'Smash' recap: Art Imitates Life

Alas, Liaisons must end eventually -- and when the curtain falls, it becomes clear that Terry will never again grace the Broadway stage. (The nasty knock he took after falling off an onstage swing was just the final nail in his cuckoo coffin.) At least there's a silver lining to this travesty: While listening to Tom and Ivy's easy rapport after the show, it finally dawns on Karen that her rival is the Marilyn Tom both needs and deserves. And it came to pass all that seemed wrong was now right, and those who deserved to were certain to live a long and happy life (though likely not on NBC).

Not included among that number is Jerry, who is finally forced out of the show thanks to a legal loophole. Because Eileen licensed some material from Marilyn's estate during Bombshell's early development, her ex can't shepherd the show without violating the exclusive agreement she made. And somehow, it no longer matters that Eileen knowingly funded the show with illegal money; additional legal intervention helps her get reinstated as Bombshell's sole producer. Jerry, you foolish mortal; you should have known better than to mess with Anjelica.

We end with a new Hit List song meant to indicate the show's tweaked direction -- and though it, like the rest of that musical's numbers, features lyrics that are more than a little on the nose ("Someone tell me when/I can start again/And rewrite this story"), it's also the first Hit List tune that sounds legitimately like something from an American Idiot-style pop-rock opera. Better yet, "Rewrite History" sounds like it's being sung by two actual characters with personalities and motivations, rather than a couple of pop vocalists. For the first time, Hit List doesn't just seem like a disparate collection of songs loosely connected by a muddled plot -- it seems like an actual musical.

If only the high of that song weren't immediately erased by dumb Derek/Jimmy drama. Whatever, guys. You've only got two options at this point: Sing a duet of "The Girl Is Mine" (Derek is Paul, obviously), or just go ahead and kiss already.

NEXT: Footlights

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