Sophia Allen
Lantern Staff
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an Emmy award winning show which debuted in March 2017, recently released its second season. Just like the first, this new season is fast paced and full of witty humor.
In the first season, the protagonist, Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) stumbles upon her comic ability after leaving her husband Joel (Michael Zegen). With help from Susie (Alex Bornstein) as her manager, Midge navigates the world of 1950s comedy and eventually settles into a regular act.
The second season takes place several months later. Midge is performing regularly at a club called The Gaslight and is slowly making her way up to better clubs closer to Midtown. However, Midge’s parents still don’t know about her budding career.
Several episodes into season two, the plot relocates from its previous New York City home to a resort in the Catskills. This shows a key difference between the seasons. In season one, Midge is figuring out her act, but in season two she is working on expanding her audience.
Midge’s jokes originally started as stories about things that went wrong in her life. Though in the new season her life is mostly back on track, Midge’s family still provides plenty of new content for her to talk about.
Midge usually improvises her sets, and she is amazing at it. She usually talks about what comes to mind, ranging from her son at the park to her parents’ odd behavior. The writers created a great script for this show, both for Midge’s comedy sets and her day-to-day conversations, where she still provides funny replies and quips to whoever she is talking to.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel also has amazing cinematography. There are many details in every scene and the camerawork is often complicated. One particularly impressive scene is the opening sequence, a long-running shot that goes from a city street through a store, into a mail slot and then into a phone booth into a basement, where Midge works her day job.
Overall, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is an incredible show. All aspects of the show are very well thought out and executed amazingly. 10/10