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Rachel Brosnahan says ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ will have 2 endings: It ‘may surprise you’

Brosnahan's fellow cast members also tease what to expect from the final season of the Emmy-winning comedy.
/ Source: TODAY

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is getting ready to take its final bow.

After six years of laughter, joy and the charismatic characters, the beloved comedy is coming to an end after its fifth season, which premieres this April.

But before the curtain closes, there’s still story to tell. This season, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) sets her sights on bigger dreams than Greenwich Village nightclubs or sets at the Catskills: The nationally syndicated "Gordon Ford Show."

Season Four leaves off with Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) confronting Midge for passing on the Tony Bennett gig and not taking enough career risks, in his opinion. After their night together, Midge finds an injection vial and a syringe in his hotel, a nod to the real comedian's documented struggles with heroin addiction. He died at the age of 40 of an overdose.

Then there's Joel (Michael Zegen) and Mei Lin (Stephanie Hsu) finding out that they're having a baby together, while dealing with his parents, Moishe (Kevin Pollak) and Shirley Maisel (Caroline Aaron), and their beliefs and traditions.

So as Midge continues to pursue her wildest dreams with Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein) right by her side, and the Maisels and Weissmans figure out their next steps, the cast and creators teased — as much as they could — what will surprise fans when they watch the fifth and final season.

“We always knew where we wanted Midge to land,” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino told TODAY.com at PaleyFest Los Angeles on April 4. “We had a very specific image in our minds that we got to do, which was lovely and it worked.”

“We had to land it properly so that the fans were satisfied and so that our actors felt good about where their characters ended,” Sherman-Palladino continued.

Creators Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman-Palladino posing for photos ahead of the panel.
Creators Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman-Palladino posing for photos ahead of the panel.Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images

Daniel Palladino shared that “there’s a lot of stylistic changes and a lot of journey that we take our characters through. So I think they’ll enjoy the ride. It’s a different kind of ride this season.”

He also briefly mentioned Milo Ventimiglia’s return to the show. The actor portrayed one of Midge’s passing love interests in Season Four.

“Milo’s appearance is a little bit more of an action sequence, which is kind of fun,” Palladino said. “I would only have done it with Milo, so thank God he was available.”

Continuing reading to see what the actors told TODAY.com.

Rachel Brosnahan

The star of the show, Midge Maisel herself, said the finale has “something in it for everyone. There’s someone to root for everyone at different moments in the show."

She teased two endings to the show: The regular one and then the "surprising double ending."

"There’s an end and then you get to see a little bit more. And I think that the more you get to see may surprise you.”

As for what she’s learned and will take from portraying the comedian? “That nobody else can believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself.”

She also hopes “a fraction of” Midge’s confidence sticks with her after the show is over. “I learned that I could do things I never thought I could working on this show,” she said, “So I hope I can hold on to a tiny bit of that as we move on from this chapter.”

Michael Zegen

Zegen, who portrays Joel Maisel, didn’t want to “ruin” anything for fans but he did say to keep an eye on the season premiere.

“I think people will be surprised by some of the scenes that happened this year, they’re unlike anything we’ve done before."

He added that there is a storytelling aspect that they hadn’t approached before, “and we use it throughout the course of this season. So you’ll see.”

Tony Shalhoub, Alex Borstein, Rachel Brosnahan, Caroline Aaron and Michael Zegen at "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" PaleyFest event at Dolby Theatre on April 4, 2023 in Hollywood, California.
Tony Shalhoub, Alex Borstein, Rachel Brosnahan, Caroline Aaron and Michael Zegen at "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" PaleyFest event.Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images

Alex Borstein

Borstein was surprised by her character’s development in the final season.

“The biggest surprise for me was how bare Susie became in Season Five,” the actor said. “She really lets her real self show to Midge. She really lets her in, and I think that might be a nice surprise.”

However, she also noted that she would be rooting for Rose Weissman (Marin Hinkle) this season.

“I’m absolutely rooting for Susie and I’m also rooting for Rose,” she said. “I feel like Rose has grown so much. Her character has probably grown the most, more than Midge, more than Abe. Abe’s gone through a lot of changes, but I think the true growth has been Rose.”

Caroline Aaron

Shirley Maisel “has no sense of boundaries,” Aaron said. “She is just delighted by her life and she loves the people that she loves.”

At the end of the day, Shirley has expectations — especially when it comes to her son, Joel.

“There’s a lot of conflict,” she teased of the new episodes. “There’s a lot of people rubbing up against each other and coming out the other side.”

While Shirley is very much a traditionalist, the actor shared that she thinks her character will always put her family first.

“She wants her people to be happy and I think she’ll come around,” Aaron said of Joel and Mei’s relationship and pregnancy news. “I don’t think Shirley is the kind of mother or the kind of woman that ultimately could ever reject anyone that she loves.”

“So no matter what his choices are, no matter how scared I am for him, might not be the best choice, I will make my way around to loving his choices,” she said, putting herself in her character's shoes. “Because I love him.”

Tony Shalhoub

During the PaleyFest panel, Shalhoub touched on his character Abe Weissman's evolution.

Over the course of the series, Abe has seen how “everything’s unraveled and he’s had to embrace the chaos,” the actor said. "Now he’s gone from teacher, author, teacher, and whatever else.”

With Midge making it as a comedian and providing for her family, he said, “There’s a real role reversal there. He was the patriarch calling the shots, leading the clan ... he realizes that it’s better for him, healthier for him.”

Shalhoub said he's loved seeing his character become “a real observer.”

The final season of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" premieres April 14, with three episodes and new episodes each week, until the finale arrives on Friday, May 26.