WANDERLUST (THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL, SEASON TWO)

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After a vivacious debut season, can 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' build on its success?

Season Two finds Rachel Brosnahan's Midge still struggling to adjust to the breakdown of her marriage.

(SPOILER ALERT!!)

Demoted to the role of switchboard operator at B Altman's department store after her ex's former mistress makes a scene, she has to deal with the fallout from dissing Jane Lynch's Sophie Lennon during a stand-up routine in the previous season's finale.

Midge's manager Alex Borstein's Susie is feeling the heat too, with two low level Mafia hoodlums, Erik Palladino's Frank and John Scurti's Nicky being deployed by David Paymer's arrogant, powerful showbiz agent Harry Drake to abduct her in retaliation for her client's public trashing of Sophie.

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Realising they hail from the same neighbourhood, Susie befriends the duo and they let her go unharmed.

There's a crisis in the Weissman household following the departure of Midge's disillusioned mother, Marin Hinkle's Rose for Paris.

Tony Shalhoub's Abe and Midge go to the French capital to try and persuade her to come home but she's having none of it.

Abe, therefore, relocates to Paris, hoping to rekindle a marriage that had lost its va va voom.

Phoning home from the French capital, Midge sounds out her ex, Michael Zegen's Joel about a reconciliation.

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However when he insists he will only return if she quits stand-up, it's a deal breaker.

Midge goes about instead building her stand-up career, encountering sexism and sabotage on the male dominated comedy circuit.

However with her sharp wit, she soon puts sexist male comics in their box onstage.

Eventually after persuading his wife that it's time to come home, Abe and Rose return to New York where he swings her a job auditing art classes at Columbia but it doesn't take long for that plan to go awry.

As good as Midge is as a comedian, she also has a tendency to put her foot in it.

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Asked to do a stand-up gig at a wedding of a colleague in the department store, it misfires.

While Joel tries to get to the bottom of some dodgy business practices at his father Kevin Pollak's Moishe's garment company, the Weissmans take Midge on their annual two month break in the Catskills.

However it soon becomes clear that Midge's parents have brought her there to engineer a romance with Zachary Levi's eligible New York doctor Benjamin Ettenberg.

Susie, meanwhile, is furious her one client has apparently abandoned her stand-up career to go on holiday and she tracks her down.

Unable to get her back to New York because Midge's family aren't aware of her double life as a comedian, Susie starts to pose as a member of staff in the resort and books her gigs in the area instead.

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Meanwhile Abe makes a shocking discovery about his son, Will Brill's Noah's line of work, while Midge's comedy starts to attract the attention of TV shows, enabling her to edge closer to a really big break.

Can Midge continue to build a promising career with Susie's help while keeping it a secret from her parents?

Will she find love with Dr Wittenberg?

With Moishe getting irritated by Joel's sudden interest in his business practices, will they be able to reach an accommodation?

And with chat shows beginning to pick up word about Midge's comic talent, will Susie and her boss be able to keep a bruised Sophie Lennon at bay?

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Once again, Amy Sherman Palladino and her husband, Daniel deliver pacy scripts with bite - this time with the help of Kate Fodor.

The screwball comedy sensibility in Season One remains strong and you get a real sense that the directors, cast and crew are having fun with gags that come thick and fast.

Brosnahan and Borstein remain an electric screen duo, trading quips with consummate ease and handling their moments of drama to perfection.

However they're not the show's only strong cards.

Shalhoub continues to glow as Abe, while Hinkle really blossoms in the second series as Rose becomes more unsettled.

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Zegen does a terrific job ensuring Joel, for all his faults, isn't a villain.

Pollak and Caroline Aaron as Joel's dad Moishe and mum, Shirley revel in the richness of their supporting roles.

Lynch again demonstrates why she has been one of the most in demand comic actors working in US TV, while Luke Kirby's Lenny Bruce pops up at all the right times and is a card that is never overplayed.

Brill impresses too as Noah.

What's even more heartening, though, is the way new characters are introduced and just slot comfortably into proceedings.

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Levi is perfect as the man who could be Mr Right.

Erik Palladino and Scurti amuse as Frank and Nicky.

Leroy McLain holds out some promise as the heartthrob pop singer Shy Baldwin who comes to admire Midge's work and sees real potential in her.

And if the dialogue in the first two seasons of 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' remains a joy, the visuals are a delight as well.

The Palladinos, Scott Ellis and Jamie Babbit direct their episodes with verve.

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They are massively assisted by Bill Groom's superb production design, Donna Zakowska's stunning costumes and by M David Mullen's smooth cinematography. 

All of these elements combine to ensure 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' remains a delightful milkshake of a show - frothy, fun and full of flavour.

With its writers opening up a host of possibilities for its characters in the season ahead, hopes are high at the end of Season Two that it can scale even greater heights.

Here's hoping they do.

(Series two of 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' was made available for streaming in the UK on December 5, 2018)