I finished a rewatch of the Marvelous Mrs Maisel and while in my first watch I was a bit frustrated by not seeing Midge sell out massive crowds and become famous with her stand up, I had the epiphany that it was never about Midge's fame, that was always going to happen, it was about whether or not she was going to have her family come together to support her.
Midge's decision to go out on her own rippled out to the people around her forcing them to confront their own disappointments and build better lives for themselves.
In the flash forward we know that Esther has a bad relationship with Midge and could only ever talk to Abe, but if Abe had never confronted his misogyny he never would have had that relationship. The Weissman gift was only recognised in the first born boys. Midge never had any expectation to be brilliant, even though she had a degree in Russian Literature. Don't get me wrong, a completely useless degree in her life but there are so many easier subjects.
In season 3 when Rose stands up to her family in Oklahoma she blames Midge saying "You made me passionate and independent and broke!" Midge not settling for a life with Joel pushed Rose to leave Abe for Paris, audit art classes at Columbia, and finding her matchmaking business.
Joel was unhappy with his life and turned to an affair, only to end up with an identical life with Penny Pann, because Midge was never the problem. He leaves his job, repairs his family's business from financial chaos, and builds his own club... and then almost immediately gets involved with the mob and ends up in prison. I mean that was to protect Midge but also robbed her of any agency of the decision which is never really addressed.
Even Imogene went to secretarial school after Midge and Joel's separation, although it wasn't fully explored why. My first assumption was that Imogene could be Archie's secretary and keep the 'short-hand girls' away from him (and it would be pretty cute for them as a couple, they seemed to genuinely love each other and could have easily started their own little business), but as Imogene started working for Abe it seemed more like Imogene wanted some protection if Archie ever did leave her and their children. Her own income, some skills to fall on. Midge largely survived the separation because her parents were so close by to support her. We have no idea what Imogene's background is. If she has family close by, if they would be financially able to take care of her, if she has a good relationship with her in laws. For a show about women, and having a great relationship between Midge and Susie, Imogene was unexplored, and we never saw any reference to her in the flash forward. There is understandably limited time but considering they were trying to manipulate their kids into getting married she was very much pushed into 'quirky best friend' territory near the end.
Susie, the most obvious change, is Susie building her management business after seeing Midge perform. Midge pushes her to become Susie Myerson and associates after 9 years of working at the Gaslight watching comics. Not only does this affect her career but Susie had largely resigned herself to being alone in her life, like Midge after watching Lenny Bruce and dedicating herself to comedy. And it's true, they never had a romantic partner in the end, they are both shown wandering around their large homes with no family, but they weren't alone. At the end of their careers they were still making each other laugh.
Midge's character can't be ignored. She starts the show somewhat reckless and if not selfish then at least self involved. She had the right to be at points, don't get me wrong, she acted exactly as any man would have, as her father did, as Joel did, as Lenny did in his vulgar comedy, and faced harsher punishment and consequences because she was supposed to be a housewife. She was supposed to be content. In the end she doesn't act recklessly. She turns to Susie and says she has an idea, but recognises that it could take Susie down with her. It wasn't worth that. I genuinely believe that if Susie had said there was another way or it wasn't worth it then she would have resisted; but Susie was never going to ask her to hold herself back. Susie was the one pushing her forward no matter how hard she fought and she needed one last push.
In the end Rose finally saw Midge perform and Abe told her that she was important and recognised her for her brilliance. Joel went from saying he could never have a relationship with her because he couldn't be made fun of on stage to telling her to use him for laughs on national television. Midge and Susie both had significant and large lives that rippled out and affected everyone around them.
