Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is consistently...Marvelous!
A true gem of a series
We all have those moments when we want something so badly that we get stuck. We postpone starting, constantly waiting for the stars to finally align to make it happen. This is nothing more than sabotaging ourselves due to our fear of failure.
This feeling is as human as it can be, and it’s weirdly seldom explored in TV and movies about fame. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel nailed it brilliantly in this latest season.
We see the midwife-turned-comic Mirian Maisel figure out how to proceed in the aftermath of her fall from grace on the 3rd season finale. She was opening the shows and going on a world tour for Shy Baldwin, but messes up by outing him in a gig in Harlem.
We first watch her struggling to get booked for this issue with Shy, but as the season goes on we start to realize that she is sabotaging herself. From being blacklisted from a club where she used to present to making Jackie O’ copiously cry at a private event.
It gets so extreme that she refuses a huge gig Lenny Bruce offers her because she doesn't want to be an opening act ever again. Midge is hurt and she knows she needs to apologize to Baldwin. She is having a hard time letting go of this failure she had and starts blocking herself and creating problems.
Despite watching a whole season where the main character feels stuck and in the end - not much happens in 8 episodes to advance the plot, we are not bored. Not at all.
We still laugh (a lot) and get emotionally involved. We root for the character and recognize that there was a reason it didn't go as far as it could. Because that's the story right there. The story is about Midge and how she deals with her life. We aren't simply committed to her finally getting famous and getting together with Lenny, we want to follow her every step. See how she gets there.Â
This series continues to amaze the public in every season. The fast-paced funny dialogues are always there. The beautiful costumes and scenes are a delight. And even though they have her almost getting famous and suddenly losing it all again, the story doesn't feel dragging or monotonous.
Funny, well-written, and beautiful
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel tells the story of Midge Maisel, a housewife in the 50s that suddenly finds herself being dumped by her husband for his secretary. In the midst of a breakdown, she discovers a new passion and talent: stand-up comedy.
The series will follow her while she tries navigating her family relations while attempting to make it on showbusiness. It's loosely adapted from the life of real US comedians from the time such as Joan Rivers.
Midge is trying to be herself in a society that continues to push her to what is expected of her. Everyone around her is always trying to pin Mrs. Maisel to what they expect her to be. A loving wife, daughter, always pretty, that doesn't say any profanity or works. A perfect housewife.
What makes the show work so well is her constant fight to be true to what she believes. Especially in her interactions with her overbearing parents and her manager Susie Meyers.
The characters are well-constructed and funny. I would say that the only character that gets on my nerve and seems less interesting is her ex-husband, but even he can still feel likable at times.
Another quality of the series is its costumes, music, and beautiful scenery that make great homage to the period. The images are extremely rich and make you feel like jumping on the TV to enter this world. The frequent use of long-shots also adds to the immersive power of the series.
It has also an upbeat and cheerful aspect to it, which makes it a perfect comfort-tv piece. Mrs. Maisel goes through a lot and has quite human responses to it, but still seems to have a lot of strength and energy to turn things around. You feel energized watching her going and can't help but cheer her on while she attempts to find her place in this male-dominated world.
4th season
The last season has been released weekly by Amazon Prime, and now the whole season is available. It continues to deliver the same quality in every episode and everything that made us fall in love with the show. A difficult feat after four seasons.Â
Most series lose their flavor after the first or second one. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is actually a rarity in this sense. It continues in its same beat and quality. It doesn't lose anything as the years go by. It even feels like it is getting better.
Amy Sherman-Palladino seems to have reached her best. She still brings the fast-paced intelligent dialogues from Gilmore Girls, but in a far better story and world.
Yet, this series has received some deserved criticism for being too white and brushing off historical prejudices. Another critique has been on her cowardly outing her gay friend Shy Baldwin in a gig on the 3rd season, which they do try to solve in this new turn. Or at least, apologize about it.
The show is most of all feminist, although in a somewhat individualistic way. Most of the female characters are pushing the boundaries of what is expected of them, be it studying or working. The show frequently focuses on the differences between Mrs. Maisel and her famous counter-part male comedian Lenny Bruce. And how she is penalized for a lot that he gets away with.
Even while being a historic piece, the series does not hide behind it, by hinting that the misogyny from the 50s is far-behind. Quite the opposite, it shows just how there is so much to still overcome.
Intelligently, it also uses two famous characters Sophie Lennon and Shy Baldwin to show how fame and money are not always the solution, especially if it doesn't allow you to be yourself. That is a lesson that seems to be a common theme for the whole series and for Midge's to learn.
What to watch?
Catch me if you can (2002). This Spielberg movie has the same fun take of an epoch piece as Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Frank (Leonardo Di Caprio) is a 21-year-old skilled forger who pretends to be a doctor, lawyer, and pilot. FBI agent Carl (Tom Hanks) becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.
What to read?
On the Road, Jack Kerouac. Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel On the Road recounts the travels of he and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use.
What to binge?
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, of course. If you haven't seen this series yet, there are in total 34 episodes released. A new and final 5th season will come somewhere in 2023.