When Miriam “Midge” Maisel glided into our lives last year, we were smitten.
In The Marvelous Mrs Maisel , creator Amy Sherman-Palladino gave us a protagonist who, at the lowest phase of her life, found redemption in comedy. A Jewish housewife in 1950s New York, Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) discovered an innate ability to have a roomful of people in splits. As she took dainty steps into the world of stand-up comedy, we cheered her on. Even as the first season pretty much swept the Comedy category at the Emmys earlier this year (the first streaming series to do so, ever), its real achievement lay in giving us the comfort of discovering a fascinating world.
The sophomore season of the hit Amazon show gives us more of that world. Having dealt with the responsibility of setting up half-a-dozen characters in its first run, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel fires on all cylinders in its new season, which arrived this week. More importantly, it’s moved on from the major plot point of Midge separating from her husband, Joel (Michael Zegen), into more varied, colourful storylines.
A lot of the first season was spent on the aftermath of the big breakup. Midge’s temperamental Jewish father, Abe (Tony Shalhoub), often acted out unreasonably over the separation, while her mother, Rose (Marin Hinkle) oscillated between being in denial and panic-struck about her daughter’s future. Meanwhile, Joel took the familiar “douchebag husband” route, starting off as a heartbreaker who eventually realised his folly and wanted Midge back in his life. All of these tracks chugged along together, throwing up momentary laughs, while we only really cared about Midge’s own journey of discovering her comedic voice at nondescript comedy clubs and her volatile relationship with her manager, Susie (Alex Borstein).
This time around, Sherman-Palladino seems to have realised the true potential of her oddball characters, and breaks the story up into delightful little plot lines that could spin off shows on their own. Abe and Rose, having dealt with the bitter blow of their daughter’s broken marriage, go about fixing their own. Shalhoub and Hinkle are both adorable, and their chemistry is sparkling enough for you to not miss even Midge when they’re on screen together. Joel, meanwhile, has taken on a more mature turn — supporting Midge’s budding career as a stand-up, and trying to turn around his parents’ failing business. Susie and Midge share a warmer relationship now, even though the former struggles to turn Midge’s fortunes around, so she could turn her own.
Tonally, the show seems a lot more settled, with Sherman-Palladino’s unique sense of humour and affinity for repartee coming to the fore (she created the hugely popular Gilmore Girls , which enjoyed similar traits). The laughs come thick and fast, and even though they are functioning in a slightly more disconnected way here than in the first season, the characters’ lives seem to be more seamlessly intertwined.
Meanwhile, Brosnahan remains TV’s shining star of the moment, turning in another winning performance. We were smitten earlier; we’re in love now.
The second season of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel premièred on Amazon Prime on December 5. This column helps you navigate online (and offline) television, a world of endless options.
