Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ inches towards the end of the series, bringing its titular character closer to turning her dreams into a reality. The penultimate episode focuses on the critical moment that just might turn around everything for Midge leading to the glorious career we were familiarised with in the previous episodes. This episode, titled ‘The Princess and the Plea,’ also weighs in on the emotional side of Midge’s journey from her marriage and family to the path she set out on all those years ago. It ends on a high note for her. Here’s what it means for her and the series’ final episode. SPOILERS AHEAD
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5 Episode 8 Recap
Midge and Joel meet with Ethan’s teacher, who reveals that Abe has been around the school and been a disruptive presence ever since he found out that his granddaughter, Esther is the prodigy he’d been waiting for. While waiting for the teacher, Midge and Joel go down memory lane. Joel remembers when he brought Midge to meet with his parents and the moment when he brought down their entire life by inviting his secretary for a drink.
After pondering about her life with Joel, Midge meets with her college friends. The reunion takes her through her time in college when she used to be a different person with different dreams. This also shows her how different her life is from the rest of her friends and how much her career has changed her in the past few years. She suddenly feels distant and lonely, like the one she’d felt after watching Lenny Bruce talk about the lonely life of a stand-up comedian.
Seeing his granddaughter’s nascent talent makes Abe realize how much he tends to ignore the girls in his family. When his son turned out to be the prodigy that was promised, he never paid attention to his daughter and never treated her the same way he did her brother because he never thought she might be good at something too. He would have done the same thing if Ethan hadn’t failed him and turned his attention toward Esther. He realizes her hasn’t given Midge the credit she deserves, especially about how well she has handled her career without any help from her family.
Meanwhile, Hedy secures Princess Margaret to appear on the Gordon Ford Show. Writing jokes for her is tricky because they have to be respectful while making fun of the royal family. It is challenging, but Midge rises to the occasion, bringing her to Hedy’s attention, who reveals her connection with Susie.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Episode 8 Ending: Will Midge Be on the Gordon Ford Show?
There used to be something between Susie and Hedy when they were in college, but it hasn’t been directly addressed in the show yet. An educated guess would say that they were in love and meant to spend their life together, see the world together, and execute all of their elaborately laid out plans. But then, life happened, Hedy left, and Susie realized there was no point in loving someone like that again.
The heartbreak is so intense that when Hedy returns, Susie refuses to acknowledge her. She doesn’t want to talk; she doesn’t want to build any bridges. She doesn’t want to go back to the past and give Hedy a chance to mend their friendship. She will go to any lengths for her clients, but she will not talk to Hedy. And Hedy knows it too. She knows what kind of person Susie is and how closely she holds her grudges. She doesn’t expect Susie to talk to her again, which is why she is so surprised when Susie comes to her of her own accord.
When Midge discovers that Hedy and Susie knew each other in college, she pleads for Susie to talk to Hedy, who can, in turn, talk to Gordon about changing his rule of not featuring his employees on his show. Susie outright refuses, but Midge is not concerned about the things of the past. She has been working hard and doing everything that is asked of her, and yet, she hasn’t moved an inch since she started working for Gordon. She worries she’ll be stuck in this limbo forever, and Hedy is the only way out.
Midge tells Susie that this might be the moment that makes all the difference in making or breaking her career. If Susie doesn’t talk to Hedy, then Midge will never forget that there was something Susie could have done about it but chose not to. This gets to Susie and, swallowing her pride, she goes to Hedy and asks her to talk to Gordon. This act surprises Hedy, and she realizes how much Midge must mean to Susie. Susie would never have knocked on Hedy’s door if it had been any other client.
The seriousness of the matter makes Hedy take it up with Gordon, and she calls in favor of him. She has helped a lot over the years and wants him to do something for her this time. Gordon is shocked that Hedy intends to cash in on her favor this way, but he has no choice but to honor her request. Their relationship might be complicated, but that doesn’t make Hedy any less valuable to him. Getting Princess Margaret is one of the many things she has done for him, and if she wants him to break his rule for Midge, it must be something big.
At the end of the episode, we find a conflicted Gordon looking at Midge, who races out of the office to attend to what seems like a family emergency. However, the look on his face suggests that he will go forward with Hedy’s request. This is great for Midge, but this might create problems for Gordon. His infatuation with Midge is well-known, and should he break the rule for her, the rest of the writers, who’d been rejected so many times before, will start to wonder why he is giving the opportunity to Midge, which they were denied all these years. In any case, Midge is set to appear on the Gordon Ford Show. What happens next will change her life.
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