8.9 Score
It took me a good two months to start The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Final Season because I have this habit of not finishing it because I don’t like good things to come to an end. But after taking the courage to watch the show, you know what – I am glad I did because The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ending could not have been any more beautiful as it was.
Disclaimer: This review does contain a certain level of spoilers from the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and if you have not watched it yet, please do watch it.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Review
Maisel against the World
We all know for a fact that Maisel has had her ups and downs in the entire past four seasons. Some not going the way she wants it to and then some, well, Miriam just straight up screws it all up – which honestly is pretty hilarious but the way she goes through each and every obstacle sure does open up one’s eye. This season picks up from where it got left off – the blizzard and you-know-what. But from there onwards, Miriam and Susie, her Manager, embark on a completely new journey, getting that break for her.
But quickly she lands a job as the writer for The Gordon Show which does kind of delay her progress on becoming a well-known comic, however, she still does have her other gig at the strip club where she does her own thing. As much as the final season revolves around Miriam, there were other aspects of the stories that we finally got to see develop.
Susie and Her Past
The thing about Susie Myerson is that we have seen her as one tough cookie and she sure is. But her past has always been a mystery to many, even to Miriam. This particular season does tap into her story, more specifically, her running into her past with her first and last love, Hedy. This is a tough past for Susie to share because given that the story happens in the 1950s and 1960s era, being queer is something society could never accept.
Despite that, the fact that Susie must pretty much deal with Hedy at some point as she is now the wife of Gordon, from The Gordon Show – the entire interaction gets a whole lot more intense, one way or another.
That Four Minutes was the Mark of Miriam’s Big Break
After seeing her trying to catch her big break, things weren’t easy for her at all. But the final episode, where passing through all the hoops and holes with Susie talking to Hedy, who then relayed the message to Gordon which rubbed in the wrong way because of the “Rule” – where no one at The Gordon Show is allowed to be on the show. But despite that rule, Gordon allows her on the show but as his writer and not as a comic. The tension between Gordon and Miriam gets real and when he tries to bring things to an end, there are still 4 minutes left to be on air and this is the turning point.
We all know how Miriam is an absolute rule breaker and goes after what was supposed to be hers – in that last 4 minutes of the show, she does what she’s good at and it’s the turning point everyone was waiting for.
Painful Moments
Seeing Miriam cry on screen, Abe’s spiralling down, the entire drama between Susie and Joel where he saves Miriam from the thugs without her knowing about it and so much more – this season sure does tap into the emotional elements for me personally. But the one that really hit me hard was seeing, Lenny Bruce in his final stage of life – because IRL, Bruce died at the age of 40 due to a morphine overdose in 1966. Now we don’t see that scene in the series, however, they depict how it ends for Bruce.
Seeing how Bruce tumbles and struggles on a stand-up stage in 1965 where Susie tries to get him back up on his feet and refuses to do so – however, Miriam tries to help as well – it sure was painful to watch. It hits harder when the show is closer to the end, where there’s an entire conversation between Miriam and Bruce at the Chinese Takeout place. I definitely teared up.
How Redemption Meant a Lot
One big arc of this season is the fallout that happens between Susie and Miriam – and it has to do with the thugs on how they “own” Miriam. This story goes way back into the older season then Joel finds out when Miriam is doing a favour for the thugs by being a part of the Private Demolition and Waste Management Association. This takes a huge tumble and years later when Joel gets arrested, that’s when Miriam finds out what Susie has done, which then obliterates the relationship between them.
How do things get better between Miriam and Susie? Well that you have to watch it and I think it did go in the right direction.
Then there’s the part where Abe has his issues with Miriam’s son in the happy group because every Weissman firstborn happens to be the smartest. However, Miriam’s daughter Esther starts playing the piano, a piece Abe tried teaching Ethan – all by herself. Which made him realize, how Abe wasn’t there for his own daughter Miriam and not being a better father for her.
Two arcs that did get our heads turned for a good amount of reason, more specifically the one with Abe and Miriam given how in those times and ages, women are suppressed into doing certain things and nothing more. In fact, being as equal to a man was considered a threat. Making Abe realize that his own daughter is so capable, and his trying to make his relationship better with Miriam was a nice sight to see.
Moishe and Shirley end up separating but living in the same house because of disagreements between them, specifically on how Moishe doesn’t want to retire – since his hospital visit in Season 4. But things do get better for these two in some way which is pretty comical so to speak.
Oh and while this doesn’t quite fall in the Redemption part, seeing Zelda finding love with Janusz and even getting marries was something worth talking about as how it does give Zelda a shot at having her own life.
The Beginning is the Ending
The entire final season has a rather bizarre order of story telling so it sure does require some level of observation as it leaps into the future and back to the present. But this is also a way to say that the beginning is the ending, as we see a lot of the characters grow up, see them do interesting things in life, the cycle of how mothers’ and daughters’ relationships are like, and so much more.
Because of this, the story felt more complete and doesn’t make anyone feel like – “I wonder what’s going to happen next if we had another season.”
Cameos Galore
As someone who loved Amy Sherman Palladino’s work, seeing cast members from Gilmore Girls like Kelly Bishop, Chris Eigeman, Milo Ventimiglia, and Sean Gunn to name a few and even other casts like Hank Azaria, who played David, the Scientist Guy from Friends was a nice sight to see and it sure was comical. Especially seeing Kelly Bishop behind bars for Arson and other hilarious reasons.
Conclusion
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is exactly what you get if you allow Original Writers to stay on the show till the end. Because let’s face it, the moment you see the name “Amy Sherman Palladino”, it goes synonymous with her amazing work behind Gilmore Girls and how it felt short when the original writers left and the story ended – well, it wasn’t too bad, but not the way Amy visioned it would have been. But that said, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel wasn’t all a smooth ride either, as it did get affected by the pandemic and we knew it was going to end a lot earlier.
But as someone who fell in love with Miriam Midge Maisel, I can’t help but wish that it only went longer. But regardless, the last episode left me in tears and ended better than I anticipated – especially when we know what comes in the life of Midge Maisel and it is going to be…
…as Susie and Midge say, Tits up.
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