It's time for Mrs. Maisel's curtain call, as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 debuts on Prime Video Friday, April 14, with its first three episodes. For the first four seasons, fans have watched Midge, played by Rachel Brosnahan, shoot for stardom as a stand-up comic in the late 1950s/early 1960s, with some successes and plenty of bumps along the way. The nine-episode season 5 is the end of the road for her, Susie and the rest of the ensemble.
We at What to Watch have made our feelings on Mrs. Maisel known by including the series in our list of 100 best TV shows of all time, but what do the critics that have seen the final batch of episodes think? Do they give Midge a standing ovation or do they think that her final set is a bomb?
As of Thursday, April 13, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 has a "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes of 89%. Vanessa Armstrong from Slashfilm bills the final season as "the grand send-off it deserves," while Slant's Chris Barsanti says that "the show's mixture of comedy and fantastical nostalgia is as intoxicating as ever." Scott Campbell of We Got This Covered says Mrs. Maisel has likely secured its place as "Prime Video's greatest-ever original series."
However, when you dig a little deeper into the reviews, you see that while the response is generally positive, most critics do not believe it is a flawless performance from the Maisel team.
Mrs. Maisel season 5 apparently employs a shift in its traditional structure, offering flash-forwards to show us what becomes of many of the characters early on in the season. That formatting choice seems to be a sticking point for some. The Daily Telegraph's Marianka Swain notes that "the jarring choice to introduce time-jumps somewhat ruins its escapism." What to Watch contributor Christina Izzo (writing for AV Club) believes that it's a bit late in the game to introduce such a dramatic change and one that she doesn't feel pays off, writing "..The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel does eventually go forward. It just sadly doesn't take us along for the ride."
Here are some other samplings from critics' reviews of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5:
Mary Siroky, Consequence TV: "Without spoiling the last moments before our last fade out, the series finale provides a highly satisfying ending— rest assured, the right people get the last laugh."
Cristina Escobar, RogertEbert.com: "But the show is smart in structuring the season around Midge’s central relationship—the one she has with Susie."
Brian Lowry, CNN: "Having left its mark for Amazon, the nostalgic comedy tries to bring home the story of its central character without venturing far from the rat-a-tat tone that defined the series initially, and that by season five, has grown tedious."
Matt Roush, TVInsider: "All is revealed in the mostly delightful and at times unabashedly poignant fifth and final season."
You can judge the final season for yourself when The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 5 premieres its first three episodes on April 14 on Prime Video. Subsequent new episodes will be released weekly on the streaming service until May 26.
