Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is back with an entirely new project, and we’re pretty sure it would be Rory and Lorelai’s new favorite show. The pilot of Sherman-Palladino’s new dramedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel drops today on Amazon Prime, giving us a look at the life of a 1950s housewife turned stand-up comic.
Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) may be a fictional character, but she’s so raw, honest, and funny, we already think of her as the patron saint of the Amy Schumers and Margaret Chos of the world. Midge does an under-the-radar set at her own wedding. She gives her wannabe stand-up husband Joel (Michael Zegen) tough notes on his act. She does her first set and jokingly pulls her breast out to make a point.
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Yet amid all of the pilot’s perfect jokes, Mrs. Maisel makes an important point about all the hard work women put in to seem effortless 24/7. Whether Midge is cooking the perfect brisket or floating into Joel’s office before a trip downtown, she always looks camera-ready perfect.
We soon learn the mom of two’s dedication to seeming immaculate even spills into her bedtime routine. When Midge — a woman who’s noted her body measurements every day for 10 years — and her husband go to sleep, she’s still glowing in a way that very few women keep up once their head hits the pillow.
Once Joel is asleep, Midge’s secret is revealed. She slips out of bed every night to put in curlers, wrap her hair, rip off her fake lashes, wipe off her lipstick, wash her face, and apply cold cream. She then wakes up the moment the sun rises to put back on her “day face,” as if none of her nighttime magic occurred.
When Joel’s alarm clock goes off, her’s none the wiser and believes his wife naturally rises looking like a creamy skinned, perfectly curled goddess. It’s clear Midge has been doing her undercover routine for four years of marriage. The scene is immediately heartbreaking and recognizable to many women who spend every day trying to put their “best” face forward with half the products at Sephora.
Although the moment doesn’t have the same explosive importance as Annalise’s How to Get Away With Murder wig removal, Mrs. Maisel’s deeply private beauty moment reminds us, in much the same way, of all the labor women put into keeping up appearances.
If only for more of these kinds of honest moments we rarely see on TV, we’ll keep our fingers crossed Amazon picks up a full season of Mrs. Maisel.