Marvelous Mrs Maisel recap: A summary of Midge's journey so far before you binge the eagerly awaited last season this weekend!

In our Marvelous Mrs Maisel recap, we talk about Midge’s transformation from a housewife to a woman with dreams that are big enough to take over all of New York City! So here’s rewinding the past four seasons before the final chapter!

Marvelous Mrs Maisel revolves around Midge Maisel, a comedienne who wants to be numero uno in a male dominated field. She is shattering the glass ceiling of stereotypes about how a woman is supposed to be, that too in the 50s where everyone including women themselves believed that they were only meant to be in the kitchen or take care of their kids. She left many astonished at the fact that women can be funny too and it’s not just always about the pretty face. So much has happened in Midge’s life over the past 4 seasons so a Marvelous Mrs Maisel recap is totally necessary before we binge her road to fame in the last season!

Also Read: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel season 5 trailer looks like Midge’s last shot at making it big in the world of showbiz!

Here's what happened so far!

Season 1: From Mrs Maisel - the housewife to Mrs Maisel - the overnight sensation of standup comedy!

Season 1 starts following Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) going out and about in New York to find the perfect brisket for a lunch set with her Rabbi at home. You instantly know she is the backbone of her family. The perfect housewife and the perfect mother. She has no complaints because this was the life she has always imagined. Even though she was intelligent, always voiced her opinions and was extremely witty, getting married and having kids was her ultimate goal. Because that’s what she knew from the women around her. She looked flawless no matter what time of the day it was. She wore curling rollers to bed and woke up 10 minutes before her husband so she can put on fake lashes and make up so he can wake up thinking he sleeps next to the goddess of beauty. But little did she know that her world would take a complete 360 degree turn when she learns that her husband, Joel (Michael Zegen) has been cheating on her with his secretary.

Midge was the best wife a man could ever dream of so the sheer rage of being left for another ditzy woman made her drink heavily one night. Which led to her impulsively talking about her life on stage at the local pub her husband did mediocre stand up comedy at as a hobby. That’s the night the manager of the club, Susie (Alex Borstein) discovered her and realised that not only is she a hundred times better than her husband when it comes to stand up comedy, she was also an absolute natural star born to be on stage, born to do comedy, speak about things that men are too fragile to hear and a woman way ahead of her times! 

The two women teamed to make Midge the next big comedy star in town. Of course there were so many hiccups along the way, I mean she was a woman doing stand up comedy in the 50s for God’s sake. How could anyone ever be okay with that, right? Not to forget how she was dealing with her divorce and how her parents felt that her being a single woman again would be the biggest obstacle in their life. But amidst all of this, with no support from anyone, Midge realised her potential, and she wanted to grab every opportunity possible but while wearing the most phenomenal dresses and heels because if comedy helped her express herself boldly, fashion was her peace and calm. Season 1 ends with her performing for a full house at the same pub she first made her accidental debut in. But the plot thickens when you find out Joel was in the crown watching her act too. 

 Season 2: Catskills to Shy Baldwin - A major leap of faith!

Midge is ready for her favorite time of the year- The Catskills. A fun summer camp for jews to spend with their families. Everything about the Catskills felt too colorful and aesthetic to the eye. But Susie gets Midge a gig even on her family vacation. She performs a rather risque act at the resort next to the Catskills called The Concord. But like Joel caught her the previous season, her father, Abe Wiessman (Tony Shalhoub) found out about her secret in this one. He is unable to understand why his daughter goes on stage and talks in a condescending way about her family and how that is funny to people. She also finds a new love and a very handsome love interest in season 2, Dr. Benjamin (Zachary Levi). He is compatible in literally every category with Midge. Be it humour, being the perfect family man and doesn’t even bat an eye about her standup career like the other men in her life did. But Midge’s dreams were too big for her to become just a wife again. 

All of season 2, it was a battle between her and Sophie Lennon (Jane Lynch), a fellow female standup comedian who wasn't even close to being as good as Midge. She was way more famous than Midge was, the audiences loved her, which is why she got more TV slots and shows than Midge. But real talent always rises above and Midge finally manages to kick her out of the prime time TV slot for hosting a show. This catches the eye of Shy Baldwin (Le Roy MCclain) - a singing sensation who offered her the biggest gig she could’ve ever imagined. To go on tour with him as his opening act. And without a doubt she said yes! The beginning of a big new horizon for Midge put a stop on her love life with Benjamin as she was onto getting closer to her dreams. 

Season 3: New beginnings and life on the road

Midge is now touring all over the USA, winning hearts one joke at a time. She couldn’t have been happier! She was friends with a world renowned singer, she was staying at the best hotels, she was killing it every night on stage. Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby), a fellow comedian and her adviser since season 1 seems to be falling for her charms too. But while she was living her best life, her parents had to move in with her ex in-laws, Moishe and Shirley Maisel (Kevin Pollack and Caroline Aaron) after her father quit his job as a professor and lost their luxurious apartment that Midge grew up in. The four grandparents together with their two atypical grandkids and their house help, Zelda(Matilda Szydagis) were bound for chaos and confusion. Meanwhile, Joel also wanted to go onwards and upwards in his career and he decided to open a bar where artists could also perform, but in the process of building this, he met Mei (Stephanie Hsu), a Chinese American, to-be doctor who he fell in love with. Mei was a lot like Midge in a lot of sense and maybe that’s why she was the only woman after Midge to even make Joel think about starting a new family in the first place. 

Midge and Joel are in a much better place now. Even with the whole new girlfriend situation, they’re pretty cool co-parents like that. Speaking of wanting to expand their career, Susie too wanted to explore her abilities to the fullest. She wanted to find more talent, more people she could manage and make a name for herself. It even lead to her representing Midge’s arch nemesis, Sophie and even though juggling between the two fierce women came with a lot of patience and understanding, her relationship with Sophie turned sour because of her unreasonable tantrums. And theirs wasn't the only one. Midge was thrown out of Shy’s tour as his opening act as she made a few jokes about his sexuality on stage that he was not ready to tell the world or face. She went from riches to rags in seconds as the curtain was shut on her biggest gig yet. 

Season 4: Bye-bye opening acts, Hello headliners!

Midge had totally hit rock bottom financially after Shy Baldwin dropped her as his opening act. It had obviously built a lot of anger in her and she wasn't taking her new situation well. She went back to living with her parents in a smaller apartment but soon realised that they need to go back to the beautiful apartment she grew up in. Meanwhile, her father had taken up a new job as a journalist which didn't sit well with their jewish community. Midge had now taken up a job as the emcee at a strip club and even there she gave her best to bring about changes for the better. Midge along with her dad work hard towards getting their elite life back again. Her parents were now fully aware of her comedian life and even if they still didn't fully understand it, they'd adjusted to her career for sure. 

In the middle of all of this, she received a wedding invitation from Shy Baldwin where the two hash out their grudges. Coming to Joel, his life would never be the same again because Mei revealed to him that she was pregnant which eventually lead to his father getting a heart attack after hearing the news. Milo Ventimiglia made his guest appearance on the show and Midge was rather swooned by him only to realise that she was the ‘other woman’ in the relationship. She was also completely disappointed after bombing at the John F. Kennedy fundraiser. This brought her even closer to Lenny Bruce, but she didn't see a future with him either. The season ends with her standing in front of the Gordon Ford show, it looks like she has this inner calling where she knows she has to pull up her socks and go full speed in order to become a household name, a headliner at every show. 

Hopefully, by the looks of the new season’s trailer, we will get to see Midge become the superstar that she has always aspired to be. It's one last dance before we bid farewell to one of the most impactful characters we’ve seen on-screen.

For more entertainment content follow us @socialketchupbinge