Farewell Smash – I’ll miss you!
I have just finished watching the 2 hour finale of Smash and there are tears in my eyes and my heart feels a bit warmer. Yes, it was indulgent and why shouldn’t it be? Everything has been leading up to the Tony Awards and songs were aplenty. Although I’m usually not a fan of the ‘dream sequence’ I did enjoy the cast singing Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’. The other highlight for me was Ivy (Megan Hilty) and Karen’s (Katherine McPhee) Tony’s duet ‘Big Finish’.
The storylines kept me enthralled as well. Is it realistic that the sexy but extremely flawed Derek (played with an effortless nonchalance by Jack Davenport) finally owns up to his behaviour? Maybe, maybe not… but I like the thought that he had sunk so low that even he realised that he could no longer continue down that road. I was worried that Ivy might choose to have an abortion without telling Derek and as such was so relieved at the end when you see them talking. Can a baby make Derek a better man? Who knows? However, Ivy and Derek do seem to care for each other deeply and my hope is that they somehow have a future together.
I adored seeing Luke Macfarlane (whom I loved in Brothers and Sisters) as Patrick Dillon playing a ‘straight’ man. Although Tom (played by the charming Christian Borle) is convinced that he most certainly is not. Their chemistry was great and I would like to think that sometime in the future they do ‘grab a bite to eat’.
The Karen and Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) storyline was a little all over the place but their entire relationship was like that. I thought the way they tied it up was appropriate. Realistic? I don’t know… because I am not going to think about it too deeply.
Everyone had closure to their stories one way or another and the audience is treated to one last show stopping number by Ivy and Karen. I will miss both Katherine McPhee’s and in particular Megan Hilty’s spectacular voices the most. Farewell Smash and thanks for all the good times! While your lifespan was too short you were quality to the end.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzp8mVdxcVc]
Are you a fan of Smash? One of my most favourite performances was Ivy singing ‘They Just Keep Moving the Line’. What was yours?
May 30, 2013 @ 10:58 am
Smash was a funny one, it had multiple personalities. As I’ve said before, the primary storyline of the tension and competition between Ivy and Karen was a great device and drove the first series, but the writers messed up by removing it almost entirely from the second season until it was too late. The first half-dozen episodes of series two meandered and lacked purpose, with too much manufactured conflict between other characters in its place.
Sadly, I think it took the likely (then the confirmed) cancellation of the show to get the writers backing track. The last six episodes were right up with anything TV has done. Sadly, watched by a dwindling Saturday night audience in the US…
This was a show that took chances that I would have expected from a cable network, not NBC. The production values were so high, the original musical numbers were mostly worthy of radio airplay, and the covers all served a purpose. Ironically it seems to me that the recordings of the music was an area where expenses were trimmed late in the piece, there seemed to be a lot of auto tune used (I may be wrong, and am happy to be corrected by someone who knows) in episodes 10 thru 15 in series 2. But I agree, the music in the finale hit the mark.
I found Derek’s sudden growing up a little twee, I thought the Jimmy storyline was resolved well, I disagreed with the awarding of the Best Musical Tony Award to the show that got it, it didn’t make sense to me in the context of how the rest of the show went, but in all, I was satisfied with ow they wrapped up a show I didn’t want to see end.
I’ll miss Smash, it was classy TV.
Oh, and favourite musical moment? The duet of ‘That’s Life’ when Karen and Ivy had seemingly buried the hatchet. It showed just what those two performers were capable of. I hope someone making a musical in Hollywood decides to cast them together. I’d pay money to watch that at a cinema.
May 30, 2013 @ 11:14 am
Thanks for your thoughts Chris!
It was funny because when the show started I loved Karen but as time went on I liked Ivy more and more and Karen less. Maybe because Ivy was the underdog? I think there was a change in the writers which is maybe one of the reasons why the mood of the show shifted in season 2.
I love the original songs and have been listening to the Bombshell soundtrack over the last couple of days. I swear if there really was a Bombshell musical I would go to see it. To be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of the covers, especially when the song came out of nowhere. The original songs were so good I didn’t feel the need for some of the covers.
The exception of course is your favourite ‘That’s Life’. That was brilliant!! They are very different singers and performers but wow, they both have breathtaking voices. As far as a musical with both of them…I think we have a wait on our hands. It sounds like Megan Hilty is headed back to Broadway and Katherine McPhee is about to do a movie.