Where We Left Off In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 2

Trying to remember if you got the Rabbi or not last year? It’s fine if you’ve completely forgotten since it’s been one whole year since we last caught up with Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) and the rest of the Maisel (nee Weissman) family. With the Amazon Original Series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel now back in our lives, they’ll barely be time to catch our breath since we’ll be going a mile a minute with Mrs. Maisel, let alone have time for Susie (Alex Borstein) to sit us down and catch us up on everything that happened in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 2. 

The second season of the show greatly expanded Midge’s world, literally, because the show took us to not only Paris, France on an actual rescue mission for Rose (Marin Hinkle) — she got mad at Abe (Tony Shalhoub), said she was leaving one day, and then she just... did — but also the Catskills for a summer getaway. That’s where the majority of our action takes place, as Midge’s world slowly begins to unravel. 

But, before we take a trip there, things aren’t going so well in New York City. Midge is demoted at department store B. Altman and sent to the basement to work the switchboard for a while, before weaseling her way back up into the coat check. While there, she offers to help one of the other girls plan their wedding — a very religious, somber wedding. Maybe not the thing you want Midge helping out on, so needless to say, it goes completely amiss. Midge really outdoes herself when she gives a toast at the wedding that is completely ill-received, leading her to realize that not everyone thinks she’s hilarious. 

Later, it’s off to the Catskills for a few months, and unfortunately, the Maisels are vacationing there, too. This leads to a whole lot of awkward interactions between Midge and Joel (Michael Zegen), who are trying to be civil — and Midge is trying to reconcile — but it’s just no use. Rose sees this as a perfect opportunity to try and set Midge up with a young eligible doctor, Benjamin (a widely underused and underappreciated Zachary Levi), and though she isn’t too keen on the idea at first, Midge eventually goes out with him (and then goes out with him a few more times after that). 

If you think Midge’s world is slowly going topsy-turvey, Susie has also seen better days. Still upset about how Midge dissed her in a set, Sophie Lennon’s (Jane Lynch) goons come after Susie. She somehow manages to talk her way out of getting beaten up, or worse. But, that’s just the job of an agent, and Susie finds herself in the Catskills as well, walking around with a plunger and pretending to work at the resort so no one questions why she’s there. She also scores Midge a great gig at a nearby resort, which should lead to great things!  

But just remember real fast, Midge’s family doesn’t realize she’s performing standup. Joel knows, but her parents do not. Midge would prefer to keep it that way, however, Abe happens to stumble into the resort and sit through Midge’s comedy show. Her gig is up. 

Abe is beside himself to realize what his daughter has been doing all this time, and he doesn’t come around to it easily, especially since tensions are still pretty high after Midge and Joel’s separation.

Joel, meanwhile, is still being Joel  — which means he’s not really doing a whole lot and just falling into things that are handed to him, like his dad’s company, and complaining about how he’s not as funny as Midge. The dad, Moishe Maisel (Kevin Pollak) eventually tries to buy Joel out of his job, saying that he should be doing something that he wants to do, but Joel doesn’t even know what that is. 

And let's not forget that Midge is separated from Joel and dating Benjamin. Though Midge is still technically married to Joel, Benjamin approaches Abe to ask if he can marry Midge. Sure! That’s also what Abe says so I guess there’s another wedding in the future? Mazel! 

Or not. Late in the season, she then comes across a down and out (real-life comedian) Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby), who invites her along to watch him on Steve Allen's TV show. Watching his act, Midge grows increasingly worried that she’ll end up alone, just like him. So she goes to someone she loves…

AND IT’S JOEL. Midge shows up at Joel’s office! She tells him she really needs to be with someone “who loves [her].” Joel pulls her in for a kiss and that’s where season 2 ends. Just like that. Did Midge, and the show, just completely forget about Benjamin?

Before the whole Joel thing, Midge lands a spot in a televised fundraiser which is a big get for her... except that Sophie Lennon is also performing. Midge is terrified that Sophie will sabotage her, which she does, but in a surprising turn of events, this actually leads to Midge succeeding more. Things always seem to turn up roses for Midge, huh?

However, Sophie also tries to woo Susie away to be her agent, since she likes how much she fights for Midge. Susie clearly is mulling it over, and the season ends before we know her final decision. 

While all of this is going on, Midge is approached by (fictional) singer Shy Baldwin who asks her to open for him on tour through the U.S. and Europe. Without hesitating, Midge says "yes."

So here we are, ending on a kiss-cliffhanger and Susie's dilemma, which means everyone is going to have some ‘splaining to do in season 3.