'Smash' Recap: Are Karen & Dev Officially (Finally) Over?
I know it’s a musical, but this week’s ‘Smash’ had more partner-swapping than a square dance.
Am I crazy, or do Julia (Debra Messing) and Frank (Brian d’Arcy James) now have the most stable relationship out of all the couples on Smash? By the time the curtains dropped on the April 30 episode, both Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy’s (Megan Hilty) love lives were in shambles as their boyfriends spent the hour getting handsy with other dames.
During out-of-town tech rehearsals for Bombshell, Rebecca (Uma Thurman) had a mini-meltdown when she learned that her Joe DiMaggio had dropped out of the show; and with so little time before opening night, there was only one thing to do: bring back Michael (Will Chase). In a surprising show of sensibility, Julia threatened to quit Bombshell if Michael re-entered the fold, only to have Frank and Leo encourage her to stick with it! I expected that kind of backwards logic from Leo — I still can’t believe he tried to smoke out of a vaporizer in the middle of Central Park — but I really had respect for Frank. Until that.
Speaking of cheaters, Dev (Raza Jaffrey) had himself a little mouth-on-mouth party with R.J. this week. Clearly wracked with guilt, he then decided to propose to Karen — and I couldn’t help but smile as she turned him down. The whole cheating thing aside, I’ve never really understood Karen and Dev as a couple. He was sweet and supportive in the pilot, but like most things on Smash, their relationship has been on a steep decline ever since. He’s controlling, he’s temperamental, and he doesn’t seem to understand what it means to date an actress.
In all his infinite wisdom, Derek (Jack Davenport) decided it would be a good idea to hook up with Rebecca in her dressing room, which didn’t sit well with Ivy. Not one bit. But her heartache ended up being the viewers’ good fortune, as she treated us to an intense performance of Rose Royce‘s “I’m Going Down.” I can’t say it was a great song for Ivy to sing at a hotel party — it was pretty much the definition of “buzz kill” — but I enjoyed it, for sure.
And that’s when things got cray. Dev slipped into a dive bar to wallow in his own stupidity, when a pretty young blonde caught his eye — a blonde named Ivy Lynn, to be more specific. He bought her a drink, and according to the promo for next week’s episode, they made a little history of their own. I’m surprised Dev didn’t recognize Ivy because I could have sworn he’d had at least seen her before, but hey, I’m not complaining. I’m just glad to see Karen and Dev on the outs.
What did you think of this week’s Smash? Are you glad Michael is coming back? Do you think he and Julia will rekindle their affair? And how do you feel about Ivy and Dev hooking up? Was it genius, or too random? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below!