'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' season four review: Midge is back with a bang

The first two episodes are all guns a-blazin' - and we're here for it

A red-faced Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) heads back to her life in NYC, following her abrupt and shameful firing on the airport runway. Can she get her career back on track with her gambling addict manager (Alex Borstein) in tow?

Midge and Susie are back in town. However, as shamed and dejected as they feel, it makes for quite a wild start to 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' season four for us at home.

In this, the golden age of the streaming services war, it's becoming increasingly difficult to forge out a unique viewing experience for viewers. With Netflix and Disney+ arguably leading the pack these days, other services can, unfortunately, get lost in the scuffle. Prime Video, which only has a handful of AAA TV series in its hand at the moment ('The Boys' and 'The Wheel of Time' to name a couple), but with plenty more on the horizon ('The Rings of Power'), one hopes that 'Mrs. Maisel' remains at the forefront of the streamer's plans. Thankfully, we can report that after viewing the first two episodes of season four, the series is far from feeling stale. In fact, it's more unsteady than ever - and that's a good thing.

Picking up moments after that heartbreaking season three finale, the opening moments of season four has Midge and Susie deal with Shy Baldwin's unexpected firing of his support act for his around the world tour. Supposed to be on their way to Prague for their first pit stop, the pair now have to return to smelly Manhattan in a smelly taxi cab with no idea what to do next; Midge's sudden realisation reaches such a breaking point that she gets out of the cab and batters it with a palm tree branch she found on the side of the road. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is pissed.

Due to word of mouth of her dire situation, Midge's career takes a swift nosedive with Susie unable to get her a single gig in town. Having to start from square one all over again isn't easy, especially with a "rogue" client on her hands, but it's up to Susie to fulfil her job (and also not let Midge find out about that money she might have gambled away).

Both of the central characters are not handing their shift back into city life, with one appearing worse off than the other. Midge, who has bought her old apartment back thanks to Moishe (Kevin Pollak), must now try to sustain her glamorous lifestyle, keep her family fed, and not allow her parents (the ever incomparable pairing of Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle) to get under her feet too much; meanwhile, Susie teams up with her sister Tessie (Emily Bergl) in order to try to get her insurance money, while also attempting to drop her only other client, Sophie (Jane Lynch).

Having only been given the first two episodes to watch for preview, it's difficult to give an overall review of the fourth season. All in all, however, it's a charming start to Midge's return to the Ferris wheel that is New York living, and one that could pave the way towards being her most memorable, yet most erratic, season yet.

'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' season four begins on Prime Video on Friday, February 18. Two episodes will be released on a weekly basis.