Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Smash: Bombshell

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

While "Bombshell" isn't the most enticing musical title I've heard, it certainly fits the episode. Ivy hits rock bottom, having to face the idea that Karen may be better than her. Tom realizes that the guy he's been seeing may be just too different in the long run. Frank learns that Julia had an affair, and not just once, either. Derek is shocked to find out that Eileen wants to consider other directors for the show. Leo is faced with the fact that his mother cheated on his father multiple times, and his father left because of it. Julia finally understands that there are consequences to her actions. Ellis is slapped with the truth that he can't always get what he wants, regardless of how low he is willing to sink to try. I thought that this episode was better than the past couple, but still nothing noteworthy. We're now 60% of the way through the first season, so it's about time things started looking up - even if it has been renewed already. Here's hoping that we'll keep on the upward swing!

Smash "Hell on Earth" (S01E09): Ivy is late to an audition, so Karen gets a national commercial for orange juice. Between that and picking up a few shifts at the coffeehouse (with the intention to be put back on the regular schedule in a few weeks), she's having a pretty good day. Ivy? notsomuch. She's on a bunch of pills because of pain, voice issues, sleeping issues, anxiety, etc. When she goes out for drinks with friends, she gets upset and leaves when Karen's commercial is mentioned. At her next performance of Heaven on Earth, Ivy passes out in the dressing room, possible having taken too many pills. She arouses just before going onstage, but she misbehaves and then falls, which Karen witnesses, as she was trying to be nice and return Ivy's mistakenly-swapped sunglasses. Ivy goes off on Karen in Times Square, and Karen just says that Derek tried to sleep with her, too. Always the good girl, Karen follows Ivy into a liquor store, lends her $20, and walks with her as she drinks. The girls then sing alongside musicians who are trying to make a buck.
(Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC)
John invites Tom to a Republican fundraiser. Although he attends, Tom worries that politics will be a deal-breaker for the relationship. John worries that Tom babies Ivy too much, but Tom runs to her rescue yet again when he's alerted of Ivy's fall. Sam is also trying to help Ivy, so he and tom wind up spending several hours together, sharing a meal, and never hearing from the starlet.

Derek wants a finished script for which to give notes, PLUS a year before another workshop. Eileen isn't thrilled with this, so she talks about getting a new director, then leads a reporter to think that she's planning on switching so that Derek will find out and be re-energized. [yeah, maybe. Though Derek WAS reading a television pilot, so he was looking into moving on anyway.] Meanwhile, Julia and Tom need to come up with a title. [why so many things with "American" in the title?] Ellis decides he wants to move up in the world, so he gets a friend to give him some leads on how they could get a star, then fakes knowing someone to gain an opportunity to have drinks with a star's assistant. Ellis will do anything, so he gives away a copy of the music and script, plus offers the assistant some "personal attention." [Ellis swings both ways then, eh?] The next day, Ellis asks Eileen if he could co-produce, rather than answer the phones. She tells him that there's more to her job than casting - contract negotiation, selling ideas to producers, etc., and she won't entertain him being on her level. [GOOD. I can't believe that child sometimes!]

Julia comes home to see Frank playing "Marilyn on the Brooklyn Bridge," a song which made him realize Julia had an affair. [how, exactly?] He guesses Michael and they're both upset, but neither knows how to talk about it. Frank goes to see Michael, who admits that it was over a long time ago and that he started it back up again... Frank didn't know there was a history, so he punches Michael. When Frank returns home, he packs his things to leave. Julia begs him to stay and talk things out, and Leo asks him not to go, too, but he walks out. Julia seeks out Michael to apologize, and the last thing that happens is that she and Tom come up with "Bombshell" as the title of the musical.
Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Email This Pin This

1 comment:

Reverend Flash said...

I totally called it. Early in the episode, they pressured the writers to come up with a title for the Marilyn musical, and after some private deliberation, AYE came up with 'Bombshell' a good three quarters of an hour before they dropped the bomb(shell) on the show.