The send-off Midge deserves

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel took audiences by storm when it first aired on Amazon Prime in 2017. Next week, season five, its final season, will start streaming.

The hit show, which stars Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a New York housewife who becomes a stand-up comedy sensation, has received critical acclaim over the past five years, winning numerous Golden Globes, Primetime Emmy Awards, Critics Choice Awards and People’s Choice Awards, among others.

The show is filled to the brim with Jewish storylines, from Midge’s jokes to Yom Kippur breaking of the fast dinners, synagogue services and bar mitzvahs. It even features an interfaith relationship.

So where did we leave Midge in season four? And what’s in store for the finale?

If the trailer is anything to go by, Midge will be where we saw her last – admiring a poster for the late-night Gordon Ford show on a snowy evening after refusing an offer to be the opening act for Tony Bennett.

Despite giving up the lucrative offer and Midge dealing with a lot of frustration (“it’s two steps forward, three steps back”, she laments to Susie in the trailer), Midge’s career seems to be trucking along. Her name is on the marquee of the 45th Street Imperial Theatre, and we see her performing to laughing crowds. Outside, a female fan tells her, “Mrs Maisel, you say everything I think,” to which she responds, “A terrifying connection.”

Moishe and Shirley, Midge’s former in-laws, are laughing at a TV show together. Abe and Rose, Midge’s parents, seem to be hitting a rough patch (in the trailer, we see what appears to be their apartment on fire), and Joel, Midge’s ex-husband, has a sad moment by a New York City apartment door with no Mei, his Chinese American pregnant girlfriend, in sight.

As for Midge’s adoring rep Susie Myerson, her agent business is “booming”.

While Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino and the rest of the show’s writers are known for keeping their scripts and details of upcoming seasons private, various casting calls have provided some clues for season five.

Aside from the casting call for extras for a kibbutz scene (Midge is going to Israel), and extras for a 1960s yacht party, it seems the final season will continue to explore New York’s queer community, with another request for LGBTQ extras for a bathhouse scene. Alex Borstein, who plays Susie, recently spoke about her character’s unconfirmed queer identity: “This is an era when it was not something anyone would talk about, share, want to share or feel like it was anyone’s business – I mean, sexuality in general, across the board,” she said.

We also know that Midge will be returning to the Gordon Ford show, perhaps becoming a late-night sensation. We also know that things between Midge and Gordon may not end up being so platonic. An ice-skating scene between the two of them appears to feature a kiss.

For the final send-off, Sherman-Palladino said a lot of thought went into how to say farewell to Midge.

“We’re trying to savour every minute because this show is not going to happen again. It’s that thing that happens where you work with a cast that you would work with the rest of your life and a crew that you would take a bullet for. We’re trying to make sure that we appreciate every moment,” she told Glamour.

“We really took a lot of time and a lot of care to make sure that we stick the landing because the most important thing to me is to make sure that Midge gets the send-off and the full treatment that she deserves.”

With Kveller

Season five of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel will stream on Amazon Prime from April 14. Catch up on seasons 1-4 now.

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