What I’m Watching: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 2, Episode 2 “Mid-way to Mid-town” (B+)

This was a superb follow-up to a strong season opener, indicating directions for this season that are less expected given what happened last time. Midge getting booked at a downtown club was a sign that she might be going places, but then, as the night went on, she kept sweating and so did I as a viewer, worried that she might bomb if she was ever allowed to go on stage. As usual, she managed to win over the crowd, though in a different way than usual by directly going after the men who had been so cruel to her while she was waiting. The excitement she and Susie felt was immediately replaced by a dread of a different sort caused by the club manager’s angry response to her mocking regular comics. She’s going to have to be creative to get ahead, and earning laughs at the expense of connections may be the way to do it. I’m glad to see that Kevin Pollak is taking on a bigger role in this season as Moshe as his son finds a way to fill his time and point out just how much trouble his parents’ company is in, something that only he is uniquely qualified to fix. Abe enjoying Paris was a surprise, but of course he wasn’t buying it as the long-term plan that Rose wanted it to be. Most wondrous of all, he seems to have gotten the message upon their return to New York, sponsoring Rose for art classes and signing them up to learn how to dance. What a lovely development that is.