Karen and Kyle are on the phone, trying to figure out their Jimmy Problem. He's missing and Kyle is pissed off. He tells her Jimmy has a "trigger" that makes him disappear. Awesome. Such stable people she's bringing into her professional life.

Peter is just leaving an NYU building when Julia flings the paperback copy of his play at him and tells him it's awful. He admits that the play is terrible and says he sucks at writing, but he's a good teacher. She says if he was, his students would have applauded her and good god, someone needs to take the air out of Julia already. She says she wants the show to be great, but she doesn't know what's wrong with it.

Cynthia reads the card on a bouquet from the producers of The Wiz to Ronnie and says that after the show she needs to go out with the network people rather than the ensemble. Ronnie is listlessly applying concealer under one eye. Cynthia asks if she's letting Derek get to her and Ronnie says he doesn't know her, that she's actually not just a good girl. Her mother tells her that the good girl is what people want to see and this could be a really interesting look at the roles women of color get to play in American entertainment, but I kind of doubt Smash can handle that kind of complexity. Cynthia tells Ronnie she needs to play to her strengths and then tells her if Grandma had loved Cynthia as much as Cynthia loves Ronnie, maybe Cynthia would be the star. Oof. Thwarted ambition and insane maternal expectations, party of one. She says the concert and the Bravo deal are going to push Ronnie beyond Broadway, which is what she wanted. Ronnie isn't sure that's what she wanted, but Cynthia says she's here to remind her and this is not a time to change things. It's all very why-don't-you-pass-the-time-with-a-game-of-solitaire-Raymond?

Derek and Tom are running through the song list, which is all standards, none of them under forty years old. Tom is clipped and pissy, so Derek asks him what's wrong and Tom says he made a mistake not listening to Jimmy's song. Derek says that direction isn't where Ronnie and Cynthia wanted to go and Tom accuses him of caving in, which Derek denies. Momentarily. Tom pulls out the song and leaves it on the table for Derek.