The penultimate episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s final season is yet another example of squandered potential. With so little time remaining with a cast of characters that have grown to feel like a second family for the audience, Episode 8 wastes its time with repetitive flashbacks to the early days of Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) and Joel (Michael Zegen), as if that will make everyone forget about the infidelity or the fact that, up until the start of Season 5, he was in a serious relationship with another woman and expecting a child.
In “The Princess and the Plea,” Amy Sherman-Palladino seems determined, yet again, to make sure that audiences like Joel, but it’s half-hearted and poorly conceived. At the start of the season, we saw what Midge’s future looked like—and it wasn’t with Joel, even though subsequent flashforwards showcased the fact that she will remain hung up on him. In the future, she’s a multi-time divorcée, and he’s a crook (even if his intentions were pure). Sure, there’s still one more episode left in the series, but it doesn’t look like Joel is going to factor in as a genuine romantic partner, so why waste valuable time on flashbacks we’ve already seen, essentially, and Joel having some sort of realization that is never really followed through on? The weak choices made with Joel and Midge do make one wonder if there had been another plan in place for Joel, which may have fallen apart with Stephanie Hsu’s seemingly unexpected departure from the series — especially after so much of Season 4 was dedicated to their relationship, telling their respective parents, and building a family together. That momentum died a quick death, with little-to-no payoff.
Speaking of little-to-no payoff, Episode 8 rubs salt in the wound that is Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) and the dynamic that he shared with Midge. The premiere sends him off to Los Angeles with very little fanfare, effectively killing off four seasons of chemistry and a budding romance, only for “The Princess and the Plea” to have Midge parrot Lenny’s own words to her gal pals. The conversation arises at a luncheon with some of her old school friends who want to know if Midge would ever consider a career other than being a stand-up comic. With a fond look and a brief indication that she’s repeating the words of a friend, she says she would be anything else: “I'm talking dry cleaners to the Klan, crippled kid portrait painters, slaughterhouse attendant.”
The way Sherman-Palladino has handled the whole Lenny/Midge situation—that she fed into by playing into the chemistry the duo share—feels mean-spirited at this point. The flashforwards have failed to show that he had any lasting impact on her life, his name is hardly mentioned, and we know that nothing will ever come of their short-lived romance. It’s disappointing when one of the aspects that made The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel so endearing was the fact that whenever her romance of the season fell apart (whether that be Joel, Benjamin, or Sylvio) Lenny was always there to be her equal, her confidant, and her partner in comedy. He didn’t want to control her, claim her, or tame her—he just wanted to help her become better. The future we’ve seen doesn’t look better, even if she has fame and success.
While we once again are forbidden from going into the specifics of what Susie (Alex Borstein) does to ensure that Midge climbs the ladder of success, it definitely lays the groundwork for a lot of things to fall apart in the finale. We know from flashforwards that Midge and Susie are going to have an epic fallout—which we have seen bits and pieces of—but hopefully, that won’t be the end of their friendship forever. Susie may scheme a bit in Episode 8, but she actually isn’t in it very much, which is disappointing when it feels like she still has plenty of story left to tell, which won’t be wrapped up before the final credits play.
Towards the second act, Episode 8 finally starts to feel like the series that garnered critical acclaim and shiny awards. Of course, it’s Tony Shalhoub who gets to bring home that Marvelous Mrs. Maisel magic. At the top of the episode, Midge and Joel are dealing with the aftermath of Abe becoming an overbearing grandparent, particularly after the results of Ethan’s (Colin Keane) aptitude test and Esther’s (Ireland and Sedona Carvajal) apparent budding genius. It’s very on-brand for Abe, but it also makes way for a neat revelation and a moment of character growth for him as he and his pals are having dinner. The conversation turns to The Gordon Ford Show, which had played host to a very esteemed guest that generated a lot of buzz, and of course, they know Abe’s daughter works there—and it’s something he should be proud of.
Abe realizes that he pinned all of his hopes and dreams on Ethan while overlooking Esther’s potential, in the same way that he gave Noah (Will Brill) all of his focus when he was growing up, and ignoring that Midge had true talent. This line of thought leads to him admitting to his friends that he and Rose (Marin Hinkle) have been lying about owning their apartment, and he confesses that Midge actually bought it for them. Abe has always had a contentious relationship with Midge’s life choices, but it finally feels like he’s come to terms with the fact that his daughter is a remarkable woman who is capable of so much—just like Esther will presumably go on to do too. It’s just a shame that this moment feels relegated to the bylines of the story when it could’ve connected to the overarching plot of the series and paid off five seasons of their father-daughter relationship.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s final season seems to be facing an identity crisis. While the first handful of episodes featured annoying flashforwards, there did seem to be some forward momentum with Midge’s career at The Gordon Ford Show, but once she secured the job and stopped doing stand-up in every episode, it seemed as if the series lost its connective tissue. The reliance on flashforwards to fill in the blanks only muddied the waters, leaving audiences to read between the lines to piece together how their favorite characters got from Point A to Point B. The actors remain steadfast in their performances, giving it their all to remain true to the humor and charm that has gotten them to this point, but in the end Season 5 feels like a bad case of senioritis. It’s heartbreaking to see a series that burned so bright go out with a flicker.
Rating: C
The first eight episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5 are streaming now on Prime Video.