NOTE: this post contains spoilers for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 episode 4, "Susan."
There's no flash forward scene this week. Instead, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 episode 4 opens with a musical rehearsal at the Build NY Expo. Nicky (John Scruti) and Frank (Erik Palladino) have summoned Susie (Alex Borstein) to the tradeshow because they want Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) to fill in for their lead performer in their show "Private Waste Management: A Musical Journey in Three Acts," forcefully asking Susie if she can now do them a favor after all the ones they did for her.
Over at The Gordon Ford Show office, everyone is having a rough recovery from the skating hijinks the night before. Gordon (Reid Scott) apologizes to Midge for making a pass at her while he was drunk, but asks her out again anyway. She tells him no because he is married and because she wants to be on the show. She's interrupted by a phone call from Susie asking her to perform at the Expo. Midge agrees, thinking that doing this favor for Frank and Nicky will get both her and Susie out of their obligations to the mobsters.
At dinner with Abe (Tony Shalhoub) and Rose (Marin Hinkle), Midge is admiring her mother's legacy jewelry while chatting with Abe and Rose about the play they're going to by a writer who used to work at the Voice. Janusz (Alexander Gemignani) brings in a rum cake he made for dessert, promising the rum burned off during the cooking. It didn't. Midge, Rose and Abe all pass out at the table.
They wake up in time for Rose and Abe to make it to the play and in time for Midge to make it to the Expo. The Private Waste Management musical is surprisingly dramatic for a tradeshow production. Midge gives it her all and the other performers do as well. It's a smash hit.
Rose and Abe go to supper with their friends after seeing the play. No one seems to have cared for the play very much except Abe, who launches into a speech about the great depth of the play. He talks about its deep philosophical undertones while Rose quips that she must have missed those parts.
Abe embarrasses Rose by telling her she didn't understand the play and its meaning. Rose, not about to let Abe get away with embarrassing her in public, decides to go to the source. The playwright is eating in the same restaurant with his wife, so she brings him over to their table and asks about the meaning of the play. Rose was right. That leads to some tension, although these two are so well-matched they can't really stay angry with each other.
Midge brings the Private Waste Management script to the office hoping the other writers can help her make it better. While they're trying, Gordon bursts into the office. He's upset because the comic booked for the show that night has left with no notice, leaving them with an empty slot. Gordon tasks Mike with finding anyone he can to fill in. Midge thinks this is her big chance.
She tells Gordon she wants the slot, but Gordon reveals a hard and fast rule that no one who works on the show can be on it. He points out that several of the writers are stand ups who would like to be on the show but they will never be on the show. And neither will she.
That news throws Midge for a loop. The only reason she took the writing job was because it put her closer to getting on the show. She doesn't get any time to process this information though because she has to get to the Expo. Joel (Michael Zegen) brings the kids to watch Midge perform.
But Midge tanks the show. She's barely reading the script. She inserts her own jokes, misses lines and barely participates. Nicky and Frank confront Susie, very angry about Midge throwing the performance. They mention the next time they ask for a favor it better go more smoothly than this. Susie is confused because she thought this fulfilled her obligation. But Frank and Nicky say no, there is no getting out of the obligation. They will own 30% of whatever Susie and Midge do forever.
Joel hears Frank and Nicky threaten Susie and confronts her, wanting to know how deep she's in with the mobsters. Susie tells him to mind his own business but Joel tells Susie he's going to find out what's going on.
Susie can't deal with Joel at that moment. She goes to the 30 Rock building to confront Mike (Jason Ralph) about not telling her that Midge would never get on the show. While they're arguing, Sophie Lennon (Jane Lynch) shows up to save the day and appear on the show. Mike redeems himself with Gordon by getting Sophie to appear, but he's still on Susie's bad side.
As Susie leaves the 30 Rock building, she runs into Hedy (Nina Arianda), Gordon's wife. Susie runs away from her but Hedy pursues. At one point they were friends but they haven't spoken in 15 years. Hedy suggests they get a drink but Susie refuses. It's implied they had a romantic relationship in the past that ended badly. Hedy wants to make amends, but Susie's still hurt and walks away.
New episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel release on Fridays on Prime Video.
