Midge finally gets her big break.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- Despite being pissed about her hijacking her way onto the show, Gordon is laughing his ass off during Midge's set.
- Joel, in a great display of Character Development, now finds Midge's jokes about him hilarious.
- When Midge says Esther will be traumatized by clothes shopping with Rose when she's older, Rose chuckles and says, "That's fair."
- Bittersweet Ending: Midge gets her big break on The Gordon Ford Show and is propelled to the life of superstardom seen in the season's flash forwards. However, by 2005 she's Lonely at the Top with her parents long deceased, her children estranged from her, and Joel's whereabouts not revealed note . The only silver lining is that she's mended her friendship with Susie, whom is living in retirement and keeps in touch with Midge over phone.
- Distant Finale: The final scene is set in 2005 as an aged Midge and Susie talk to each other on the phone while watching Jeopardy!, affirming their friendship.
- Graceful Loser: Gordon, despite his petty and condescending behavior earlier, ultimately seals the deal on Midge's breakout performance, inviting her onto the couch.Explanation While he does fire her, he does it with a smile on his face after laughing through her whole set, and acknowledges her as a brilliant comedian in front of the entire audience.
- Harsher in Hindsight: In-universe, Midge's joke on the show about what her kids will end up saying to their therapists is this, given that we already know from the flash-forwards that Esther will be in therapy a lot on account of her very strained relationship with her mother.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: The opening in 1965 shows Lenny Bruce, once one of the hottest comics alive, bombing in a set in San Fransisco. Susie and Midge are both saddened to see him a shell of himself. In real life Lenny was in a similar state at that point, and fatally OD'ed a year later.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Gordon hits the whisky after being lobbied into letting Midge go on the show.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Rose at first refuses to see Midge perform as she feels slighted Midge didn't call her first. Abe says Midge tried but the line was busy with Rose refusing to believe it. When Abe suggests the phone was off the hook, Rose says it's not...then goes to the kitchen to see it is. She puts it back, saying surely someone else would have called ... and the line starts ringing with calls from just about everyone they know on the show.
- Is This Thing Still On?: An aversion — after her routine, Midge asks Gordon if the cameras are still running; he jokes that he had them turned off.
- Jerkass: Gordon has shades of this with his attempt to sideline Midge's appearance on the show, although his behaviour is justified by the fact that he's pissed at how Susie lobbied his wife to get her to persuade him to give Midge a slot, in defiance of his long-standing rule about the show's writers not being allowed to appear on the show. After cutting to the commercial early, Gordon's seething when she hijacks the show to do her routine ... but he lightens up considerably when she brings the house down. He still fires her from the writing team, but that doesn't bother Midge as she's had her big break and is all set for superstardom.
- Title Drop: After her triumphant routine, Gordon invites Midge onto the sofa and hails her as "the magnificent, the marvellous, Mrs. Maisel".
