"We're Going to the Catskills!" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

series ''

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' is an American period comedy-drama television series, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, that premiered on March 17, 2017, on Amazon Prime Video. Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it stars Rachel Brosnahan as M ...

'' and the twelfth overall. It was written and directed by

Daniel Palladino Daniel Palladino is an American television executive producer, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his work on the television series ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' (2017–present), which earned him a Writers Guild of America Awards, W ...

. The plot follows Midge and her family's trip to a Jewish resort in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

for the summer. Susie poses as an employee of the resort while booking gigs for Midge. Midge meets Benjamin (

Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series ''Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ext ...

), a bachelor physician who is also vacationing at the resort. "We're Going to the Catskills!" was released on December 5, 2018, on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

. For the episode, the director was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

and a

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; born October 9, 1953), is an American actor. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. He played Adrian Monk in the USA Net ...

received an Emmy in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category. The episode also won three Primetime Emmy Creative Arts Awards from six total nominations.

Plot

Midge (

Rachel Brosnahan Rachel Elizabeth Brosnahan (born July 12, 1990) is an American actress. She stars as aspiring stand-up comedian Miriam "Midge" Maisel in the Amazon Prime Video period comedy series ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' (2017–present), for which she w ...

) and her mother, Rose (

Marin Hinkle Marin Elizabeth Hinkle (born March 23, 1966) is an American actress. Among many television and movie roles, she is best known for playing Judy Brooks on the ABC television drama ''Once and Again'', Judith Harper-Melnick on the CBS sitcom ''Two an ...

), select outfits for their family's annual vacation to the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

. Later, Midge and Susie (

Alex Borstein Alexandrea Borstein (born February 15, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. Borstein voices Lois Griffin on the animated comedy television series '' Family Guy'' (1999–present), and won a Primetime Emmy Award for the rol ...

) meet for lunch where Midge tells her she is going away on vacation for two months, to Susie's displeasure. Midge, her mother, father (

), and children drive to Steiner Mountain Resort, a vacation resort that caters to affluent Jewish people. Abe is displeased when he learns that his favorite staff helper Jimmy is not returning for the summer, and is harsh to his replacement Samuel. Camp director, Pauly (

Saul Rubinek Saul Hersh Rubinek (born July 2, 1948) is a German-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright. He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on '' Warehouse 13,'' Donny Douglas on ''Frasier'', Lon Cohen on ''A N ...

) tells Midge that she is ineligible to compete in the bikini competition because she is technically no longer a wife. Joel (

Michael Zegen Michael Jonathan Zegen (born February 20, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''Rescue Me (American TV series), Rescue Me'' (2004–2011), ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2011–2014), and ''The Marvelous Mr ...

) arrives during the opening reception and asks to stay on their couch because he forgot to reserve his own room. That Midge is now separated from Joel brings forth judgment from the other vacationers. Joel takes the stage to tell the other guests to treat Midge with respect, which pleases Midge and her family. Midge and her mother go to the beauty salon. Midge lies and says she has been dating and Rose tells her she will be on the lookout for any good men. Susie later surprises Midge by meeting her in the woods, and says she is posing as a plumber while attempting to book gigs for Midge in the area. Rose urges Midge to meet a single Jewish doctor named Benjamin Ettenberg (

), the son of a guest Rose met at the salon. Midge finds and interrupts him to insist they spend some time together so that she can tell her mother that they met and it didn't work out. They get in a rowboat but Benjamin refuses to row, to Midge's embarrassment. That night Midge and her parents sit on a blanket by the lake watching fireworks. Joel observes them from a distance. Benjamin, a stranger to him, approaches Joel to bum a cigarette. They smoke together and have a short existential conversation about forgiveness.

Production

The episode "opens with a shot-for-shot remake of the title sequence from the 1962 film adaptation of ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

".'' It was shot on location in the

at Scott's Family Resort in Deposit, New York. Costume director Donna Zakowska selected bright colors and floral patterns for Midge's vacation wardrobe to signify the character's moving forward, and the changing of seasons.

Release

The episode was released on

on December 5, 2018, along with the rest of the episodes in season two.

Critical reception

The episode received critical acclaim. Sarene Leeds rated the episode 5/5 stars for

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

. It received six nominations at the 2019 Primetime Creative Emmy Awards, of which it won three. Daniel Palladino received directing nominations at the

s and the

won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his acting in the episode.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*{{IMDb episode, 7772302 2018 American television episodes Television episodes about Jews and Judaism Television episodes about vacationing Television episodes set in New York (state)