The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel cast on season 4, Midge's rebuilding year

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is finally back! But will Midge be able to bounce back?

At the end of season 3, our titular heroine was unceremoniously fired by Shy Baldwin's manager on a tarmac. Season 4 picks up right where things left off, with Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) and Susie (Alex Borstein) in the back of a taxi returning from the airport.

"It's definitely her lowest professional point," Brosnahan tells EW, while gathering with her cast for our Around the Table conversation. "Probably her lowest point was when we met her in the pilot, but she's quite literally watching her career and her hopes and dreams fly away."

"She and Susie are going to have to figure it out together," she adds. "But honestly, they're at their best when they're fueled by desperation and fury, so it's going to be a whirlwind. There are no role models and there's no road map in this industry for how she can go about achieving the things she wants to. This will be about Midge carving out her own space within an industry that there's not space being made for her in. This is a season about her rebuilding and reclaiming the voice that she found in the first season."

Much of Midge's journey will fittingly align with the show's continued move into the 1960s, a decade of cultural upheaval and shifting gender roles. When we first met Midge, she lived in an apartment with her husband, Joel (Michael Zegen) and two children, and then was forced to move back in with her parents. By the end of season 3, she had once again reclaimed her apartment as her own space. But as Brosnahan notes, "progress is rarely ever linear." It might be a full-circle moment, but it could also trigger Midge to fall back into some of her old habits.

"Midge is feeling that push-pull between wanting the comforts and familiarity of her old life," says Brosnahan. "But she's also feeling this pull toward the unknown and a curiosity about what she's capable of. You'll see both those things bumping against each other this season."

Where does Susie, Midge's loyal manager and partner-in-crime, fit into all this? She's crucial, but she's also realized the importance of diversifying. "Her world opens up a lot," teases Borstein. "I spent so much of the first few seasons only looking at Rachel's face. It was wonderful to solidify our relationship as characters and actors, but this season it was a joy to open up a bit. Susie Myerson and Associates becomes the goal — so, an associate must be gotten. She tries to cast a wide net and have some new clients. She realizes she can't have all her eggs in one basket."

Midge's parents, Abe (Tony Shaloub) and Rose (Marin Hinkle), have gone through their fair share of ups-and-downs these last few seasons. It was as if Midge's newfound independence inspired them both to seek more out of their lives as well. That will only intensify in season 4.

"All of the upheaval that's occurred in Midge's life has had a ripple effect to not just Abe and Rose but to many of the other characters too," reflects Shaloub. "Abe and Rose find themselves, at the end of 3, they're living with Moishe and Shirley. Their jobs are going away. They're trying to reinvent their lives. It's changed their relationship, not only to each other, but their relationship to Midge too. There's almost a role reversal occurring where they've been the caretakers, and now she is starting to become a caretaker."

Adds Hinkle: "There's this redefinition of self and a reinvention. There's a rediscovery of youth in a way, and it is funny that all of a sudden Midge is the one that is our parent in a sense and we are the ones who are giving up our jobs."

For the Maisels, the Weissmans have been both a thorn in their side and a welcome addition to their big, blustering family unit. "I do love the dynamic — the animosity, and underneath that, there's great love," says Kevin Pollak, who plays Moishe. "We are from a generation that family is most important, and all four of us in our own ways are intending to hold that together. But they are four diametrically opposed people."

Then, there's Joel, who began as Midge's out-of-touch philandering husband and has transformed into something altogether more complex. In season 3, he struck out on his own to found a nightclub in Chinatown, striking up a romance with medical student Mei (Stephanie Hsu) in the process. "His new relationship with Mei plays a part," Zegen says of Joel's journey this year. "You're going to see how this relationship impacts his family, and more specifically, Midge. The thing I love about Joel is he constantly evolving. But the endgame is to see him thrive and see him happy."

Change is an inevitable part of life, and it will be the defining factor of the fourth season. "The main theme is transitioning," adds Shaloub. "Blazing a new trail and taking large risks."

That also involves wrestling with tradition and the way things have always been done, a potent force in the lives of the Maisels and the Weissmans. "How do you respond to change for people who are so deeply rooted in tradition and cherish it so much?" asks Caroline Aaron (Shirley Maisel). "How are they going to navigate all the changes around them?"

Borstein likens Susie and Midge's arc this season to playing with Legos. "It's rebuilding, but not just trying to restack the Legos into the same shape," she says. "But to let go of the instructions and see what we can create and make our own structure."

"It's a make-it-or-break-it moment," concludes Brosnahan.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4 premieres on Prime Video Feb. 18, with two episodes to hit the streamer every Friday following. Watch the video above for more.

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