SkimIt
In Smash's least surprising development yet, movie star Rebecca Duvall steps into the shoes of Marilyn Monroe -- and she's god awful.
Hear No Evil
Rebecca Duvall (Uma Thurman) opens her mouth to sing for the first time, and it's like that girl from the high school choir who belts her lungs out with no idea that she sounds like a dying cat. The movie star seems to be aware of her own shortcomings, and she spends the episode attempting to cut entire songs and enhance the "deep" drama of the show. This wasn't meant to surprise anyone, was it?
Are You a Republican, Too?
Thanks to Julia (Debra Messing) literally calling a restaurant and reserving a table for them, Tom (Christian Borle) and Sam (Leslie Odom Jr.) finally go on a proper date. Which leads to a walk through Times Square, which leads to drinks at Tom's place, which leads to -- Sam confessing his Christianity and embarrassing Tom for his lack of legitimate relationship experience. We shouldn't give up on them, though; I don't see this crowd-pleasing couple going anywhere.
A Bleak Affair
Julia meets Frank (Brian d'Arcy James) for an entirely bitter and snappy dinner, and then the separated parents head to son Leo's (Emory Cohen) school to tell his guidance counselor why he's failing all of his classes. It's funny, Julia's story began as the most intimate and well-written aspect of the show, and now I would much rather watch Eileen (Anjelica Huston) flirt with her new hubby Nick (Thorsten Kaye).
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Karen (Katharine McPhee) is peeved when she finds out that Dev (Raza Jaffrey) has been keeping his career disappointments from her, which is yet another devastating blow to their relationship. But the real doozie comes when Dev texts Karen to break off their date night so he can hit the town with foxy co-worker R.J. (Tala Ashe). It's not that I will be upset in any way if this relationship fizzles out, it's just that I really don't know where Smash is taking this storyline. In network TV land, that's a fine compliment.
Does anyone else find themselves having a difficult time choosing who to root for amongst the Smash cast? Everything seems to be whizzing by in front of our eyes, without requiring any emotional investment from the viewer. And with Uma singing all the songs now, the musical bits aren't even pleasant. Get Ivy (Megan Hilty) back on that stage!
Best Lines:
"Group suicide?"
-- Julia's constructive solution to the team's problems with Ms. Duvall.
"And you're counting the minutes until she implodes and that part is yours. If you're not, you're in the wrong business, understudy."
-- Ivy countering Karen's claims that she admires Rebecca Duvall.
"You lied to me, and you destroyed our marriage. And then you did it again five years later. I have nothing to say."
-- Frank to Julia, before walking out of the restaurant.
"Get out of here, my friend, or I'm going to have to temporarily blind you."
-- Julia threatening a drunk man who bursts in on Rebecca Duvall during a rehearsal.
"Don't lie, she stole our part. We hate her."
-- Ivy explaining how she and Karen should view Ms. Duvall.
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