with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel In 2017, a kind of fairy tale from Manhattan became the unexpected and award-winning hit series for Amazon Prime, which was viewed critically at the time as an up-and-coming Netflix competitor. Amy Sherman-Palladino created it since Gilmore Girls Known for her fast-paced witty dialogue peppered with pop culture references. For The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel she took that trademark to 1958 and created a fictional story about New Yorker Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) living a comfortable life as a housewife on the Upper West Side until, newly abandoned by her husband, she discovers her talent for Discovered stand-up comedy.
The detailed equipment with magnificent petticoat dresses, pompous hats bordering on the ridiculous and interiors in candy colors drew admiring glances at the series. At the same time, quirky secondary characters – above all Midge’s shirt-sleeved manager Susie Meyerson, played superbly by Alex Borstein – contributed to a real firework of dialogue that culminated in both the stand-up performances and the protagonist’s fast-paced arguments with her snobby parents. So brought Mrs. Maisel breath of fresh air into a serial landscape that, in terms of contemporary color, has hitherto tended towards gloomy social dramas Mad Men Had set.
Nevertheless, from the second season onwards there was increasing criticism of the supposed self-empowerment of Midge Maisel, a protagonist blessed with privileges from the outset, whose personality, which meandered between nonchalant liveliness and self-righteous melancholy, did not seem to develop as rapidly as her career as a stand-up comedian . This became particularly evident at the end of the third season, when Midge, during her triumphant performance at the legendary Apollo Theater, thoughtlessly subjected the black singer Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain), who had much fewer privileges and who was hiding his homosexuality, to a forced outing, implied with a wink. When she subsequently loses her lucrative engagement, it is presented as a serious career setback that demands sympathy.
The fourth season, which is now appearing with two episodes a week, picks up shortly after this low point, but presents a Midge who emerges by no means purified from this experience: Smoking and dressed in a black jumpsuit, she speaks at the performance in the Gaslight Café, where her career began, from their urge for “sweet revenge”. After the forced termination of her tour, she actually has to contend with new hurdles, such as the malice of her fellow comedians, a media smear campaign and financial hardship. The latter are compounded by their refusal to relinquish their luxurious living standards and condominium on the Upper West Side. At first, Midge successfully talks her way out of her lack of cash with the food suppliers, but hits a tearful low one morning when no milk is left at her door. Father Abe (Tony Shalhoub) can hardly help her either, as the former university professor now works as a poorly paid theater critic at the alternative newspaper The Village Voice hired. In view of these unfamiliar living conditions, the two finally toast “To Art” at the end of the second episode.
For viewers who are familiar with hopeless financial difficulties, these developments seem in Mrs. Maisel laughable of course. But at the end of the day, the series has always encouraged a certain penchant for escapism and a benevolent disregard for superficial social criticism. Whoever managed to do this was rewarded with a lot of witty exchanges of blows, as season four also has to offer: A first highlight is a hilarious Ferris wheel sequence in which Midge announces the end of the tour to her family, including his ex-husband and his loud parents. And for character development, it’s better to stick to Midge’s manager, Susie. In season four, she faces the challenge of reconciling Midge’s urge for spontaneous and uncensored performances with her own growing business acumen. She is not given much time for this development: A fifth and final season has already been commissioned.