Wonderful: Mrs. Maisel charms over five seasons

Miram “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is on her farewell tour. Not as a comedian, that’s where she finally made her breakthrough, but as the focus of the Prime Video series. The fifth season is the finale, the last episodes of the 43 episodes have just finished. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Prime Video, five seasons), created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino, is and remains a sensation in the streaming business. What began in 2017, a housewife and mother looking for her way as a comedian in the male-dominated stand-up business of the 50s, became an endurance run, a story and a series.

Story of self-assertion

A story of self-realization and self-assertion, embedded in the Jewish Weissman family and in the eccentric relatives of Maisel & Co, both of which are more of a hindrance than a help. Husband Maisel (Michael Zegen) is unfaithful, but remains the true love of her life even after the divorce. Midge’s relationship with men has always been difficult. Bad luck in love, luck in your career, both develop through the consequences and the first always remains the shadow of the second.

The force of nature of Midge Maisel, who is best received by the audience with dirty jokes, is complemented by the power of her bustling manager Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein), in her uniqueness a harbinger of all queer phenomena. Together they fail, together they win – and only the finale will show which prize was actually the higher one. Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein characterize this (women’s) series, their two characters provide the counter-evidence that women are not pretty at the same time and can be funny.

The background of the Weissman and Maisel families increasingly comes to the fore. Mathematics professor Abe Weissman (“Monk” actor Tony Shalhoub) had left Columbia University to work as a theater critic for the “Village Voice”. There are disturbing and touching scenes, for example when Weissman wants to transcend the plot of a new play into something Jesus-like, which in reality, however, is never simply banal, and in doing so he introduces his wife – only to later kneel on his knees in the bedroom to beg for forgiveness. Despite all the comedy, the human and the human are never missing in this dramedy.

Of course, such a production also sags at some points, and a little more with each subsequent season after the premiere. Every now and then it seems a bit searched, even strained, about everything that has to happen, both in the relationship between Midge Maisel and Susie Myerson or in the inner and intermediate life of the couple Weissman and Maisel. But these dips are moments and nothing more.

If viewers recognize a good series by the fact that an episode is not meant to end, then they recognize a very good one by the fact that it is never meant to end. The Wonderful Mrs. Maisel guarantees both.

Fast-paced in the dialogues, whimsically driven forwards and sideways in the action, by a rarely seen decor, costumes and scenery force – this dramedy is the continuous proof that streaming has torn down the TV borders of imagination, originality and creativity. We say thank you.

Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is on her farewell tour. Not as a comedian, that’s where she finally made her breakthrough, but as the focus of the Prime Video series. The fifth season is the final one, the last episodes of the 43 episodes have just aired. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was and remains a streaming sensation. What began in 2017, a housewife and mother looking for her way as a comedian in the male-dominated stand-up business of the 50s, became an endurance run, a story and a series.

A story of self-realization and self-assertion, embedded in the Jewish Weissman family and in the eccentric relatives of Maisel & Co, both of which are more of a hindrance than a help. Husband Maisel (Michael Zegen) is unfaithful, but remains the true love of her life even after the divorce. Relationships with men are always difficult. unlucky in love, lucky…

Adding to the force of nature of Midge Maisel, who works best with dirty widows, is the power of her bustling manager Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein), a harbinger of all queer phenomena in her uniqueness. Together they fail, together they win – and only the finale will show which prize was the higher. Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein characterize this (women’s) series, their two characters provide the counter-evidence that women are not pretty at the same time and can be funny.

Fast-paced in the dialogues, whimsically funny in the scenes of the Weissman family, with a rarely seen force of decor, costumes and scenery – this dramedy is the continuous proof that streaming has torn down the TV borders of imagination, originality and creativity. We say thank you. Joachim Huber

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Prime Video. Five seasons.

Info box: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” has won numerous “Emmys”, the most important television award in the USA. 2018 saw the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, creator Amy Sherman-Palladino won the award for writing and directing, Rachel Brosnahan received two awards for best actress in a comedy series, and Alex Borstein received an equal number of awards for best supporting actress in this Genre.