The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

:

Season 2
Season #: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 112 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 92 out of 112
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 112
  3. Negative: 11 out of 112
Watch Now

Where To Watch

Stream On
Buy on

Review this tv show

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling

User Reviews

view
per page
  1. overeasy
    Dec 16, 2018
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really wanted to like this show. Really. I was a big fan of ASP when she did Gilmore Girls. But this is not that show. Not even close. If anything, it more closely resembles the Gilmore Girls reboot which went completely off the rails and essentially ruined Rory, one of the main protagonists.

    Personally, I want to blame the streaming services for just throwing money at Amy and her husband, who, when constrained by a more classic study system, had to reign in their more elaborate, over-the-top impulses. Now, with Amazon footing the bill, and with Amy left to riff on (apparently) anything she wants, they've lost their way.

    If there is a "marvelous" part of this show it is Brosnahan, who just exudes energy and likability. And that's a good thing, because her story, such as it is, has been lost in the morass of big "set pieces" that all that new found money allows for. Yes, the show looks great, but just about every show looks great these days. And seriously, I'm not there for the sets or the clothes -- I'm there for the story. So, yea, let's get back to that.

    The basic premise is that Midge finds her way doing comedy in a man's world. If ASP was doing her elevator pitch to the folks at Prime, that's what it would have been; "The struggles and travails of a 1950's era Jewish girl who gets divorced and then tries to "make it" in the harsh world of stand up comedy." But, in season two, we've seemingly left that all behind. We see no struggle. We see no drive. What I see is an attractive, overindulged young woman who doesn't deserve to make it. She is happy to sit back, take a long vacation in the Catskills and "come what may." When you turn your back on the basic premise and just give us eye candy, you're going to feel ill pretty quickly. I think I'm there.

    And speaking of her comedy, have ever seen Midge even nominally working at her craft? ASP (a writer, BTW) only shows us Midge getting up on stage and KILLING IT, as if the jokes arise from whole cloth. That's just not how it works. Great comedians WORK hard to get somewhere, but Midge doesn't seem to.

    Compared to a director like Barry Levinson, whose Baltimore triptych (Diner, Avalon, Tin Men) faithfully captured mid-century Baltimore with clear honesty and wit, ASP is all broad nostalgia and horrible stereotypes. I can only imagine the crying and gnashing of teeth had such a broad portrayal of Jewish life been produced by a non-Jew.

    What's to like in Mrs. Maisal. Well, a lot of the actors. I just wish I thought this was all going somewhere and that I wanted to go there with them. I don't.    … Expand
  2. JLuis_001
    Jan 12, 2019
    6
    Rachel Brosnahan is still wonderful, but this season was lesser than the first. Especially because the ending is way too open, too fortuitous, too hasty and incredibly empty.
  3. Elthor
    Jan 8, 2019
    6
    Season two of MMM is plagued with problems.

    First and foremost is that the season is unfocused. It's almost like a second season was so unexpected that every random idea had to be turned into an episode. Then there is the problem that most episodes have scenes that feel like an end-of-episode wrap-up, but in the middle. Sometimes more than once. The episode then staggers on like a    Season two of MMM is plagued with problems.

    First and foremost is that the season is unfocused. It's almost like a second season was so unexpected that every random idea had to be turned into an episode.

    Then there is the problem that most episodes have scenes that feel like an end-of-episode wrap-up, but in the middle. Sometimes more than once. The episode then staggers on like a zombie for awhile and just when something remotely interesting is about to happen with the plot, it does end.

    I know that just sounds like 'cliff-hanger', but it comes across as poorly constructed scripts. It actually does make some sense because the over-arching story is so thin it has to be spread out.

    Speaking of the walking dead. Zachary Levi joins the cast, acting the most stiff I've ever seen him. You'd think he walked in from another series or that no one gave him any acting direction. That is unless the director just told him to stand there in his scenes while other people talked at him. Two dimensional barely describes his role which includes a good deal of screen time for such a poorly developed character.

    The drama in the dramedy is stretched thin and makes you want them to just get on with it. There are lots of pointless elements and plot-lines that should have been cut.

    The comedy is the highlight of the season. The humor maintains a high level, especially Midge's stand-up acts. Unfortunately, the lighter moments are often too far apart making many episodes feel like a slog.

    AND YET, some of the jokes occur at the expense of pulling you out of the show. Slang, references and banter is occasionally salted with anachronisms. Ideas that people of the period wouldn't know are used as fodder for jokes.

    Finally, there is the last episode. So so terrible. Lots of new 'I've got something to tell you' secrets suddenly added for every single character just before ending and leaving everything unresolved. Again, you could call it a cliffhanger, but there is more unresolved in the last episode than actually occurs in the rest of the season.

    Enjoyable, but a disappointing sophomore season.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best TV Season of 2018
79
#79 Most Discussed TV Season of 2018
4
#4 Most Shared TV Season of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Vanity Fair
    Reviewed by: Sonia Saraiya
    Dec 13, 2018
    45
    This time around, the story seems motivated less by the characters’ forward propulsion than by hastily sketching how to get from one fabulous set piece to the next.
    Read full review
  2. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Dec 6, 2018
    100
    Perfectly delightful second season. [10 - 23 Dec 2018, p.8]
  3. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Emily VanDerWerff
    Dec 5, 2018
    70
    Whenever Midge gets up on the standup comedy stage, her scenes are electrifying. ... It’s also a show that can never quite see past its own blinders on anything that doesn’t relate to a 1950s battle of the sexes. It knows issues around race and class exist. It even knows that issues around religion exist. But it never knows what to do with them, because it needs them to remain off camera, so that it might construct a more perfect, candy-coated world.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »