Smash ‘The Fallout’ Review & Recap

For those of you who missed our hour one coverage of the “Smash’s” season 2 premiere yesterday, check it out first then come back … we’ll wait.

For the rest of you, breaking news: Bombshell’s death has been greatly exaggerated. In hour one, those crafty “Smash” writers were thumping nails in the musical’s proverbial coffin as the Bombshell crew seemed resigned to get blown to the wind. Its funny the difference a few minutes can make. The Fed’s have magically cleared up Eileen’s (Anjelica Houston) minor issue of funding the musical with drug money. Yeah because our government normally springs into action to resolve these matters this quickly. Also those annoying sexual harassment allegations against Derek (Jack Davenport) by Rebecca (Uma Thurman) have disappeared like a peanut smoothie. Again, whose life is this tidy?

While all of this is going down, Karen (Katherine McPhee) is busily tracking down our musical waiter, Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan), who closed out the last episode. Even though his partner Kyle (Andy Mientus) is thrilled with the prospect of working with one of Broadway’s hottest young stars, Jimmy wants nothing to do with her. He’s determined to make it on his own and won’t be grabbing any helpful hands along the way. Because most great success stories start that way.

Did I just say Derek is in the clear? Scratch that thought. It seems his wiener is causing trouble again as he’s been fired as the director of The Wiz for sexually harassing five dancers. This guy gets around more than a record. I hope these ladies are coming equipped with protection.

Eileen is staging a party crashing of the American Theatre Wing gala. It seems the powers that be redacted her invite since she’s bathed in the stink of impropriety from her filthy money sourcing. She wants all of the show’s principle creatives to join her in stamping Bombshell on the minds of the Broadway community before they know what hit them.

One problem. Julia is still cemented to the bed, lamenting her failed marriage. Tom tries to give her a pep talk, but instead resigns to covering for her absence at the gala. As Tom leaves the apartment, Ivy enters. We get the rare Julia/Ivy moment as Ivy (Megan Hilty) reveals she’s racked with doubts about her career and is ultimately considering leaving the theatre.

We find Derek nursing a series of drinks in a bar after he confronts one of the accusing dancers. She accuses him of abusing his power as a director, saying no woman really wanted to be with him. In his inebriated stupor, he visualizes the women of his past romps reenacting Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible” video to the music of the Eurythmics “Would I Lie to You.” He ultimately finds himself on Ivy’s doorstep, fumbling for his sobriety. Derek apologizes for how their tryst dissolved amidst his serial womanizing, and the two lost souls exchange problems. Derek lauds Ivy’s talent, telling her to not give up. Ivy tells Derek that he isn’t the monster everyone paints him to be.

Tom runs into Harvey Fierstein who is trying to pouch his creative talents from bedridden Julia. In his fumbling, Tom tells Fierstein that the rumors of Julia’s nervous breakdown are nothing more than that, and that the two of them had been asked to give a speech at the gala that evening. Before Tom can step foot back in his apartment, Julia has heard the fabricated truth and is buzzing around the apartment preparing her monologue. Tom, not wanting to quash this new life growing within Julia, lets her run with the lie.

Kyle meets up with Karen on the sly to give her a taste of what he’s been working on with Jimmy. He invites her to a party they are throwing that evening so Karen gathers her crew to head to the far reaches of hipster Brooklyn. Karen flirts with Jimmy and seems to thaw his permafrost exterior. Once she pops off the couch to serenade him with one of the songs, “Caught in a Storm,” he’s composed for the musical, he flips out (not in a good way). He basically tells Karen to forget she ever met him, and she tucks her tail firmly between her legs and does just that.

Once the head of the American Theatre Wing catches wind that Eileen and her Bombshell crew have crashed the party, she tactfully tells them to get lost. They call in reinforcements of Ivy (Karen was in the midst of high drama, remember?) and Derek, sparking an impromptu performance as Marilyn under the guise as a tribute to the director of the ATW. They’ve planted Bombshell in everyone’s mind so their work for the evening is done.

Julia makes apology muffins for Tom as a gesture, saying the crazies have left her head, and she very much wants to continue their successfully collaborative partnership. Karen gets an apology of sorts from Jimmy as he shows up on her doorstep the next morning with a thumb drive packed with everything they’ve worked on for the new musical. Strangely though, an “I’m sorry” never passes across his lips. Karen’s got her hands full with this mercurial talent.

We wrap the evening with Ivy coming over to talk to Derek about her resurrection of confidence in wearing Marilyn for the evening. The only problem is Karen is already there pitching Jimmy’s vision to Derek. Our third wheel Ivy departs dejected. Maybe its time Ivy makes a clean break from all things Bombshell. Like a lover that keep abusing her, the specter of Karen’s talent always sits as a reminder that she’s just not good enough.

This episode was a stark departure from hour one, and it was a curious decision to slap them together on premiere night for double the fun. This episode seemed more like a transitional episode, setting up the storyline for the episodes ahead and bridging the gaps left lying around from a year spent away from “Smash.”

Author: Mark Runyon

Smash: The Fallout
Season 2, Episode 2
Original Air Date: February 5, 2013