The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Review

So I was introduced to the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and I think we can be friends. Not like how she and Susie are friends, but still.

We are introduced to Miriam Maisel, the perfect 50s Jewish girl who has it all. She’s got the husband, the two kids, the nice apartment on the Upper West Side. She is good at everything she does. In her mind, she has won at Life. She can accomplish anything with a brisket and a side of charm, making life look effortless and seem like a dream.

And it does seem like a dream. Between the snappy scenes, parade of color, and “by the book” romance, it really does seem like everyone is going to break out into song and dance at any given moment.

Instead, Joel blames Midge for his unhappiness and leaves her.

Naturally.

Midge, in her nightgown with wet hair and melted makeup, ends up at the comedy club her husband likes to suck at and winds up telling her story at the mic and bringing down the house…also getting arrested.

At this moment in her life when everything that she has worked so hard for comes crashing down, she’s mad.

A separation was not in the Triumphant Jewish Girl Wins All handbook. It was not the reason she measured her ankles every day for ten years and certainly not why she waited until Joel was asleep before putting on her cold cream.

But it is what it is. And then it’s what Midge gathers up and runs with.

Susie convinces Midge to work with her and become a comedian. They watch comedians perform, Midge bails Lenny Bruce out of jail in exchange for advice, and Midge figures out how to be funny on cue.

She bombs, she works some parties, she fights with Susie, and then she buckles down and gets to work creating and perfecting her act. She meets a comedy hero, a female comic who should be on her side of the spectrum but tells her to stop eating macaroons.

Never trust anyone who doesn’t believe in eating macaroons.

She stumbles through her new life with blazing confidence and a firm belief in perfection, even when she falls on her face. She was focused on preparing for marriage and then being married for so long that when the spotlight falls squarely on her and her alone, she doesn’t completely know what to do with it.

But it doesn’t take too long to figure it out.

Which brings us to Joel. Joel Maisel, a Nice Jewish Boy whose mother always told him he was Special and whose father always told him to Be A Man, is a big fat baby adult. You feel for him, even when you really just want to punch him in the balls. He’s lost in life, he’s not who he wants to be. It’s a tough realization. He’s been basking in the spotlight his wife has created for him and without it he doesn’t know how to be an upstanding adult.

He realizes something in his life is wrong and he blames Midge, but it’s actually himself.

Joel tries to retake responsibility. He tries to step up and be that special man his parents told him he could be, that Midge worked so hard to help him be, but he’s just too pathetic right now. He could kind of catch up, but once Midge unleashes the comic within and leaves him even further in the dust, he does what he always does.

He gives up. Again.

But Midge doesn’t give up. She has her moments but she always brings it back, dusting off her many skirts and shining her pearls and moving on with her life.

She believes she has the perfect life and when it’s not perfect she’s angry and confused, angry because it’s not her fault and therefore out of her control and confused because people (her parents) seem to think it’s her job to fix it.

Everyone around her seems to think that she will crumble on her own, that she is unable to carry on by herself.

They make the mistake of doubting Miriam Maisel, which is clearly a mistake. Miriam Maisel can do anything she wants. She can do it perfectly in heels and on an empty stomach. She can even do it drunk, even if it usually ends her up in a jail cell.

Midge is beautifully crafted by the phenomenal Palladinos (creators of Gilmore Girls) and Rachel Brosnahan. I love everything Jewish about this show, every gorgeous dress, every biting comment, and every time Midge would rather go to jail than be polite.

This show is a stunning performance of biting comedy and heart wrenching drama. It deals with a time of amazing stand up comedy and wild sexism, a time when women were told the one and only way they can win at life is by getting married and having kids and looking perfect all the time. That’s one way to win at life, but everyone knows the rules of life are not so rigid.

Joel broke the rules of their happy little life together by not being a good husband, but when he broke the rules Midge realized she could as well.

She realized it was silly to powder the red lines her bra left on her back. It was unnecessary to put lipstick on before bed. And most importantly, she realized that if she was hungry she should shovel down that mac and cheese with an extra slice of cake and it was nobody’s business.

People can be so many things at once, and Midge really shows that. She truly is marvelous.