The Worst Episode In Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4

Like many television productions affected heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" returned to Prime Video in February 2022 after a significant hiatus. The entirety of Season 3 hit the streaming service in December 2019, making for a long wait after Season 3's cliffhanger ending after Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is fired from performing as the opening act on musician Shy Baldwin's (Leroy McClain) tour. Season 4 picks up right where the last season leaves viewers, depicting Midge's new determined approach to only work as a headlining comedian and not play by anyone else's rules, as well as Susie's (Alex Borstein) ventures in building out her management business and Abe's (Tony Shalhoub) new job as a critic at The Village Voice.

Based on Rotten Tomatoes scores, Season 4 of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" actually met something of a return to form in critical consensus for the hour-long comedy; Season 3's 79% critical score was a series low for the show, but Season 4 received 92% approval from 58 critics. The opposite effect actually played out from fan reviews; Season 4 received a series-low 65% audience score from 141 users, continuing a downtrend in approval from fans that started the season before. While it seems the re-emergence of Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) with a larger role in the season's back half saves Season 4, the show's return seemingly got off to a slow start.

Fans of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" on the show's dedicated Reddit community noted that the Season 4's premiere "Rumble on the Wonder Wheel" got the latest season off to a slow start. Redditors especially noted that in the wake of Midge's firing from Shy Baldwin's tour, the character doesn't seem to understand why she was fired or that she did something wrong by almost publicly outing the character as gay. Midge spends the episode fuming about her firing and plotting to only work as a headlining comedian from now on, even though her name has been smeared after her dismissal. Meanwhile, Joel Maisel's (Michael Zegen) arc sees him continue to balance operating a successful club in Chinatown with his landlords' concern that it brings unwanted attention to their basement gambling operation. The difference between the two characters brought multiple users to write that they find Joel more appealing as a character now.

"[Midge's] complete and utter cluelessness over the horrible situation that she put Shy in, the absolute failure to recognise her privilege," u/JulesIsAlive wrote. "Ugh I am really starting to dislike her."

Other users noted that the show still features too many scenes of Midge essentially throwing tantrums to get her way, no matter what her family members or friends have going on in their own lives. Another Redditor noted that Season 2 of the show focused on how its main character's selfish actions damage her relationships already. "So far it looks like she will not learn anything at all from all these lessons and instead is demanding to have the right to blow everything up around her," they wrote.