THE ICARUS MOMENT (THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL, SEASON THREE)

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The third season of Amazon Prime's 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' begins with a burst of optimism and the belief that she is about to have a real breakthrough.

After catching the eye of Leroy McClain's crooner Shy Baldwin in Season Two, Rachel Brosnahan's Midge Maisel is very much on the up.

Her star is so much in the ascendant, she embarks on a tour supporting him that will ultimately lead to a slot in the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem.

However as Midge basks in the glory, she is rocked by the discovery that her manager Alex Borstein's Susie Myerson has agreed to take on her comedy nemesis, Jane Lynch's Sophie Lennon as a client.

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Meanwhile Midge's ex, Michael Zengen's Joel Maisel is hoping to open up a club with the backing of his businessman father, Kevin Pollak's Moishe.

They identify a potential property in Chinatown and strike a deal.

Not long afterwards, he begins to realise his Chinese landlords are also operating an illegal gambling den in the basement.

Joel comes to an arrangement with them to allow the den to continue, while also falling for Stephanie Hsu's mysterious Mei Lin, who acts as the landlords' translator.

Meanwhile Midge's mum, Marin Hinkle's Rose Weissman has to find her own source of income after cutting off all ties with her family in Oklahoma.

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Her schism results in the drying up of the family trust fund that has kept her and her husband, Tony Shalhoub's Abe in the style to which they have become accustomed.

Forced to leave their apartment in Manhattan and move in with Joel's parents Moishe and Caroline Aaron's Shirley, both couples find it a trying experience.

Aside from domestic woes, Abe falls in with a group of left wing friends and then tumbles into a promising career in journalism.

This excites him greatly.

With Sophie proving a demanding client with a career redefining ambition to perform Strindberg's 'Miss Julie' on Broadway, Susie turns to Shy Baldwin's shrewd manager Sterling K Brown's Reggie for advice.

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Meanwhile while befriending Shy on tour, Midge also discovers a secret about him.

However that leads to an Icarus moment which has potentially devastating consequences for her career.

Having got off to a rip-roaring start with two ebullient seasons of their Amazon Prime comedy drama, Amy Sherman-Palladino's third season raises the bar even higher.

Some elements of 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' haven't changed.

The same razor sharp style of rapid fire gags are there. 

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But Season Three also injects a greater sense of risk into the proceedings, with Midge being swept along by the glamour and potential that her support slot for Shy offers her.

Susie is wrestling with a management career that is showing signs of really taking off.

However she struggles to juggle the demands of having to handle more than one client.

As a consequence for much of Season Three you expect one or both of them to trip up and when it happens, it happens in spectacular fashion.

Over eight episodes, Sherman-Palladino, her co-writer and husband Daniel and their fellow director Dan Attias continue to deliver smart, pacy instalments of the show with all the energy and wit of a screwball comedy.

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Visually, 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' remains as opulent as ever, thanks to Bill Groom's vibrant production design, Jan Jericho, Neil Prince and J Mark Harrington's striking art direction, Donna Zakowska's lush costume designs and M David Mullen, Jeffrey Jur's vivacious cinematography. 

The film editing team of Andrew Mondshein, Kate Sanford, Tim Streeto and Zana Bochar remains critical to the success of the show, ensuring that neither the pace nor the Palladinos' vision slackens.

Ultimately, though, what makes 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' a joy to watch is the cast.

As Midge, Brosnahan remains whip smart and hugely engaging, deftly handling all the humour and pathos that comes with her intelligently written title role.

With their impeccable comic timing, her exchanges with Borstein also remains a delight, with the latter's earthy, blue collar realism continuing to ground Midge.

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Having played second fiddle to Brosnahan for two seasons as the flawed husband, Zengen feels like he is really being cut loose now that both characters have accepted the failure of their marriage.

Not only does he gel effectively with Brosnahan, Pollack and Aaron but in his scenes with Hsu, he cuts a much more agreeable figure.

As Abe, Shalhoub remains one of the show's strongest cards and he continues to be an inveterate scene stealer.

However Hinkle, Aaron and Pollak grab their moments to dazzle as various representatives of the quirky, unpredictable older generation.

One of the show's big achievements is the way its guest stars - some more famous than others - just seem to slot in so comfortably into their fringe roles.

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Jane Lynch and David Paymer continue to have fun reprising the parts of Sophie Lennon and the arrogant, powerful showbiz agent, Harry Drake.

Sterling K Brown is a terrific addition to the cast as the no nonsense Reggie, as is Hsu as Mei Lin.

Leroy McClain brings a lot of vulnerability to the role of Shy Baldwin and Luke Kirby's occasional appearances each season as the legendary, edgy comic Lenny Bruce are always welcome.

With its devastating climax to Season Three, the Palladinos set up a host of intriguing scenarios for Season Four. 

But they have also raised the narrative bar even higher, turning what was once an amusingly light comedy drama into something with a little more grit.

That alone is worth a round of applause.

(The third season of 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime on December 6, 2019)