REVIEW: ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Season 4 Episodes 5-6 Focus on Character Conflict

Friday has arrived, and as is the new tradition on my house, it’s time to get comfortable and throw on some The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Episodes 5-6 on Amazon Prime. Previously, Susie (Alex Borstein) delivered one the best performances of the season to date, after giving a eulogy for their fallen friend Jackie (Brian Tarantina) who not only passed away in the show but sadly passed away back in 2019 right before Season 4 was due to start filming. It was beautifully homage, and funny as hell so I highly recommend going to watch that immediately if you haven’t seen it.

In Episode 5 “How to Chew Quietly and Influence People”, Susie goes about attempting to hire an assistant for her blooming new business, while Miriam (Rachel Brosnahan) receives a wedding invite from Shy Baldwin (LeRoy McClain). That’s right folks, it’s time for a long-overdue showdown. Episode 6 “Maisel vs. Lennon: The Cut Contest” promises an even more conflict as Sophie Lennon (Jane Lynch) rises from the ashes and forces reunion between her and Midge, but whether these two can exist in the same room together without sparks flying is yet to be seen.

The tone of the episodes from this week is all centered around confrontation and its various forms. During the opening of Episode 5, Susie has to confront the process of hiring a secretary even though she’s not entirely sure what she needs or what she’s looking for. Her obliviousness in the situation adds to the comedy. The setup within this process leads to the discovery that her and Midge have been invited to the wedding of Shy Baldwin.

The eventual emotional showdown between Midge, and Shy is wholly gratifying as the two share an honest conversation. This situation is nicely contrasted in the next episode when, after the success Sophie’s recent interview, she engineers a plan to help Miriam in order to get into the good graces of Susie’s book in order to hire her as her manager again. This interaction is fraught with tension whereas in the previous episode it was such a heartbreaking interaction between two people who became close friends and colleagues, this scene is swimming in antagonist friction.

The series prides itself on its character development, and the interactions these characters have. Midway through season 4 a lot has been established previously within the show, so you feel these interactions, and you’ve engaged in their growth. Susie is a great example of this as her managerial career has really started to take off and as much depends on her success and influence as much as Miriam’s.

I think where these two episodes suffer a little bit this week is in the pacing outside of the main plot. The side stories felt a lot less important or noteworthy, so it detracted from the momentum and the significance of the primary story. That being said, there was some more focus on the standup comedy performance from this weeks episodes, and that is absolutely one of the show’s strengths.

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Episodes 5-6 place the title character right in the middle of the fray by having her confront various characters from her past. The episodes nicely contrast each other in their approach to the conflicts, with one focusing more on the regret of a past event, whereas the other dealt more with a loathing opposition. While the pacing of these episodes dragged a little, there were some nice heartfelt moments of character development and a bit more screen time for the standup of Midge.

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Episodes 5-6 is available now exclusively on Amazon Prime, with two more episodes coming next week.