The second season of the “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” dropped on Amazon Prime recently and it was just as shocking, provocative and juicy as the first season. The second season finds our Midge at almost exactly a year from when her husband first walked out on announcing his affair, and essentially imploding her world. A year from when she stumbled drunkenly into her first comedic act at a bar, and her first arrest. The last year has seen Midge get a job at the make-up counter, have several more stand-up routines at local bars, embrace Susie as her agent, and become a more independent woman than her former married years. However, it has also seen her neglect her children even more as she tries to navigate this new career girl lifestyle and juggle both a 9-5 job, as well as late evenings as a stand-up. Women are still not fully welcomed into the comedic world, and the path ahead of her is tough. Although she was devastated to lose Joel, not once, but twice–he told her that even though he was proud of her and she was a tremendous comedian, he couldn’t stay married to her and be the object of her jokes and routines. He still loved her, but he made her choose between him and her comedy; she had to choose comedy.
Despite the abundant cursing, which I am never a fan of, I thought this season was excellent. So much growth and awareness happens to all of the characters. Midge’s mother and father go through their own awakening as well. After Midge’s mother up and moves to France because she feels so isolated and alone, not only does her father follow but he spends time there and embeds himself in her world as a way to connect and get her to come home. Once she is home again, he uses his influence as a professor to get her to audit art classes as well and becomes a more aware husband–even in his own stuffy and meticulous way. Perhaps one of the greatest elements of the season was having the family vacation in the Catskills for two months. So many ridiculous events and scenes unfolded in this iconic environment. Not only is it completely reminiscent of “Dirty Dancing” (which was a fabulous backdrop), but it gives you the chance to see our characters all intertwined on “vacation”. Tony Shalhoub is absolutely fabulous in his role as Midge’s father. The romper scenes alone are hysterical. But after he stumbles into a club where Miriam is giving a particularly colorful stand-up routine his world is shocked. Then he goes on to discover that his son works for the CIA and once again he feels as if he doesn’t know his children at all. He also realizes his unhappiness at Columbia and at his other job, and remembers that a younger version of himself once rocked the “system” to which he know so fully supports and has become a part of. He vows to start over and feel alive again–which will no doubt bring huge changes for Midge’s family in the next season.
Meanwhile, Joel is having another kind of crisis as he is back home living with his parents, regretting his life decisions and wondering how he screwed up so badly. He decides to help his parents company and discovers just how bad they are doing financially and in their accounting. He throws himself into saving their business and avoiding his life. He even joins Midge and her family in the Catskills so that he can spend more time with the kids–although I truly never see him with his kids. Honestly I never see anyone with the children other than the hired help, which may be my only complaint about this series. While on vacation, Midge also meets Benjamin, an incredibly successful doctor who finds her fascinating and is actually the first person besides Susie and Joel that Midge confides in about her secret comedic life.
As Midge seems to move on, Joel throws himself into the arms of every available girl around although he is miserable. Susie and Midge take their first road tour for comedic bookings–and it is a total flop. Both of them are feeling pretty depressed until Midge gets a slot on a telethon, which despite some tampering from their nemesis, Midge does outstanding on and everyone is very impressed! So much so that the season ends with Midge being offered a job to be the opening act for an incredibly famous singer for 6 months over in Europe. Midge says yes without even considering her children, thinking of the repercussions or awaiting to see what happens with Benjamin–who has been trying to get her fathers permission to ask Midge to marry him.
The second season is a whirlwind of emotions, events and humorous situations, fraught with a deeper drama and passion. The characters portrayed by the actors in this series are absolutely magnetic. Susie plays her role as Midge’s agent from the wrong side of the tracts spectacularly, but the entire cast has an incredible chemistry and uniqueness. The writers with their situational humor and lines, round the show out nicely as well. Its impossible to describe all of the nuances that make this show so great—just go watch it!!! It will definitely make you stop and think about your goals, dreams, family, and what sacrifices everyone must make to simply make sense of their life and their purpose.
