Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 2 recap: Doorway to Where

After being framed for murder in the last episode of Schmigadoon!, Josh is starting this episode in jail, awaiting his trial. While in jail he meets a new friend named Topher, who seems to be straight out of Hair.

He is searching for a greater purpose in life, while Josh is more concerned about searching for a way to get out of jail.

Schmigadoon! season 2, episode 2 recap – Of course, Chicago was going to be parodied

Melissa, meanwhile, hires a lawyer named Bobby to try and defend Josh. It turns out that $20 is more than enough to buy the best lawyer in town, so sometimes being trapped in a musical town that is set somewhere in the vague past has its advantages.

Bobby sets up a press conference where Josh will blame the whole thing on jazz music, which ends in disaster when Josh goes off script. Bobby tells Melissa that she needs to go back to the club undercover, in order to find the real killer.

Melissa returns to the club just in time to audition for the now open role in the cast, since one of the chorus girls was murdered. Despite not being the best person at auditions, the super-rich owner of the club, Octavius Kratt, selects Melissa to be the new dancer.

Possibly for nefarious reasons but we’ll see. Melissa’s first performance is a success.

While she’s celebrating with the rest of the cast, including Jenny who is also in need of a new roommate since the murder, Melissa gets a chance to snoop and finds the datebook of the dead showgirl. The datebook has a mysterious address written in it, which is the first real clue in the case.

Melissa is excited, but meanwhile back in jail, Topher’s group of hippies is breaking him out by destroying the wall with a bus. Topher offers Josh a chance to escape jail on the hippie bus.

Worried about the outcome of his press conference, Josh escapes jail with the hippies as the episode comes to a close.

Schmigadoon! season 2, episode 2 recap – The best new character of the season

We could probably spend half of every recap just praising Tituss Burgess and everything he does in each episode. So until further notice, just assume that all of the following compliments will be true for every following episode.

Burgess is playing the narrator of the series, a new character this season. His character reflects a trend from this era of musicals, where frequently one character will interact directly with the audience to help move the story along.

This is the kind of trope that feels like it has one good joke and it’s the one that they do almost immediately, when Josh and Melissa arrive in episode one and realize that the narrator is talking to them. However, it turns out that the show has plenty of ways to play with the omnipotent (or possibly not omnipotent) character and make him the most entertaining addition to the cast for this season.

What did you think of Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 2? Leave your answers in the comments below!

You can stream both seasons of Schmigadoon! on Apple TV+.