issue sixty-seven

bearing witness to one last “thank you and goodnight!”: maisel in memoriam

Every once in a while, I stumble upon a piece of media that seems handcrafted for me by some exec in a boardroom monitoring my brainwaves; this usually includes any sort of depiction of the discipline and nature of dance in media, the general experience of black girlhood, and most if not all allusions to homeschooling. These narratives are quite obviously tied to a lot of the personal experiences that have informed the way I move through the world as well as read, watch and stream, but I’ve found that above all I tend to be drawn to these very human stories of ambition — back-breaking ambition. Wanting something and wanting it so hard that you must do anything you can to get it. This core desire is at the heart of one of my favorite characters and television shows, the eponymous heroine of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

I forget when I started watching the show; not when it first premiered but probably somewhere around the time seasons 2 and 3 were airing. I remember being struck in the street by the sight of a giant Prime Video ad, probably plastered on the side of a bus or something. It was a magnificent display of Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel, decked out in pink with accompanying luggage and skipping off of a flight to who knows where — shot by ANNIE LEIBOWITZ. It was a huge “who is this chick” moment, and led me to begin the series.

Reader, I binged like viewers had never binged before. I watched it all and I watched it all over again. I was enraptured by the humor, spectacle, high production value and narrative payoff of three seasons of pretty pink perfection on my television. From the soundtrack to exquisite costuming, and every single performance (no matter how small), myself and the world watched on as Midge and the Palladinos took the world by storm. 

There were certainly stumbles (the first half of season 4) and trips and falls (most of season 5 until the finale, which I’m about to discuss), but the legacy of how strong this series started is one that will be inked in the pages of history, and I firmly believe that. Seasons 1 through 3 painted a tight picture of both the spontaneous and idiosyncratic nature of a life pursuing comedy, as well as the contours of white femininity and Jewish life in 1950s New York with vivid colors, endearing characters, and a story that kept viewers pulled in and rooting for the lead. 

The latter compulsion is unfortunately the one that the show lost as it puttered to an end. The last two seasons have certainly been weaker than their predecessors. They’ve lost steam, lost urgency, and gotten stagnant because of the primary reason I can trace back to what I loved about it at the start — the show lost Midge. 

As I’ve fervently discussed with friends, fellow Maisel fans and of course, my mother, the last two seasons of the show have failed to match the much acclaimed tone and pacing that made viewers feel like they were following Midge on a gradual, if not linear path to stardom. Her successes and setbacks were fairly equal, and never unrealistic to boot! However, as I wrote about extensively in my Season 4 review, at a certain point the series became more preoccupied with Midge’s redemption from significant mistakes than honestly examining her journey to fame within the context of her harmful actions towards others. 

The sob story got tired, and so did the filler episodes and musical numbers. It was only in brief glimpses of the old show I knew that I enjoyed the final season of this show, and only after seeing the finale live in a theater alongside countless 50 year olds that the impact of it all clicked. The final episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel found its stride by regaining its focus — zeroing in on Midge, what she wants, and the exact way she went about achieving it. Letting stellar performers such as Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein and Tony Shalhoub run away with (at this point) okay material and reminding viewers of the perennial value of Midge and Susie’s relationship, the finale made for a decent sendoff to the enormous responsibility of a behemoth of a series. 

Mostly, I’m sad to see the series go out on a whimper rather than a bang. I wish it had burst forth at full speed until the end and we could have seen the full scope of glory and glamour Midge deserved, but in the absence of that timeline — we’ll always have the Catskills. We’ll have B. Altman, and The Gaslight, and Dinah and Alfie. And Imogene. Thank you and goodnight to a legacy of beautiful storytelling, Maisel!