The scathing theatre review Abe Weissman (Tony Shalhoub) wrote in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 all but guarantees the show won't repeat season 2's best episodes in the upcoming Mrs. Maisel season 5. Abe, a former tenured mathematics professor at Columbia University, became The Village Voice's new theatre critic in Mrs. Maisel season 4. One of Abe's first reviews quickly turned the entire community of the Steiner Resort in the Catskills against him and the entire extended Weissman/Maisel clan.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 1 won multiple Emmys but season 2 elevated the show, thanks in large part to its daring and hilarious 3-part episodes set in the Catskills. Mrs. Maisel season 2 revealed that the Weissman and the Maisel families spent every summer at the Jewish Steiner Resort since Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) was a child. Steiner offers weeks of fun-filled activities, a beauty pageant Midge won several times, and all the fresh tomato juice Abe could drink. The energetic Steiner staff, including the resort's manager Pauly Auerbach (Saul Rubinek) and entertainment director Buzz Goldberg (Brandon Uranowitz), became beloved recurring Mrs. Maisel characters. Not only did Midge meet Dr. Benjamin Ettenberg (Shazam!'s Zachary Levi), her short-lived fiance, at Steiner, but the Catskills episodes featured the running gag of Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein) incognito as a plumber. Midge's mother Rose (Marin Hinkle) still thinks Susie is an ex-plumber who now works for her daughter.
In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4, episode 3, "Everything Is Bellmore," Abe reviews They Came, They Danced, a new Broadway musical written by Buzz Goldberg that he workshopped for years at the Steiner Resort. Abe applauded Buzz's Broadway debut with every other loyal Steiner guest in attendance, only to reveal once he got back to The Village Voice that he despised Buzz's opus, which only had one good song the show repeats ad nauseam. Abe's review demolished They Came, They Danced, which earned him the ire of the entire Steiner community. As a result, it's unlikely the Weismann and the Maisel families will be welcome back at Steiner. But this is also for the best.
Why Mrs. Maisel Can't Return To Steiner Resort
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's events since season 2 have been building against a return to the Steiner Resort. When Midge was on tour with Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain) in Mrs. Maisel season 3, she eventually realized that her planned European dates would mean she'd miss summer in the Catskills for the first time in her life. Knowing this, Abe and Rose decided not to book a cabin for summer 1960. Joel (Michael Zegen) did remember to book a cabin, however, so he could take their kids over the summer. But it's doubtful Joel, who is secretly Midge's husband again, went to the Catskills after Abe's review of They Came, They Danced made the Maisels and the Weismanns pariahs at the Steiner Resort.
Mrs. Maisel season 4 took place from June to November 1960, ending roughly around the time John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States. There's no telling yet how far into 1961 (or beyond) the fifth and final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will take Midge, who is focused now or never on becoming the comedy star she believes she can be. With Midge driven to make her dreams come true in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5, it's unlikely the series will detour back into the Catskills, but this also relieves any pressure for Mrs. Maisel season 5 to attempt to recapture the fizzy magic of season 2's multi-part episodes set in the Steiner Resort.