In its expansive 4th season, Amazon’s half-hour dramedy follows artists in different stages of their careers.

If you have been sleeping on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, it is time to indulge in one of this year’s most binge-worthy series.

Besides the pitch-perfect casting and genre-pushing storylines, Mozart in the Jungle does a rollicking fun job of showing talent at various stages in their artistic journey.

The show centers around maestro Rodrigo De Souza (played with bounding energy and wide-eyed passion by Gail Garcia Bernal) and his all-consuming quest to get the New York Symphony to “play with the blood.”

But it’s the supportive characters who often steal some of the more memorable moments in the series’ 4th season. Each character represents an artist at a different life stage.

For anyone who pursues an artistic calling, Mozart in the Jungle offers amusing and illuminating character studies.

The Blooming Artist

Hailey Rutledge, who at the end of season three transformed herself from a passed over symphony player to a budding conductor in training, begins to desire to separate herself from Rodrigo’s shadow — despite being his love interest.

In conducting an orchestra or ensemble, Hailey discovers something she enjoys more than playing the oboe. Without giving away any spoilers, this season meanders to Hailey’s hometown where audiences get to see why pressure from Hailey’s Father growing up still contributes to her identity today as someone who chokes on the big stage.

Conducting offers Hailey a different thrill. It is an artistic medium where no one expects anything of her, so she is free to learn the craft, follow her instincts, and take risks.

This is demonstrated in the jerky emotional style Hailey develops as her physical conducting signature before the orchestra. Hailey is a strong female character. She has earned the respect of the orchestra players, now she needs the classical music community to look past their assumptions and see her abilities as a maestra. A feat hard enough for a woman, but made even more challenging by her current status as Rodrigo’s girlfriend.

There are bound to be setbacks and rejection as competition and stakes get higher. However, the focus, ambition, and inspiration Hailey displays while pursuing conducting reflects an artist who has found their muse and is fully in bloom.

The Burdened Artist

In contrast to Hailey, Rodrigo bloomed many years ago and is now becoming painfully aware of his reputation, critics, and the weight of responsibility that his title as maestro of the New York Symphony carries.

Without realizing it, he has started to play it safe with the way he conducts the orchestra. The usual channels that supplied him with inspiration have dried up or no longer work the way they used to and he begins to believe that his best work is behind him.

This can happen to an artist who is given the “prodigy” tag early in their career. Where before the adulation of the public gave them confidence and inspiration, now an audience represents the pressure to perform.

As pressure grows into panic, Rodrigo believes his muse has left him for good. He gives away material possessions that are symbolic of his life in music and naively thinks that commitment to Hailey can get him over his creative block.

This maestro character, played with passionate exuberance by Bernal, features an artist in the middle of “second album” success problems. Rodrigo has become a victim of his own success and will try anything–even career suicide to free himself from the burden of expectations.

The Resurgent Artist

The other maestro who gets ample screen time is Rodrigo and Hailey’s mentor, and retired New York Symphony conductor Thomas Pembridge, played by the always electric Malcolm McDowell.

Pembridge represents the artist who has nothing more to prove, but plenty more to give. Rather than rest on his laurels, his drive motivates him to take on challenges he might have deemed too risky when he was younger and still worried about his legacy.

Free of the pressure that comes with creating art for a career, the retired maestro can make music for sheer pleasure again. His experience and contentment give him the confidence to find creative solutions to problems that would stymie lesser established artists.

The music he is able to produce in this state becomes the substance that keeps him feeling vibrant. Where Rodrigo is a young man rapidly aging by conducting music, Pembridge is the old man using music to feel young. Rodrigo has lost the inner child who first fell in love with music and played the violin until his fingers bled. Pembridge has re-awakened his inner child by coaching Hailey and accepting a new position most established musicians would scoff at.

Since both maestros end up coaching Hailey at some point, it is no surprise that Pembridge helps light a fire in Hailey to become one of the greatest female conductors while Rodrigo ends up accidentally (or perhaps subconsciously) extinguishing that flame.

Taking on a protege is a huge responsibility. Only an artist who is completely self-assured and not threatened by another’s talent is up to the task.

The Conflicted Artist

Stuck in the middle of all these temperamental maestros is Bernadette Peters’ character, Gloria. While at first glance she might not seem like an artist. She is a former singer who uses the art of social intelligence to keep the New York Symphony afloat, despite almost constant creative clashes and financial obstacles.

What makes this 4th season so interesting is that Gloria’s own career and motivations are put to the test when she receives a job offer from another sector of the New York art world.

She must make a choice between following her heart, or take what would certainly be a more stable and less stressful career choice.

Artists who start to get some traction in their community often reach a fork in the road. One path leads to greater financial security with a compromise of artistic integrity. The other path offers creative fulfillment with no safety net.

For Gloria, the hardest thing she has to do every day is also the thing she can’t imagine living without. The New York Symphony has become her symphony orchestra. It reflects her personality and to separate herself from that would require a split of her identity.

The other artist at a crossroads is Saffron Burrows intriguing character Cynthia Taylor. A savvy experienced orchestra cellist. Cynthia suffers an industry that threatens to end her professional career. Dealing with a physical limitation beyond her control, Cynthia goes through stages of grief, but ultimately finds redemption by getting back to the root of why she became a musician in the first place.

It is hard to find another series that has three strong independent female voices like the Gloria, Cynthia, and Hailey characters in Mozart in the Jungle. They more than hold their own while surrounded by alpha artist males.

All of the principal actors in this series play their characters so well that they make inspiration, neurosis, self-absorption, obsession, and impulsiveness at turns heartfelt and hilarious.

It is a testament to the writers of this series who portray the highs and lows of an artistic life (in this case professional classical musicians) with such creativity, humor, and joy.

Watching Mozart in the Jungle has given me an even greater appreciation for the sacrifices classical musicians make to be conduits for a composer and conductor’s artistic expression. It is a profession that takes guts, grit, and exceptional ability.

Rodrigo confronts his muse Wolfgang.

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