The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Is It Worth The Hype?

Tits up!

Alex Rosado
6 min readMar 16, 2022

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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime Video 2017) via IMDB — Image permitted under Fair Use exception for movie reviews.

I’ve been wanting to write about this show for a couple of seasons now. The 4th season finale was released on Prime Video last Friday, so it was finally time. The 5th season has already been announced and should be the final one, concluding this unique show.

I didn’t jump on the Maisel train right away. I wanted to — the trailer released back in 2017 was pretty exciting — but I didn’t have access to Prime Video. The show stayed in the corner of my mind, even more enticing after the many awards they received.

I watched the first 3 seasons twice. The first time, I fell in love. The second time, I paid attention to details. One thing I know for sure: it is a good show.

Premise

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the same writer that created Gilmore Girls. I was a big fan of Gilmore Girls growing up, but rewatching it, I can tell it didn’t stand the test of time.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is different. It is set at the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s — the stand of time is not as much an issue as it is in the past.

The show follows Miriam — Midge — Maisel at a turning point in her life. As her family life falls apart, she finds comfort in an unexpected place: a club stage where she performs comedy for strangers.

Characters

The plot is somewhat simple: a woman trying to free herself from society’s expectations and pursue what she is truly meant for. But a good plot is not enough to make a good show. It also needs compelling characters, inspiring, lovable, and humans.

We’re tired of seeing characters so good they don’t make mistakes or characters that make mistakes without learning. Here, the different arcs are well done. We root for them because we know them and we understand them. They are well defined, they have clear objectives, motivations, and they make sense!

Midge Maisel is a fighter and a free mind. All she wants is to be able to do comedy and be respected for who she is, not for who is her husband, or her father, and so on. She is stubborn, makes mistakes, and has to face the consequences. She is not a perfect woman, or a…

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Alex Rosado

Oversharer. French. Occasional critic. A bit dramatic but still figuring things out