I’ll be back with a full recap at the end of the show. In the meantime, feel free to discuss. I should have had this at 10PM, but J. Hud distracted me with that AH-MAZ-ING number.
Wow. What an episode. Jennifer Hudson is amazing. I can’t even… words. You know? I feel blessed to be able to share this Smash experience with you guys, even if it’s only just filling in on one episode.
RECAP:
We start out on the set of Veronica Moore’s (Jennifer Hudson) solo effort. She’s belting out a huge number, but Derek is worried that this won’t help her change her image the way Veronica wants. Enter Veronca’s momager (Sheryl Lee Ralph), who reminds Derek there’s nothing wrong with Veronica’s image. That image sold out the show in six hours. Derek still is looking for that one song to change the way Veronica appears to her fans.
That’s when Karen decides to invite her new buddies, Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) and Kyle (Andy Mientus) to try and pitch a song to Derek. It’s going to be tough, because Tom has to approve the song, and Jimmy and Kyle are unknown quantities. Meanwhile, Julia is off at Peter’s (Daniel Sunjata) acting class. She thinks that she’s there to speak to the class, but really she’s there to receive notes on her new scenes from Marilyn.
Meanwhile, back with Veronica Moore, Derek announces that Bravo has signed a deal to air her one night only special on TV. Suddenly their audience of thousands went to millions. Tom gets comfortable with giving Jimmy a shot, and Jimmy gets right to work on writing a piece, with some help from his new muse Karen. Julia, offended by Peter, buys his one play and decides to read it.
Ivy shows up to fill in on Veronica’s show, and helps talk Veronica into giving Derek a chance to do it his way. However, she’s really uncomfortable with it, and her mom steps in again. Derek, dejected, retreats outside and has a heart to heart with Ivy, who tells Derek that Veronica is scared and just needs a different approach. Karen and Jimmy approach Derek with their song right after this, and Derek shuts them down immediately, saying he no longer needs the new material.
Later, Tom pushes the song back on Derek, saying that Jimmy is the real deal, and the song is great. He says he doesn’t like Derek when he caves. Kyle and Karen have a fight, finally, because Jimmy can’t be found anywhere, and Kyle is worried. He goes off and looks for him, and sings a song. The song cuts to Veronica singing halfway through, and Ivy spying on her. I think the song is Everybody Loves You Now. Ivy tells Veronica she should sing it tonight in the show. Karen finds Jimmy, and he’s wasted. Karen and Jimmy talk about drugs and rejection, and Jimmy kisses Karen. He’s never been happier as a character this season than he is in this scene.
Julia and Peter get closer, and get day drunk together. She realizes what she’s been missing in the show, and her and Peter work on putting together a show about Marilyn that’s told from the men in her life, because Marilyn was defined by men. She never had a voice of her own. Speaking of, Veronica tells her mother she’s decided to follow Derek’s vision, and is doing a more adult show. We get a glimpse of this sexuality with a number that has Karen and Ivy dancing back up for her. I think this number is called I’ve Got Love. Jimmy apologizes to Kyle, right before he’s surprised by Veronica singing his song in front of a massive audience, and on Bravo. Instead of Jimmy on piano, Tom is accompanying Veronica. On an outside note, this song fits Jennifer Hudson’s voice 100%. She should release it as a single. I think this on is called “I Can’t Let Go”.
As a side story, Eileen is trying to work out her legal woes. Nick reenters the picture, and tells Eileen he’s turning himself in and taking the blame for her. She begs him not to, and tells him to come to bed. Later, Nick turns himself in, and Eileen reveals to her ex-husband that she also confessed that she knew what she was doing. She couldn’t let Nick take the full blow of everything. Eileen has to step down as producer of Bombshell as a result, which she reveals to Tom, Julia, and Derek at the end of the episode. It is revealed that Jerry knowingly screwed Eileen over. He was working with Ellis this whole time.
Next week: Sean Hayes appears. And… Who is playing who? DECEPTION.
