'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' Season 3 Episode 7 sees Sophie bomb in big Broadway debut, Abe finds validation in NYT op-ed
Spoilers ahead for 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Season 3 Episode 7 'Marvelous Radio'
Shy Baldwin, after being beaten up by a lover in the last episode, takes a break from touring. So Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) and Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein) have to do the hustle in New York, booking numerous voice gigs for ads on the radio to keep the money coming in.
The pay is minuscule, as little as 5 dollars per gig and sometimes not even that. Instead of cash, they are handed cartons of the product in question from tampons to maple syrup, which they then have to haul to the next venue.
It is a torturous existence and the only bright spot in Susie's horizon is the long-awaited debut of Sophie Lennon (Jane Lynch) on Broadway, starring opposite the legendary Gavin Hawk played by the wonderful Cary Elwes, sporting an exaggerated English accent.
It is the moment that Susie has schemed and plotted for, ever since Sophie hired her. Being responsible for launching Sophie's "serious acting" career is exactly the kind of fame Susie is looking for.
Meanwhile, Abe (Tony Shalhoub), after catching up with his erstwhile playwright and friend, Asher Friedman (Jason Alexander), in Miami, is determined to publish a piece on him and how he was unfairly treated. He asks for Asher's approval to publish the article.
But having walked away from the theater because of McCarthyism, Asher wants nothing to do with it anymore. Jason Alexander channels his "George Costanza" frustration to bring the first few early laughs of the episode. Abe wears him down eventually.
He gets the piece published in The New York Times op-ed section, which makes him happy as a clam. At the circumcision ceremony for his son's baby boy, he hands the papers out to arriving guests, with the slogan, "Words can change the world".
With new-found faith in words, he also advises Midge against doing an ad for a far-right election candidate just for a paycheck. Midge backs out at the radio station, sticking to her principles.
Later Susie and Midge reach the theater to watch Sophie debut. After a few early fumbles, like an unintended late entrance and upsetting a prop table on stage, Sophie panics and her performance falls apart.
She reverts to her comic persona, just to hear the audience cheer and clap for her. Jane Lynch is spectacular in this scene as she devolves from the serious actress into the pot-bellied, belching, rough-voiced character she plays on the comedy circuit.
As soon as the play is over, Susie chases her and catches her as she is running away. Sophie, cornered, blames her for the debacle, saying Susie sabotaged her for Midge by pushing her into "serious" theater.
Susie refuses to let her revise history and then lays down her final verdict -- "You could have done it. You could have become the serious actress you wanted to be. But you just didn't have guts." The partnership is thankfully over and Susie is back to handling just our dear Mrs. Maisel.
'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' is available for viewing on Amazon Prime Video from December 6 onward.