Plus, am I the only one hoping Ellis gets hit by a bus? Like, a really big one?

With Ivy (Megan Hilty) firmly in place as Marilyn Monroe, the Feb. 20 episode of Smash focused on Marilyn‘s creative team searching for the perfect leading man to play Joe DiMaggio. And because the drama is never relegated to the stage alone, the plum role went to Michael Swift (Will Chase), who may or may not have had an affair with Julia (Debra Messing) back in the day. Someone hand me a spoon, because this plot has officially thickened.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I mentioned Michael without also ripping apart his performance of Bruno Mars‘ “Grenade.” The performance itself proved that he’ll make a fine addition to Marilyn, but the fact that the performance happened at all made me want to rip my hair out. It was cheesier than anything I’ve ever seen on Glee, and it gave me so much secondhand embarrassment, I could barely find the strength to keep watching.

But somehow, as we all must do in times of deep despair, I managed to continue on.

And speaking of continuing on, Karen (Katharine McPhee) decided to take a little trip home to regain her confidence. And thanks to a rousing, yet completely random, karaoke performance of “Redneck Woman,” that’s exactly what she did! Even her super-smiley dad admitted she’s got serious talent and isn’t wasting her time on Broadway.

On a slightly less positive note, Tom’s (Christian Borle) assistant Ellis (Jaime Cepero) has officially been upgraded from “slight nuisance” to “massive pain in the ass.” Not only is he permanently lurking in the shadows, soaking up every secret he can, but the little weasel actually stole Julia’s notebook — you know, the one containing all of her notes about Marilyn.

What did you think of this week’s Smash? Do you hate Ellis as much as I do? And how long do you think it’ll take Julia and Michael to hook up again? Head to the comments section with your thoughts!

— Andy Swift

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