Midge Maisel is back and her career is taking off for real.
SUMMARY (Spoiler-Free)
At the end of the last season, Midge. Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) was asked by singer Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain) to be his opening act on tour through the US and Europe, including the USO. This proves to be a good move for her, as she starts to get exposed to larger venues in Las Vegas and Miami, but takes a massive toll on her personal life and family life. Meanwhile, Susie (Alex Borstein), her manager, is attempting to help her new client, Sophie Lennon (Jane Lynch), with her dream of becoming a legitimate dramatic actress. However, Sophie’s superstar personality makes everything difficult. Abe and Rose Weissman (Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle), Midge’s parents, are dealing with losing their apartment and Abe’s career after he quit in protest during the last season. They’re forced to move in with Moishe and Shirley Maisel (Kevin Pollak and Caroline Aaron), the parents of Midge’s ex-husband Joel (Michael Zegen). Joel, meanwhile, is dealing with trying to open a nightclub over a gambling den in Chinatown.
END SUMMARY
This season is the first time that we really start to get an idea that just getting the break isn’t enough. Midge has clearly gotten her big break with Shy Baldwin, but she now has to deal with all of the work of actually having an audience and a venue and how it impacts her life. She’s chosen her career over her fiancé Benjamin (Zachary Levi) because it makes her happy, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t regret things. She also spends a lot of time questioning her decision because it makes her unable to see her kids. It’s a good demonstration of the cost of success.
We also see Susie dealing with being successful for the first time in her life, managing to beg, borrow, threaten, and lie her client Sophie into a role as a lead on a highly-anticipated Broadway play. It’s made all the more frustrating because Sophie, who usually just plays the same comic character in her act, cannot bring herself to work well with others at first. I have to give credit to Borstein and Lynch, because their interplay is a damned-near-perfect representation of a person trying to direct a big personality who is used to getting their way. Having dealt with those in a number of capacities, watching Susie clearly suppress the reasonable urge to punch someone who is trying to ruin their own life was spot-on.
Most of the other plotlines are pretty entertaining, although none of them are really compelling. Abe Weissman’s character devolves a little as he loses his purpose and struggles to deal with how the “revolution” has changed since his youth. Rose is inspired to be more independent by Midge, but then kind of resents her for it. Joel dates a girl who runs a gambling den. All of them have some laughs, but I just never really cared about them much.
Overall, I’m still enjoying the show, but it maybe needs to figure out what to do with everyone but Midge and Susie.
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