Simone

Simone is the first episode and season premiere of the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the ninth episode of the series overall.

Summary
In the Season Two premiere, Midge takes the stage for a foreign audience, while Abe and Rose find themselves in a new world. Susie experiences the repercussions of having a bad reputation in the business, as Joel regroups after quitting his job.

Plot
The episode opens by reintroducing us to Midge in her new job as B. Altman switchboard operator/den mother, swerving from girl to girl to offer a reprieve and a back rub without breaking a sweat or the rhythm of “B. Altman, where can I direct your call? I will connect you.” Yep, we get the big news out of the way before the five-minute mark: Our Midge has been demoted from the makeup counter after her husband’s mistress called her a tramp before a crowd of scandalized holiday shoppers.

But Midge has no time to bemoan her low status, because soon enough, she’s left her children behind (again) with her parents’ maid, Zelda, to chase after Rose.

Rose is having a midlife crisis; a flashback shows her opening up to an indifferent Abe, saying that she’s unhappy and feels her life has no purpose, so she’s running away to Paris. Given how Abe doesn’t even listen, you can see why Rose did it. We see her in her artist’s hovel, speaking French with her new dog, Simone. Abe and Midge encourage her to go back to New York. When Midge says how much she missed her, her response is “I missed me, too”. That is a powerful and refreshing statement coming from a woman who has spent her entire adult life making her husband think her face was perpetually made-up with cosmetics.

Back in the states we see Susie trying to maintain her client’s momentum by giving an interview to  The Village Voice, but she ends up getting sidetracked because Harry Drake — the talent manager Midge upset last season when she trashed his Number One client, Sophie Lennon, in her set — is still out to get her. A pair of goons are hired to rough Susie up, but once they learn she’s from the Rockaways, they can’t in good conscience hurt a local girl, but they do advise that Susie make things right with Harry, because they can’t promise someone else won’t come after her. Back in France Midge finds herself in a drag club, in which an accommodating American translates Midge’s impromptu stream-of-consciousness set into French, the audience finds out via flashback what happened between Midge and her estranged husband, Joel, after he accidentally caught her set at the Gaslight — he was shattered, handing over his wedding ring to Midge in the process.

A stroll along a Seine bridge filled with couples making out flips Midge’s sentimental switch, and suddenly she’s on a transatlantic call to New York, begging Joel to work things out. Joel has done a lot of dumb things in his life, but he begins his path to redemption by wisely advising his wife to embrace her career — and to let their marriage go. It’s a sad conversation, but everything Joel says to Midge is right: “For us to be together, you’d have to give [comedy] up.” He knows he’s the butt of her jokes, and that she’s “everything I wasn’t up there.” But to his credit, he’s finally become enough of a man that he won’t stand in the way on her road to success. Midge is leaving Paris with a broken heart, but as she walks off alone in the final shot of the episode, we know she’s heading toward something much greater than a mediocre marriage: her destiny.

Cast


Starring

 * Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam 'Midge' Maisel
 * Alex Borstein as Susie Myerson
 * Michael Zegen as Joel Maisel
 * Marin Hinkle as Rose Weissman
 * Kevin Pollak as Moishe Maisel
 * Tony Shalhoub as Abe Weissman

Guest Starring
 
 * Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce
 * Caroline Aaron as Shirley Maisel
 * Joel Johnstone as Archie Cleary
 * Brian Tarantina as Jackie
 * John Scurti as Nicky
 * Erik Palladino as Frank

Co-Starring

 * Regina Hoyles as Enid
 * Colby Minifie as Ginger
 * Megan McGinnis as Loula
 * Kylie Edwards as Doris
 * David Konig as Morris
 * Nunzio & Matteo Pascale as Ethan
 * Matilda Szydagis as Zelda
 * Emmanuel Layotte as Driver
 * Catherine Arditi as Marie
 * Frank Ridley as Sal
 * Josh Evans as Geno Masters
 * Xavier Brossard as Ronan
 * Sergen Bagdassarian as Maitre d'
 * Leslie Fray as Lillian
 * Vegane as Gorgeous Woman
 * Alexandre Wetter as Drag Dancer
 * Arthur Choisnet as Well Dressed Man
 * Lexie Foley as Sophia