'Smash' Season 1, Episode 6 Recap - 'Chemistry'

There were a lot of big accomplishments this episode for you, "Smash." I'm so proud of you.

First off, you raised a point of drama that actually pertained to the Marilyn musical, which is what we're all interested in anyway. Ivy has some vocal issues from stress and overworking her voice, so she is prescribed to vocal rest and a steroid that will supposedly turn her into a hallucinating wolfman.

She doesn't want to take the drugs in the first place, but Derek (still the worst director ever, pretty much) tells her that if she isn't feeling better, he'll have Karen step in for her during the next day's rehearsal. Ivy turns out fine, much to Karen's dismay, but in the process she tells Derek off and breaks up with him, we hope, once and for all.

Furthermore, "Smash," you seem to have accomplished the impossible: you made Julia's drama interesting. Michael continues to pursue her, despite the fact that they're both married and have kids, which results in the two of them boinking in the rehearsal room. It also results in Julia's son Leo, who witnessed their ill-advised middle-of-the-street kiss, becoming a character with a strong feeling about something that he actually should have a strong feeling about.

Take note, "Smash": teenage boys do care if they catch their mother making out with some dude while their father's out of town. They do not, generally, care about adoptions, and rarely make impassioned speeches about them.

The compelling nature of these two storylines, my dear "Smash," make up for the complete lack of any stakes in Tom's love life, Karen's bar mitzvah gig, or Eileen's new love of "Big Buck Hunter."

To be fair, though, the latter did finally establish Eileen as a bit more of a person, and much less of the snobby 1%-er she has been thus far. "Boo hoo, I have to sell my original Degas sketch to pay for my Broadway musical that I'm producing." Bite me, lady.

Our "SHUT THE F*CK UP ELLIS" count was low this week, though Eileen did make a point of being very annoyed with his persistent overeagerness. We'll tack on one more to the tally, which puts it at... maybe 6 for the series thus far? An average of about one per episode seems right.

In closing, you did okay tonight, "Smash." You live another week. Just please, tell Ellis to shut the f*ck up.