Weekend Watch: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4
Loud, lewd and very funny...
Image credit: Prime Video
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Midge returns for more comedy. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel arrived with a lot of promise – created by Gilmore Girls veteran Amy Sherman-Palladino (alongside collaborator/husband Daniel Palladino) – it promised another blend of comedy and drama coming from someone who knew how to wrangle both, all wrapped in Palladino’s trademark snappy banter.
And it worked almost from the start, earning a slew of awards for its producers, and actors such as Rachel Brosnahan (Miriam “Midge” Maisel, the main character who, in response to her husband cheating on her, looks to make a huge change by becoming a stand-up comic), Tony Shalhoub (her nervy father Abe) and Alex Borstein (Midge’s snarky manager and best friend Susie Meyerson).
It's not tough to see why: the combination of Sherman-Palladino’s writing team and that cast is a winning one, spinning gold out of the comic situation of a 1950s housewife who tries her hand at being a comic.
Two years have passed since the third season wrapped up; because of the pandemic, the fourth has been delayed until now. And though Prime Video initially followed the usual streaming plan for the first three seasons – putting the episodes out as one big batch, it has now switched to a weekly plan, with two episodes a pop. Clearly, the idea is to generate more discussion and coverage, as the weekly likes of Succession and Peacemaker have led to more buzz than whole seasons pumped out on Netflix.
I’ve enjoyed the show in the past, and the first two episodes of this latest season (the only ones provided to critics) certainly continue that feeling. Brosnahan and her fellow cast remain impressively witty (even if Midge’s in-laws can be grating at times), and the peppy pace means that scenes rarely drag.
Story-wise, this initial episode (as Midge is unceremoniously dumped from her big-league tour with singer Shy Baldwin after hinting at/joking about his closeted sexuality in her act) feels like a reset, as she buys her old apartment back and lets her parents move in with her. She’s back working (and being thrown out of) the dingier clubs and back-chatting everyone around her.
It could all feel a little stale, like the show refusing to move forward, but it doesn’t sink into that too deeply, and I’m intrigued to see where Midge heads next. There isn’t that much story left to tell, either, as Prime Video has announced that Season 5, already in production and likely to land next year), will be its last. Welcome back, Mrs. Maisel. You may not be as marvellous as you once were, but you’re still entertaining.
The first two episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel are on Prime Video now, with two episodes dropping each week for the next four weeks after that.