The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 Review: Midge returns with fewer laughs and not enough spark

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 Cast: Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 Creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Streaming Platform: Prime Video 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season stars: 2.5/5

Considering what we have been through in the past two years, 2019 strangely seems like a different time. To think that the third season of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel premiered in December 2019, at a time when we were yet to realise we were in the middle of the pandemic, seems weird. Although having followed the show up until now, I do believe it would have been hilarious the kind of sets Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) would have come up with had she been holed up in her Queens apartment amid the pandemic. A quarantine with the Maisel's family would go either way, you could either laugh your guts out just by watching them talk over each other or you could find yourselves like Midge's children, completely voiceless, like those invisible supporting actors. 

Either way, it's the same way I feel about Season 4. After having watched the first two episodes of the show that were provided for review, I can say that the show can go ahead in two ways, either it continues to follow its previous format of making it all about Midge's reactive nature or it could finally try to bring us a newer side of her. From the first two episodes though, it surely seems like the show is back with an underwhelming start. If there's one thing that the past two years of taught us, it's that change is inevitable and for how long could we see Midge's storyline being put in the same template? 

The fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel kicks right off from where the explosive season three finale ended. In the third season, we saw Midge (Brosnahan) finally finding herself building a career in comedy by going on tours and even bagging herself a major deal with Shy Baldwin. Although after running her mouth a tad too wild at the Apollo theatre and at the risk of outing Baldwin's queer identity,  Midge gets dropped from the tour. An unapologetic Midge returns in season 4, hurt and full of revengey feelings on being dropped from one of the biggest opportunities of her career. What seems strange though is that Midge still seems to have the same way of reacting to things like before. Mrs. Maisel seems to handle the rejection from Baldwin, the same way that she does when it comes to her divorce from Joel (Michael Zegen). She takes the stage and vents her heart out. 

As for Midge's manager Susie (Alex Borstein), it's a tough one. She's gambled away her only client, Midge's money and is also in the middle of insurance fraud. All this, when Midge finds herself in a tight spot with her finances having brought back her old apartment in Queens by borrowing money from her father in law, Moishe (Kevin Pollack). Let's just say Season 4 kicks off with both Midge and Susie being out of their elements, much like what seems to be the case for the writers of the show. 

Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino return to write and direct the popular show and while the first three seasons seemed to have passed smoothly so far, especially commendable how the third season shook things up after the stretched out the second season with all the Catskills drama, it seems with the new one the challenges are higher. With the premise that Mrs. Maisel is facing her first major career roadblock, the expectation is that the new season could change things up for Midge. Although from the way the show begins it seems it's yet to find its true footing. Not only has Mrs. Maisel's comedy lost its zing, the show's supporting characters such as Joel and his club's arc remains uninteresting, to say the least. On the upsides, though is Abe's (Tony Shalhoub) new job after his Columbia stint and the whole idea that he may eventually connect with Midge at some point during the show as he slowly embraces his new role in the arts, as a theatre critic for the Village Voice seems exciting. 

Remaining true to its template, Mrs Maisel continues to keep its fast-talking format with chaotic family scenes. The season kicks off with one whole crazy Coney Island trip and I have to say, if there's one way a family should engage in healthy communication, it's with all the members sitting in separate booths on a Ferris wheel, shouting their problems at the top of their lungs, Maisel and family-style. While Joel and the rest of family's storyline remain underwhelming and also the exchanges between Midge and Susie not receiving any momentum, one does wonder if introducing the Lenny Bruce love angle early on would have given the show a better kick start.

Even as the show remains a tad underwhelming on the writing part, the production design and costume departments once again outdo themselves by creating some of the most fascinating views. Special credits to the production design department on the Coney Island sequence. The same goes for Midge's costumes which continue to remain appealing and speak for her characters in scenes where she has little to say. 

ALSO READ: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4: Rachel Brosnahan shows off her killer looks, is a vision in red

In terms of performances, Rachel Brosnahan continues to bring her best as Midge and her overreactions. The same goes for Alex Borstein who opposite to her client isn't the chirpiest person. Much like the past seasons, it's Brosnahan and Borstein's brilliant camaraderie that works its magic for the most part even when the writing takes a hit. As for the supporting roles, Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle continue to impress. 

From the first two episodes of the show, it seems that Mrs. Maisel still has a lot to buildup in order to make a proper comeback both in reel and in real life. As for reel, she's yet to get back her spark following the Shy drama and in real, the writers are yet to serve us those scenes that will remind us why we first fell in love with Midge.