin Hinkle) were repulsed by living with Moishe and Shirley in Mrs. Maisel season 3. Meanwhile, Joel and Mei Lin’s pregnancy sets up a wedding, Moishe’s demand that Mei converts to Judaism, and a new addition to the Maisel family – with all of the awkward comedy that will ensue – in season 5.

Rose Is Going To War With New York City’s Matchmakers

With Abe finally settled and happy in his new job as the Village Voice‘s theatre critic (except for being vilified for giving a bad review to They Came, They Danced), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 focused on Rose’s growing career as a matchmaker. Like Midge with L. Roy Dunham, Rose gained new enemies in Mrs. Maisel season 4: Benedetta (Kelly Bishop) and the other matchmakers, who carved up New York City into territories and made it clear that Rose Weissman is persona non grata. The other matchmakers waged a campaign to intimidate Rose’s loved ones but Abe finally encouraged his wife to take a stand, and the emboldened Rose sent all of her enemies back a note that she “will not stop!” This sets up a war between the matchmakers in Mrs. Maisel season 5, although what that will entail remains to be seen.

Mrs. Maisel Season 4’s Final Shot Hints That Midge’s Future May Not Be Stand-Up Comedy

The final moments of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 show Midge leaving Lenny Bruce’s Carnegie Hall gig in a snowstorm, which is on the same November night John F. Kennedy won the 1960 election to become President of the United States. Midge then ended up in front of Radio City Music Hall and she saw the billboard telling her to “Go Forward” before it morphed into an advertisement for The Gordon Ford Show. Gordon Ford (Reid Scott) and his NBC late-night talk show seem to be the replacement for The Tonight Show in Mrs. Maisel’s universe.

The billboard urging Midge to “Go Forward” before turning into The Gordon Ford Show could be a telling hint at Mrs. Maisel’s future, which could ultimately lead her to become a late-night talk show host. One of the inspirations for Miriam Maisel’s character is the late Joan Rivers, who was a popular stand-up comedienne and became a guest host of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson before she headlined her own ill-fated Fox talk show following a falling out with Johnny. Midge wants to be the best stand-up comic in America but the introduction of Gordon Ford in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 may allude to Midge’s final act of hosting from behind a late-night desk in season 5.

The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselSeason 4 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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