Is Gordon Ford late night’s biggest baby?
When Midge Maisel enters the world of late night talk show comedy writing, she, yet again, has no idea what to expect. Like every season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Midge is required to meet new challenges head-on, and she always comes out the other side with more perspective. In the final season of the Amy Sherman-Palladino comedy, there is only one man standing in Midge’s way from performing stand-up for a huge audience, and he comes in the gently hilarious, charming form of Reid Scott’s Gordon Ford.
When Gordon stumbles over his words delivering Midge’s first joke to make the show, he tries to stand up to her frustrations when the gang is grabbing a drink at a bar. He won’t admit that he stumbled, and he puts the blame on her. What he doesn’t expect, however, is how much she will hit back at him. Since Gordon Ford is now number one in the ratings, you don’t talk back to the boss, and you can see that in Scott’s shocked expression. Then again, you can tell that no one has ever talked to Gordon Ford that way when it comes to his show.
Scott is an actor who loves words. You can tell that he loves biting into a juicy, wordy scene, and Scott excels when he is allowed to be balancing on the balls of his feet. That nimbleness is one of Scott’s greatest assets, and that makes him a perfect addition to Mrs. Maisel.
After talking about how floored he was to join this final season (his wife might be more excited), we talk about how Gordon volleys back with the two main women in his life. He pursues Midge not just because he is attracted to her, but because he has the ability to get away with it in the workplace. That chemistry is entirely different from how he interacts with his wife, Hedy, played by Nina Arianda. Perhaps he wants to keep everyone in line, because he doesn’t have as much power at home?
Gordon Ford was there the ‘marvelous’ was put in front of the Mrs. Maisel, but he even knows that she would’ve earned that adjective even if he didn’t say it first.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is streaming now on Prime Video.