Is Killing Off a Character Too Much?: A Smash Review

     I've finally caught up with NBC's Smash, a show that’s tagline should literally be, "Well at least we tried." Which sucks because Smash had one of the strongest pilots I've seen in years, now fans of the show are patiently awaiting a decision on the show's renewal. Though in the spirit of full disclosure, most Smash fans have become cynical Smash critics who question whether or not the show should be given a third season at all.  

     Smash centers around the behind the scenes of making a Broadway musical, Bombshell. Bombshell is a musical about Marilyn Monroe, written by partners Julia Houston (Debra Messing) and Tom Levitt (Christian Borle). Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston) is the show's producer and the musical's initial director is Derek Wills (Jack Davenport). Throughout the first season, the creative team come together to find the perfect Marilyn all while continuously rehearsing their somewhat bland script. The two contenders for Marilyn are Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) and Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee). But that was just season one, now we have embarked on this little train wreck we in the Smash fandom like to call "season two." Season Two has introduced us to a few new characters and a whole new up and coming musical, Hit List. 

        Hit List is a currently off-Broadway pop/rock musical written by Kyle Bishop (Andy Mientus) and Jimmy Collins (Jeremy Jordan). Hit List is the story of, "reaching fame in this era, and what it takes to get there." The musicals are now kind of rivals, but not really. Now, Derek Wills is directing Hit List and Karen Cartwright is starring in Hit List. Basically, Smash is trying to make Hit List into Rent. (Spoiler: They aren't succeeding.)

      The reason I want to talk about Smash is The Dead Poets Society. I know that sentence probably made no sense at all, but let me explain. Last week, we watched The Dead Poets Society in English class. In The Dead Poets Society, one of the protagonists takes their own life, and when we discussed this film as a class, a few of my classmates said that the death of a student was unnecessary. They argued that someone getting expelled would have been a better catalyst, however I disagreed. I think the the catalyst in The Dead Poets Society needed to have such high stakes. I think the character death in this film was effective, however that's not always the case, and that is what brings me to Smash. Smash has really done it this time, they've killed one of the show's only likable characters, Kyle Bishop. What I want to do is analyze whether or not this sudden character death on Smash was worth it? Were the stakes high enough? etc. etc.  

    Kyle Bishop didn't look both ways while crossing the street and got hit by a car. Now, he is dead. It was actually really sad, especially in context, but whatever. So now Hit List has its matyr and with its increased attention and support, it can make the jump to Broadway super quickly. Maybe even in time for Tony Nominations! If this whole doesn't scream Jonathan Larson I don't even know what does? I mean, this is basically the story of Rent. Not really, but still. Young talented writer dies unexpectedly and his show becomes super popular and goes to Broadway? Nice, O.K. Smash. I have a few problems with this death. 

1. Kyle didn't need to die. If Hit List is as good as the character say it is, they had a chance of getting to Broadway that season, considering the Anjelica Huston keeps mentioning that tons and tons of other musicals are dropping like flies. 
2. Kyle was much more likable than Jimmy ever was. Jimmy is an isolent little boy who gets mad when the Olivier and Tony Winning director tells him how to act. Boohoo Jimmy, the reason Derek tells you how to act the part is because he's the director. Jimmy is basically the Hulk. (I will be calling him the Hulk from now on). 
3. Heck, the writers could've gotten Hit List to Broadway much easier, if they didn't make the Hulk blow a performance in front of a bunch of powerful theatre executives, Kyle wouldn't be dead and fans would hate Hulk less.
4. Oh, and I think it's a little cheap to be exploiting Jonathan Larson's tragic death for Smash, especially when so many actors from the original cast of Rent appear on Smash. I hope the writers at least gave Daphne Rubin Vega and Jesse L. Martin a heads up, which I assume they did because they gave Andy Mientus (Kyle Bishop) one. But you never know, and the thing is recreating that day for them, almost down to the very last detail might have been ridiculously hard for those cast members. So, I just think it was in poor taste. 

     I think Kyle dying in Smash is a lot different than having Neil commit suicide in The Dead Poets Society. For one, the writers didn't exactly write themselves into a corner here, there were many ways to get Hit List to Broadway in time to compete with Bombshell at the Tony's. They choose the option, that in my opinion, was the least tasteful. For what? They created a super unlikeable character, and now they hope to redeem the Hulk with the death of his friend. I think its cheap, there could've been so many different solutions to these characters problems. Not every fan will agree with me here, and I respect that. But unlike The Dead Poets Society, the stakes on Smash are typically not life or death. 

   Tom Schulman created a masterpiece with The Dead Poets Society, but the writers of Smash did not. Honestly, they wasted one of their most likable characters, a character that had so much potential. A character that had just gotten a backbone too! I think its out of place in Smash and super cheap to basically just  cut and paste the story of Rent into Smash and use it as a way to propel all the love triangles. And that's all I have to say really. 

Oh. 

  Except I did like this one part. Bombshell dimmed the lights on their marquee for Kyle. It was actually really touching. The clip starts at 3:35. All the characters put aside their issues, for like ten minutes, and I thought it was great. It reminded of Season One when everyone was on the same team, and it occurred to me just now that they still are. They're all still friends. So I guess two good things came out of this episode, a tribute to Kyle and a reminder that at the end of the day, the people on Smash actually do care about each other.