Thank you and good night: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel prepares to take its final bow

Much like Susie Myerson always secures her cut, Alex Borstein would like you to know that she coined the term "womance" and is planning to trademark it. "Anyone out there who says it, I'm gonna make a little cash," she quips. "I'd like to make sure 'womance' is uttered at least six times in this conversation about womance. Do you have an opinion about womance? About what it takes to make an iconic womance?"

Whatever it takes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Susie Myerson (Borstein) and Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) have it, as do the women who play them. Womance — a platonic love story between two women (say, a bromance with curves) — is about connection, complexity, and the unerring, unfettered belief that two people have in each other.

Though to hear Borstein define it, "Bodily functions is what womance is all about."

It's hard to argue with that description as she and Brosnahan spend a recent March afternoon reminiscing about the closeness they developed over the past six years filming their Prime Video series. They fondly recall Borstein announcing her daily constitutional to the entire set and Brosnahan shaving her armpits with the help of the wardrobe team in between takes. (Borstein also takes the opportunity to reveal a previously undisclosed sexual liaison in her trailer — see it all in the video further down). "We're disgusting," Brosnahan summarizes with a laugh.

Disgusting, perhaps. Delightful, mostly. Distinctive, without question. Over the past four seasons, gruff, closed-off, tenacious barkeep-turned-talent-manager Susie and effusive, impulsive, ambitious housewife-turned-comedian Midge have evolved into one of the most remarkable female duos in television history. Carve Midge and Susie into television's Mount Rushmore alongside Lucy and Ethel, Mary and Rhoda, Daphne and Velma, and Laverne and Shirley (EW just did, after all). If we need to make a case for it, look no further than the fact that Susie Myerson was recently the answer to a Jeopardy clue in the category, "Title Character's Buddies."

"As much as this was a show about Midge's journey, it was equally in our minds a show about the two of them," says Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. "It's about two women — at a time when women were not expected to be ambitious or powerful or vocal — who find each other. Two women who never would've been friends in a million years if they had passed each other on the street, but who saw something in each other."

When The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel premiered in 2017, it hardly seemed a sure thing. Sherman-Palladino had a massive hit with Gilmore Girls, but her biggest project since, Bunheads, had been unceremoniously canceled after one season (despite a fervent, if small, audience still begging for its return). Having launched original programming in 2013 and finding critical success with Transparent, Prime Video was still looking for a hit on the scale of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black or Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale. Ordering the pilot in 2016, they put a lot of chips down on the pricey period piece trappings of Mrs. Maisel.

And their gamble paid off, with viewers reveling in the dazzling costumes and sets, the singular performances of the gifted cast, and the magic of Midge and Susie as the unlikeliest of teams. From the moment Midge Maisel exposed herself on stage in a drunken rant set at the Gaslight Club, Susie Myerson – and audiences — recognized her potential.

Since that fateful first meeting (and after a little jail time) the two have traversed the sexist, hilarious, heartbreaking world of stand-up comedy in the late 1950s and early 1960s — Midge bringing the funny and Susie the gigs. Those efforts come to a head when the fifth and final season premieres with three episodes on April 14, with subsequent installments spooling out weekly until the series finale on May 26.

While Midge and Susie's four-season journey has been as full of up and downs as the Coney Island Wonder Wheel, Maisel's trajectory has been as smooth as Brosnahan's armpits between takes. The critically acclaimed series remains one of Prime Video's most successful ever, with an average viewer rating of 4.9 out of 5 on the streaming platform, and a heap of awards to boot — most notably 20 Emmys, including one for Best Comedy Series and wins for both Brosnahan and Borstein.

That success is undeniably thanks to this marvelous pair. The duo is the heartbeat of a show littered with obscure Barbra Streisand needle drops and dialogue that moves so quickly it makes your head spin. While Sherman-Palladino's writing moves at a breakneck pace, Midge and Susie keep time as the metronome at the series' center.

"This is the love story of the show," notes Borstein. Never mind Midge's affairs with ex-husband Joel (Michael Zegen), Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby), successful doctor Benjamin Ettenberg (Zachary Levi), or a random hot Riverside Park hookup (Milo Ventimiglia). "It's not a physical or sexual relationship, but it really is a love story," the actress reiterates. "They can't make it without each other. Susie's not gonna be able to win a race because she's not running in it. Midge is her horse and she's… is she the owner or is she the jockey? It's one of those."

Whether Susie is fronting the bill or pushing Midge over the finish line, their partnership is a horse of a different color. (Most likely, pink.) That's in part because their love fest extends to the women behind Midge and Susie. Their mutual respect and affection for one another is on full display at EW's cover shoot on a cold, rainy day on a Los Angeles soundstage where Borstein and Brosnahan are generating laughter and warmth. As they transform from one legendary TV female duo to another, they showcase how much the core conceit of two women working together to create something thoughtful, funny, nostalgic, and yet altogether unique, also defines their own collaboration.

As Lucy and Ethel, they shove chocolates in their mouth, debating the best way to recreate the famous conveyor belt sequence sans conveyor belt. Brosnahan's Daphne sneaks Borstein's Velma's glasses away from her as they indulge in the giddy silliness of bringing to life two cartoon characters. There's lots of gentle ribbing, mutual compliments, selfie taking, incurable giggles, and a brief pause for them to teach themselves Laverne and Shirley's "Schlemiel! Schlimazel!" dance.

When the pair walks onto the set in costume as Midge and Susie, they assume their place in the funny lady firmament. They — and the entire Maisel team— have got only one thing left to prove: That they can bring their series home with a satisfying conclusion that grants Midge and Susie the ending they deserve with requisite pizazz. Though no one seems too worried about that.

"We're going to land the plane," says Sherman-Palladino, with her husband and fellow executive producer, Dan Palladino, adding that the ending is one they conceived before they even shot the pilot. "You're going to see a rapid acceleration of Midge and Susie's journey," Sherman-Palladino hints. "And the toasters are still very attractive."

Inspired by her father's career as a stand-up comedian, Amy Sherman-Palladino first pitched the idea of a show set in the world of mid-century stand-up to her husband at home — in their kitchen, ironically. "I thought the story was more interesting if it was not a man's journey but a woman's journey," she says. "There were very few women who chose to be a road comic or a stand-up at all. It's not the most feminine of occupations. It would take a lot of luck, a lot of talent, and a lot of fortitude."

Those same ingredients were integral to the recipe for creating Maisel and mirroring their heroine's path out of the kitchen to an adoring audience, particularly when it came to finding their Midge and Susie. They wrote the role of Susie for Borstein, whom they'd previously cast on Gilmore Girls (first as Sookie before Melissa McCarthy stepped into the role and then as two supporting characters) and was already a comedy legend thanks to Mad TV, Getting On, and voicing Lois on Family Guy. Brosnahan, then predominantly working on stage, was their discovery.

"Rachel was the only actress that knew to lean into the microphone," Sherman-Palladino says of the Manhattan alum's audition. "She had the balls. She'd never done a comedy before. She always played very tragic roles. But she wasn't afraid of the monologue [from the pilot]. Midge was a very confident character, and whoever played her had to walk into the room with that confidence. Once you saw Rachel do it, it was game over."

Brosnahan remembers it differently, feeling utterly terrified. "Midge felt so far away from me in almost every way," she says. "The only thing that we share is a flat refusal to give up. But apart from that, the character felt out of reach. So much so that, honestly, through the entire shooting of the pilot, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop."

With Brosnahan cast, Sherman-Palladino had to convince Prime Video that Borstein was right for Susie. They flew Borstein to New York for a chemistry read with Brosnahan, which proved to be an old-fashioned mic drop. "When Amazon saw the tape, it was like, 'That's it,'" says Dan Palladino. "It was so obvious they were the perfect pair."

"I was immediately intimidated by Alex," Brosnahan remembers of first meeting Borstein at that chemistry read. "She's so funny and she's so smart and sharp and quick, and I was just like, 'What the f--- am I doing here when that exists?"

Borstein recalls a similar level of terror inherent to the audition process, but a sense of connection overrode that — particularly once they were cast. "I just knew we fit," she says. "It's that kind of thing when you go on a lot of dates and it's not so much who you're comfortable talking with, it's who you're comfortable in the silence with. We felt immediately comfortable. Like we'd already known each other."

Both Brosnahan and Borstein describe their offscreen relationship as one in parallel to the series: Two utterly different creatures who happened to cross paths and evolve their professional relationship into a friendship. "Our souls tangled right from our first audition," reflects Borstein. "We would never have met otherwise, but from the get-go, we fit in a weird way. Like dance partners."

There's something to their differences — Midge's pampered upbringing in contrast to Susie's hard-knock life; the ease with which Midge loves and connects with others in sharp opposition to Susie's emotional walls. That push and pull between the hyper-feminine Midge and the no-frills Susie is all packaged in a story that gives them equal weight as they pursue their ambitions.

"Their chemistry is perfection," says Kevin Pollak, who plays Midge's father-in-law, Moishe Maisel. "It's beautifully oil and water. Over and over again, these two dusted themselves off, or one lifted up the other and helped dust the other off."

For Caroline Aaron, who portrays Moishe's wife Shirley, Maisel was an opportunity to be part of a story that reflects her own experience in ways she almost never sees on television. "The foundation of my life is my women friends," she says. "There is something so essential for women about other women in their lives."

As Sherman-Palladino sums it up: "The world couldn't see them and they insisted that they be seen."

Dare we call that rarefied, so infrequently depicted relationship a "womance"? (Alex Borstein, your check is on the way.) "Midge knows that she and Susie are soulmates, in business and in life," proclaims Brosnahan.

When we left Midge and Susie at the end of season 4, they were at a crossroads, with Midge missing out on a major career opportunity with Tony Bennett because she refused to be an opening act. Can the manager and comedian move forward together? Or is there a fracture in sight? And if Midge and Susie are the true love story at the heart of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, does that come with its own version of happily ever after? All that remains to be seen, but no womance is without obstacles.

"Season 5 tests this relationship tremendously," teases Borstein. "They stumble. Marriage ain't easy, and this one is certainly not immune to a lot of the trouble. Whether that means they're going to be working together forever, I don't know. But they have to be a part of each other's lives forever in some regard."

The stars can confirm that Midge and Susie will continue to fight for their dreams — making it to the big time in their respective careers. Though, "nothing's ever linear on the path to success, and that'll be true here too," says Brosnahan. "They're both going to be pushed and stretched in ways that they can't imagine. Sometimes they do their best work out the other side of a big blowup between the two of them. We can certainly expect the roller coaster to continue. But ultimately, it's the two of them at the end of the day."

While Midge and Susie have always been the show's dynamic dames, there is the rest of the immediate Maisel clan to consider. Will Moishe change his ways after his brush with death in season 4? How will Midge's parents, Abe (Tony Shalhoub) and Rose Weissman (Marin Hinkle), navigate their jobs as theater critic and matchmaker? What will happen to Joel and his club — and pregnant Mei (Stephanie Hsu)? How will Midge's successes or failures impact all of them?

Sherman-Palladino holds those answers more tightly than Midge's girdle, but the cast is willing to expose a little leg for our benefit.

Abe will finally settle into his new career: "He's had a major priority shift," says Shalhoub. "It isn't about status and income now. It's more about being your own person, having your own voice. He has things to say, and it connects him to a broader audience than a classroom full of math students. He's got a bigger pulpit, and he likes that." Easy to see where Midge gets it from.

Hinkle teases that Rose might face unintended consequences for forging ahead with her matchmaking business despite threats from competitors. But overall, the end of her character's journey is about making peace with the ways in which Midge's choices have also broadened her own horizons. "She has moved into this openness about women working in general, not just herself," says Hinkle. "There's been such tension and a double standard. But by the end of this, Rose will have some different quality of connection to what her daughter does, as well as a real sense of her own courage and commitment to being this working woman."

Midge and her parents share a drive that they would never admit to each other. "When Midge has to battle through being a woman in the world of show business, we see that she is a fighter," Shalhoub poses. "Both Abe and Rose, as we discover, are fighters too. They're survivors. They know how to adapt."

For the Maisels, the Weissmans, and Midge and Susie, season 5 is their final set — the last chance to perfect the punchline of how Mrs. Maisel's trajectory "affects not only her own path, but her family that loves her," says Pollak. "This final season delivers a great deal on what we've come to expect of these families in terms of their lack of compromise. They're fighting against the way that life progresses. Not just their own lives, but Midge's too. But the season celebrates her stick-to-it-tiveness and her drive and her compassion. And it ends up affecting everyone."

Viewers may have to wait for the May 26 finale to see how that plays out, but the cast has been sitting on those answers since they said their tearful goodbyes when filming wrapped in November.

"The last days on our set were traumatic," Borstein says. "It was hard to get through a single line of dialogue without crying. Susie's character was so wrapped up in 'I brought this girl to where she is and now I've got to let her go or say goodbye.' Susie feels like a mother character and saying goodbye to this show is like saying goodbye to a child. It was very hard to know, like, I am never going to look Rachel in the eye and say 'Tits up!' again."

But the message behind "Tits up," as both catchphrase and thesis of the show, should nip any lingering sadness in the bud. Because while their days making Maisel may be over, the legacy they're leaving behind is still coalescing.

"Seeing these two women push, not just to make it in a predominantly male field but to create their own space, is a story a lot of women share," reflects Borstein. "That's been exhilarating for a lot of people to watch."

In some ways, Borstein summed up the quintessence of the show back in 2019 while accepting her Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work on Maisel. She spoke of her grandmother's experiences in the Holocaust, telling a story of how stepping out of a line of women waiting to be shot saved her grandmother's life.

"It's about breaking boundaries," she says now. "Maybe it's so f---ing cheesy to quote myself, but when I talked about stepping out of line after I was so f---ing lucky to get that Emmy…. This show is about women that stepped out of line and continued to do so. Its creator did, and these characters did. It's about finding your light — and stepping out of the line if you have to [in order] to find it."

"This show changed my life," adds Brosnahan. "Midge and I grew up together. I learned how to be a better leader, all while learning and trying to be a better person outside of the show. Everything about Midge and about this project felt impossible, as someone who toes the line of debilitating insecurity about my own ability. Finding the unflappable confidence that Midge has was a daunting task that never got easier. But the process of trying to discover that taught me a lot about what's possible.

"I hope the show was entertaining as f---, and that it made people laugh when the world was on fire," she continues. "But I've heard incredible stories, from young women in particular, who felt inspired by the show to change their lives — to try something that they'd never tried before, to be a little bit braver. One can only hope that people keep finding it and feel a little bit of that same thing."

If you ask Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino, that's all because of Midge and Susie. "We depicted these two women in such strong, unapologetic ways," reflects Dan Palladino. "They were soft, but they did not apologize a lot. They were very, very strong, and they were themselves, and they were individualistic. They came off as real."

Probably because you don't get much realer than Brosnahan and Borstein, who, stripped of their panoply of wigs and costume changes, cavort in feather-trimmed robes as they say goodbye once more. With the cover shoot concluding, they ham it up for a Polaroid camera, nearly crying as they're laughing so hard, then actually tearing up, remembering that this is all coming to end. The trappings of Midge and Susie (and the other classic duos) hang on a garment rack in the dressing room, lifeless without the vibrant energy these two women imbued them with. The actresses have other engagements to run to, but before they go, they squeeze in one last "Smidge" selfie — a signature photo they've taken countless times.

How's that for a fine womance?

Related content:

• Hank Azaria, Sutton Foster, and Darren Criss among guest stars on final The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season
• Take a look back at every season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (and five years of Midge ensembles)
• Meet Your Maker: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino on her pop culture inspirations