SOUND OFF: SMASH Makes Bad Look Good

Packing more music per minute than any episode of the show since the pilot, last night's SMASH showed the ever-developing musical dramedy series finding its footing and delineating the many relationships and interrelationships of the onstage and backstage cast of characters that populate it - and, as always, the music made the night. Will Chase scored yet again with a soulful "Song For You"; McPhee emanated sultriness in her cover of JAmes Brown's "It's A Man's Man's World"; and, in particular, Megan Hilty made the bawdiest and most big Broadway-sounding song from the Marilyn Monroe musical we have yet heard hit like Joe DiMaggio's bat when it met a meatball in the big 20th Century Fox production number we are sure to remember. When it comes to the musical numbers, SMASH is adult musical storytelling done exceptionally well with a precise, professional sheen. The story and characters so far have exhibited that there are a lot of areas where they could go in future episodes, and, now, by the fifth episode, the style and music/drama formula is being perfected right before our eyes and ears. What has resulted is that we are witnessing SMASH as a show finding its voice with all the world to hear - not an enviable position to be in, but that is the name of the game of a network TV gamble on the level of this. And, anyway, what sights and sounds we have to look forward to in the coming weeks as the Marilyn musical within the show begins to take a more tangible shape and characters are further clarified - and that's without even mentioning that Broadway icon Bernadette Peters makes her SMASH debut in less than two weeks!

And That Ain't Bad

SMASH is under a microscope and this ever-important episode (at least as far as audience-building is concerned) went a long way in showing that the show can be frothy fun and a a soapy good time while also still striking some emotional and humanistic chords from time to time. Indeed, while the musical numbers were as smashing as we have come to expect from SMASH, the drama had an especially nice flow and energy in the fifth ep, helmed by TV stalwart Jamie Babbit, with Debra Messing and Christian Borle both given an intriguing opening juxtaposition of Tom & Julia dating scenes and the rest of the episode providing them enjoyable exploration of their considerable, increasingly appreciable rapport - plus, just how hilarious was Tom's improvised pot bust song? Katharine McPhee's Karen, too, had an a capella, real-life musical moment thanks to an all-eyes-on-her rehearsal-set reprise of "Happy Birthday (Mr. President)" ala Marilyn, meant to show up currently-cast Monroe, Ivy Lynn (and it sure did).  Bringing the songs into the real world is a good way to go, no doubt - these all-too-theatrical characters can justify it and carry it off.

So, too, did Anjelica Huston's delicately-painted portrayal of the show-within-the-show's lead producer, Eileen, develop her dramatic dynamic even further with the addition of Tom and Julia's nefarious former assistant, Ellis, now entangled in her affairs - Broadway, business and otherwise. What will their newfound alliance spell for the Marilyn musical - particularly involving Eileen's ex, Jerry? Furthermore, just how much longer can Derek (Jack Davenport) keep Karen contained in the chorus? And, just how understanding can her boyfriend, Dev (Raza Jaffrey), continue to be of Karen's plight - isn't he almost too perfect (as is his too-cute new New York Times confidant)? The interaction between his parents, brother and Karen at the disastrous dinner party made Dev's meal shared with Karen's parents in the pilot look like a Norman Rockwellian dream in comparison. What happens next?

As far as relationships go, star and director Ivy and Derek seem headed for increasingly rough waters as Ivy's divadom gets more and more out of control and Karen's It Factor becomes more and more pronounced and, of course, musically magnified as the episodes wear on. Where does Karen go from here? Will she win out in the end? Isn't it destiny? All in all, Episode 5 showed clear evidence that while SMASH may occasionally run hot and cold in the Drama Department, the musical numbers are always a hit and, believe it or not, everything is starting to click and fit together. As Marilyn sang in her drug-induced Hollywood fever dream, "Some like it hot and that ain't bad," and, with each and every accumulating episode, SMASH keeps cranking up the temperature and the melting pot is revealing some rewards for attentive and faitful audience members out there. Each week, SMASH seems to be making it easier to enjoy the show for what it is and even love it for precisely that reason.

Plus, if we can get a production number as satisfying to the razzmatazz junkies and sequin worshippers out there as "Let's Be Bad" was, a sexy realism-based striptease set to song like McPhee's JAmes Brown cover along with an emotional dramatic moment rendered ideally in music like Chase's emotive and sensitive cover of Leon Russell's "A Song For You" - with some soap suds, bitchy sparring sparks and dramatic fireworks along the way, too, preferably; like there were in abundance last night - SMASH is set to sail into Season Two for sure. And that ain't bad - at all.