The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has always stood out because of its premise: a Jewish housewife starting a career as a standup comedian in the fifties. Four seasons in, however, the sheen of that premise has faded, and now we have the opportunity to delve deeper into the world and its characters. Season four doesn’t always accomplish that, often staying within the comfort zone of its trademark rapid-fire dialogue and the easy enjoyability of its individual episodes, but it still takes some important steps with its protagonist, Midge (Rachel Brosnahan), who finally feels more flawed and less like a Mary Sue.
After being dumped on the tarmac by Shy Baldwin, Midge sulks and fumes and decides she won’t take opening gigs anymore. She ends up performing nightly for a strip club (which, in the fifties, were a lot more vaudevillian), while many people around her seem to move on with their lives. Joel (Michael Zegen) is trying to figure out how to break the news to his parents that his girlfriend is not only Chinese, she’s only non-Jewish, which is a greater affront to his dad when he learns this (and promptly has a heart attack). Susie (Alex Borstein) opens up a new office and then suffers a setback when she finds out that her longtime roommate passed away unexpectedly. Sophie Lennon mounts a comeback and lands a game show, inviting Midge onto an episode as a warmup before the show where the two of them predictably end up clashing once again.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is as charming as ever, and its impressive recreation of the early sixties, especially the wardrobe, continues to impress.
The individual episodes all feel enjoyable, and they have a lightness that makes you relax and unwind, not unlike other comfort food shows like, say, The Office or Friends. The performances are as solid as ever, though Tony Shalhoub (who plays Midge’s father, Abe), Stephanie Hsu (who plays Joel’s girlfriend, Mei Lin) and Alex Borstein get more of a wiggle room to show off their talents. We also see a long-awaited pairing finally come to life during the tail-end of the season.
Yet, it feels like season four spends too much time building to the climax where Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) shakes Midge out of her funk and urges her to take on opening gigs again and do her best to succeed in her career.
In fact, the show doesn’t really build to that scene: rather, things continue on in a lackadaisical fashion, like a novel meandering in its second act.
Again, the show is never unentertaining, but narrative urgency is missing for most of this season. This reminds me of Succession season three, which was similarly entertaining but slightly circular, except that its main character arcs were noticeably stronger.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has been renewed for a fifth and final season. Let’s hope that, in addition to being delightfully enjoyable, it’s more focused and gives a worthy sendoff to Midge’s character.