Courtesy of NBC
This week Julia (Debra Messing) helps the Hit List team with their book also helping herself to a new man; things get awkward between Karen (Katharine McPhee), Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) and Derek (Jack Davenport); Tom (Christian Borle) tries to make nice with Ivy (Megan Hilty) and….oh who cares? LIZA MINNELLI is in this episode!!!! Let’s review.
After hiring Ivy’s mother for the show, Tom is not making any friends with the cast, which is making tech, shall we say, tense. Add in the fact that he forgets about Ivy’s birthday. Some friend! Luckily Tom is the king of last minute brilliant ideas. He invites Ivy out for dinner to surprise her with a new song sung by none other than the incomparable Liza with a Z. Unfortunately Ivy has planned a party and didn’t invite Tom. Ouch. But let’s forget about that for a moment and take in Liza. How fabulous was she?! I don’t care that she was only there for a hot minute, and I don’t care that it’s highly unlikely that Liza would just be sitting at home and willing to come out to sing a song for a new Broadway ingenue. All I care about is hearing Liza sing and being fabulous and that’s what Smash gives me. So they get a pass this week. Well played Smash, well played.
Courtesy of NBC
Now if we go back to the everyday of the episode, Ivy is still upset with Tom, but the whole Liza thing does melt down a bit of that iceberg between them. I mean, it’s Liza! Of course Tom finds out about the party that he was not invited to and is hurt, but Ivy explains that their relationship has changed. Which it has, unfortunately for us because I love these two together. The scene between these two at the end was sweet and sad, and just showed how wonderfully these two play off each other.
Meanwhile Karen is secretly dating Jimmy until she rediscovers her self-respect and gives him the ultimatum of being open or ending it. Of course she doesn’t give him much time to decide before she lets it out, right after Derek confesses his feelings for her. Really Karen? You couldn’t just let him down easy and say you were not interested? You couldn’t just tell him you were flattered but felt it best to remain friends? This revelation obviously does not go well and Derek starts acting like a whiny little boy who doesn’t get what he wants. I like the character of Derek but I really don’t like this direction, especially considering that he goes to Ivy right after this. I’m sorry but Ivy deserves better than that. And so does Derek.
Let’s move on to a couple that I do enjoy. Julia and Scott (Jesse L. Martin) start working together, along with Kyle (Andy Mientus), on the structure of Hit List, in order to make the Diva a bigger part. I have to say that I am really enjoying this relationship, especially their scenes this week. They are so cute as they quietly flirt with each other, as Kyle alludes to the sexual tension between them. And let me tell you, it’s hot. It’s one of the best parts of the episode as we get to see the inner workings of a musical while giving us a great new romance. Give me more Julia and Scott and less Karen and Jimmy.
Other observations:
- I am enjoying the relationship between Eileen (Angelica Huston) and Richard (Jamey Sheridan), they do have good chemistry although I get the feeling that Eileen might overstep her need for publicity, but we shall see.
- Kyle is just the cutest, why aren’t they using him more? I feel like he could’ve gotten a really good storyline. He’s likable (unlike Jimmy), he’s interesting (unlike Jimmy) and people like working with him (unlike Jimmy)
- Please don’t let Tom and Sam (Leslie Odom Jr.) get back together, see my recap from two weeks ago.
- Am I the only one that thinks it weird that they would want to give the Diva a bigger part after that one number? Sorry but at best that number was ok. It might have been inventive, but that’s not a reflection of the character, it’s more a reflection of the direction and choreography.
- And speaking of ok numbers, the new song from Hit List was fun and catchy but also felt like a reject from the top 40 list of 2003.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the new song? Are you enjoying the relationship between Julia and Scott? Are you over the love triangle between Karen, Jimmy and Derek? Sound off below.
Smash airs Saturday nights at 9pm EST on NBC.
I really enjoyed this ep on the whole. Lots of things that pissed me off though – ivy acting like a total diva at the beginning, Derek turning into a spoilt tween who doesn’t get his own way, and Karen finally finally FINALLY getting some backbone in that scene with jimmy and Derek (which I really enjoyed btw) only for the writers to undo all that good work 10 mins later when she got back with Jimmy! I actually loved the hit list song. A whole lot of fun, but agree that it ain’t edgy, lol!
Yeah, I wish Karen would’ve stuck to her guns as well. Her whole relationship with Jimmy is frustrating.