With finals winding down or finished, you’re probably scrolling through all the streaming services to find a new show to watch over the break. For everyone wanting to find a new show, I highly recommend The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was first released in March 2017 as an Amazon Prime Original. The show is set in the late 1950s and centers around a housewife named Midge Maisel. She has it all, living in the upper west side, with a doting husband, two children, and the best seats in Temple. But her life takes a 180 turn from the path she thought was set.
This show is fast-paced and hilarious. Within the pilot, you get a good sense of how the rest of the show is going to go, with a large chunk of action happening right from the gate. This is not a pilot that eases you into the universe; you’re dropped headfirst.
The rest of season one goes on to show how Midge is going to deal with the turn her life has taken: her husband leaves her for his secretary. Being the 1950s, Midge is facing a lot of pressure from her friends and family to get her husband, Joel, back so her kids can have a father and she can have a protector and money-maker. When she decides that she won’t be taking Joel back as a husband, she finds other ways to support herself and her kid, while also being able to try out her hand at being a comedian (after drunkenly doing standup the night her husband leaves her).
In this season, Midge gets her first job and moves back in with her parents, which makes for many wonderful scenes. We see her juggle work, kids, and comedy instead of just juggling being a housewife and mother. Helping her get into the comedy industry is her manager and blossoming friend Suzie. Suzie is honestly amazing, because she’s very blunt about how different her and Midge are and cracks jokes about Midge’s cocktail dresses compared to Suzie’s leather jacket (Suzie is a more masculine New Yorker with a more cynical mindset than Midge).
Season Two gets interesting as Suzie is trying to find clubs and venues for Midge to perform, while Midge has to figure out where she stands with her job, family, and how to keep moving forward in both her professional career and romantic life. My favorite episodes in this season by far are the ones set in the Catskills, as Joel and Midge face ostracization for deciding to divorce. A new man rolls into the picture for Midge, and her comedy and family worlds begin to collide.
In the show, Midge and her family and her ex-husband and his family are all Jewish. The show never shies away from the fact that Midge was raised and is proudly Jewish, with inclusion in Jewish holidays, celebrations, and traditions. This is a huge representation for the Jewish community, and more than once the show reveals how people forget that Midge is Jewish and doesn’t know about a commercialized Christian thing (a possible commentary on how a lot of Christian holidays have become the default holidays to celebrate).
Season three was just released a few days ago, so now, you have a whole new season to watch and join in on the discussion about what’s happening in the show. Based on the first episode, it’s going to be just as hilarious and drama-filled as the previous seasons.
This show has grown to mean a lot to me, because there are pieces of Midge and the other characters that are relatable for a lot of people. Midge is this fiercely strong and independent woman, who I really admire, with a tenacity to go and chase after her dreams in a time when people are always trying to tell her no. At the same time, she has a soft and vulnerable side that wants to find love and happiness and someone to share the journey with. Midge’s relationship with her parents has also been wonderful; seeing them evolve and their interactions always have me in stitches as they truly act so much like a family. Suzie is also a wonderful character, as she is from a different social class than Midge. This gives the viewer some relief as they acknowledge that Midge’s life is very out of the ordinary.
This isn’t just a great story with a fantastic storyline and a cast of really multi-faceted characters with strengths and weaknesses that the show readily plays upon. There is also fantastic costuming. Every time Midge walks on screen, I want to wear what she’s wearing. The editing of the show is fantastic (there are many videos up of how the crew did some of the shots, as there are a couple of scenes in which it was all done in one take.) The show is a beautiful blend of comedy, drama, and touching on serious issues. It’s the recipient of the 2018 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and has been nominated for the same category in 2019.
So, if you’re ever scrolling through your list of shows, give The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel a try. It will not disappoint.
[Images courtesy of Amazon Prime Video and Nicole Rivelli]