Hello everyone! Here’s the discussion post for tonight’s Smash. We’re nearing the end people! Hopefully the show can pick up the slack by ending the season with a shocking twist of some sort. (Hopefully one that isn’t completely obvious.)
I’m feeling a bit under the weather today, but I’ll still try and have the recap up late tonight. Otherwise, look for it sometime earlier tomorrow. Thanks!
UPDATE: Recap Below
Sorry this took so long guys. Been battling a nasty flu. But here you go!
This week things kick into high gear. We get right into the Smash previews and the steamy affair between Dev and Ivy. Speaking of, the opening scene reveals the two have in fact done the nasty. I wonder how long before Karen finds out about this? After Ivy dodges some questions from chorus-mate Jessica, the secret is safe for now, and we move on.
Looks like Julia has decided to officially return to the Smash world–with the blessing of Michael and Leo of course. And just as they arrive to the theater entrance, Mr. Michael Swift so conveniently arrives at the same moment. There’s an awkward glance/moment between Michael and Julia’s family…that is until Leo breaks the silence with one of his so well-written lines: “Okay…am I the only one who enjoyed that?” Well Leo, let me think…yep, you just might be the only one who enjoys awkward run ins with the man who almost destroyed your entire family. (I truly don’t understand how some of this shit ends up on the pages of the script.)
Although Julia is here, she makes it a point to tell Tom they are NOT speaking.
Oh boy. It looks as though Ivy and Karen are back to being best friends this week, as Karen not only informs Ivy she hasn’t missed anything in rehearsals, but sticks up for her to Rebecca Duvall as well. “Are you sleeping with Derek?” Karen asks Rebecca with a blank stare on her face (surprise!). After seeing the confusion on Rebecca’s face, Karen finishes with, “Ya know what, it doesn’t matter. I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt.” To which Rebecca replies with one of my favorite lines: “Well then let’s get out of show business Karen…” Seriously though. Karen. You. Have. To. Get. Real! Maybe finding out about Ivy and Dev is just what the character of Karen needs. Heck, I think Kat needs the story line as well. Let’s get some sort of fire under this girl! Sheesh!
Now we move on to the actual preview of the show, which ends up being a montage of most of the musical numbers. This makes me really wanna go see Bombshell guys! Can you imagine an entire show of all these great musical numbers? No dreaded side-plots that are meaningless to the story. No emotionless dialogue from Kat. No talentless, misplaced teenage son. Hey, we even get to see a new number for Karen and Ivy called–wait for it–“Smash.” I really enjoy the number too. Well, let me rephrase: I enjoy any scene in Smash where Katharine gets to exude some form of emotion, energy, or sass. It’s so rare to come by.
The preview ends with Rebecca on stage, portraying Marilyn in her final moments, ultimately commiting suicide. The audience has no idea how to react. Is this how they chose to end the show and remember Marilyn? All of this excitement led up to her depressing demise/suicide? Emergency meeting between the creative peeps stat!
Dev finally shows up to see Karen once the preview is over. He looks as though he just came from murdering a family of newborn puppies. See the guilt in his face Karen? Of course not. Karen is permanently trapped in the land of rainbows and perfect boyfriends…
Oh look what we have here. Eileen’s taking on a song this week. Something about the months of the year–specifically September. Eek. Eileen has taken a note from Rebecca’s book by “speak-singing.” I don’t care if you are Angelica Huston–that was not good.
Back to Karen and Dev. Ugh… I think I’ve finally picked the story line I could give s*** less about this week. Let me sum it up for you before we see anymore from these two. Karen will continuously apologize to Dev over their fight and tell him how much she loves him and wants to marry him and raise his children for the rest of her life–that is until Dev becomes so consumed with guilt he confesses everything to Karen. She’ll then be sent into sensory overload when she’s required to react with some sort of emotional outburst other than a blank stare or confused look. At this point, I’m willing to bet Karen’s reaction line will fall anywhere between, “But, I thought you would love me forever and ever,” and, “Golly Dev. Don’t you know you’ve really hurt my feelings?”
Speaking of hurt feelings–it’s time for Ivy to confront Derek and call him out on his bed-hopping ways. He seems utterly perplexed at the notion Ivy would have a problem with him sleeping with another woman. Are you really that selfish Ivy? Sure, he’s your boyfriend, but Rebecca is the one who really needs his attention right now. Duh! What was she thinking?! *rolls eyes*
Well, Derek is right about one thing: Rebecca is definitely in need of something…an EpiPen that is. Things get real when someone slips some peanuts into her smoothie. I’ll give everyone exactly three seconds to come up with their own guess of who could possibly be “EVIL” enough to do such a thing. (It’s Ellis, for those of you who are completely clueless.)
Now we get into this whole issue of who could possibly replace Rebecca. Call me crazy, but isn’t an understudy’s sole purpose in a show to step in when their corresponding actor can’t play their part? Everyone is going crazy about how “Karen isn’t even close to being ready, and Ivy KNOWS the part.” Then why is Karen the understudy?! Yeah, I know Ivy had her drug-induced fallout on stage, but seriously, someone remind me again–WHY ISN’T IVY UP THERE AS MARILYN?! Even if she doesn’t have this mysterious “it” factor that Karen has, it hasn’t stopped every character from bringing up how great Ivy is as Marilyn. What a pro Ivy is. How awesome she’s been to help get the show going. Etc… So…it sounds to me like they found their Marilyn in the first episode or two. So what the F was the purpose of the other dozen-plus episodes in between then and the finale?! Of course, if they continue forcing this “Karen has this Marilyn, star-like innocence NO ONE ELSE has,” story line, I’m sure we’ll see Kat on stage as Marilyn in the final moments. It wouldn’t make much sense to me though.
Julia’s ready to bring on the seriousness and have it all out with Tom. Wow–this scene was good IMO. I say this because like last week, it was scene where my emotions were torn. Primarily, i’m on Julia’s side. Debra Messing and Christian Borle have done a great job at keeping a nice chemistry going between these two characters, so it really does make me angry with Tom when he doesn’t have Julia’s back with this whole “Michael Swift drama.” On the other hand, if it were a real-life situation, Tom has done nothing wrong here, and he’s quick to let her know it. He never forced Julia to get herself into any of this. She decided to have the affair with Michael. She has to deal with the reprecussions and take some responsibility. That being said–it does suck her best friend couldn’t have her back in this instance.
And now it’s time to prove that there’s nothing like a big dose of God to get everyone through the tough times. Let’s make sure we get in a classic Karen line before we get into the chapel though! “I’m so glad you organized this. I love church!” Karen explains to Sam. Gasp! I would’ve never guessed Karen! Your goodness makes me want to run to the nearest orphanage and adopt a starving homeless child. Unfortunately, I’ve reached my quota this week on starving orphans. I’m not worried though. Karen’s sure to rescue them.
Sorry, didn’t mean to digress into an imaginary Karen world again…
Oh no…back to “Karen world” again for just a second…SORRY! I know it’s getting annoying. But I had to point out how quick I was to giggle watching Karen during the church scene. The preacher is up there shouting and praising the lord (like any good, stereotypical African-American preacher) when he exclaims, “So let’s stand with the lord!” The camera cuts to Karen who gives it her very best effort to show excitement by quietly uttering, “yes…” while half-heartedly throwing a hand in the air. Poor girl really can’t get excited about anything, can she? Even God–the lord himself–can’t suck the boringess out of Karen.
For some reason, Karen is the one Sam calls up for a gospel performance during church. You know, because they’re such besties. And Karen is by far the most qualified to portray the glory and excitement of the lord. (*rolls eyes*)
Sidenote: Okay, I know I’ve been bashing on Karen/Katharine pretty hardcore in this recap, but let me say this: I am a HUGE fan of McPhee’s voice. Even if I don’t think it was her place to take on a choir-backed gospel song like this, her voice just connects so well with me. I love nothing more than listening to such a techincally spot-on singer as Kat. When she jumps into complicated runs or reaches for a new level of a song toward it’s ending, I’m always amazed with how great her voice is. Especially since I know she sounds just as spectacular live. I know so many will disagree with me, but I think as far as singing voices go, Katharine has got something very special. I think if she could’ve shown some real acting chops in this show, she had a chance to really make a legit career for herself. Unfortunately, Katharine’s poor performance on this show (whether that be a fault of her own or the writers) overshadows anything good she might end up doing. (And yes, I’m also on board with those who think Ivy is much more suited to play the role of Marilyn, but I’m not comparing the two characters/actresses right now.)
Sorry I had to throw my Kat disclaimer in like that. But I can’t let the continuous criticism flow in without just once mentioning how immensely talented of a singer I think McPhee is.
And I must be right about Kat’s voice, because her performance seems to suddenly end the drama going on between all the characters. Sam and Tom are happy. Tom and Julia make up. And Julia seems to have an idea to fix the horrible “suicide-ending” in Bombshell. Even Dev’s ready to fess up to Karen and admit his cheating ways, until Karen gets a phone call from Rebecca, interrupting the confessions scene. Darn! I was so hoping we’d get to see Karen’s reaction scene this week. I’m still calling it people! It’s gonna be a really great scene to rip apart!
We end with Rebecca stepping down from the part, and someone asking, “Well, who’s going to play Marilyn then?” What a smart question! Ya know, that’s something I myself have been wondering for about 14 or so episodes. Who the F is going to play Marilyn?! And once we find out, what happens? Can the show continue? Or will the whole world explode because the human race finally solved the ever-mysterious quarry of WHO WILL PLAY MARILYN. (Cue the evil dun duuun DUUUUUUUUN! music!)
All I know is this: If the season finale ends next week without answering this earth-shattering question, I might start watching The Good Wife, or some other Monday-night show where they actually hire professional writers to come up with complicated, interesting plots for their characters. I think I’m starting to understand why old people watch some of those “old-people shows.” They get a whole story wrapped up and solved every week in one episode! Or sometimes–heaven-forbid–they do a “TO BE CONTINUED” episode (GASP)!
I’ll see everyone next week for the big finale! Are you excited to see season one come to end on the show we all LOVE to hate?! I know I am!
ONE LAST THING:
So this is completely random, but has anyone seen “Not Another Teen Movie”? There’s a scene in it where the main character has a hysterical emotional outburst when she gets upset. I just keep picturing it every time I think of how Karen will handle the news that Dev and Ivy did the horizontal mambo with each other. Basically, you can skip to the one-minute mark of this video to see how I think Karen will handle Dev and Ivy’s affair next week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-EX5OVM49M