The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the rare show that maintains its quality into the second seasons. The first episode of the season, “Simone,” shows no signs of the sophomore slump.
Instead of rehashing the previous seasons in the hopes of striking the same piece of gold twice, the first episode immediately shows how family dynamics for Miriam Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) have changed. Miriam’s parents, Abe and Rose Weissman, are having marriage issues. They became so bad that Rose (Marin Hinkle) moved to Paris without explicitly stating she had plans never to move back to New York. Abe (Tony Shalhoub) and Miriam spend the episode trying to convince Rose to move back home. However, this saga continues past “Simone” to be resolved later in the season.
Her parents’ marriage struggle made Miriam realize how much she still loved her husband, Joel (Michael Zegen), leading us to find out that Miriam and Joel still love each other. That being said, he feels that he can’t be with a woman who talks about their life in public, yet he doesn’t want to ask her to give up her stand-up comedy. It’s simultaneously a devastating and sweet sentiment on Joel’s part. There’s a chance their relationship will remain good, even if they don’t stay married.
On the negative end of the spectrum, the show’s pacing could be improved. While the show continues to do a wonderful job of transporting the audience back to the 1950s, the first episode has the plot moving much slower than last season. Hopefully, this season picks up the pace in the second episode, which it already shows signs of doing.
If you missed out on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel the first time around, start from the beginning and binge watch it. You won’t regret it. This is a show where you lose yourself in it and don’t want it to end. However, you don’t want the perfection to be spoiled. The writers have set a high bar for themselves and will meet those expectation in the second season. However, fans must enjoy the ride while it lasts because its rare for a show to keep momentum in its second season, it’s even rarer for it to know when it can exit on a high note.
Overall rating: 9.5 out of 10
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