SkimIt
As someone who can't physically handle watching a singer lose their voice mid-performance or watching two people argue loudly in public, tonight's episode of Smash was particularly cringeworthy for me.
My Voice, My Beautiful Voice!
It's bad news for Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) when her voice cracks and disappears during a rehearsal. After being diagnosed with "inflammation" and almost losing her role to Karen (Katharine McPhee), Ivy goes the obvious route and takes enough Prednisone to make her hallucinate. This apparently makes her feel empowered, as she explodes on Derek (Jack Davenport) during rehearsal for being a complete tool.
I Smell Sex and Pancakes
What's the deal with Julia's son Leo (Emory Cohen)? While she tries to cook him a nice breakfast, he disses her pancakes and goes on and on about what a terrible cook she is. Regardless, Julia spends the episode pining for Michael (Will Chase) until finally putting her foot down and refusing to continue their affair -- just before going topless and making out with him. Raise your hand if you're gaining insight into the inner-workings of Broadway from this storyline.
Drinkin' With the Boys
Bubbly assistant Ellis (Jaime Cepero) forces himself on Eileen (Anjelica Huston) until he woos her into drinking seven-dollar martinis at a dingy bar called "The Bushwhack." Episode highlight: Anjelica Huston picks up a toy shotgun and plays an arcade hunting game while saying, "Step aside, boys." Classic Anjelica.
A Sultry Shalom
Karen brings her newfound confidence to the most appropriate of places: a Bar Mitzvah performance. Then she goes and makes the whole ceremony about herself by singing Florence and the Machine's "Shake It Out" and inspiring all the pre-pubescents in the audience to shake their groove things. In other words, this was this week's obligatory Top 20 hit by way of Katharine McPhee.
One more episode down, one more step toward Karen landing the Marilyn role. But hey, we get Bernadette Peters next week, so that should be enough of a reason to sit through the lackluster drama of Smash.
Best Lines:
"A leading lady with vocal problems? No one believes that even when it's true!"
--Eileen on Ivy's sudden vocal issues.
"You know what? I can do this."
--Karen, psyching herself up to replace Ivy as Marilyn.
"Oh yeah? What's a Ranger?"
--Tom's (Christian Borle) response to Sam (Leslie Odom Jr.) saying there is a Rangers game on TV.
"That chick really gets on my nerves. Why didn't I just have her fired the first day? Marilyn would've."
--Ivy, irritated by Karen's success at the Bar Mitzvah.
"It's just a side effect from the steroids."
--Derek, after Ivy's blow-up in rehearsal.
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