Smash - Recap: Secrets and Liza
Recap and review of Smash - Season 2 Episode 10 - The Surprise Party:
The first Saturday episode for Smash is a bit rough. Actually, more than just a bit. Last week, I praised the show for the moments in which it embraced its soap opera sensibilities. Yet, while "The Surprise Party" is mostly infused with a similar sensibility, it fails to be very compelling. This is because the show goes too far into soap opera territory, indulging in a series of ham-fisted contrivances to drive the drama, instead of simply allowing it to spring from character. In no uncertain order:
Credit: NBC
-Tom (Christian Borle) finally mends fences with Ivy (Megan Hilty) by writing her a song for her birthday, and getting Liza Minnelli (no, seriously. She was there and everything) to perform it. Things are all sunshine and lollipops until the aftermath, when Ivy feigns being tired to get out of grabbing a drink with Tom after dinner, so she can attend the party Sam (Leslie Odom, Jr.) is throwing for her across town. But Ivy forgot her keys! Meaning Tom will be stopping by Ivy's place to drop them off...thus, the whole sordid thing comes out into the open, as Tom gets his feelings hurt, and Ivy confesses that while she loves Tom dearly, they can't be friends while the show is still a priority, since she can't afford to worry about his feelings, nor he hers. It's a relatively mature solution, but it's almost immediately undercut by the salacious business of Ivy setting up for a roll in the hay with Derek (Jack Davenport), since the episode keeps reiterating that Ivy is on the prowl, meaning she has to hook up with somebody.
Credit: NBC
-Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) has been keeping things with Karen (Katharine McPhee) a secret, making out with her in the wardrobe closet, in lieu of actually taking their relationship public. Yet Derek confesses his feelings to Karen, and becomes a pouty 7-year-old when she gently lets him down, spending much of the episode sulking about it, and generally acting like a child. This creates a domino effect that ends in the revelation that Derek had told Jimmy to stay away from Karen, who then lashes out at Derek for thinking he owns her, while also cutting things off with Jimmy for not being "more of a man" and telling her the truth. By the end of the episode, Jimmy is apologizing and proposing to take her out on a real date like he should have done, even offering her his coat...inside which she finds the bump of cocaine he took last week. But does she say "Hey Jimmy! The hell is this?!" Nope. She keeps it to herself, which I can't imagine any real person would ever do, because there's only three minutes left in the episode and we can't deal with it this week.
Credit: NBC
-Eileen (Anjelica Huston) and Richard (Jamey Sheridan) continue to beat around the bush, trying to ignite a courtship, but proving unable to leave work "back at the office," so to speak. Their date goes awry when Tom discovers that Eileen tipped off the press about his plans for Ivy and Liza Minnelli, using his genuine attempt to fix a friendship as an excuse to get publicity for the show. This results in Eileen recognizing that she can't afford to take a break from work, while it also leads to Richard realizing that he's used to being the only person in the relationship who's working. The two rationalize that they both bring baggage to the relationship, and that they'll have to work on these things if there's going to be any kind of a future. Meanwhile, I still struggle to understand why this show thinks anyone cares about Eileen's love life. At least in season one, her romance led to her finding an investor for Bombshell. I suppose this storyline is meant to further the public interests of Bombshell, as Richard continues to search for the perfect angle for his story? But then, he's also looking for a similar angle for Hit List? I don't even know.
Credit: NBC
-While working as a dramaturg/script consultant for Kyle (Andy Mientus) and Scott (Jesse L. Martin), Julia (Debra Messing) learns that Scott once had feelings for her. I didn't really have a problem with this at all, since it felt like a relatively honest storyline between two old friends who discover there's something more there. It's all the more effective for being the one honest thing embedded in all this melodrama.
Between the keys, the coke, and the callow behavior, "The Surprise Party" was packed to the gills with soap opera contrivances that just didn't work. And it's a shame, because there were some parts of the episode I liked quite a bit. Liza Minnelli is terrific, as is Christian Borle, in the scene in which they perform Tom's birthday song, "A Love Letter from the Times", to Ivy. In fact, it's one of my favorite musical numbers of the second season, and I wouldn't be surprised if the utter glee with which Megan Hilty infuses Ivy's reactions wasn't genuine on her part. I also enjoyed the version of The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" that scores the montage towards the end of the episode, as we see where each of the characters are at in the story as we head towards the conclusion. (I believe Megan Hilty was singing it, but I can't be 100% sure, which is really something I should be able to recognize by now) Unfortunately, I can't transfer that effusive praise to the other musical number of the episode, the first Hit List number to really fall flat. It involves Karen (as Amanda, which I think is the first time we've heard her character's name) and Jimmy (or Jesse) singing a song about reinvention that makes the comparisons between Ana's "Diva" character and Lady Gaga more overt, while doing shuck-and-jive dances that not even the kids on Glee would be caught doing in a thousand seasons. It's a complete dud, the kind of cheesy thing that Hit List shouldn't be doing -- ever.
Ultimately, this is the first episode of the season I've really been down on, though I'm not sure if it matters whether Smash's quality soars or plummets over the coming weeks, since its fate is pretty much written in stone already. But I certainly had the hope that the show wouldn't devolve after taking such strides towards fixing much of what made season one so routinely patchy. Hopefully, this was merely a misstep on the road towards a more compelling conclusion, although this week's cliffhangers don't leave me with a whole lot of confidence.