The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 Finale: “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” Spoilers Ahead
Sometimes, an episode is so extraordinary it demands a re-watch or two to ensure you aren’t dreaming. And pertaining to everything that happens between Midge and Lenny in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel‘s Season 4 finale, it’s an absolute dream come true.
A blizzard, a shared room, mutual pining, and finally giving in to the years of longing that’s had both of them (and viewers) in a constant chokehold is, quite literally, everything. It might just be a one-time thing—their “maybe someday” coming to pass, but it’s utterly beautiful. It’s the kind of scene you repeatedly replay because, for two people who can make the world laugh, they can only find true solace and laughter in each other.
Midge and Lenny have wanted to know what colliding could be like for quite some time, and the choice to finally give themselves this freedom is the one thing no one can take away. The conversations they have in silence, the consent they give freely, it’s the best kind of slow-burn clash. The “it’s always the pretty ones who try to kill you” tells us how vastly Midge has wrecked him while verbally confirming that he always pays attention to her by stating, “you are more important than God.”
In the same way they couldn’t think of anything funny to say the first time they danced, they can’t laugh during this either because it’s bigger than the two of them ever thought possible. It’s bigger than anything else they’ve ever faced, anyone else they’ve ever been with, because it’s fleeting. It’s temporary, but it’s everything.
And to have it overshadowed by the drugs that tragically take Lenny hurts like hell. Because the final scene with the two of them on the stage at Carnegie Hall is so profoundly vulnerable, it’s utterly haunting. The respect Lenny has for Midge surpasses anything she’s ever known, and Luke Kirby’s performance in that scene is full of such conviction—you could feel every ounce of his heartbreak as he comes to the understanding that she’s selling herself short. She is better than this. She can be greater than she believes, but that’s something Lenny has known from day one.
There’s a denial in both of them. They don’t talk about serious things, but it’s always about what could be with Midge and Lenny. He isn’t going to open up about his struggles to her, it’s enough that she witnessed it, and he’ll deny it until there are no more options left, but for the time being, being together is the perfect escape.
When he calls her sensational in “It’s Comedy or Cabbage,” he isn’t merely throwing out the fanciest word he knows. He chooses it carefully because he packs everything into the compliment in the same way he does with “you will break my f*cking heart.” She isn’t just the funniest woman he knows, but she’s tranquility and wit wrapped in one—the only person who’s a true equal. And that’s exactly why throwing her career away feels so personal because no one understands this gig the way Lenny does. Midge essentially betrays everyone and herself this way, which is why it’s so necessary that Lenny’s the one to call her out, ending the episode in the kind of cliffhanger that heightens all the emotions for Season 5.
Further Thoughts
- STILL CANNOT BELIEVE THIS EPISODE IS REAL!?
- LUKE KIRBY LEFT EVERYTHING ON THAT STAGE AND I LEGITIMATELY DON’T KNOW HOW I COULD WORDS. It’s truly a miracle that I’ve managed to even string somewhat coherent sentences together.
- The performances are truly something with these two.
- The saying, “they were insane for this?” It was coined for Midge and Lenny.
- The fact that he brought her up on that stage to discuss the pedestal she has him on? M A S T E R F U L.
- When he gave her his jacket??? I was gone from there.
- The fact that he was adamant on apologizing?! I–
- It was all just so soft. SO PERFECT. I thought I could calm down afterwards, but I am, in fact, far from calm.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 finale, “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” is now streaming on Prime Video. What are your thoughts on Midge and Lenny’s arc? Let us know in the comments below.