As Midge explains in her climactic stand-up set, the title of the episode is a Russian phrase meaning, "I live in the big house on the hill." Midge, who majored in Russian literature and now finds herself without a husband and potentially without a house located anywhere, realizes how naive and sheltered her life has been up until this point. She also cannot seem to help using four letter words and painting sexual word pictures in her act, and with policemen lurking outside of comedy clubs, ready to swoop down on obscenity violations, Midge could be destined for the big house of the other kind. This episode marks her second bust.
I really want to like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," but "Ya Shivu..." does not make this easy. To date I have seen three entries in the series. This one underlined the fact that the show is somewhat overwritten. The first time Susie visits Midge's apartment, she goes on and on for what seems like at least two pages of the script, making "funny" remarks about the enormity of the apartment, comparing it in turn to the residences of French, British, and Russian monarchs, and belaboring her fear that she has caught various diseases from the sticky hand of Midge's son.
The show has an odd combination of nostalgia and dread for its era, the late 1950s.) It was a time when the pop culture seemed to be dominated by sweet novelty songs. Television was by appointment only (There was no on-demand programming) and variety shows were showcases for old and new talent of every kind. It was an exciting time in underground entertainment, too. In this installment, Midge further develops her friendship with the great stand-up comic Lenny Bruce who seems at this point to be becoming her mentor. (Whether this is actually the case remains for other episodes.)
It was also a time when Jim Crow laws in the South prevented African-Americans from voting, or sharing public transportation and going to the same schools with whites; entertainers could get arrested for saying things on stage at a no-name basement comedy club that their modern counterparts routinely get away with saying on broadcast TV a 8:30 PM. The attitude of the show to this milieu is ambivalent. Do we want to romanticize it or wish it good riddance?
The best part of each episode is Midge's stand-up sets, always based on her life and understandable to us because we have just seen scenes from the life she is talking about. Midge is clearly a natural comedian, seeing the funny side even of the tragic. As in the first episode, she gets arrested for what she says on stage, although, this time, there is no bearing of breasts.
Tony Shaloub, who seemed underused in the first installment, sets a promising trend with a funny scene at the college where he teaches mathematics. The versatile Shaloub has played, Muslims, Christians, aliens from outer space and now a Jewish man, and each is a different, fully rounded character. (I like that Abe - Shaloub's character here - is both a mathematician and a good pianist. You might be surprised how often those skills actually go together in real life.)
The characters are often a bit clichéd, not to say stereotyped. There is a sentimental approach to the kind of Jewish culture that permeated New York City in the mid-twentieth century. There was a lightness and certainly an accent that might not exist any more. Midge's mother visits a fortune teller who reads tea leaves and sounds like an escapee from an amalgamated movie that might be called "Fiddler on the Yentl."
Midge's hapless husband, Joel, has a controlling father, Moishe, who runs a company in New York's garment district. We see father and son interact in this episode and better understand Joel's problem. (Not that this makes up for Joel announcing he was leaving his devoted wife and young children on the Jewish Day of Atonement.)
The big question seems to be how many episodes can "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" go before any of her family finds out that she is moonlighting as a comic. As of this installment, they remain in the dark without a clue that there might be an alternative to Midge either getting back together with her faithless husband or, as her father-in-law imagines, sitting on the couch, eating bonbons and watching the popular TV game show "Queen for a Day." He obviously doesn't know who Midge is.
As I say, I want to like this show, but this episode shows both its strengths and weakness.
I really want to like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," but "Ya Shivu..." does not make this easy. To date I have seen three entries in the series. This one underlined the fact that the show is somewhat overwritten. The first time Susie visits Midge's apartment, she goes on and on for what seems like at least two pages of the script, making "funny" remarks about the enormity of the apartment, comparing it in turn to the residences of French, British, and Russian monarchs, and belaboring her fear that she has caught various diseases from the sticky hand of Midge's son.
The show has an odd combination of nostalgia and dread for its era, the late 1950s.) It was a time when the pop culture seemed to be dominated by sweet novelty songs. Television was by appointment only (There was no on-demand programming) and variety shows were showcases for old and new talent of every kind. It was an exciting time in underground entertainment, too. In this installment, Midge further develops her friendship with the great stand-up comic Lenny Bruce who seems at this point to be becoming her mentor. (Whether this is actually the case remains for other episodes.)
It was also a time when Jim Crow laws in the South prevented African-Americans from voting, or sharing public transportation and going to the same schools with whites; entertainers could get arrested for saying things on stage at a no-name basement comedy club that their modern counterparts routinely get away with saying on broadcast TV a 8:30 PM. The attitude of the show to this milieu is ambivalent. Do we want to romanticize it or wish it good riddance?
The best part of each episode is Midge's stand-up sets, always based on her life and understandable to us because we have just seen scenes from the life she is talking about. Midge is clearly a natural comedian, seeing the funny side even of the tragic. As in the first episode, she gets arrested for what she says on stage, although, this time, there is no bearing of breasts.
Tony Shaloub, who seemed underused in the first installment, sets a promising trend with a funny scene at the college where he teaches mathematics. The versatile Shaloub has played, Muslims, Christians, aliens from outer space and now a Jewish man, and each is a different, fully rounded character. (I like that Abe - Shaloub's character here - is both a mathematician and a good pianist. You might be surprised how often those skills actually go together in real life.)
The characters are often a bit clichéd, not to say stereotyped. There is a sentimental approach to the kind of Jewish culture that permeated New York City in the mid-twentieth century. There was a lightness and certainly an accent that might not exist any more. Midge's mother visits a fortune teller who reads tea leaves and sounds like an escapee from an amalgamated movie that might be called "Fiddler on the Yentl."
Midge's hapless husband, Joel, has a controlling father, Moishe, who runs a company in New York's garment district. We see father and son interact in this episode and better understand Joel's problem. (Not that this makes up for Joel announcing he was leaving his devoted wife and young children on the Jewish Day of Atonement.)
The big question seems to be how many episodes can "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" go before any of her family finds out that she is moonlighting as a comic. As of this installment, they remain in the dark without a clue that there might be an alternative to Midge either getting back together with her faithless husband or, as her father-in-law imagines, sitting on the couch, eating bonbons and watching the popular TV game show "Queen for a Day." He obviously doesn't know who Midge is.
As I say, I want to like this show, but this episode shows both its strengths and weakness.
