The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Review: Go Forward / It’s a Man, Man, Man, Man World / Typos and Torsos (Season 5 Episodes 1-3)

Please note this review contains spoilers for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5 Episodes 1-3.

Midge finally starts to get her act together — in more ways than one — at the beginning of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5. 

The start of the season feels more tightly crafted than earlier seasons. The trajectory is clear, and it feels like we are working toward a conclusion that won’t leave many loose ends.

Yet the first three episodes, “Go Forward,” “It’s a Man, Man, Man, Man World,” and “Typos and Torsos,” have all the charm and wit that we’ve come to adore from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It just no longer feels like it’s biding its time.

In fact, this is probably the first time since Season 1 that the series felt like it knew exactly where it was heading.

Maybe the flash-forwards help with that a bit, and I’ll be honest, I can’t decide yet how I feel about them. It’s a new device for the series and it’s showing us that yes, Midge does become successful.

Incredibly so. But it also shows that there’s a cost to that success when it comes to her family, her love life, and even her relationship with Susie. That’s devastating news I almost wish I wasn’t aware of at this point. 

What’s most interesting about those flash-forwards, though, is seeing what became of Esther and Ethan — and how very unimpressed they are with their mother’s career. 

It makes the viewer feel conflicted over what the goal is in the present-day story. Lenny told Midge exactly what she needed to hear at the end of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4, and his honest words along with Susie seeing that the window of opportunity is about to close for Midge sets everything else in motion. 

The learning experience is one that makes us want to root for Midge in a way we haven’t necessarily wanted to in a while. She’s gotten the chip off her shoulder and she’s letting Susie take the reins.

She’s still confident, and she needs to be, but she’s more willing to do what she has to do in order to make it in the business. 

Working as a writer for Gordon Ford is just one example of her making that type of step. That gig is once again thanks to Susie, who is so enjoyable to watch as she fights to get Midge even just the tiniest bit in the door. 

This puts Midge, once again, in a place of vulnerability and at the very bottom, just trying to claw her way in. It’s probably good for her ego to struggle in that writers room the way she does, but it’s also a really clear example of misogyny in that time period. 

Watching her figure out a new world like this — watching her struggle and overcome, is one of the joys of watching this show. And it’s good storytelling to have her go through it again in the show’s final season, yet in an entirely different way. 

Her character also remains entirely consistent as she audibly groans when Gordon messes up her joke on air. Her lack of a filter has gotten her into trouble in some of the most cringeworthy ways, and it’s done it here again.

Luckily, it’s not the end of her job there — even though it is pretty disappointing that Gordon Ford makes a pass at her. 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5 – First Look. Pictured: Rachel Brosnahan (Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel). Copyright: Amazon Studios. Credit: Philippe Antonello/Prime.

Amidst all of this, Midge has a chance run-in with Lenny Bruce. And it feels very final. 

She runs into him at the airport after dropping off Alfie. Lenny is on his way to California, and he’s even rented a house. Midge promises Lenny that she’s not going to blow it. She acknowledges everything he said to her.

And with the kind of passion we’ve come to know from this character — and from Luke Kirby’s incredible performance — he tells her he’s going to hold her to that.

It probably is the perfect way for those two to end, especially considering the historical facts surrounding Lenny Bruce and that he’d die a few years later. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have loved to see them spend more time together, but it makes sense to have this moment of closure.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5 – First Look. Pictured: Rachel Brosnahan (Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel), Luke Kirby (Lenny Bruce). Copyright: Amazon Studios. Credit: Philippe Antonello/Prime Video

Meanwhile, Joel’s world is falling apart at the seams. Just as he reveals that he’s getting married to Mei and that they’re going to have a baby, she breaks up with him and tells him she’s moving to Chicago. 

And maybe, just maybe, her conversation with Midge at the hospital is what set her over the edge. This isn’t a life Mei wanted, and she’s not willing to give up her dreams. It doesn’t feel all that sudden, either — there had been clues from the moment she found out she was pregnant that this wasn’t something she would be able to accept.  

Joel’s reaction to the news isn’t unlike the way Midge goes off the rails when she learns Joel was cheating on her. Joel finds himself drunk and on a stage trying to tell jokes — but for him, it doesn’t go nearly as well. 

What it does seem to be doing, though, is setting it up for Joel’s ending in this story as well. It really does feel like everything is working toward a proper end.

Other thoughts:

• Abe being torn apart over the typo is as funny as it is tragic. It’s also, quite frankly, really relatable.
• Also relatable is the way Abe insists that what Midge and Joel are doing with Ethan’s sleep routine is unnecessary, and yet he manages to scare the poor kid worse and set them back completely.
• There is something really satisfying about Rose going to Susie for help with her problem of being targeted. Even more satisfying is seeing Kelly Bishop play this awful woman so well — and behind bars, no less!
• Milo Ventimiglia returns for this episode as well, and he’s dead set on explaining himself to Midge. Maybe, it turns out, he’s not such a bad guy after all. PS: Is that the same subway that Jess took Rory to in New York on Gilmore Girls? 

What did you think of these episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel streams Fridays on Prime Video.

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