Miriam “Midge” Maisel’s (Rachel Brosnahan) estranged husband Joel (Michael Zegen) isn’t the only person who’s feeling the effects of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 1. The burgeoning stand-up comic’s heavily traditional parents, Abe (Tony Shalhoub) and Rose (Marin Hinkle), are also trying to come to terms with their daughter’s new life. What’s more, they’re doing so at a disadvantage, as they don’t actually know what Midge has been up to when she goes out at night.
Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle talk Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 2
“All of the changes in Midge’s life from the first season are impacting these other characters,” Tony Shalhoub tells Metro. “We’re seeing the ripple effect of her choices and of all the upheaval that they have been causing.”
“The ripple effect actually causes some to kind of blossom into a new dimension,” adds Hinkle, whose character – a stay at home mom – embarks on her own adventure following her daughter’s adventures. “In a way, it’s a reconnection to her own youth.”
The show’s newfound focus on its supporting characters, and especially Rose and Abe, takes the series on a whirlwind trip to Paris in the very first episode of season 2. The glitz and glamor that accompanies a location shoot is, of course, on full display, but so too is Hinkle and Brosnahan’s chance to switch places.
“It’s like holding a mirror up to nature a little bit,” Hinkle continues. “With what Midge is doing, and with what she’s calling me out on – by leaving the home – it comes full circle. I love that because, in a way, I become a little bit closer to her. Even though Midge still has this secret that I don’t really know about, or I don’t know what she does, it’s still a great connection.”
Obviously, what Rose experiences in season 2 is very much her own journey, but it also involves her husband. That’s why he and their daughter end up traveling across the Atlantic to find her (and discover what’s really going on). It’s also why Shalhoub can’t help adding to Hinkle’s explanation during their joint interview. For as much as Rose and Abe are individual characters blossoming into their own, they’re also a unit – a dysfunctional one, but a unit all the same.
“The changes that Midge is going through kind of forces Rose and Abe to reevaluate their own their marriage, their own relationship,” he says. “Which has been… maybe there’s been some complacency there. It has set in over the years. I mean, it just is what it is. It’s an okay marriage, it’s solid and everything, but this causes them to really look at it with fresh eyes and figure out where they should go from here.”
“I loved it,” Hinkle concludes. “I loved that we got to this, so much.”
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 2 premieres Wednesday, Dec. 5, on Amazon Prime.
