Catch up on Smash every night with Playbill! It's available to stream with commercials on NBC, and available for purchase on Amazon. Episode 1 recap here. Episode 3 recap here.
How do you cast a Marilyn after that epic audition sequence at the end of Episode 1? By having them audition again! This time Ivy Lynn will have to do scene work, while Karen Cartwright has to prove her chops with a dance audition. At least Derek agrees with Tom that this new musical is too much to pin on a neophyte without more info. Karen Cartwright, this is your chance!
Meanwhile, Julia is getting Tom to play with form and storytelling by making their as-yet-untitled musical more impressionistic than the typical A to B to C biomusical structure. And that's when we get a verrry highly coiffed Karen and Ivy singing "Let Me Be Your Star" again. Hey, you loved it the first time!
And here we have Ellis calling the musical his idea (after getting caught eavesdropping outside of Eileen's office), before Ivy Lynn and Karen finally meet, per Derek. Ivy Lynn immediately compliments Karen on her scarf (that's the second scarf of the episode, for those counting at home). Afterward, Dev tells Karen that older men have the power, so she should just get used to it already or she'll always be miserable. Those are the kinds of encouraging moments that make Dev oh so memorable as a boyfriend.
Julia is having Family Drama, which is the first but by no means last time during these recaps where I will have to ask myself: How thorough do these need to be? Let's just say that her son is super bummed he might not have a sibling and leave it at that.
The reward for sitting through Julia's family is that we get Derek and Eileen running into Jerry and a much younger blonde at Bond 45. That's before Jordan Roth (hi Jordan!) pulls Derek away, leaving Eileen open to an attack from Jerry—and Jerry's face open to an attack from Eileen's Manhattan. First drink to the kisser of the season!
Karen gets stuck in a work session with Derek and an actor playing Joe DiMaggio, and not only does it go very badly but she ends up missing a business dinner with Dev. Dev, in his typical fashion, handles it beautifully. That's a joke, of course. He yells at her in public. Then they silently make up. Dev. The Worst since 2012.
Ivy Lynn's work session goes much better—or, at least, it ends with her having sex with Derek. That puts her in a much more confident frame of mind before the big callback the next day. Karen goes first, singing and dancing "20th Century Fox Mambo" (spotted in the ensemble: Spencer Liff, Kristine Covillo, and Rickey Tripp) That sequence is the moment in the second episode where you realize this is truly a series, not just a great pilot.
We don't see more of Ivy Lynn's scene work, but we do get to see her hear the news that she won the role. I like to think that's Megan Hilty's real-life reaction when she landed Ivy Lynn.
In Eileen's office, Eileen and Derek share a moment of pity for Karen Cartwright. Eileen presciently predicts she's worth keeping an eye on—oh Eileen, you have no idea.
THE SONGS
"Call Me," "20th Century Fox Mambo," "Crazy Dreams"
THE STARS
Phillip Spaeth as Ivy Lynn's friend and audition room spy; Savannah Wise as Ivy Lynn's friend (walking under the Rock of Ages marquee just a few years after she starred as Sherrie); Maddie Corman as the adoption agent, Jordan Roth as himself; Bernie Telsey (well, he was allegedly on the phone with Eileen); Tom KItt at the jazz club, introducing Ivy Lynn and announcing her big news.
THE SCARVES
Final tally: 4 (Tom, Karen, Derek, Julia all sport them)
