Recapping Smash 2.16 & 2.17: Smashing the 4th Wall | Playbill

Film & TV Features Recapping Smash 2.16 & 2.17: Smashing the 4th Wall Everyone gets a man—some get a man and a Tony! Some go to prison. And some like it hot, and that ain't bad.
Giving us that big finish, Smash goes out the way it lived: Weird and wild and wonderful. NBC

Catch up on Smash every night with Playbill! It's available to stream with commercials on NBC, and available for purchase on Amazon. Episode 15 recap here.

Look. I could only wish that people got this nasty and competitive on the record while campaigning for a Tony Award because there is no way anyone would ever do the things these people do to one another—and it's much less interesting. Also, when Ivy says, "Hit List only came to Broadway because Kyle Bishop died"? Show me the lie.

But here we are, at the end of the series. What have we learned from this rewatch of Smash? That the show's best elements remain when it engages in a meaningful way with the act of creation and with the work of art. That the performances were strong, that the original songs are still delicious, that the personal dramas are boring, and that the choreography makes a lot of great movers look like good dancers.

Speaking of boring personal drama: Ivy is pregnant with Derek's child! Tom is a walking disaster around attractive, muscular men! Jimmy hates Julia because he takes work personally! And don't worry, they all air their grievances at a work event. Ah, Smash.

Now it's time for the nominations (after we get the full cast singing "Under Pressure" and, in particular, Debra Messing intoning, "People on streets"). Julia brought scones and Scotch, which is what we always order in at Playbill, too. Announced by Cheyenne Jackson and Christine Ebersole, Ivy only gets one nomination, for Liaisons. No, wait! She gets two! (I'm still waiting on that Kate Baldwin-led Seesaw revival.) Bombshell ends up with 12 nominations, while Hit List scores 13. Who will win big night of? Will Sutton Foster triumph over Karen and Ivy for her work in Oliver!?

But first, Derek must tell Michael Riedel that he promised Daisy The Diva role if she slept with him. So Daisy, who is talented enough to score a Tony nomination, gets smeared in the press but Derek gets that off his chest. Phew!

Morning of the Tony Awards, Bernadette Peters—sorry, Leigh Conroy—is showing Ivy her Tony acceptance speech to offer some pointers. It is, of course, Bernadette Peters' Annie Get Your Gun speech.

Leigh doesn't win, but Tom and Julia do! And so does Ivy! And the Hit List cast are all suddenly best friends, united in their hatred of that dastardly Daisy. Well, she is a micro manager in the Tony Awards performance rehearsal. Too bad she never gets to go on, and, instead, Ana performs!

Bombshell clearly wins Best Musical (can youimagine watching two seasons of a series about the making of a musical and then the musical doesn't win?) but the big winners are our fearless Scooby gang: Ivy and Derek reconcile; Tom and Julia get the offer to write a movie musical for that hunky Patrick Dylan, who is straight but kisses Tom; Eileen reunites with Nick; Julia may be reuniting with Michael Swift! And, most importantly, Karen Cartwright and Ivy Lynn perform a song on the Tony Awards in front of a giant sign reading SMASH, with insane Cabaret-esque choreography happening behind them. Smash, dying as it lived. Bless.

 
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