There’s a longtime pet peeve I’ve had with TV shows: we see plenty of beautiful people who are incredibly talented professionals (be it actors, doctors, lawyers), but who have all these personal woes. It just makes me want to say, “Really?” And this week’s Smash was a whole lot of that.
The most talked-about couple of the week was Ivy (Megan Hilty) and Derek (Jack Davenport). Ivy wondered if sleeping with Derek had landed her the role of Marilyn, and furthermore, if she was just a fling. This didn’t stop them from having sex in her dressing room. Still, she asked him why she’d never been to his apartment, but was Derek being honest when he answered her? I don’t know, and I think that’s why the scene worked at all. Jack Davenport has a natural likability that works in Derek’s favor; it makes me want to give him the benefit of the doubt, even when I know that I shouldn’t. If Derek’s true feelings weren’t as ambiguous, this subplot would probably be a lot more one-dimensional.
Plus, Tom (Christian Borle) found out about Ivy and Derek’s affair, setting the stage for what should be a fantastic confrontation between the show’s two best characters. Kudos to Julia (Debra Messing) for stopping Tom’s ‘Ivy is perfect’ train in its tracks, though, by pointing out that Derek is not solely to blame for the hookup. If there’s one thing that drives me batty about Tom, it’s that he loves Ivy so much, and hates Derek just as much, that Ivy is always right and Derek is always wrong. I’m glad that Julia called him out about how biased he is.
Julia isn’t blameless herself, though. When we met Ivy’s new co-star Michael (Will Chase), we found out that he and Julia had a lengthy affair five years earlier that she’s kept from everyone since. And despite Michael now being married with a son that he’s shown to be worried about supporting, at the episode’s end he’s making eyes at Julia. That made me bristle, though I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say maybe it’s just the initial shock of having to work with her again. Of course, Julia’s troubled home life might make her easily tempted to resume their affair….
Perhaps the only person who has their head screwed on straight when it comes to romantic relationships was Eileen (Anjelica Huston). She threw one drink in ex-husband Jerry’s face when he tried to lure Derek back to My Fair Lady, rebuffed Jerry’s romantic advances at dinner, and decorated him with a second beverage when he insisted she couldn’t produce the Marilyn musical on her own. He might have a point, but good for Eileen for standing up for herself regardless.
Honestly, I’m not really rooting for any of the show’s current romantic couplings, although if you made me pick one, I think it’d be a great story development if Ivy and Derek had a serious relationship that created legitimate tension (and hopefully growth) between them and in their respective dealings with Tom. I can’t say I care who ends up with whom; that’s never been my interest when it comes to TV drama. I don’t need to feel sorry for beautiful people who seem to have everything else. But how will this all affect the Marilyn musical? Now we’re talking! Get back to me when the workshop starts.
Clacked by Brittany Frederick 
on Feb 21, 2012 @ 05:40 EST5EDT
This show loses IQ points every week. The first episode gave the impression that it was smart, adult TV created by smart people. We’re now only into episode 3, and I’m rapidly losing that impression. The actress sleeps with the director to get the part. The assistant is secretly plotting against his boss. The producer woman can’t get business done without her ex-husband, and throws drinks at him. The ingenue visits the family in Iowa, in the perfect little country house, and gets told by her unenlightened Iowa bumpkin friends that she should let her boyfriend take care of her. And her father gives her a check before she leaves. Someone has had an affair with someone else, and now that they’re working together again, it may re-ignite.
What do all the plots have in common? They’re as old as time. They’ve been on TV, in movies, and yes, in plays, for decades–actually, maybe a century. Is that really the best they can do here?
I did like the “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” song, though. And I’m glad to see that with “only 8 songs” written, we will get to see more of the working relationship between the songwriters. But this show is becoming way too predictable.
I really wanted “Smash” to succeed, but it’s apparent this is a show about people who make musicals, not a show about people making a musical. Subtle difference from Spielberg’s original concept, but completely changes the focus. It’s a soap opera, and it’s bland, without a fun Larry Hagman/Joan Collins villain. My biggest disappointment is that I don’t think the score works. Half are covers of recent hits; the other half are original (and unfamiliar) tunes in the old Golden Age style of 60 years ago. They’re not cut from the same cloth; guess which songs stay in my head after the show’s over? If the show survives to a 2nd season, they’re going to have to simplify things down, like actually pick a main character to follow in depth from start to finish of a given episode.