The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Review: Now What? (Season 3 Episodes 6-8)
It’s anybody’s guess where we go from here.
The final episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 3 bring closure to Midge’s relationship with Benjamin while nearly allowing her the chance to take control of her own living situation in a way she’s never been able to before. That is until she makes a costly mistake.
We saw in the first half of the season how much it pained Midge to leave the apartment she’d always known as home. So as she starts earning a real, significant income from her tour with Shy Baldwin, she realizes she can reclaim it — a move that’s highly symbolic and satisfying for us as an audience.
Her parents have always had the means to take care of her, and how that they don’t, she’s able to give something back, and not because of say, marrying a doctor, but because of her comedy career. It’s almost perfect, but if there’s anything we know about Midge Maisel, it’s that she’s still a bit naive.
She learns on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 3 Episode 6, “Kind of Bleu,” that Shy is gay — something he reveals after an incident that leaves him injured. She’s barely shaken by that news and jumps in to help, but the incident causes Shy to put his tour on pause.
When it resumes, it resumes in his home town, affording Midge the incredible, but also awkward, opportunity of performing at the Apollo. It’s a chance to lean into some discussion of race, at least partly, which Midge realizes this isn’t exactly a place where she’s going to be welcomed with open arms.
And with Susie focused on her own personal matters, she’s on her own. She takes advice from Reggie, who says she should talk about Shy, and it’s easy to see where that’s going to go. Because Reggie doesn’t know that Midge knows Shy is gay, and Midge is too naive to understand that’s a topic she should be wary of discussing on stage.
Her act is great, and the audience loves her — I especially love how she incorporates all those cookies — but it’s hardly subtle.
It’s a mistake that costs her the job, which she only finds out just as she and Susie think they’re about to get on a plane. Reggie delivers the news with some pain, and he’s even found some common ground with Susie at this point. But he can’t change the outcome.
In some ways, this feels like a blow. It’s an odd way to end the season because it makes it feel like everything we’ve been working toward was for nothing. That’s obviously not the case, but it’s a bit of a punch to the gut.
The good thing about this is that it’s yet another moment where we see Midge fail, which I think it always what makes her story the most interesting. She’s widely adored in most spaces, so it’s important we see her get knocked down at times. And when she does, she only gets a little wiser and a little better at what she does.
These final three episodes also bring back Zachary Levi’s Benjamin. Rose is focused on playing matchmaker, and her missteps cause Benjamin to finally show up and confront Midge, addressing the way she left him at the end of last season.
Levi’s performance is great but all too brief, and I wish we could see more of the two of them together, even if it is just them hashing out their differences. It’s another place where Midge understands the mistake she makes and admits some fault.
The kicker? Benjamin would have likely accepted her going on tour — he always did support her comedy and liked that this was part of her life.
Now, though, Midge is still married to Joel, which feels a bit tired at this point. Joel has a girlfriend, and she and Midge seem to get along well when they meet. It’s heartening the way Midge jumps in to help at Joel’s club, too — roasting him a little but also making sure he knows she thinks he’s a good father.
These episodes do suffer for the same reasons the previous ones do. Too much time is spent on unnecessary scenes and storylines that don’t carry much weight.
Sure, it’s funny to see Midge doing all of those commercials and to see her and Susie lugging around giant boxes of tampons. And those commercials make statements about gender roles in the time period, and they do it in a way that’s funny, which I enjoy. But there’s no need for all of that to drag on the way it does.
I’m also not interested in Sophie Lennon’s story much at all. It’s there to offer Susie something to do outside of Midge, but it would all be more entertaining and more effective if it didn’t take up so much of the story — and story that could be used to give Midge more emotional depth or to focus more on her relationships.
Overall, the season is enjoyable, and I think great things are being done with Midge’s character in particular. Plus, as usual, it’s all very visually appealing and fun to watch as a period piece. It could all just be a bit more focused.
What did you think of these episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? Share your thoughts in the comments below. You can also read my review of the first five episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 3 here.
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 3 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.