A lot of ground gets covered in the fifth β and final β season of βThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.β
Like other finales, this one brings us up to speed, shows the Maisel kids in later life and details just how far Midge gets with her one-liners.
As in the previous four seasons, there are eye-popping locations, gorgeous costumes and the kind of stories that require Cinemascope to fully appreciate.
Borrowing a page from βLaughter on the 23rd Floorβ (or βMy Favorite Year,β if youβre a fan), Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) gets a day job and finds a new way to inspire her work. Brosnahanβs range is incredible. If you binge the episodes, youβll see how much is asked of her β and where she takes the character. In the season finale, youβll get a sense of what the life of a comedian amounts to.
Interestingly, βMrs. Maiselβ has much in common with βHacks.β While theyβre not contemporaries, they do pull back the curtain and revel in the chaos that occurs during off-stage moments.
Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino embraces the breadth that something like this can achieve. She took the show to Paris in the second season, dropped the cast into a U.S.O. tour in the third and went to Coney Island in the fourth, just because she could. In the fifth season, she goes even bigger and gives us such a loving look at Rockefeller Center it should a key part of the locationβs advertising campaign.
Even better, the fifth season doesnβt ignore other characters as it chronicles the life of Maisel. Mom (Marin Hinkle) and dad (Tony Shalhoub) get their story; ex-husband Joel (Michael Zegen) gets his. Even stray influences return to make sure this isnβt just a one-and-done affair. Those who play a part in the early years also have an effect in the later ones.
Naturally, the relationship between Midge and her manager, Susie (Alex Borstein), has its challenges. Itβs just as electric as it was during the first season but, now, there are complications. Borstein still has the razor-sharp timing that works so effortlessly with Sherman-Palladinoβs writing but sheβs swimming up a very treacherous stream. Add in Midgeβs difficulties and the stage is set.
The last season is stuffed β and remarkably so. It gives newcomers like Reid Scott and Jason Ralph a good foothold in the series and suggests thereβs much more that could be mined.
If thereβs a βMrs. Maiselβ film in the works (rumors have said as much), there are several areas where it could go.
Now, however, enjoy every precious minute the fifth season has to offer. Brosnahan is perfection (with one monologue in particular); Borstein, Zegen and Scott are, too.
When you see them put everything on the table youβll realize this wasnβt just another series and Season Five wasnβt just business as usual. βMarvelousβ is only one word to describe it.
βThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiselβ airs on Prime Video.
