The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, season 2 review: Amazon's stand-up smash is back – and just as fast, funny and full of heart
“Some people say that women aren’t funny” and “You think the fact that she’s attractive is a problem?” are just two of the lines from season two of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel that are as depressing as they are revealing. The Amazon Prime comedy drama set in 1959 is focused on a New York housewife who secretly becomes a stand-up comic, but you only have to read interviews with contemporary funny women like Katherine Ryan to discover that not much has changed in 60 years.
Thankfully, that’s the only depressing thing about The Marvelous Mrs Maisel – on the whole, it’s a fast, funny, romp of a show, but with a huge heart. During the first series, Midge Maisel, the titular character played with piles of charm by Rachel Brosnahan, accidentally turned to stand-up comedy when she found out her kind of sweet but somewhat pathetic husband Joel (Michael Zegen) – a struggling comedian himself – was cheating on her with his secretary. It became Amazon Prime's breakout hit of the year, winning two Golden Globes and nearly swept the board in the comedy categories at the Emmys, with eight wins.
Season two begins with Joel finding out about his estranged wife’s secret double life – by day she’s a department store telephonist (and a very efficient one too – it seems there’s nothing Midge isn’t good at) but by night she’s lighting up the comedy scene across New York and catching the attention of big names like Lenny Bruce. As Midge and Joel attempt to salvage a friendship from their broken marriage, there are some sad, tender moments, leaving us – and indeed them – unsure whether we want them to reconcile; he’s so weak and she’s so awesome, but there's a lot of love between them. If they did get back together, it certainly wouldn’t be for the sake of their children; once again this season, Midge mostly seems to forget they exist at all.
One relationship in the show that we’re all rooting for is the friendship between Midge and her manager Susie Myerson, brilliantly played by Alex Borstein. It’s strange, quirky characters like Susie that show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino draws so well. The smart, speedy dialogue between the two women, particularly when they’re face to face in their favourite diner booth, has echoes of Gilmore Girls, the show that made Sherman-Palladino’s name.
But The Marvelous Mrs Maisel has more to it than wisecracks in diners. To keep things fresh, season two frequently expands beyond its Manhattan setting. First, there’s Paris, where Midge’s mother, in the midst of some emotional upheaval of her own, is busy finding herself. This subplot feels like a distraction from the main action, but a very pretty one – especially when Midge, possibly TV's best-dressed woman since the cast of Mad Men strutted off our screens, turns up.
Later, the action moves to the Steiner holiday camp in the Catskills, the activities-driven summer vacation spot for every upwardly mobile Jewish family in New York – and Susie Myerson, who’s snuck in with a plunger over her shoulder: “All I have to do is walk around holding this thing and everyone thinks I work here, it’s genius,” she says. The camp is cartoonishly ridiculous, with some of the series' biggest laughs erupting from this world of middle-class hula-hooping classes, swimwear pageants and adult games of Simon Says.
With Midge’s stand-up sideline gathering pace, things ought to be looking up – but, as TV does, a few emotional and familial curveballs are set to head her way. Comedy is a form of counselling for Midge, who opens her heart to smoky bars full of strangers, but it means her loved ones' secrets are suddenly public property too. Still, lovely as she is, we wouldn’t want things to go too well for her. If Mrs Maisel’s life gets too marvellous, will the gags dry up?
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel season two arrives on Amazon Prime Video on December 5
