MovieChat Forums > Smash (2012) Discussion > New to commenting on Smash

New to commenting on Smash

posted 11 years ago by weekilter
6 replies | jump to latest

I must apologize if it seems like I'm coming late into the party, but just wanted to make some observations after watching season 1 and 2 as complete for this past weekend.

I was excited and still am that for every week it was like visiting a Broadway show.

I know that the actors are acting so I can't project onto them anything about their qualities, but in season 1 the character that I came to fully despise was Ellis (Jaime). I didn't have much good to say about Julia (Deborah Messing) that she couldn't control her emotions and gave in so easily to Michael. I did not feel any sorrow for Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) and thought for the most part that she was a selfish self-centered woman. Eileen's husband Jerry was a real sleazeball.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (16722831) 11 years ago

LOL, all understandable points. I personally love Ivy and saw her as very layered. Who I could not stand at all was Derek, I liked him in the beginning but he kept getting worse and worse. He was a Twilight grade douchebag who never did anything to show he truly cared about other's on the show. It was all about him. Sad cause Jack has been great in so many other things, but he couldn't make this bag of garbage work. I wanted to vomit when he got together with Ivy in the end.

[–] alwayspoppy 10 years ago

Hello!

Im new to Smash too, massive Marilyn Monroe fan and a massive musical fan, so don't know how I missed this for so long :) Ive watched it all except for the finale of Season2.

season 1 was fab and have no complaints really except no idea why or how Derek could think Karen was a better Marilyn than Ivy!!

However Season 2 I have really struggled with and those are down to 2 reasons;

1) Tom. Hate hate hate him throughout vS2 which is strange as loved him in S1. Just thought he was meant to be different and honourable and have found his behaviour grotesque in S2. Hated the idea of him as director, hated that he took advantage of Kyle (I have more respect for Derek than Tom, as at least he is up front about what he is doing &why), and most especially I detest how he treated Julia. Why the writer of this show thought it was a good idea to turn Tom into a caricature and dissolve the friendship & partnership thag was the very heart of the show, seems bizarre.

I hate it when Julia even talks to him now, I don't think he deserves it. All her actions, even if wrong and immoral, have bern understandable, even when you know they are stupid or selfish but I have found Tom so vile and smarmy and underhand in s2 I find hjm basically unwatchable!!

2) Jimmy. Urgh what a ridiculous pointless character. He too is unlikeable to the extreme. He has had so many chances, he threw them away for no good reason. However talented he is, as an unknown I cannot see a director of Derek's calibre putting up with his nonsense as he shouldn't!! Have no idea why Karen would waste her time with him. Dev thd liar and cheater from S1 was a more viable optiln!

Unlike others I don't hate Karen (or Katherine McPhee) although no way would she be chosen over Ivy to be Marilyn!! And I actually really like Derek...his behaviour is atrocious and disgusting but he knows what he is & on the whole admits it...unlike most of the kther characters.

Overall though I loved Smash and I would pretty much do anything to see Bombshell actually performed in its entirety on stage!

[–] smgfans 10 years ago

Even though I hated how Tom and Julia feuding became a big part of the season, I wasn't necessarily on the side of an individual. Because Julia was an unprofessional, unreliable person who a production were counting on. She was late, she made excuses, she often didn't show up, she chose her family over rehearsals after she forced them into an awkward position by hiring Michael in Boston and Tom should have went through her for her idiotic behaviour at many point during the season. Much like Ivy in season 2, Julia redeemed herself and sorted her mess out and that's when Tom started to exile her. Had he tried to separate from her during season 1, it was completely understandable because she was putting his career in jeopardy too. But she did nothing in season 2 to warrant his sudden disinterest in her and their partnership.

Hated the idea of him as director, hated that he took advantage of Kyle

He was always passionate about visioning the show and how he wanted it to look; it was natural for him to want to direct. How did he take advantage of Kyle? Kyle was the one who cheated.

He too is unlikeable to the extreme. He has had so many chances, he threw them away for no good reason.

This. He was arrogant, insulting, rude, patronising and confrontational. He was literally the most loathsome character in Smash. Ellis was more likeable. Great talent and Jeremy Jordan was able to show that he could make Jimmy likeable in the few he scenes he got the chance to, but Jimmy was written to be a horrible person and act out in the face of the slightest criticism.

although no way would she be chosen over Ivy to be Marilyn!!

I agree that Hilty physically embodies Marilyn, but I think different people have different tastes. If it was a film, the actress has to bare a resemblance and Hilty would win over them, but on stage, I don't think it matters. She is an icon who is presented to us in many different forms. Megan fills the eccentric, voluptuous, flirtatious Marilyn; while McPhee's plays the naive, innocent, vulnerable side that she is often painted as. It's sort of how they'd be as actors too. Megan is dynamic, emotive and vibrant; McPhee is naturalistic (I do not mean that Megan over emotes at all) and subtle as an actor. McPhee gets the chance to show off her vibrant, playful Marilyn in things like Public Relations in the same way Megan has Lets Be Bad; and Megan also gets to do the more introvert performances like Never Give all the Heart (they both did) and such. I think it's all down to preference. I see them both in the role.

Here's an idea: next time, instead of being late, just *beep* on my face-Emma Stone

[–] pwrof3willsetufree 10 years ago

Jimmy. Urgh what a ridiculous pointless character. He too is unlikeable to the extreme. He has had so many chances, he threw them away for no good reason. However talented he is, as an unknown I cannot see a director of Derek's calibre putting up with his nonsense as he shouldn't!! Have no idea why Karen would waste her time with him. Dev thd liar and cheater from S1 was a more viable optiln!

I agree. He was an annoying character and turned Karen annoying as well.

[–] alwayspoppy 10 years ago

Hello! Thanks for replying. Sorry about any typos. I have trouble on my ipad :)

Whilst I see what you mean re Julia...I understand (although in no way condone or agree) how she got herself into that mess...but I cannot understand Tom's at all..the way he treated Sam, the way he threw his weight around...I couldn't get my head around what he was fighting for...as it didn't appear to be the show, friendship, love it just appeared he was being conceited and trying to assert his authority. ?..but over what?!

Julia asked him to do Great Gatsby, he declined & told her not to wait for him, but when she didn't wait for him she was treated like dirt....all he had to do was ask her to wait 6 months and she would of..but he was so unnecessarily cruel & then tried to act the victim. I am not sure I could have for given that level of disloyalty...I respect Julia that she did. At no point do I see Julia be disloyal to Tom on that level even when she was having a breakdown!!

I also understand why she got so involved with HitList especially after Kyle died...it was a bit misguided but for the right reasons!!

Re Kyle - Derek may have used girls during casting calls (which is wrong completely) but he was always upfront to the girls about why...he was immoral but the girls knew what they were doing (& I imagine that the girls were quite street smart) but I felt what Tom did took advantage of a fan of his, who was vulnerable and eager to please...they made it out to be a cute little love story after he died but at the time I thought Tom as the much older man, who was famous & doing the job Kyle ultimately wanted knew this & used it to his advantage. Im not saying my interpretation was right but thats how I saw it, I felt,uncomfortable with Tom's actions!

Jeremy Jordan did do the best he could with the material but how I wish Jimmy had died not Kyle ;)

[–] alwayspoppy 10 years ago

And I agree there is many interpretations of Marilyn Monroe and both versions worked on stage/screen but I never saw Marilyn as naive only vulnerable and Ivy had that down to a tee...she waa both over confident and vulnerable which just worked so well. I could only see Ivy, never Karen. I was delighted that Ivy was Marilyn & that she won the Tony...it was always her to me! :)