Throughout The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s three seasons, Midge and Joel’s relationship has seen good times and some bad times. In the beginning they appeared to be the happiest couple with a hardworking husband and a doting wife who made brisket. But fans soon found out that not everything was perfect as the happy couple would have you believe.
While the two have been there for each other through some of their ups and downs, they have also been the cause for most of each others’ downs. The two have managed to figure out how to be friends and be there for their two children, Ethan and Esther, but it has been a long road for the two. Here are the five worst things Midge has done to Joel and the five worst things Joel has done to Midge.
Joel: Had an Affair
Joel sent Midge’s life into a complete spiral and shattered her heart when he revealed to her he had been having an affair with his nitwit secretary, Penny Pann. In season 1, episode 1, fans believed Midge and Joel were a great couple, but when Joel began packing his bags, fans began to think otherwise.
Midge thought the two were in love and living a happy life, but then Joel made her world come crashing down around her. Midge trusted Joel and his affair with Penny, shattered her trust in him. She had done everything for Joel, and he thanked her by messing around with his secretary. Not an even trade at all.
Midge: Embarrassed Him During Her Act
Midge is a comedian, which means she tends to poke fun at people while she’s doing her act, and this includes Joel. When Joel left her, Midge found her way to cope with the changes by performing stand up. This way of coping included talking about her separation, and the woman Joel left her for.
In season 1, episode 8, “Thank You and Goodnight,” Joel stumbles in on Midge’s act at the Gaslight. Joel’s ego was bruised by Midge’s joke as he felt she was talking trash about him in front of strangers. He left the Gaslight, feeling embarrassed and sorry for himself.
Joel: Moved in with Penny
Joel had Midge believing that he had to leave her in order to live his dream downtown life, but when he left, he didn’t get much closer to the downtown life he had left Midge for. When Midge was dropping Ethan off for his first night at his dad’s new place, she was surprised to find him still living in the Upper West Side with Penny Pann.
Joel not only moved in with Penny, in Midge’s words “the Methodist version of her,” but he also bought the couch that he wouldn’t let Midge buy. Now that’s two betrayals from Joel, a new woman, and a new couch.
Midge: Asked for a Divorce
Joel might have left first, but Midge put the final nail in the coffin. The two danced around the notion of getting a divorce for long enough when Midge finally told Joel it was time to get an official divorce from each other.
Everyone around the couple believed the two would work it out eventually, including Joel, but all hope went out the window in season 1, episode 8 “Thank You and Goodnight” when Midge told Joel she felt it was time for them to get a divorce. Joel tried to hide his disappointment in Midge’s decision, but his flask seemed to say otherwise.
Joel: Gave His Ring Back
There have been many tear filled moments throughout The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s 3 seasons, but none were more emotional than the moment when Joel gave his wedding band back to Midge. Joel happened to catch Midge’s act one night at the Gaslight, and this particular act was mostly about him and his new girlfriend, Penny.
In season 2, episode 1 fans held their breath as Midge runs to Joel’s house to apologize for him having to hear this act. But every fans’ heart broke when, without a word, Joel slipped off his ring and placed it in Midge’s hand. Hope for their reunion quickly faded as Joel walked away.
Midge: Didn’t Take Him Back
Most family members and friends of Joel and Midge thought that they were all just waiting for Joel to come back, that the fate of the marriage rested solely in Joel’s hands. But it takes two to reunite a marriage.
In season 1, episode 3, “Because You Left,” Joel confidently goes to Midge and tells her he wants to come home. Much to his surprise though, Midge didn’t share his enthusiasm at the thought of him coming back. She simply told him no. And when he pressed for more of a reason, she told him it was because he left. Hard to argue with that logic.
Joel: Lied About His Act
Midge was an incredible wife to Joel as she not only pretended to be perfect by waiting until he was asleep to do her beauty regime, but she also supported him in his quest to do stand up. Midge felt her husband was capable of coming up with his own clever jokes and believed this so much that she thought Bob Newhart actually stole Joel’s act.
When Joel confessed it was the other way around, that he had in fact stole Bob Newhart’s act, Midge was clearly disappointed. Her view of her husband changed a little then, as he was no longer the genius comedian she had thought he was.
Midge: Choose Comedy Over Him
Can’t have your cake and eat it too, and this goes for Midge as well. She wanted to be able to have her family back in repair, but she also wanted to keep pursuing comedy. And sometimes in life, you have to make a tough decision.
Joel couldn’t live with Midge doing stand up since most of her act at the time involved talking about him and their failed marriage. He told Midge he didn’t want her to give up comedy, but he couldn’t be married to someone who told jokes about him. With tears running down her face, Midge made her choice when she told him she didn’t want to give up comedy.
Joel: Mixed Signals
For a couple that has decided that they can’t be married to each other any longer, these two sure act like they’re still together. From Joel coming to Midge’s rescue to hooking up with his ex-wife in her childhood bedroom, there seems to be no clear separation line between the two.
The line is so blurred between the pair that Joel even flew out to Vegas to see Midge in season 3 and remarried her all the while he has a potential girlfriend back in New York. Did he tell Midge that he is seeing someone? No, of course not. He waited until after they said “I do” for the second time to let her in on that secret.
Midge: Mixed Signals
Joel is not the only one to blame though for the pair’s unconventional relationship. Midge has also blurred the lines between her and Joel by calling to him for help instead of her fiance, Benjamin. And whenever Midge is lonely who does she go to? Joel; every single time.
But even after she tells him their hook up means nothing and it’s only for the night, she becomes upset when he doesn’t call her the next day. Then she invites him out to Vegas to see her when it never occurred to her that Benjamin could have done the exact thing. Who knows where Midge and Joel’s relationship will end up?
