Ivy(Megan Hilty) and Sam(Leslie Odom Jr.) are in the midst of a conversation about Sam going on tour for The Book of Morman, when they run into an old friend. They duck into a shop window to avoid the blonde actress whom Ivy says has been plugging along even longer than she had, which is a very long time. Suddenly the blonde (played by Legally Blonde: the Musical actress, Annaleigh Ashford) recognizes the two of them and all suddenly becomes very fake and huggy. Ivy asks what she's been up to, hoping for something worse than what Ivy has at the moment. The blonde says, "Stationary!" and then goes on to explain how much better her life is now that she's finally out of the theatre business, oh, and she can't forget to show them her HUGE guest house! Ivy is at such a low place, she looks ready to quit on the spot.
Next, Julia (Debra Messing) is laying on the couch at Tom's house alone when the doorbell rings. "Julia? You there?" Ivy whimpers. Clearly dejected, Ivy explains she has come to vent to Tom, but Julia offers instead. At this point, I was hoping for a repeat of the first episode's Ivy/Julia moment. It was a similar situation, only this time both of them were down and vulnerable, and two women talking on equal levels, not Ivy asking someone above her for help. Julia is the mother that Ivy desperately needs in her life! Her mother, Lee Conroy (Bernadatte Peters), is already a star, who seemed to have instant success and is verbally abusive to Ivy. "Just when I'd want to throw the towel in, something would happen to remind me of why I fell in love with this business. And thus the dysfunctional cycle continues." They then proceed to both eat marshmallow fluff with a spoon, a sweet, seemingly unscripted moment that I'm sure never would've happened with Ivy's mom.
Derek is waaaaay down in the public eye, when he gets so drunk he asks a girl if she is a dancer, when her boyfriend shoves him to the ground. While on the ground, Derek sees a pair of neon pink heels walk by, and thus, an indulgent dream sequence begins with Derek hallucinating Ivy in a sexy, fitted black dress, then sees Karen in the same dress. Both are staring him down with anger. Suddenly more girls in the identical dresses appear, all grabbing his neck and chest, and getting close to his face in a steamy matter. Then they all put their hands on their hips and circle him, singing, "Would I lie to you, would I lie to you, honey?" Ivy and Karen grab him and lead him to a couch, Ivy showing off to him what he's missing since he's left her. All of the girls are have the same chestnut hair and skinny bodies, while Ivy sits on his lap, flinging around her blond ponytail, then shoving him into the wall. She then yells, "Now, I'm leaving YOOOUUUU!!" Tell him Ivy!
And my favorite part of the episode is when Ivy is walking down the street, talking to Sam on the phone, when she comes across a disheveled, drunk Derek sitting the steps of his building. He puts his hand out and she joins him on the steps. After two more scenes and a commercial break (I could barely stand the waiting), we are finally back to the Derek/Ivy scene. Derek slurredly tells Ivy about all of the lying dancers. At this point, I wanted Ivy to cockily tell Derek that he's drunk, just as Derek did to Ivy last season, but that unfortunately didn't happen. She shakes her head, as if to say, well, you are a bit of an arrogant, greedy, power-hungry man, with high levels of testosterone. Then, Derek proceeds to...wait for it....APOLOGIZE! Ivy still says nothing, but her face says she accepts it, but won't fall for him again. He tries to make himself seem nicer, changed, and she just replies, with "Why do you care what I think, all of a sudden?" He backpedals, telling Ivy she's his friend, and who cares about Karen, on and on. She just gives him a sideways look, and he rolls his eyes. Suddenly Ivy starts spilling to him, saying, "I was a lot of things, Derek, and now I don't even know who I am, or if I even want to be in this business anymore." He says she's got too much talent to give up, then Ivy throws the "I couldn't have been that good, I'm not Marilyn" card at him. "Prove me wrong! make me look stupid!" he tells her. There are tears streaming down Ivy's face and their faces get very close. Derek begins to lean in for a kiss, and Ivy just watches him, then SNAP, her head turns the other way and she matter-of-factly says, "Nope, not gonna happen." YES, YES, YES IVY!!! Finally, she gets it!
There is a scramble when Eileen, Tom, and Julia are thrown out of a Broadway big-wig party. They call for Karen, but when she doesn't pick up, they look to Ivy. Finally, something to pick her up. She races there, and as they thank her, says, "I'm just glad someone still wants to hear me sing!" She says it in an upbeat, excited tone, but the statement is so heartbreaking. She steps in front of the mic and belts out They Just Keep Moving the Line, a very emotional song about how you can work hard, and once you get your goal in your grasp, it is moved further away. This is SUCH an Ivy song!
And finally, Ivy shows up at Derek's house to talk to him, when she senses someone being in his room. As she backs away to the elevator, she hears Karen say, "What was that about?" "Oh, nothing important." Way to go Derek, build her up, then kick her down harder.
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