Schmigadoon! Review: Suddenly (Season 1 Episode 4)

At last, Schmigadoon! feels like it’s living up to its promise and potential. Schmigadoon! Season 1 Episode 4, “Suddenly,” is the show’s strongest yet, nailing both its songs and plot. 

One criticism — if you can really call it that — is that all of this episode’s stories might have been more satisfying from a viewing perspective if there had been more build-up for all of the respective relationships. With that said, the speed makes sense from a logistics perspective. Schmigadoon! simply doesn’t have that many episodes in which to dole out story.

I also understand the tension that exists in structuring a television show that’s deeply referential to musicals. The nature of those mediums are quite different and can sometimes be at odds with each other.

I’ve seen enough musicals to know that classic couples like Captain/Maria, Harold Hill/Marian the Librarian, and Curly/Laurie all got together quickly with only a sprinkling of time moments between them. But as a longtime TV viewer, I’m accustomed — and enjoy — waiting a bit.

Nevertheless, “Suddenly” is enchanting from start to finish. No surprise: Ariana DeBose’s long-awaited arrival as Emma Tate, the schoolmarm.

As we’ve mentioned in these reviews before, DeBose is mostly known amongst Broadway circles now but she’s on the brink of megawatt stardom when the new West Side Story hits theaters (DeBose plays Anita).

DeBose is handily the most charismatic cast member, which is startling given she’s not exactly surrounded by lightweights. (Say what you want about the first several episodes, but Schmigadoon!‘s weakness has never been in its cast).

She brings sparks and life into the show – truly at least 1 full star of this episode’s review feels like it belongs to her – and makes an impact quickly.

We know from earlier episodes that her character, seemingly modeled on Mary Poppins, Maria Von Trapp, and most significantly, Marian the Librarian from The Music Man, dances to a different beat than most of the townspeople, but this episode fleshes her out and Debose does an excellent job hitting all the emotional beats while kicking up her heels. 

It’s not hard to see why Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) is drawn to her, though it’s unclear how much of his interest is because of who she is (because that’s at least part of it) and how much is because he’s still scheming to find an option to cross that bridge.

I mean, what’s a morally adrift narcissist to do?

Speaking of Josh, he’s still frustrating but also starting to thaw a bit. In volunteering to help Melissa with her baby delivery and in taking time to connect with Emma’s brother (at first clearly for selfish reasons, but again, later showing some genuine kindness), he is starting to transform and it makes for a more pleasant viewing experience, to be frank. 

It’s a lot nicer to root for a Harold-Hill type trying to reform himself rather than a classic jerk character. So congrats to Schmigadoon! for finally being able to make that transition with his character. It will only benefit the show moving forward.

It also doesn’t hurt that Josh gets easily the best line of the episode where he questions what you do in a musical when you have too much emotion to dance.

Melissa’s (Cecily Strong) journey is equally interesting this episode and she’s very much leaning into a Maria Von Trapp/Anna from The King and I vibe.

Her song, “Va-Gi-Na” is a beautiful, warped ode to “Do-Re-Mi” and her entire medical storyline gives her an opportunity to assert her power and authority in a way we haven’t gotten to see from her.

So much of her story thus far has made her seem small, since mostly we see how she operates within her relationship to Josh, often cow-towing to his needs and wishes.

But this Melissa — the Melissa who ruffles feathers and challenges the status quo — is exciting and as a result, she inspires her own romantic gazebo moment (a huge deal because let’s be honest, any musical fangirl with a pulse has gone through a phase where she wanted to play out an epic romantic scene in a gazebo. I don’t make the rules; I simply acknowledge the template Sound of Music set out for us).

Dr. Lopez (Jaime Camil) is perhaps a less exciting partner than Emma Tate but he’s a Captain Von Trapp stand-in here, so that’s not entirely his fault. The Captain is known for whistles and stern looks, not charisma.

With that said, neither his declaration of love to Melissa or Emma’s to Josh is surprising. What is surprising is how Schmigadoon! has managed to set up two compelling options for how this all unfolds.

Dr. Lopez and Emma clearly bring out great qualities in Melissa and Josh. Around Dr. Lopez, Melissa stands up for herself more, she’s more brazen, more direct. Meanwhile, since meeting Emma, Josh is more humble, less hard around the edges, and slightly less self-interested.

That’s no coincidence. So the question remains: are Melissa and Josh destined to stay with partners who bring out better sides of them? Will those relationships and the metamorphosis they spur help Melissa and Josh learn how to be better partners for one another?

The final song/dance sequence of this episode visually suggests that Melissa and Josh might be back on their way to falling in love with each other, but truly, anything goes at this point. Schmigadoon! echoes as many musical tropes as it rejects, so only time will tell.

Stray observations:

• Did anyone else get Spring Awakening (specifically Wendla Bergman) vibes from the pregnancy storyline?
• It’s interesting that the show chose not to show the immediate aftermath of the Mayor’s coming out. While it could be a reality of not having enough run-time on this particular episode, it feels like an odd thing to completely move on from. Perhaps next episode?
• Hopefully, Betsy (Dove Cameron) gets some time with enlightened Melissa next episode. While there’s obviously some weird tension there because of Josh’s engagement to her, both women are working through feelings about their worth and from what we saw on this episode, Melissa could be a good mentor to Betsy. 

What did you think of this episode of Schmigadoon!? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Schmigadoon! is available to stream on AppleTV+. New episodes premiere on Fridays.

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