https://www.backstage.com/tv-recap/News articles for the following category: TV RecapenTue, 28 May 2013 11:36:01 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-16-tonys/And in the end, Ivy got her Tony. Tom and Julia made up. Jimmy went to jail for reasons that we don't fully understand. Eileen got back together with Nick. "Bombshell" won every award – along with Sutton Foster. Derek admitted to the world that he's a horrible person. Ana got her Tony moment to shine, breaking many rules of Equity and basic logic. Scott disappeared. And Karen? She got an incarcerated boyfriend, a Tony dress the color of Pepto, and a pocket full of broken dreams on awards night. And Kyle is still dead. And everyone lived happily ever after, just like on real Broadway... The Awesome Hey! Jeremy Jordan Sounds Real GoodOK, so there's no way this "Hit List" Tonys number could have just happened out of nowhere. There's the small matter of rehearsal, and the fact that they'd never get this past the ceremony's staff. But hey, at least when "Smash" asked us to suspend all disbelief to the point that we considered huffing glue to aid in the process of abandoning reality, they let Jeremy Jordan loose to riff his face off. Living in a world where Jeremy Jordan sounds like that is A-OK by us. Always. Maybe he can come back to Broadway real soon – "Ever After," anyone? – and make that world an actualTue, 28 May 2013 11:36:01 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-16-tonys/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-15-transfer/This week on “Smash,” there is... wait... why are we talking about golf right now? Has Jimmy found his new high in sports? Oh, wait! It's because NBC gives not a care in the world about this show anymore, and we're missing the whole opening scene because some old white men are talking about other mostly white men swinging sticks around in a grassy field. Golf claps! Thank goodness Jeremy Jordan was on Twitter to inform us that we missed an entire musical number, otherwise we'd be confused forever. Meanwhile, when we finally join the show, Ana is stumbling around confused and her understudy, Daisy, who we didn't even know was in “Hit List,” is chomping at the bit for her shot – which she gets when Derek suspiciously tells Ana to take a day off. Over in “Bombshell” land, Ivy is busy selling cars, wanting a Tony real bad, and being shocked to find her personal life splashed across the pages of the paper in blind items. Tom also wants a Tony real bad, so he takes a little cabaret of his and Julia's songs and turns it into a huge, flashy review to prove what a great director he is. And Eileen is exploiting Tom and Julia's personal drama to get “Bombshell” some pity-votes at theMon, 13 May 2013 11:14:40 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-15-transfer/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-14-phenomenon/This week on "Smash," Kyle is dead. Also, Kyle is dead. Some other stuff happened in between there. Jimmy sang a song to himself. Karen artfully removed six strands of hair from her intentionally messy side-braid. Jonathan Larson rolled over in his grave. Frank DilLella played himself, and exactly nine of the twelve people in the live viewing audience recognized him. Megan Hilty waited around for her plotline to come back. But mostly, Kyle is dead. Before the news gets out, though, Karen has enough time to nearly-shag Derek, and Jimmy has enough time to walk in on them and then promptly disappear into one of his drug hazes of indeterminate length that keep him conveniently off-screen while everyone else makes musicals.  Over at "Hit List," the show is left reeling from the news about Kyle, but no one is more freaked out than Tom, who had been having a fling with him. Tom, deciding to use this tragedy as a perspective builder – never mind that Kyle isn't even out of the morgue yet – uses some of Kyle's advice to make "Bombshell" a better show, and obviously the world a better place. Meanwhile Scott tells the cast he's cancelled that night's show, but talks them all into performing when hoards of fans show upMon, 06 May 2013 11:58:25 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-14-phenomenon/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-13-producers/Welcome to "Smash," where we begin thinking there's nothing quite as jarring as a close-up of Kathie Lee Giffords' face on our television screens. Apparently she's filming a Today Show segment about the work the "Bombshell" team are doing with kids who aspire to be Broadway stars, and here we learn that Ivy is overbooked and overtired – the promotional grind for a faltering Broadway show is no joke, yo! Meanwhile, Tom wants Julia to tell Scott to beat it and write Gatsby as a musical with him, just the way they always intended. And for a second, Julia considers. You know, until Scott points out how selfish Tom is being. So now Scott and Julia's relationship is not ending, but Julia and Tom's relationship totally is. Downtown, heartbroken Jimmy is going on benders and barely making it to the theater for show time and Kyle is scrambling to cover for him while simultaneously getting tired of Jimmy's BS like six years too late. When Jimmy's high-ness screws up the show, and Karen gets hurt because he misses his mark, Derek calls it. They're replacing Jimmy with Sam Strickland, who seriously just got cast as an understudy eight hours earlier. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like the potential producers in the audience at "HitMon, 29 Apr 2013 11:13:34 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-13-producers/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-12-opening-night/This week on "Smash," "Bombshell" is finally (finally) open for business, which means that Tom and Julia are looking forward to their next project. Or not. Tom, it turns out, is interested in directing a revival of "City of Angels" while Julia has her heart set on a musical of "The Great Gatsby." Meanwhile, Ivy is still shagging Derek without a single hair on her head going out of place, and Karen and Jimmy are patching things up. Sort of. Really, Jimmy just tearfully confesses to his not-that-terrible past as a drug dealer and somewhat horrible person and Karen forgives him for everything, just like real life. Eileen and her craggy, slightly asymmetrical New York Times editor boyfriend continue to be on the rocks since his article glowingly praised "Hit List." The Ben Brantley review of "Bombshell," on the other hand, is decidedly mixed, with Julia getting the brunt of the glittering notices while Tom's direction took a major hit.  Back in the lower classes of society, Ana is courting Jimmy's drug dealer friend, who we affectionately refer to as Squee Gee Man, and who is actually Jimmy's brother. No one likes this idea, especially Kyle, who confronts them at the "Bombshell" opening night party. Things naturally devolveMon, 22 Apr 2013 11:05:17 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-12-opening-night/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-11-invited-dress/We begin on Christmas Eve…err, Saturday night, with Tom standing naked on stage while the entire "Bombshell" cast points and laughs at him.  Welcome to Tom's final dress anxiety dream. (At least it's more interesting than ours, which usually involve the totally wrong text going live in an advertisement on a major web site...) A few blocks away, Ivy is waking to find Derek has slept over, while across a river in Brooklyn, Karen is taking a motherly tone with Jimmy who's been using drugs to stay up for days and write lots of new songs in the hopes that'll keep Derek from cutting his and Karen's parts down. "Bombshell" is in final dress hell at the Lily Hayes – because we couldn't possibly call it the cursed Lyceum, y'all, then everyone would already know your show is going to... wait for it... bomb – where everything is going wrong and Ivy's clothes are spontaneously falling off. Downtown, Derek's distance from Karen is giving him fresh perspective and "Hit List" is about to take off. Well, that is if Karen and Jimmy don't ruin everything by complaining about their parts being cut down first. After "Bombshell's" first preview doesn't fail miserably, Tom, Eileen, Julia, and Scott attempt to celebrate. AtMon, 15 Apr 2013 11:12:24 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-11-invited-dress/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-10-surprise-party/Miracles abound this week on "Smash," as the show moves to Saturday nights. Maybe somebody put something in the water in the writers' room. Maybe the show's endgame is suddenly more clearly in sight. ("Bombshell" is going to Broadway, you guys!) But whatever happened, we hope it keeps happening. In "Bombshell" Land, the show is in tech, and Tom and Ivy are at loggerheads because he hired her mother – so much so that Ivy doesn't invite Tom to her big birthday party. Not knowing this, Tom plans his own surprise: Liza Minnelli will sing a new song he's written for Ivy's birthday. Meanwhile, Eileen and the handsome New York Times arts editor are on the verge of a romantic dalliance... or something. They both agree, at any rate, that Michael Riedel writes like a toddler on a sugar bender after too much candy corn. At "Hit List," Jimmy and Karen are spending copious amounts of time hooking up in the costume closet, but Karen's annoyed that Jimmy won't let them go public with their relationship. In frustration, she spills the beans to Derek, which ends in a crazy pissing match between two really handsome men (Derek and Jimmy) over a very dull beautiful woman (Karen). It's the story of Marilyn Monroe's life, everyone! Get it? GetMon, 08 Apr 2013 11:15:10 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-10-surprise-party/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-10-parents/For about five seconds this week, the world of "Smash" is a glorious place to be because Jeremy Jordan is wearing nothing but underwear. Don't get too excited though, team, because that all falls apart very quickly when Karen's dad arrives out of nowhere and Jimmy has to put on clothes and sneak out the window. Meanwhile, back in front of the Flatiron Building – theater STILL doesn't go here – Ivy Lynn is complaining about how her mom is the absolute worst. Which is perfect, because surprise, Ivy! Momma Rose Lee has just been cast in "Bombshell" to play Marilyn's mother who is also coincidentally the absolute worst. Downtown, while Jimmy is on his way to rehearsal, his past catches up to him in the form of his dealer – clearly a reject from the Gateway Playhouse cast of "Rent" – who wants to settle their debts. Jimmy's only moderately worried, though, because he's going to steal some things from some rich people at a "Hit List" fundraiser while Ana basks in her diva moment wearing nothing but a pair of ruched Spanx, which the New York Times editor really likes. Back at "Bombshell," Tom is being a terrible director and Julia is trying to undo fifteen years of damage to her relationship with Scott in aWed, 03 Apr 2013 10:07:55 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-10-parents/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-9-bells-and-whistles/This week on a slightly less frenetic episode of "Smash," Karen has some growing pains at "Hit List." Like, the kind of growing pains you have when you want to shag the composer of your show. Ivy is now starring in "Bombshell" as a short, manly-voiced Marilyn, and Tom is directing. Sam, Tom's former squeeze, is taking a break from starring in "The Book of Mormon" -- because being in the most popular show on earth making scads of money is so tedious -- and Jimmy is just doing his usual thing, i.e. dressing like The Fonz and gazing moodily into the camera. Downtown at "Hit List," Derek and Jimmy are still butting heads over their "creative vision," aka over which of them can get into Karen's pants faster, and trying to solve their latest casting conundrum. This week's challenge: Who will play the show's female nemesis? Enter Ana, Karen's roommate, who stages an impromptu audition for the role while standing on a bar singing a Beyonce song. As one does. There's another side plot where Julia butts heads -- and almost instantly mends fences with -- Scott, the downtown producer staging "Hit List," but that evaporates so quickly that it hardly leaves a mark. Oh yeah, and then Karen and Jimmy make out on the kitchen table. The Awesome Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:55:29 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-9-bells-and-whistles/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-7-musical-chairs/This week, “Smash” is playing Musical Chairs and boy are we dizzy. When the game begins, Jimmy and The Roommate Who Shall Not Be Named are running through “Hit List” for Tom Collins and the lovely folks at the Manhattan Theater Workshop, while Karen and Tom argue their way through a “Bombshell” rehearsal and Terry has lots of really smart ideas for the new and improved “Liasons” even though it's about five minutes away from opening. Then there's lots of running in circles. This involves Jimmy refusing to find a way to make his show better so Derek isn't reduced to directing it in the cupboard under the stairs--nobody puts the Big Bad Wills in a corner!--and Kyle apologizing for everything all the time. Jerry makes power plays to oust Tom, while Eileen makes power plays to oust Jerry instead. And Ivy and Terry decide to make their bad show craptacular, going out in a flourish of trapezes and potential head trauma as opposed to quiet suckage. After so much spinning, Karen quits “Bombshell” to follow her heart to Jimmy; “Liasons” sucks so hard that it closes as fast as it opened--freeing Ivy to be Tom's Marilyn--and Eileen and her child have manipulated theWed, 20 Mar 2013 10:08:57 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-7-musical-chairs/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-6-fringe/This week on "Smash," guys! "Hit List" is getting staged at the Winter Fringe Festival; "Bombshell" is still lumbering its way toward Broadway, "Liasons" is a total mess thanks to its Hollywood-actor leading man; and all of the people in all of these shows are still a lot less intelligent and articulate than you need them to be. Karen, for starters, is still in love with Jimmy, and he's decided to keep it in the friend zone, delaying the inevitable moodily-lit sex scene for yet another episode. Julia, having written an erudite, brilliant new book for "Bombshell," sees it get duly passed over in favor of her earlier, crappier draft of the same show. Tom starts telling Derek how to do his job, which sends Derek packing and straight into the arms of "Hit List," which needs a director. It also needs a leading lady, as it turns out, because Karen is barred from working on the show due to her "Bombshell" commitments. Ivy Lynn is pretty miserable at her new gig, too, mostly from dealing with Hollywood diva Terry Falls (Sean Hayes), who's now basically directing the show and bringing all of his moderately horrible ideas to fruition. Karen eventually decides to defy the "Bombshell" producers and does the "Hit List" stagingWed, 13 Mar 2013 10:59:29 -0400https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-6-fringe/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-5-read-through/Welcome to "The Read Through" where there will be--you guessed it--a read-through of "Bombshell." And just to spice things up, there's a simultaneous reading of "Hit List," too! You can hardly stand the excitement, we know. This week, we catch up with Tom, Derek, Julia, and Peter as they visit the STUNNING Belasco Theater, where Bombshell is apparently now going to be staged. Tom has tons of ideas for new numbers, Derek is droll, and Julia and Peter are all pumped up about the new draft and "we, we wee-ing" all over the place like an actual couple. Gross. Derek is going to burst their peppy bubble by reminding them that Jerry will flush "Bombshell" down the toilet if the reading isn't perfect. Continuing to hedge his bets, Derek has gotten "Hit List" into something called "The Winter Fringe," so Karen, knee-deep in crush-on-the-badboy mode decides to pull together a last-minute, first-ever reading for the show at Kyle and Jimmy's apartment. Meanwhile back in reality, Eileen's life is kind of falling apart. (No worries, though, not a single hair on her bluntly-cut head is out of place. Ever.) And in another studio downtown, Ivy Lynn is suffering the slings and arrows of outrageously bad co-stars in "Liasons" rehearsals. By theWed, 06 Mar 2013 11:30:41 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-5-read-through/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-5-song/This week on "Smash," we see Veronica Moore rehearsing her televised one-night-only concert that's directed by Derek, only it's going badly. Veronica's signature song isn't working, her "momager" is on the prowl, and everyone's suspicious of Derek, thanks to his reputation as a spectacular ho. Meanwhile, Julia heads to NYU to speak to Peter's theater class, only she quickly realizes that she's not there to speak. Peter's students instead do a read-through of "Bombshell" so Julia can hear honest feedback. They give it the Brantley treatment. Cut to the Pottery Barn version of Brooklyn where Kyle and Jimmy get a phone call from Karen, who wants them to write an edgy new song for Veronica. She asks how quickly they can get into Manhattan. (Answer: Four hours on the G train.) They schlep downtown and play songs for musical director Tom who thinks all of their songs are too angsty and minor-key-ish. Jimmy then attempts to write a new song with Karen's help. Kyle looks on, forlorn. Back in grown-up-land, Eileen refuses Jerry's suggestion to lie to the Feds, because she's in loooove, which gets her booted from "Bombshell's" production team. At The Veronica Show, Derek freaks because Veronica, or Ronnie for short, isn't sexy enoughWed, 27 Feb 2013 11:04:20 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-5-song/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-2-dramaturg/Welcome back to "Smash," where we meet cute with Karen, who is imagining herself wearing 1/4 of a shirt and performing a fully staged number from "Hit List," the musical that Jimmy and Kyle are writing that doesn’t really exist yet. Derek is condescending and unimpressed, but Karen remains undeterred. She is going to get Jimmy and Kyle a meeting with Derek and make this musical happen. Meanwhile, Derek is just straight hustling—rehearsing "Bombshell" and begging for his job back at "The Wiz"—because he still looks like a jerk with all those chorus girls suing him. Tom and Julia are meeting with a dramaturg at Eileen’s behest, which is making Julia act even more crazy than usual. Ivy is auditioning for a musical version of "Dangerous Liaisons" while Ronnie is fighting to get "The Wiz" off the ground, and Jimmy is being mysteriously messed up and Kyle is being all sunshine and nervous energy. By the end of things, Ivy has a miraculous new gig, Ronnie has quit "The Wiz" because she wants to rebrand herself as a bad girl—and Dorothy totally does not help with that—Derek is on board to help develop "Hit List" and Peter—The Dramaturg for whom this episode is named—has pushed Julia inWed, 20 Feb 2013 12:20:07 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-recap-episode-2-dramaturg/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-season-2-premiere-recap-awesome-awful-and-inexplicable/Welcome back to “Smash,” our fellow gluttons for punishment, hate-watchers, and Jeremy Jordan obsessers. Season 2 begins in Boston, where “Bombshell’s” pre-Broadway tryout is ending and everyone is going home. Karen still hates Ivy. The show is a wild success. And all is right with the world, that is, until we get back to New York. Things start out okay – “Bombshell” is transferring to Broadway, Karen has met a cute waiter boy with a jawline of beautifulness named Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) -- and end up in the toilet when the Feds stop Bombshell from moving forward because Eileen was using funny money to fund it. Now no one has a job. Derek is being sued for sexual harassment by a bunch of dancers, and Julia's broken-again marriage has sent her into the depths of a duvet in Tom's apartment. At least Karen can distract herself with Jimmy, a douchey (but clearly sweet and wounded) young composer who she decides is her next project, or The Next Big Thing, or whatever. Then, miraculously, “Bombshell” is back on. That's mostly because Eileen admitted defeat, confessed to breaking the law, and handed the production over to creeper/nemesis/ex-husband Jerry. ToWed, 06 Feb 2013 08:29:15 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/smash-season-2-premiere-recap-awesome-awful-and-inexplicable/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/go-recap-episode-9-dinner-takes-all/Here’s the thing about Thanksgiving. No matter whether you’re spending the holiday with your closest friends or your extended family, there’s a good chance there will be a handful of tense moments, a splattering of awkward conversation, and a few unwanted guests here and there. Like feeling sleepy after eating turkey, these Thanksgiving clichés are pretty unavoidable. So rather than try to avoid it, it’s probably best to just embrace the holiday for what it is. Which is exactly how Ryan King (Matthew Perry) is handling Thanksgiving this year. In the past, King spent Turkey Day at his radio show, broadcasting for all those “guys in prison and sad people at home who’s TVs are broken.”. But this year, King collects a smorgasbord of friends and strangers together for dinner at the radio station. Included in the bunch?  Team Transitions of course – including Owen’s (Tyler James Williams) mom Joyce (Vanessa Bell Calloway) and Anne’s (Julie White) two kids.  King’s assistant Carrie (Allison Miler) makes the cut too. As does his boss/best friend/college bud, Steven (John Cho). It’s a pretty dysfunctional group. Though oddly King, who’s spentWed, 21 Nov 2012 10:41:58 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/go-recap-episode-9-dinner-takes-all/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/ben-and-kate-recap-episode-eight-reunion/Tuesday night’s episode of “Ben and Kate” started with an appropriately Thanksgiving-themed bang, as Ben (Nat Faxon) and Tommy (Echo Kellum) raced into Kate’s house holding the live turkey they rescued from a raffle at the mall. Kate (Dakota Johnson) is initially disgusted, but lets the turkey stay once she realizes how cute he is. (And now, can we just take a moment to acknowledge how great the “Ben and Kate” theme song is? It was composed by Michael Andrews, who also did the scoring for the film “Bridesmaids.") Anyways, back to the episode, which gradually becomes less Thanksgiving-y. Ben, Kate, and Tommy’s high school reunion is coming up, and everyone’s nervous for different reasons. After running into his super stylish ex-classmate, Sarush, Tommy is worried that he won’t be the most fashionable person at the reunion. Kate's nervousness lies in encountering her high school nemesis, Anna. Anna, we learn, once sabotaged Kate’s performance in “Jesus Christ Superstar” by forcing Kate to fall over mid-song, and land face-first in some guy’s crotch (and thereby christening—no pun intended—Kate’s high school nickname, “JunkTue, 20 Nov 2012 22:46:50 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/ben-and-kate-recap-episode-eight-reunion/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/go-recap-episode-8-videogame-set-match/Welcome back! It’s been a few weeks since we’ve checked in on Ryan King (Matthew Perry) and his merry band of misfit group therapy friends. Between the debates and super-storm Sandy and the election, "Go On" has been on pause. But don’t worry, folks, not much has changed. Oh, except for a new fancy opening sequence that proves, among other things, that George (Bill Cobbs) is nowhere to be found. Remember George? The blind guy who totally stole the show in the pilot? Yeah. He’s out. Although it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since George hasn’t been around for the past few weeks. But it seems that no one in Transitions has really noticed. They don’t mention him ever, which is totally weird since they’re all super close. And this week, when Yolanda (Suzy Nakamura) announced she was ready to move on from group, everyone cheered Lauren (Laura Benanti), saying this was her first graduation. Um… what about George? Didn’t he graduate too? Oh, and that’s not even taking into consideration that other dude who was in the pilot. He left too! The absence of George isn’t the only inconsistency happening with the group these days. Remember how Owen (Tyler JamesWed, 14 Nov 2012 10:40:25 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/go-recap-episode-8-videogame-set-match/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/mindy-project-recap-episode-5-danny-castellano-my-gynecologist/Mindy needs to find a new gynecologist. Lucky for her, she works with three of them. However, when her top choice, her boss Dr. Shulman, isn’t available (where is Stephen Tobolowsky and when is he going to appear in an episode again?!) she resorts to number two: the handsome, though emotionally scarred, Dr. Danny Castellano (Chris Messina). You see, when Dr. Schulman retires, Danny imagines he’ll be in charge, and he can be Mindy’s doctor because…wait for it…he has no feelings for her, romantic, friendship, or otherwise. He actually compares her to a pretty awesome lamp in her office. Meanwhile, remember when Dr. Jeremy Reed (Ed Weeks) and Mindy used to go on “bedroom dates,” as her lovably naïve assistant Betsy (Zoe Jarman) calls them? Well, turns out that Jeremy left his very expensive, very dear Bulgari watch at Mindy’s apartment, and since we know Jeremy has no feelings for humans, particularly women, it makes sense that an object makes him more distraught. He consults with ex-con nurse Morgan (Ike Barinholtz) to plan to break in to Mindy’s apartment. Though he tells him it’s to plan a half birthday surprise party, which Morgan is way too excitedWed, 14 Nov 2012 08:34:23 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/mindy-project-recap-episode-5-danny-castellano-my-gynecologist/https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/ben-and-kate-recap-episode-seven-career-day/So, remember Will, that cute single dad that Kate (Dakota Johnson) bonded with on Halloween (you know—the one that guessed she was dressed up as Babe Ruth Bader-Ginsberg)? Well, she’s totally into him. She’s even initiated “Operation Crockpot,” by which she will subtly flirt with Will for three months, until—BAM!—they’re in a relationship. Meanwhile, Maddie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) informs Ben (Nat Faxon) that her school’s Career Day is coming up. Ben, despite having no career whatsoever, is hard bent on participating. That gives him and Tommy (Echo Kellum) approximately two days to create a successful business venture. After considering highly viable options like reviving the American railroad industry and inventing a biodegradable cell phone, they decide on becoming wine merchants. But finding a job isn’t Ben’s only mission; he’s also determined to do some reconnaissance on Kate’s new man. Much to Kate’s dismay, Ben invites Will over for a nighttime neighborhood barbecue—with Will as the sole invitee. But although Ben’s advances could seem totally creepy (he forces Will to engage in intense eye contact as they sip wine together),Wed, 14 Nov 2012 01:32:06 -0500https://www.backstage.com/review/tv-recap/ben-and-kate-recap-episode-seven-career-day/