- Jossed.
- Midge has some sort of trouble (again) that keeps her out of the other clubs, such as the sort of indecency charges that affected Lenny Bruce in real life. Joel's club will become a haven for her to perform.
- Alternately (or perhaps in combination with the above) Joel's club is failing, and it's Midge that comes to his rescue by using her growing star power and connections to pack the house.
- While not to this extent, Joel's club does experience a major problem on its opening night when the jukebox and sound system go on the fritz. Midge jumps on stage to keep the crowd entertained and stop them from walking out until he can get it fixed again.
- The title of the show is, after all, The Marvelous MRS. Maisel. Maybe she stays Mrs. all along: it’s clear Joel's love for Midge, that torch, remains lit, undimmed. The dealbreaker on a reunion at the start of season 2 for Joel, was that he could not let himself be her punching bag in what he saw as her brilliant comedy. But as season 2 progresses, Joel warms up to Midge's new life, asking her "How was the gig?" when she's telling him about Abe turning up at her Concord gig, and being the first to vouch for her to their skeptical parents and in-laws when Midge is using Yom Kippur dinner to announce her new career.
Remember, Midge is based in part on Joan Rivers. Joan always made jokes about her husband, made him much the beloved butt of her comedy, as did many a male comedian did it with their wives in the day. Maybe, especially as a successful comedy club owner, fingers crossed, he will feel more secure in allowing that to happen. And I thought it was a neat thing that he loved her and admired her so much that he was willing to sacrifice being married to her in order to let her pursue her dream and her talent. There's also a neat father-son character parallel that Moishe sets Joel free and allows him to pursue his dream, much as Joel was willing to do for Midge, with the large financial gift. Both are guys with significant schmuck and mensch quotients, with the heart of gold element making them loveable despite their flaws.
The telethon episode seems to demonstrate some of Susie's strengths and weaknesses: the "speed-dating" scene of Susie talking to a chain of various folks to get Midge on the telethon shows Susie's strengths at networking. She's scrappy and resourceful there, but at the telethon, things were a disaster: first, Susie didn’t research the other acts appearing on the telethon and was caught by surprise that Sophie was appearing, let alone was the special guest star of the telethon. Susie later barged into Sophie’s dressing room to yell at her and threaten her despite Midge specifically telling her to take the high road. And Susie refused to let apologize after the Sophie Lennon debacle in season 1, telling Sophie her client shouldn’t have to apologize for “what makes her a star” even though Sophie says an apology would have been all it took for her to undo her blacklisting of Midge.
And then there were other examples in the season, like picking a fight with the manager of the club who was outraged that Midge said “pregnant.” To a degree, Susie’s MO seems to be to bluster, bully, or threaten to get her or her client’s way, to the point that Midge is becoming increasingly tired of this approach. It's hard to blame Midge for being like that, as there’s only so much club owners are going to put up with, especially for Midge, who is an up and comer. Even Lenny Bruce, who is highly respected in the biz, has to play nice and clean up his act for jobs.
For season 3, Susie will either learn via trial by fire as Sophie’s new manager that she has to work another way or Midge will be courted by other agents/managers on her Shy Baldwin tour. That will kickstart Susie to switch tactics. It's also possible that future plot elements will revolve around Midge's profile growing beyond Susie's abilities. Susie might get a little left behind by Midge and the tour and she'll ultimately go to Sophie ready to crack skulls.
Midge is now signed on to open for Shy Baldwin on tour for six months. Blacks (like Shy) and women (Midge) were second class citizens back then. So that's almost certainly an issue that will rear its head.
- Confirmed. Shy has a double-whammy of being black and gay. The latter he has to keep quiet or else it will ruin his career. The former rears its head in Florida when Midge suggest they sneak back to her hotel so she can patch him up after he's beaten by a hookup, and Shy pointedly states that his people aren't allowed to stay at Midge's hotel down South.
I would say that Europe is the best place for Sophie to start refining her persona as a comic, and maybe get some dramatic roles, because she's less known there as a comic. Then, after she's proved herself, she can return to New York and wow everyone. It actually would be kinda cool for them to all tour together and stand up for each other. So maybe that's how it will play out? The various tensions of keeping things secret and then finally, the teamwork when they all start working together?
- Partly confirmed. Susie turns over control of Midge's finances to Joel once she realizes she can't handle the responsibility because of her developing gambling problems in season 3.
It would be neat if Susie was able to show that she's not a One-Hit Wonder in terms of comedian management. If she was able to reinvent Sophie Lennon, that could be wonders for her. Sophie has been fairly successful as "Sophie from Queens", and I bet she does have comedy chops and timing to get this far. On the other hand, it's clearly a stale and tired act and probably on its last legs (Sophie seems to be going through the motions when she appears on the telethon, and her scene with Susie in the last episode suggests she also wishes to spice things up but feels oppressed by Harry Drake). It would be cool if Susie could transform Sophie. It'll be a lot harder to develop Sophie compared to Midge. Midge is like a sponge and eager to learn. Sophie has been in the business and I'm sure would be a lot more resistant to change. So maybe Susie could get Sophie to be a variation of her real self (snobby socialite) in comedic roles, which could combine her comedy skills and acting.
- Jossed. While Sophie certainly demonstrated the talent to be a serious actress, and Susie did an excellent job helping her express it, Sophie ultimately lacked the fortitude. She broke down after a relatively minor misstep on stage. When Sophie tried to blame Susie and Midge, Susie terminated their partnership by rightfully tearing her apart. Additionally, for all Midge's talent, her act at the Apollo demonstrates just how keenly she needs Susie's guidance. While the advise Reggie offered in Susie's absence wasn't bad, Susie's better familiarity with Midge may not have led her to making the jokes that got her kicked off the tour.
Unlike the Sophie Lennon debacle, where Midge was essentially blackballed, I actually think the opposite will happen. Namely, someone influential will really like Midge's "shock comedy" and want to hire her.
- Alternatively, perhaps Shy Baldwin's plane will crash at the beginning of the season. The same plane that Midge was supposed to be on. We're entering the same era "The Twilight Zone" aired, within universe. Perhaps this strange event could even lead to a reference to that show.
- It also explains why Shy didn't look at all rattled after Midge's performance, in the brief glimpse of him on stage. He likely didn't hear any of her set, while Reggie did.
- Alternatively, Reggie wasn't against Midge the entire time, but the Apollo gig hit too close to home for him because he himself is gay and attracted to Shy. The outing of Shy could possibly lead to Reggie's outing as well, which made him take action without Shy's knowledge.
