Previously on Smash: Karen is splitting her time between the resurrected Bombshell and the fetal Hit List. Ivy lands her breakout role, but it might be the laughingstock of New York thanks to Just Jack!, who insists on playing Les Liaisons Dangereuses as a comedy. And Eileen has to choose between the two versions of Bombshell. And it took me twenty-one episodes to remember that Anjelica Huston's father directed Marilyn Monroe in her last movie. So she, at least, has a reason to be attached to the material other than OMG MARILYN SO GLAMOROUS AND TRAGIC.

Eileen chose the broad-appeal how-Marilyn-made-herself option, the one Tom and Jerry were rooting for. At rehearsal, Derek voices his displeasure loudly as the dancers rehearse "Public Affairs." He hates the plane. Julia sniffs that the new number is vulgar and for tourists, but Tom, Eileen and Jerry are all on team Dynamic Technicolor Fantasy. When Tom reminds Derek that he agreed to go with Eileen's choice, Derek sulks that he thought Eileen would pick the show he liked. Jerry interrupts all this delicious infighting to say they're going to need to cut a number to make room for "Public Affairs," since Bombshell has like seven billion songs.

Karen and the Hit List ensemble load into their Winter Fringe theater: it's a basement, which Jimmy loves, because it's filthy and dark and nasty and he is a guttersnipe. He says it has good acoustics, and anyway, who cares that the space is like, because the show's good! It is? Last week it was shit. I guess the merry elves who orchestrate the numbers while no one is looking also rewrite Kyle's crappy dialogue. Kyle says the show better be in good shape because they go on in ten hours. So obviously the thing to do is for Jimmy to start playing the piano and singing one of his numbers. He gets up from the piano and dances with Karen.

As he's dipping her, an irate brunette interrupts to tell them to shut the fuck up, because there's a performance going on upstairs. Rude peasants, all of them. Karen excuses herself to go to Bombshell rehearsal, which terrifies Kyle, but Jimmy says it's fine if she leaves, because he's in Happy Jimmy mode right now and he wants to nail her. Ana reminds Kyle that Karen's show is headed for Broadway, so she can't just take a night off to do a show in a basement. Kyle protests that he just wants the show to be great, and Jimmy assures him it will be. Oh, so now we're up to great? I guess the elves really did some impressive work on this sucker while we were gone!

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