Glenn here, one of the few remaing Smashites who will be with this dear show until the bitter end. I'm not going to mince words here: "Opening Night" was the best episode of the season so far. This is for a multitude of reasons that we'll get in to briefly, but mostly it's because "Hit List" barely factored. And when it did it was in the shadow of "Bombshell", the musical gets hailed the hit of the season. Too bad they didn't get that "love letter from The Times" that Liza so beautifully sang about a couple of weeks back.
2.12 "Opening Night"
This week is "Bombshell" heavy as opening night occurs and all the anticipation and exhiliration and drama and disappointment that comes with it. This is a good thing, folks, and "Hit List" thankfully takes a sidestep (although the show's writers can't help but force it upon Smash even when there are far more important things to be worrying about).
Ivy is naturally worried about the reviews... [more] but never more so than when she overhears two patrons on the street call her the ultimate diss - "a chorus girl". Ugh. Ivy, and by immediate association Megan Hilty, is not a chorus girl. Even when the show finally clues into itself that Hilty is the star they keep finding ways to remind her that she's perhaps not that good. Poor girl.
Still, she's got nothing on Julia who has a falling out with creative partner Tom. In a curious bit of... well, I'm not sure what it is (cross promotion? fortuitous symmetry? obvious cashing in?), Julia decides to revamp an old idea to turn The Great Gatsby into a Broadway musical now that the publishing rights have lapsed (she discovers this thanks to a surprise return of recent The Place Beyond the Pines Star and season one hate magnet Emory Cohen) only to discover via a bizarre Rosie O'Donnell cameo that Tom has decided to take upon another directing job. This leaves Julia in the dust and suitably miffed, but her growing relationship with off broadway producer Scott Nichols (Jesse L Martin, still not singing in each and every episode - what gives, Smash writers?!?) may just provide the answer. Well, that and a suitable end to the Julia/Tom relationship that could make for cathartic end in the inevitable series finale. I'm tearing up already, okay?
Lastly, Derek finally got a bit of what's been comin' to him and Karen realised she was never better than Ivy. It's about time! Sadly, the Karen V Ivy at the Tony's thing is really a thing that's really going to happen. I just don't think my heart can handle the disappointment when Karen wins the Tony and is crowned the Queen of Broadway (pigs blood is the only natural response, surely).
Best Bit: Megan Hilty slaying everyone. Could your fave? From dissing Derek for his rampant infidelity, to her triumphant rendition of "Don't Forget Me", to doing the best acting of fake modesty you will ever see in her duet of "That's Life" with Karen... she is FOREVER! Am I the only one who's enjoying Daphne Ruben-Vega as the hard-edged Bombshell publicist? Given how often they try to pass of "Hitlist" as a "Rent" for a new generation, it's nice seeing her run circles around Katherine McPhee, too. Still, McPhee was the best she's been. Away from the stage she is a casual presense and her backstage chat with Hilty was lacking the self-important that so frequently takes over her performance.
B♡BBY: Just one brief moment as he tries to break Ivy's "self-imposed media blackout" while wearing a brown turtleneck. Of course.
Most Confusing Moment: Oh, SMASH! You were doing so good and then you went and turn the very end into some bizarre misognyistic throwdown between Derek and an actress who accused him of sexual harrassment. Not only does she apologise for something he very clearly did wrong (victim blaming is so hot right now!), but he then cracks a smile and she goes home with him! I choose to believe this scene never happened because I can't fathom how anybody could write such garbled, offensive nonsense.
Gay Gay Gay: Well, there were cameos by Smash songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, as well as Rosie O'Donnell and even Edward Hibbert and Donna McKechnie in such tiny roles that they're not even listed on IMDb! But also, hey guys, were you aware Tom and Kyle are gay? Apart from a stray glance here and there, it's as if their homosexuality has been entirely erased from their personalities (well, apart from the fact they both write musicals). This week the writers found out how to work it into the script: alcohol and depression! Well, it beats Grindr. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda dug the pick up scene between these two. Tom finally got to express his sexuality again, but did so in a forward almost predatory fashion. Kyle, meanwhile, was all about the cougar appeal and jumped at the chance.
You go glen coco! Plus Andy Mientus has never been cuter, agreed?
I liked this episode very much. I give it a B+, although that scene with Derek and the actress is very damning. Let's just ignore it, shall we. But tell me, readers: was Megan Hilty's performance of "Don't Forget Me" her last ditch effort to make sure casting agents remember her? How did you find the Bombshell opening night?