Many binge-worthy streaming series take their sweet time revealing their heroine's true colors. After all, if a show spills all the beans upfront, wouldn't it be a challenge to keep viewers hooked? On Netflix, we've ventured into the second season of "Stranger Things," yet we've merely skimmed the surface of the enigmatic and occasionally lethal tween Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). However, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" — and its titular protagonist — doesn't fret about such dilemmas. From the opening frame of this witty dramedy, Midge Maisel's essence is crystal clear. And, let me tell you, I'm smitten with her.
Much like a captivating stand-up routine, the series commences with a killer punchline. Midge inadvertently delivers a stand-up set at her own wedding, after three glasses of Champagne. "Who does that?" she quips with a mischievous grin. Her triumphant response, of course, is, "I do." From that instant, Midge captured my heart.
Now, permit me to confess something, dear "Maisel" enthusiast. By the time I reached the sixth grade, I had a folder stuffed with printouts from the College Board's website, outlining the roadmap to a successful career in journalism. By age 16, I had my sights set on Syracuse University to embark on this journalistic journey. A few months shy of 18, I submitted an early decision application to Syracuse. Soon after, I was in, and eight years later, I'm here, penning words for you. But Midge, who also made the questionable decision to go blonde in college, has me beat.
Midge plans. While I leisurely waited until my training bra days to decide on a college major, she chose Russian Literature at six. At 13, as I was merely exploring the ASME academic options, Midge announced her intention to attend Bryn Mawr College. She even had a dorm room picked out — "In Katherine Hepburn's old room," her mother, Rose Weissman (Marin Hinkle), whispers in the background. A flashback reveals Midge achieving these goals, complete with a "fat" freshman year roommate, presumably chosen to avoid any potential boyfriend-stealing scenarios. It seems that the beloved Amy Sherman-Palladino hasn't entirely shaken off the occasional jarring bursts of fatphobia that lingered in "Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life."
As swiftly as the unexpected body-shaming materialized, it dissipated into the ether. Instead, we behold Midge, a woman so unfazed by the human form that she dares to dash outdoors, bikini area freshly bleached in full Brazilian style, or attend a topless burlesque show with unwavering ease. She even indulged in a very public sexual encounter, seemingly in the quad of Bryn Mawr, after her engagement to her now-husband, Joel Maisel (Michael Zegen), only to throw her quintessentially Jewish wedding into tumultuous chaos with her joking allusion of shrimp lurking in the egg rolls. Midge revels in her own skin, embracing her eccentricities with pride.
Now, we catch up with her four years later, a blissful, affluent Upper West Side mother of two and a wife. Oh, and the rabbi has finally let bygones be bygones, forgiving her for the shrimp-induced chaos after almost half a decade. As roses bloom for Midge, the inevitable sign of impending trouble looms. And that trouble stems from her marriage with Joel, a banal office drone during the day, yet an aspiring comedian by night. Midge assumes the role of his pseudo-manager, jotting down meticulous notes about Joel’s performances — "You garnered three more laughs tonight than your previous set" — and even resorting to bribing cafe bookers with pot roasts in exchange for more favorable performance slots.
However, all this diligent effort goes in vain, as Joel is revealed to be a fraud. While watching The Ed Sullivan Show one evening, Midge witnesses the genuinely renowned comic Bob Newhart executing the exact same set that Joel had performed at the Gaslight in the Village. Midge is enraged by her hasty conclusion that Bob had stolen her husband's act, but little does she know that Joel himself is the perpetrator. Joel attempts to brush off the creative theft, claiming that "everyone" "borrows" to get their start. Midge, however, remains unconvinced. This explains why Gaslight's employee Susie Meyerson (the original Sookie from Gilmore Girls, portrayed by Alex Borstein) gave Joel a disdainful glance after his performance the previous night and why she's less than thrilled to see him on the eve of his next show.
Exposed as a liar to his beloved wife, Joel's facade shatters in front of Midge, their closest couple friends, and a roomful of people resembling Allen Ginsberg. Burdened with anxiety, he had already been venting his frustration on Midge before his public humiliation. Amidst his rambling about life not being "what he expected," Joel announces his departure from Midge, revealing that he had been unfaithful to her with his secretary for months. He cowardly asks, "So you'll tell your parents for me," sealing his fate as a man lacking courage. At just 28, Joel is enduring a quarter-life crisis, decades before such crises became commonplace.
Midge rushes to inform her parents, who reside conveniently upstairs, of Joel's bombshell revelation, and the chaos is instantaneous. Rose rushes around the sprawling apartment, sobbing, while her erudite father, Abe Weissman (portrayed by the eminent Tony Shalhoub), rages. Midge is blamed for the crumbling of her marriage. The newly single woman copes in the only way imaginable: recklessly taking the subway and swigging red wine from the bottle, a sure sign of distress, as Scandal has aptly demonstrated.
Midge arrives at the Gaslight, wine-drenched, rain-soaked, and clad in her nightgown. This marks the commencement of Midge's genuine journey. She leaps onto the stage and delivers a breathtaking monologue, a remarkable feat for a newcomer, mining humor from the agony of her unraveling life. At the climax of her performance, she drops her dress to reveal that her prized twins are still "standing tall on their own." The men in the audience are thrilled, the women horrified, and the police officers inspired to escort Midge into a patrol car.
Susie, who caught Midge's unintended performance, rescues the Upper West Sider from jail within 20 minutes and urges her to pursue stand-up comedy. Like any resilient heroine, Midge initially declines this path... Until she hears the mediocre white men performing onstage and promptly tells Susie it's time to get to work.
