Creating something is a difficult task. Maintaining it is even more difficult, especially when it comes to long running film franchises and shows. Their inception would be S Tier but gradually would end up being just some random forgettable thing.
Sometimes they’d over milk a cow, which is why I wish that content should have a limited life. It should be planned out in a way and should end after that plan is finished—no unnecessary extensions. But that’s not how entertainment business works.
You milk it and you milk it and milk it until you realize all that remains is flesh and bones. Something I believe happened with the “Arrowverse” of DC and “The Fast and The Furious” franchise, or something that feels likely to happen with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But milking is a whole different conversation altogether.
Let’s talk about maintenance. Something that involves milking but isn’t directly milking, just a set of poorly executed decisions that do not survive the hype it creates. “Sex Education,” “Sacred Games,” “Mirzapur,” “Game of Thrones,” etc. are some of the examples of such hype killers.
All of them ended their previous seasons on a perfectly high note but horribly failed to live up to it. “Sacred Games” had a gut wrenching season one finale but season two was just random nonsense here and there created just so the writer could show his swearing skills.
“Game of Thrones” was on a perfectly high note until the directors took it upon themselves to make it more commercial and theatrical and it completely messed up the characters’ arcs. Fans waited years for a perfect finale and they were rewarded with some kind of a Frankenstein’s monster, metaphorically. But “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” doesn’t suffer from any of this. It had a super strong inception and, if anything, it kept on getting stronger and stronger with the arc.
There are times I’d want it to be a little bit dramatic and just make things happen magically, but the show never once did that. They rather stayed with their decisions and that’s what makes this show unique.
The script is, so far, one of the strongest writings I’ve ever seen. The attention to detail and the typical way a character behaves, everything is perfect. The song choices are perfect. Amy Sherman-Palladino surely is on my Mt. Rushmore of screenwriters along with Chris Terrio and two others that I’ll possibly find at some point in my life.
The direction is so perfect because, when you’re working on so many different characters and having so many different perspectives, you need to have your act together. Otherwise, it’s impossible to pull off such a difficult narrative of storytelling.
Editing is chef’s kiss! Every cut they make is so subtle and perfect that you constantly want to know what happens next. The perfect pacing makes you beg for it!
As for the story, I was really afraid where they’d take it after breaking her by canceling her opening act with Shy Baldwin, but they managed to use that as a device to move the story forward. Her choice to make a plan, a specific plan on how she wants to do her gigs, really drives the story forward until we realize she’s messing her career up by misinterpreting one of the people she looks up to,Lenny Bruce.
She wants to be bold out there without worrying about going to jail or getting canceled. It’s when Lenny Gives his top tier speech on how show business works when she realizes how big of a mistake she has made. That’s a perfect way to end the show because now we desperately want to know what happens next. Would she change her path and if yes, how?
They even had a sex scene involving them which, frankly, I’ve been waiting for for the last three seasons. But they didn’t do it abruptly. It was so subtle that it felt magical. Thanks to the makers for not pulling off a Tarantino on the corset scene. Tarantino built up, for about an hour, a lap dance in the theatrical cut of “Death Proof” and ended up cutting the scene, just to toy with the audience. He did eventually add the scene in the extended cut but, boy, if you talk about the corset, you show the corset!
The parallel storylines involving Suzie, Abe, Rose, Joel and Mei are all intriguing. Usually creators focus on one and miss out the other but here, every arc is interesting. I really love how Abe is trying to go back to his roots and be as honest as he can be even when knowing there would be consequences. That’s something real critics have to deal with. So seeing that aspect was amazing.
Suzie is one hell of a character. The way she deals with things, we just know that she’s going to be on the top someday. Her hardwork roots for her. Rose’s new career path and the problems with them are interesting, especially when it comes to territories. That’s a real mafia vibe right there! Joel and Mei are interesting with how they deal with things. Mysterious and interesting.
This show can easily go for about ten seasons if they keep up with the quality, which I hope they don’t mess with in the upcoming years. I’m really invested in this series and it’d be heartbreaking to see it fall.
My rating for season 4 of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” would be a perfect 5/5. This show is a must!
