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Bernadette dreams of stardom for Megan Hilty... sort of.
In last night's episode Eileen (Anjelica Huston) presented her workshop of "Marilyn The Musical" to potential investors but though no one literally broke a leg, things went wrong. The building had major heat problems souring the mood. Ivy (Megan Hilty) was plagued by her insecurity and distracted by her legendary showbiz mother Lee Conroy (very special guest star Bernadette Peters. Yes!), Karen (Katharine McPhee) fell during a big number distracting focus from Ivy. Julia (Debra Messing) and Michael's (Will Chase) affair came to a tearful end after Julia realized her son knew.
The building heat made the investors uncomfortable and immediately we're smelling blood. Who gets blamed? The show dangled more "star" rivals for Hilty (Uma Thurman will appear in 5 upcoming episodes) including Sutton Foster and Scarlett Johansson. And in a sharply acted gutpunch moment, the episode's most interesting beat, unspoken discomfort with Julia's affair resulted in Michael being blamed for the workshop's failure. Overall an uneven episode that felt more like a pivot point than a peak. What comes next? Besides new love affairs for Eileen and Tom, that is, which are being super-telegraphed in advance for some reason.
Set List: Originals - Medley of all the tunes we've heard thus far (company), "Lexington and 52nd Street" (Chase); Jukebox Tunes - "Brighter than the Sun" (McPhee); Showtunes: "Everything's Coming Up Roses" (Bernadette Peters),
Best ? Moment: Bernadette's uncomfortable exit. This showbiz mom has trouble with feelings but gives it a go anyway. Someone is gunning for a Best Guest Actress Emmy.
Gay Gay Gay: The chorus boys total delight watching Bernadette Peters perform. I relate.
Anjelica Awesomeness: "That's enough. I won't pretend this isn't useful information but if I hear that you've repeated this..." Eileen is willing to use sneaky evil Ellis, but she knows when to show him who's boss.
Curtain Call: I've already forgotten exactly how this episode ended. It petered out? But speaking of curtains... Loved that bit when Sam moved the curtain to show the ensemble that Ivy could hear them. Ouch.
Grade: B
-Guys you wanna maybe shut up? She can hear you."
-Sorry."
Previous Episodes
1 Pilot 2-3 The Callback and Enter Joe DiMaggio 4-6 The Cost of Art, Let's Be Bad, and Chemistry