The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 2 and 3)

So my original plan was to do a season review for each season and talk about the individual elements of each season that I liked and what I disliked. However, I blasted through this series so quickly that it just feels like I'm going for quantity over quality. There are some pretty good things to talk about when it comes to each season and I'm going to try and dive into that as best as I can, but looking back, I do think that season 1 of this show is a great introduction, while Season 2 and 3 take that introduction and go into absolutely amazing places with it.

So the end of Season 1 has Midge Maisel (played still by Rachel Brosnahan) with a budding career in stand up comedy that is still on shaky ground after she blasted famous comedian Sophie Lennon (played by Jane Lynch) and was black listed from a lot of the known clubs in New York.

At the start of the second season, she has been given another chance to start doing shows, but it is paired with some social drama of her mother (played by Marin Hinkle) fleeing to France after she believes she has nothing for her in New York, and her ex husband Joel (played by Michael Zegen) figuring out that she does stand up comedy. Suzie (played by Alex Borstein) is trying to get Midge in a position where she can do more shows and become more popular, but there are some personal and familial issues that get in the way of that becoming a reality.

And of all three seasons, the second is clearly the weakest of them.

It's not bad, there is a lot of interesting back and forth between Midge, her family, especially her father Abe (played by Tony Shaloub), as well as a complicated relationship with her ex-husband where there are clearly feelings there, but Midge is committed to leaving that old life behind her. That's mainly her arc of the second season, recognizing the life she's leaving behind with this new career and deciding whether or not that's the life she wants to lead or not.

A hefty portion of the season is spent in the Catskills, a Jewish summer getaway that her and her family have been going to for years, and I think if that was the entire season, it would have been a really strong season.

As it stands, the season kind of meanders a little bit. There's a string of time where they're at the Catskills and she's trying to enjoy her summer but all the while Suzy is trying to get her gigs. But on top of that she's also in New York for some of that time and she has to work, and try and become popular in spite of being black balled, and she goes on a tour, and then she's having relationship issues with both Joel and a new character, Benjamin played by Zachary Levi. It's all just kind of a lot to pack into one season. Whereas season 1 was her figuring out exactly what stand up is and how it might change her life, Season 2 kind of double dips and says, her life is changing, but it could also change more depending on her choices, and while some of it is good, some of it is kind of boring.

But one part that is done really well is the relationship between Midge and Suzie. I didn't talk about Suzie a whole lot in my first season review, not because she's bad, but because she definitely shines more in the subsequent season when they start developing her as a character.

You figure out more who she is, what her flaws are, and what the relationship with Midge means to her. And good lord is she funny. Alex Borstein has a background in comedy, from Mad TV to Family Guy, but in this she becomes very, VERY funny and she's honestly one of my favorite parts of the show. I'll talk more about her when I dive into Season 3 some more, but just know, she's definitely a highlight of the rest of the show.

Her parents continue to be a highlight as they start making changes in their own lives based on second and third tier consequences of Midge's decisions. Again, they're a great part of the show and are a testament to the brilliant writing.

And then there's Zachary Levi.

Let me be clear, Zachary Levi is actually really great in this show. He's a really likable character and at no point do you ever feel like he's a foil to Midge's progression. But the arc he plays in the show does create some noted problems with the character of Midge and the way the show structures its characters that are so good, its almost to their detriment.

Similar to Joel, Benjamin is a good guy. Moreso in fact and I think a lot of people are happy that he starts this relationship with Midge because they are good together. But at a certain point, especially if you know there's going to be a third season, you know this relationship isn't going to last, and its like a Chekov's gun waiting to go off, but you don't know how.

So I will give the show credit, the way the relationship does end does work to create a human element of Midge. She's not perfect, and the way that she deals with Benjamin is not great, and that comes to a cusp in the third season in a brilliantly done way. But it is an example of how this show creates situations that you kind of roll your eyes at and know they wouldn't be happening if the main character was just a little smarter in the decisions she makes.

Now to give the show some credit, I think it also works to its advantage to create a character that is incredibly likable, but also incredibly flawed. In a show that is about personal drama, it helps to have a complicated character that the audience can root for, but we know has flaws that are going to get her in trouble but she can learn from.

But it works towards the problems with Season 2 that a lot of the conflict seems manufactured and if certain things happened differently, a lot of those problems could be avoided.

But I'll say, a lot of those problems go away once Season 3 rolls along and while the second season took me a little longer than the previous season to get through, Season 3 went back to that high quality comedy and writing that I got from the first season and this time had a little bit more of a solid through line. So overall, Season 2 is the weakest, but it does build a lot of the foundation so Season 3 could absolutely knock it out of the park.

My theory is, the subject of season 3 was something the show runners wanted to eventually get to, that being Midge going on tour and becoming more and more popular as a stand up comic, but they knew that Season 1 didn't get them there, and they weren't totally sure how to get there with Season 2, so they kind of floundered with some ideas they knew would work for Midge still early in her career, then put it into twelfth gear with the third season.

The second season ends pretty dramatically with Midge being asked to go on tour to open for singer Shy Baldwin (played by Leroy McClain), breaking off the engagement, having a terse fling with Joel before she leaves (ugh), and her father leaving his stable employment turning the family upside down. But the biggest cliff hanger is that Suzie is asked by Sophie Lennon to be her manager and help her break into stage acting.

The third season is mainly her tour and getting to know the new life of living on the road and performing. Her and Suzie travel to many places around the country and build some really great relationship with the people on tour, including Shy Baldwin, his bass player Carole (played by Liza Weil), and Shy's manager Reggie (played by Sterling K Brown). Meanwhile, Sophie is preparing for her Broadway debut, playing opposite to a famous actor (played by Cary Elwes).

What I like about this show is that it doesn't really beleaguer the moments where characters who are friends have information that the other character doesn't know and might be upset if they did know. The best example of this is Suzie deciding she's going to be Sophie Lennon's manager. She doesn't hide that from Midge for longer than an episode and instead that knowledge becomes a part of their relationship and the drama of the show.

Speaking of which, this is where Suzie probably shines the most. She's dealing with Midge, and Reggie, and Sophie, and other elements that I won't get into because I don't want to spoil it and she's just hilarious throughout. But she also has some of the most dramatic moments in the show that just knock it out of the park. I'm pretty sure Alex Borstein won an Emmy for her role in this show and that makes me really happy because she definitely deserved it for this role. Jane Lynch is also really good for a character that showed up only a little bit in the first two seasons, she brings it in what is mostly a funny role but can also be pretty dramatic as well.

When it comes to Joel in the third season, it is a continuation of him going off and finding his own purpose in his life after he realizes that he's not going to be a stand up comedian, especially after he knows that he'll never be as good as Midge.

He puts himself into his work and his kids and actually becomes pretty successful, while at the same time, hoping one day he'll be able to forgive himself for the mistakes he's made in the past.

This is where the character becomes very relateable and difficult to tread, especially since he still has his moments where he's not very likable paired with the times that he is.

He decides to open a club in the third season and while its something that is really only starting in the third season, it actually keeps him as an engaged character in the show and someone that, while he's not my favorite character and he has flaws, he still feels intrical to the show.

A few minor notes, her parents end up going to live Joel's parents (played by Kevin Pollack and Caroline Aaron) which is actually pretty hilarious and, as stated before, Midge continues to meet a slew of characters.

This is more of a side note, but someone has to answer the question, why does everyone who watches this show absolutely love Lenny Bruce?

Lenny Bruce never seemed to me to be a serious character and not even close to being a romantic interest of Midge's and I really liked that. To me, he seemed like an almost spectral character who would show up, him and Midge would talk about stand up and relate, then he'd go away. He was steeped in mystery and that's what really worked about him. But for some reason, they allude to the possibility that Midge could have a romantic interest in him and I really have no interest in that whatsoever.

I am finding myself enjoying stories that are able to create good relationships between males and females that aren't sexual and I saw the relationship between Lenny Bruce and Midge as that for a while. And while they don't actually have sex, they definitely allude to the possibility of it happening in the future which I don't want. It's not gonna break the show if they do, but the more Lenny Bruce shows up, the more the mystery leaves and I don't like that. I like the character more than I like the possibility of there being a romantic relationship there.

The overall verdict on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is that it is probably one of the best shows on Amazon Prime at the moment. I have watched a couple of Amazon Prime shows now and the biggest problem I have with them is that they are incredibly dry and drag. No matter how much you say the first season of the Man in the High Castle is, I will still say, it's slow as hell and I didn't really enjoy that first season.

Maisel is the first show that I blew threw in a very short period of time and its because the show is impeccably well done. Is it perfect? No, but I would say it learns from its mistakes and even at its worst, its still a solid show that I wouldn't mind revisiting even in a couple months just to watch something calming and fun. Seriously, if you haven't watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, do yourself a favor and check it out on Amazon Prime.

But what do you think? Have you watched all of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? Are there other Prime shows that I am missing out on? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog!

Thanks for reading!