This past week, Smash got renewed for a second season...with Theresa Rebeck out as showrunner. I think this probably is a good thing, as this season's uneven tone is a little bit maddening. Here's hoping we get a new season where things are kicked up a notch. That said, Episode 8 seems to have worked out some of the consistent problems of the first half of this season, while also continuing to sit on a few of the fundamental issues that threaten to upset the whole applecart.
Anyway, THE SHORT VERSION: Everyone is in post-Workshop mode, trying to decide what needs to happen to take the Marilyn musical to its next step: the out-of-town tryout. Eileen and Derek come to the conclusion that the music and lyrics are too whitewashed and antiquated, and hire Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic to write a kicked-up, modern Marilyn song for Karen to perform, which is sort of playing dirty pool, but the idea is that it'll shake something loose in Tom and Julia and get them to a place where they can embrace the potential darkness needed to make a Marilyn musical that'll work.
Ellis continues to scheme, sneaking around corners, conspiring with his girlfriend before having sex with her (ELLIS IS NOT GAY. REPEAT, NOT GAY) and finally ditching his assistant gig with Tom to move on to Eileen, full time, because he wants to be a producer. There's some work drama for Dev in the mayor's office that's sort of boring, mostly to make Karen feel threatened by his hot, smart coworker RJ. Tom and his cute lawyer boyfriend John continue to progress, and Julia's home drama continues to plague us all. Husband Frank sings her a cute little song, Leo's legal troubles are dismissed, Michael Swift confirms the end of the affair, and all of us yawn. Ellis also loops Ivy in on Derek's coup-like workshop, and she sneaks in to watch. Oh, and the chorus inexplicably has a dance party in a bowling alley.
And then, we get Karen's sexy performance in a bedsheet, and everyone ends up feeling pissed off and betrayed. Eileen's daughter (played by Meryl Streep's kid, Grace Gummer) tells her how ashamed she is of her mom, and suddenly everything's ok again. Tom and Derek have a huge fight where we learn that Derek slandered Tom's name after a show they worked on a decade ago went south, and that Derek has a problem with gays because his dad was a closet homosexual (!). It almost comes to blows, and then the producing team decides that the musical needs 1) a new Marilyn who's a star and 2) a name, which it doesn't have yet. Ivy is heartbroken, but Derek does his actual first good deed as a human being in eight episodes and goes to her, apologizes, and they get back together. Annnnnd end of episode.
WHAT WAS GREAT THIS EPISODE: The Ryan Tedder number is awesome. I want a single yesterday. And yeah, the Marilyn musical needs more danger and sex. The back story of Tom and Derek is juicy and fantastic, and Anjelica Huston is great in each and every scene she's in. It's also wonderful when the plots ALL move forward and are given attention, as happened in this episode. And Ellis makes a pretty good Iago-style villain when he's actively making moves and we get what he's trying to do.
WHAT WAS SORT OF POOPY: First, I really wish we'd all learned our lesson about musical numbers set in bowling alleys after Grease 2. Yikes. And the drama with Julia's family either needs to go somewhere or just end. It thuds, each and every time. Grace Gummer's presence was welcome, but she was sort of underwritten. There had to be a better way to work her into the plot, but it just seemed a little forced.
All in all, this show remains sudsy fun, even when it's less than great. But man, these actors are fantastic. I said at one point that this could be The West Wing of theater, and that hasn't happened, primarily because of the uneven writing and cheap emotional moments (and the background score, in most scenes, tells us what to feel, either through bouncy "happy" music or plunky "dramatic" music. I hate that).
We have seven episodes left; bring on Uma Thurman, more twists and turns, and the out-of-town tryout. Here's hoping for some great stuff ahead.
