This year’s Emmy awards season has multiple beloved shows wrapping up their final seasons, including HBO’s “Succession” and “Barry,” FX’s “Atlanta” and even Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso.” One show on prognosticator’s radar that has been a contender across the board since its first season is the twenty-time Emmy award-winning comedy show, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” On April 14th, the show released its season premiere episode, “Go Forward,” plus two additional episodes to kick start its fifth and final season.
The fifth season picks up with our lead Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), dealing with the repercussions of her decisions from last season’s finale. Luckily, opportunity strikes again when her manager Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein), finds her a new job to give her comedy career a push. This creates a new challenge for Midge, as she’s introduced to a new side of the entertainment world while dealing with the continuous complicated struggle with her family and ex-in-laws.
The show continues to carry its timeless aesthetic and fantastic cast, keeping up the witty and whimsical humor that made it such a hit. Each episode foreshadows the life of Midge in her later years, with both the negative and positive influences she’s had on people and her children. This may signify that this is the beginning of the end of our time spent with the beloved female comedian. But while the show maintains most of its familiar charm and is at the very least likely to be a decent ending for these characters, will that be enough to make it a success at the Emmys one last time?
This show will most likely be a craft category contender with its recreation of New York and its transition from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Regarding below-the-line, expect potential nominations for Cinematography, Makeup, Costumes, and Production Design. The show is flashy in its detailed craftsmanship and has been consistently recognized in those categories, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t happen again.
As far as above-the-line categories presented during the telecast, it’s pretty clear that Brosnahan, Borstein, and Tony Shalhoub will be up for acting nominations again. They have not only won their respective categories in previous years but also have yet to skip a single beat, giving outstanding performances each season. And judging by their consistently great work at the beginning of this season and a possible emotional ending of their characters’ arcs, they will probably not miss out on a nomination for this season. The coveted category, Outstanding Comedy Series, has also been an above-the-line category for which the show has consistently been nominated since its first season (which it won the Emmy for). But even with the series ending, is it guaranteed to return for a nomination in Outstanding Comedy Series?
Nothing is ever 100% guaranteed, as many hot and fresh shows in the conversation could capture an Outstanding Comedy Series nomination. As of now, it wouldn’t be absurd to claim that “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is no longer one of the top five contenders as it was in previous seasons. “Ted Lasso” and ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” are suspected frontrunners for the category. Hulu’s “The Bear” is looking to represent one of those hot and fresh new shows. “Barry” is a close contender coming off arguably its most praised season to date, and “Only Murders in the Building” is fresh in voters’ minds as a pure comedy that has continued to delight.
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” still maintains a certain level of excellence, making it better than most comedy series out there. But recent episodes have dipped in quality with tedious subplots and direction that may not be as sharp as the show’s earlier seasons. Even if we look closer at its awards season run, enthusiasm indeed had declined by the time we got to last year’s Emmys with season four. After winning for its pilot episode, the show has yet to return in the Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series category. Still, it did return in key categories such as Outstanding Casting In A Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing In A Comedy Series for its fourth season. The nomination tally for the fourth season hit an all-time low for the series, with twelve nominations compared to previous seasons that were hitting almost twice that amount. While twelve nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, is still considered a success, it should be noted that it went home empty-handed, both above and below the line, the show’s first season with that result.
Undoubtedly, the show’s creator Amy Sherman-Palladino will make great efforts to give “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” a satisfying conclusion. This isn’t to say that the show won’t receive one more glorious run with the Emmys, but in recent years, there have been signs of weakness with how the show’s been received by awards pundits and the Television Academy. Are the Emmys ready to move on to awarding something else? It’s still fair to predict “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” for an Outstanding Comedy Series nomination, but if you don’t think it’s a top-five contender, consider how well it will do this year compared to its competition and previous seasons.
What do you think of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and its final season premiere? Do you love the direction of the show’s narrative? Do you believe this show will overperform or underperform in its last run with the Emmys? Which nominations do you think it will receive? Can the show score one final win in either above or below-line categories? Please let us know in the comments section below or on our Twitter account.
