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I refuse to believe that after this week’s episode of Schmigadoon! that there is only ONE episode left. How can that be, especially with all of the new situations that arise this week?!? Plus it just doesn’t seem fair that a show this great has such a short run. How in the hell are Josh and Melissa going to get their happy ending in one more 30-minute episode? Well, we’ll worry about that next week. Let’s focus on all of the developments this week.
As Josh and Melissa — and the Narrator — recap what’s happened in Schmicago since they arrived, the couple thinks that it’s time to leave (silly humans, you can’t just leave Schmicago as you please) … but have they actually found a home in this place? With their backpacks packed, Melissa decides that they’ll leave, maybe tomorrow (‘Maybe’ and ‘Tomorrow’ are both songs from Annie). Melissa is actually enjoying working at the Kratt Klub, but she’s surprised that Madame Frau tells her to take over the lead for Jenny, who is too distracted by her relationship with Topher to show up, and while she has a slight panic attack she takes to the stage (in a song that pays homage to ‘Maybe This Time’ from Cabaret) and absolutely nails it. Let me tell you, Cecily Strong has never sounded better and the song itself is just another lovely composition from Cinco Paul that isn’t a jokey version of a Broadway tune. Strong delivers is beautifully and it is one of the highlights of the season. And Josh’s reaction to the performance is also sweet, but it may have driven Kratt’s desire for Melissa into overdrive, much to the chagrin of Sergeant Rivera and Madame Frau.
As for Josh, he has become the somewhat unwitting new leader of Topher’s tribe — with a little help from the Narrator egging them on to worship him in a less than subtle reference to Jesus Christ Superstar, and instead of Josh washing one of his disciple’s feet, he uses his medical skills to clean and dress a cut, prompting her to yell, ‘I can walk!’ … which she always could. But Josh begins to bask in the adoration, leading the Tribe to mount a protest against Kratt. But his newfound position among the Tribe, and Melissa’s sudden stardom at the club (where she has a 12 show day!), puts them in hot water with Jenny and Topher, who kick the couple out of their apartment.
That would seem their cue to leave Schmicago but instead they turn up at Miss Codwell’s orphanage, where she’ll have plenty of room soon. That comment and the massive amount of sweets Codwell is serving the orphans begins to raise quite a few red flags. There is a really sweet moment where the orphans present Miss Codwell with a gift for which they pulled all of their money together to get it for her. Codwell seems genuinely touched, but when she opens the box with a pink ribbon it’s empty. The orphan tells her the ribbon is the gift (because, where would the orphans have gotten money to actually buy her something?). It’s still a lovely gesture but … those kids need to keep eating!
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The whole thing weighs on Josh and he insists that, while everyone is sleeping, they go an investigate the butcher shop. Melissa reluctantly tags along, saying she feels like the cover of a Nancy Drew mystery (she does!), but Josh needs her to be serious. He thinks a box of sausage casings is suspicious but it’s a butcher shop. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Okay, then what about the ridiculously large meat grinder they saw earlier (and all of the knives and cleaver Dooley was sharpening)? Wasn’t Dooley having an issue with his meat supplier? Nothing adds up until Josh spots a blackboard with the names of the orphans on it. And their weights. Melissa tries to brush it off, not wanting to believe the man who reminds her of her friend in Schmigadoon is up to no good, but when Josh moves the flashlight to the right of the board, they also see the number of sausages Dooley believes each child will make.
Before they can do anything else, the couple are caught by Dooley and Codwell and now fear that they will end up as sausages too. But the murderous pair assure them that they are not going to kill them, and even though Dooley is brandishing his cleaver, he just feels naked without it. Josh and Melissa try to convince the pair to spare the orphans’ lives because they aren’t meat. Dooley replies, ‘God made them meat. I’m making them sausages.’ Not the hoped for response but they know that Dooley and his Cleaver of Justice really have just one mission — to serve justice to Octavius Kratt. So what if Josh and Melissa can deliver Kratt to Dooley? Will he forget about murdering the children? Melissa isn’t sure she’s okay with serving up one person to be slaughtered in exchange for the lives of others so she couches it in a ‘comeuppance’ to ease her mind. Sure, it sounds less murdery. Josh knows Melissa has Kratt wrapped about her little finger so they devise a plan.
That plan puts Dooley in Melissa’s dressing room at the club, while Melissa and Josh go to work tempting Kratt back to the room. Melissa calls Kratt from one of the phones at the tables and plays up how she wants to have some fun with him. And Josh doesn’t care. Kratt is more than happy to accept Melissa’s offer but she and Josh don’t know there’s a twist coming. If only they’d listened to Rivera and Frau singing ‘Always a Twist’, a terrific homage to Burt Bacharach’s Promises! Promises! (the 2010 revival in which Kristin Chenoweth starred) complete with a groovy girl group trio singing backup. The mix of 1940s and 1960s style keeps us wondering just what is this plane of existence known as Schmicago? But back to that twist — Melissa begins to escaort Kratt to her dressing room but he nabs her instead, taking him to his car. Asking where he’s taking her, Kratt replies he’ll take his wife anywhere he wants. But … ‘we’re not married’ Melissa replies as Kratt produces a ring and they speed off to parts unknown, leaving Josh utterly helpless. How on earth will this be resolved in one episode?!
Schmigadoon! just gets better and better every week and this cast is a dream. But I have to really call out Tituss Burgess this week, popping up all over the place as the omniscient Narrator, egging on the Tribe to follow Josh and then later, when Josh and Melissa need some backup with the whole murder plot he tells them he’s on break. Tituss opened the season with the brilliant ‘Welcome to Schmicago’ but he gets a truly showstopping number this week with ‘Famous as Hell’. The interaction with Josh and Melissa, having to emphasize he’s asking rhetorical questions, is hilarious. But Burgess absolutely nails the number, and his facial expressions all throughout the episode are the icing on the cake. Give this man an Emmy! Over all, a brilliant episode of a brilliant series. I hope the people making the programming decisions at Apple are paying attention (and will push to get the show noticed by the Emmys).
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
New episodes of Schmigadoon! stream Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus. Subscribe through our affiliate link and catch up on Season 1.
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