Schmigadoon! – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Suddenly

Episode 4 of Schmigadoon begins with Josh and Melissa together in the past. They’re laughing and at ease, telling each other they’re in love. It’s a really touching moment and one that paves way for time back in Schmigadoon.

Josh shows up in school looking for a place to stay – and a solid conversation starter with Emma Tate. It turns out Mildred controls the whole town but Tate is a tough cookie to crack. She gives Josh an opportunity to prove himself, encouraging him to fix up her shelves in the classroom during lessons.

As class ends, Emma tries to get to know Josh. An orchestral score picks up though, leading to Josh breaking his train of thought and telling the high heavens that he’s not going through with this. Emma misinterprets of course and hurries away, as Josh is left to lament his luck.

Elsewhere, Melissa arrives to see Doc Lopez where some euphemisms are thrown out through medical terminology. However, beyond his good looks Melissa realizes that Lopez is actually pretty cold and uncaring. He turns away a pregnant girl called Nancy and doesn’t even bat an eyelid.

Well, Melissa decides to head off and use her best judgment. She finds Nancy living in a run-down shack with a sailor called Freddy. She doesn’t even know about the basics of childbirth either. Well, this calls for another musical number!

Back at the clinic, Josh shows up and asks Melissa for help. He needs some musical tips and all of this circles around to him singing about his feelings. Suddenly, Nancy comes bursting through the doors in labour. Well, the pair team up and help her give birth. It’s obvious they’re supposed to be together but oblivious Josh hurries off to grab a trumpet and win over Tate.

While he does, Melissa decides to hit out against Doc Lopez, doing her best to change things for the better. After helping out Old Doc Lopez with his sex life…we cut forward to his funeral. This happens to be a direct result of his “sexual repertoire” being stretched.

Midway through the funeral, the Mayor stands up and decides to revel his true feelings. Time and a place man… Well, he ends up singing about being a homosexual, prompting Florence to hurry away, teary-eyed and upset.

Speaking of confessions, Doc Lopez admits to Melissa that she’s changed him. While they start growing closer together, Emma has a change of heart with Josh after he helps Carson.

Through a series of interwoven musical notes, both Emma and Lopez admit they’re in love with Josh and Melissa. The harmonies cross over, at the same time as the two scenes, with Melissa and Josh looking at one another with an outstretched hand. Is this really love? Well, both couples end up kissing which quashes that idea.

The Episode Review

Schmigadoon returns this week with another solid episode, full of whimsical musical numbers and some simple plotting to keep things ticking over.

Although it is very predictable, the characters themselves are enjoyable enough to watch and there’s some nice lessons in here about romance and love as a whole.

The song with Melissa singing about childbirth and the euphemisms are perhaps a little low-brow and a bit off-colour for what we’ve seen before though. Given the time period being parodied, this does stand out for the wrong reasons.

By contrast, the Mayor’s interlude as he confesses at the funeral is easily one of the highlights of the season soo far.

Aesthetically, the final song with the split-screen revealed to be two sets blended together is another welcome sight. There has been some great production design on this show and the crew have done a wonderful job bringing this whimsical town to life.

Will Josh and Melissa get together at the end? Of course they will, it’s very obvious that’s where this story is going and undoubtedly building to the big crescendo of Josh singing at the end. Despite its simplicity, the series continues to deliver an enjoyable dose of musical drama, even if this week’s episode is a bit of a step down.