'Smash' Season 1, Episode 4 Recap - 'The Cost of Art'

This recap is coming a little late, so we already know that the ratings for "Smash" seem to have bottomed out, and even took a slight up-tick this week. Was that because of Nick Jonas making a cameo? Or has "Smash" just found its audience?

Either way, it looks like the hope here is that bitchiness will save the show. Right off the bat, we have Karen showing up to the first rehearsal and being harassed not only by Ivy, but also by Ivy's nameless friends in the ensemble. After much diva-ing about Karen being too loud and needing to "tone it down," Ivy gets her kicked out of two numbers.

It's at that point that Karen gets a chance to be a little bitchy, and chews out Ivy's nameless friend after finding out that Ivy is sleeping with Derek. From that, nameless friend #1 gathers nameless friend #2 and Bobby (I've at least learned his name by the end of the episode) to get Karen some New Yorker clothes and dance with her in her living room. Because that's what people do.

There are also apparently bars in New York where you can go with your friends and dance to Adele songs. Who knew?

Meanwhile, Eileen could not be any less sympathetic a character as she whines about her money problems. First of all, she says "Marilyn had money problems," which brings up this point: seriously, everyone on this show has to stop comparing themselves to Marilyn. Then she turns to the ORIGINAL F*CKING DEGAS SKETCH that she has in her office, like "oh, what if I sold this old thing?" You've been whining about not having $200,000 but you have an original Degas? Screw you, lady.

Anyway, she sells it to Nick Jonas. Who is actually Lyle West, a former Broadway child star who is now a big-time TV star, and has a party to which all the cool kids are invited, which is to say that Derek, Ivy, Tom, Julia, Eileen and Michael are all there. Oh, and Ellis is there for some reason. The "SHUT THE F*CK UP ELLIS" counter for this episode stands at 2. I will keep track of all the moments where I yell "SHUT THE F*CK UP ELLIS" at my TV from here on in and provide a count in each recap. You're welcome.

Derek flirts with another woman and Ivy cares for a second, then stops. She's very gullible.

But all told, this episode was a vast improvement over last week. Why? Because Karen and Ivy were in the same place. That's the crux of this show: the rivalry. Last week it was completely left by the wayside as it was decided that we needed to see Karen's awful parents again and meet HER nameless friends. This week, the bitchiness was back. All hail the bitchiness.

However, sadly, it looks like the rivalry comes at the cost of Ivy's character. It seems out of character for her to go out of her way to make Karen's life a living hell... after all, she got the part. The thing that made the pilot so interesting was that we weren't quite sure whom to root for. Well, now we know. We're supposed to be on Team Karen. Better get used to it.