Smash Report: The V-Mo Show

And we begin with a musical montage! Why? Because the episode is appropriately called “The Song.” Our friends are getting their day kicked off as V-Mo sings a song, fresh from her killer Oscar performance, oh wait that was J-Hud, for her little show. McSleazy asks Linda the Stage Manager a dumb question, prompting her to role her eyes. Go girl! V-Mo’s mom, played by Sheryl Lee Ralph, pops in at rehearsal to be the ultimate momager. McSleazy is grumpy because things aren’t going his way after Tom doesn’t help his image but V-Mo’s instead. Julia calls Tom telling him that she’s at NYU to talk to Peter the Dramaturg’s acting class. Is Peter playing nice? Well, Julia ain't! She’s got a list of digs at Peter to share! Kyle and Jimmy can’t get a concert of their music until their little angel calls, giving their dreams life. Could their song debut at V-Mo's show? At NYU, Julia discovers she’s not there to talk to the students, oh no, but instead to hear her little Bombshell out loud. Peter is not playing nice! Peter has changed the names of all the characters so she can hear it for what it truly is. Nice move! At V-Mo’s rehearsal, Ivy pops in to be a replacement dancer while Kyle and Jimmy are ready to present their music for V-Mo to sing. V-Mo’s mom got Bravo to film the concert, which would give Kyle and Jimmy the recognition they need. Will it work out in their favor? We’ll found out after that dreaded opening sequence. Sorry. I still don’t like it. Maybe by week five I’ll come around.
Karen performs a Jimle (Kyle and Jimmy…do we like it?) song for Tom for consideration to be a part of the concert. Tom shoots them down and gets bitchy when one half of Jimle snaps at him. Can you guess which one? Tom tries to level with them when he’s summoned by McSleazy over PA system. The other half of Jimle says he can write a song by the end of the night. Can you guess which one? At the NYU reading, the kids offer their suggestions about Marilyn, I mean Mary. They offer good criticism but Julia is still so attached that she can’t let go. Segue to Jimle’s song session of a song called "Can't Let Go"! They’re not have the best of luck, so Kyle gives Jimmy space, until Karen comes in to offer her suggestion. Of course it’s magical and what Jimmy needed. Jimmy explains he’s never written a song for anyone before so Karen says write it for you. Jimmy likes this profound idea and asks her to stay with him. Someone’s coming around! I smell love. Julia calls Tom about sociopath Peter and says she’s spending the night reading his one and only play. She opens the play up and her mouth drops. Why! Why! Could it be a play about Marilyn too? Well, we can’t know yet because Eileen just got surprised by her criminal boyfriend Nick! Uh oh…
J-Hud, I mean V-Mo has lunch with Ivy talking about life and McSleazy. Ivy calls him a genius. Fo real? V-Mo decides to give McSleazy’s ideas a shot. Don't play it safe. His version turns into a sensual version of “I Got Love.” Apparently V-Mo has never felt sexy before in her life. McSleazy gets in her face until Cynthia the Show Mom stops the show. Cynthia lays the smack down! She blackmails him by saying she’ll give Tom the director spot and spread the gospel of his continual sleazy ways. From sleazy to the sleazed. Eileen loves Nick who announces he’s about to turn himself in. To bed before jail! McSleazy finds Ivy outside of the theater who lets Ivy give him advice. Give them (the audience and Cynthia) what they want. V-Mo’s traditional way. So when Jimmy brings out his new song, he gets shut down by McSleazy who says he just has to wait his turn. Jimmy likes giving a bad boy impression so he gets right in McSleazy’s face. Unfortunately for him, he ain’t backin’ down! He looks for support from Karen but she can’t leave with him. Show must go on.
Karen calls Kyle looking for Jimmy, learning that Jimmy has a trigger that makes him wander for days. Someone’s got a dark side! Julia finds Peter and throws his play in his face. Literally. We learn that The Singing Bird is not about Marilyn but in fact about a singing bird. Oh boy. And I can't get my works published??? Julia doesn’t want to play games anymore, finally succumbing to Peter’s requests. In V-Mo’s dressing room, Stage Mom tries to sway her in a direction that she doesn’t think is right. Broadway and beyond. V-Mo tells her mom that she doesn’t know what she wants anymore. Tom and McSleazy try to go over the set list until Tom pulls out Jimmy’s music saying he’s the real thing. Will McSleazy bit after being told he sucks when he's a pushover? Yep! But McSleazy is forbidden from telling anyone Tom likes Jimle's music. In a montage moment of searching for Jimmy, Kyle is rudely interrupted by a plug for “Smash” Season 1. C’mon! But as the song continues, it’s actually a pretty good song. Definitely has a Billy Joel vibe with a key change giving V-Mo a non J-Hud moment on “Smash”! FINALLY! Separation! It’s subtle yet she gets to exclaim her glory note. Ivy hears her and thinks she should sing the song at the concert. Will she? Meanwhile Karen didn’t call the cops, instead stumbles upon a drunk missing Jimmy.
Jimmy shares he’s on drugs to deal with his life. He’s sick of letting everyone down and doesn’t want to show his face. But the real reason he was at the theater was because he was waiting for Karen. And they share their first kiss. It’s not perfect (ie the drugs) but it is sweet. Peter and Julia meet at Tom’s apartment, an odd meeting place, and drink at noon (which is so a theater thing) to attempt to work or something. Julia discovers that she writes better men than women (dig at TR!) and realizes that Marilyn is defined by the women she was with. Upon her epiphany, Julia rushes to her books to get back to research! Eileen reveals to her skeezy ex, Jerry, that Nick turned himself in and that she can’t really keep Bombshell. Backstage at V-Mo’s show, with Linda the only Stage Manager in the “Smash world (hey I need a job!) calling places, Cynthia the Stage Mom sees that V-Mo is a changed women and will do things her way for once. Buckle your seat belt momma, you’re not gonna wanna miss this!
V-Mo’s show has the McSleazy stamp of sensual on it. Her backup dancers are all touchy feely, including Ivy and Karen on each other. Subtext or just weird? But has V-Mo got her groove back? In the wings, Jimle pines over the fact their music isn’t being used. Or is it. V-Mo's got an announcement. A new song? It’s Jimle’s! The backdrop of roses, that eerily resembles the recent Follies revival, sets the stage for V-Mo’s final performance with Ivy and Karen singing back up. As we saw in this episode, there are three visions of what this song was going to be. McSleazy’s, Jimle’s, and V-Mo’s. Surprisingly, “I Can’t Let Go” is a perfect blend of all three. Everyone watches in amazement, including tear-filled Cynthia and happily shocked Jimmy. As rose pedals drop, Jimle can’t help but smile. The song ends and V-Mo invites Jimle on stage to take credit for their star moment. How sweet! If only everyone in theater was that honest and humble. Meanwhile at Julia and Peter’s work session, twelve hours later, Peter invites Julia to the Berkshires to work. She gets interrupted by Eileen to meet at headquarters. She announces that Bombshell is free to go to Broadway as long as Eileen steps down and Jerry taking the helm. Tom and Julia aren’t thrilled with the idea but they can’t pass it up. Jerry sits at his desk on the phone creepily revealing that he’s finally beaten Eileen at her game. He says to the person on the other line that he’ll pay him for his work as long as he never contacts him again. Jerry signs the check. Who is he addressing it to? Oh. My. God. No. Way........Ellis Boyd! SNOOPY! Snoopy was in on it! BEST ENDING EVER (on "Smash")!
“Smash”, it may have been a lackluster episode but you ended on the biggest shocker the show has ever seen. I mean, we should’ve seen it coming, right? But three episodes in and no mention of Snoopy, I thought he was gone without a trace. Oh no! Snoopy was the cause of the downfall of Eileen and Bombshell version one. Revenge is a bitch! So what do you think about Ellis’s involvement and the rest of the V-Mo-centric episode?