How The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel pulled off that Coney Island Wonder Wheel high-wire act

The premiere of season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was a dizzying carnival ride. Literally.

The episode, which premiered Friday on Prime Video, featured a climax that occurred on the Coney Island Wonder Wheel, where a series of revelations were shouted across the swinging ferris wheel cars. High above the beaches of Coney Island, Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) admitted she'd been fired from Shy Baldwin's tour before ever even leaving for Europe, and Moishe (Kevin Pollak) spilled the beans that he was her financial backer to buy back her own apartment — amidst other confessions.

It was a moment that was pure, giddy, volleying banter in a fashion only Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino could pull off. It was shot in a mix of on-location set-ups and a soundstage.

"Kicking off at Coney Island in the Wonder Wheel — the idea that we have this exposition that Midge has to divulge to both families," says Pollak. "And how each family member takes that news and information and deals with it individually while physically, metaphorically in this topsy turvy, upside-down Wonder Wheel, it was just brilliant. Amy and Dan continue to shock."

"At the table read, we were all exhilarated," adds Pollak. "Afterwards, I remember everyone checking in with each other, like, 'Are we really going to Coney Island?' We really went to Coney Island."

But the bulk of the argument in the Wonder Wheel cars itself was filmed safely on a soundstage with the assistance of visual effects. "It was a miraculous technological feat," says Brosnahan. "The way we did it was we all took turns spinning in one Wonder Wheel car. The rest of the cast would be off-screen shouting the lines at each other. We wanted to help each other keep our energy up, so there's this completely insane video [I took] of us all screaming at whoever is in the car."

"It took two days to shoot it," she continues. "And by the end of the two days, none of us had voices and we were so exhausted."

Caroline Aaron, who plays Shirley Maisel, says it wasn't ideal for anyone with a fear of heights. To climb into the Wonder Wheel car, the actors had to scale a very tall ladder in order to get an unimpeded shot that could sell the illusion of really being above the beach and the pier.

"To get the shots behind our heads, we had to climb up on this crazy platform," explains Brosnahan. "Pictures to come because it's too complicated to explain."

The Coney Island set piece is the perfect introduction to a season that finds The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel returning to its roots and firmly planting its action back in New York City after a third season that took Midge and company to Las Vegas and Miami.

"It's like life, when you're home and everybody's in one place," reflects Aaron. "There's more combustion; there's more interaction. The more spread out it gets, it's exotic and it's exciting, but we're not together."

Michael Zegen, who plays Midge's ex-husband Joel, perhaps sums it up best. "The fact that it is a New York-centric season means there's more scenes between the Maisels and the Weissmans together," he says. "That is always a recipe for a lot of laughs."

And if there's one thing Midge is intent on bringing audiences, it's a lot of laughs.

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