The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (5×07) A House Full of Extremely Lame Horses Review

For our review of the last episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, click here.

It will become very clear what the episode title of A House Full of Extremely Lame Horses is referring to if it wasn’t clear already. With Zelda now married and moving on as the Weissman family maid/jack-of-all-trades, it was hard for her to revert back to her old ways much to the chagrin of Janusz who was tired of being jerked around by what he considered to be a house of extremely lame horses which technically wasn’t wrong. Depending on her for so many years for every little task, they were lost without her and now without her for the most part, they were lost in spite of the handbook she had made for them for which they pretty much ignored and/or forgot existed. This was the last straw for Zelda in what was a powerful moment of release for Matilda Szydagis who has consistently been a scene-stealer since the beginning of the series.

A high-profile guest was set to appear on the Gordon Ford Show with famed actor and comedian Danny Stevens (Hank Azaria) who was there to promote his new book about his life. He needed jokes and Midge inspired him to look from within. Killing it, a bidding war for her services began. Not wanting to let her go, Gordon gave Midge a raise but it was just so she would get paid the same amount as the other male writers on the show. Little did she know, this wasn’t all because Gordon wanted her but rather because he didn’t want Stevens to get her. Trying to use an opportunity to perform in a comedy showcase ran by the host of Gordon’s #2 competitor as leverage to allow her to perform on his show, he couldn’t be any less interested. Therefore Midge went forward with the showcase and killed. However, her performance fell on deaf ears in terms of those who mattered in the audience and she and Susie definitely took it personally. Watching Rachel Brosnahan peel back layers and show some real pain and emotion was also a powerful sight.

Meanwhile, Abe’s insecurity had its own subplot as he suddenly became especially invested in Ethan in the hopes of preserving the Weissman family bloodline after bringing him to his special school where he didn’t quite fit in the way that he would have hoped. The key for him to preserve the bloodline seemed to be to nurture the first born males and letting their superior intellects and unique skills blossom on their own, sharing some personal experience from his own childhood, but maybe that wasn’t necessarily the case in the third and final powerful moment of the episode that brought this storyline full circle. Shalhoub’s consummate insecure neuroticism as Abe was a delight to watch not to mention hilarious as he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing and how he was the only one taking it seriously, perhaps taking things a little too far.

Bookending the episode was a clip from a classic black and white 1960’s sitcom starring Azaria’s Danny Stevens. It was a hilarious and wholesome throwback. Azaria himself was also hilarious and was a scene-stealer in limited screen time, bringing plenty of personality and energy to the proceedings. Based on his affinity for Midge in this episode, hopefully the character is not a one-off because it would be nice to see more of him.

still courtesy of Amazon Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.