Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 4 recap: Something Real

With Josh getting a “not guilty” verdict in the last episode of Schmigadoon! season 2, Melissa and Josh both think that this is the happy ending that will get them out of Schmicago. Of course, when they try to exit over the bridge, they end up right back where they started, unable to escape.

The narrator shows up to laugh at them for their attempt, saying that they haven’t found the happy ending that they need to find in order to be able to leave. He’s not any more helpful than that, probably on purpose.

Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 4 recap: A happy ending for everyone

Melissa and Josh focus on one thing that was said by The Narrator and decide to try and create a happy ending for everyone in the town. They map out everyone that they’ve met so far and focus on trying to reconnect Jenny with her father, Dooley the butcher.

But their first attempt goes very poorly, with Jenny having no interest in seeing her father again. Their second approach involves taking Jenny back to the hippie commune, where they try to once again.

They subtly hint to Jenny that she needs to reconnect with her father, by subtly singing an entire song about it. Unfortunately for Josh and Melissa, their song frustrates lead hippie Topher, causing him to stalk off to sulk.

The attractive sulking hippie is more interesting to Jenny than the idea of reconnecting with her father, so she goes to Topher and the two bond/fall in love over a song. Josh and Melissa, seeing Topher and Jenny together, feel that they should consider that to be a happy ending for the two characters.

With that in mind, they decide to set up other people in the town, starting with Dooly the butcher and Miss Codwell, the owner of the local orphanage.

Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 4 recap: A solution to two people’s problems…

Josh and Melissa take the two of them on a double date in an attempt to set the characters up together. The first date is awkward, but seems to be moving in the right direction, when Miss Codwell asks Dooly in for a nightcap, and he agrees.

Once inside, the two of them complain about the trials that they both have to deal with in their respective jobs. Thanks to a much bigger butcher shop, Dooley is never able to get enough meat to keep his shop supplied.

And Miss Codwell has too many orphans. The two of them realize that their problems (her having too many orphans, and him not having enough meat in his butcher shop) could solve each other.

In case you haven’t seen Sweeney Todd, yes, they’re talking about killing the orphans and selling the meat. Josh and Melissa watch through the window, assuming the happy dancing means that they’ve created another happy ending.

They can’t hear the lyrics of the song, which lets them stay in ignorant bliss as the episode comes to a close.

Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 4 recap: Past the halfway mark

With seasons that only last six episodes for Schmigadoon!, we’re already in the back half of the series. The musical nature of the series can make it feel like everything is moving very fast,  because a four minute song can take up a lot of time for a half hour episode.

Especially when the show is putting three or four songs in each episode. But at the same time, it still feels like we have a lot of ground left to cover with only two episodes left.

Kratt, who seemed like he was set up to be the villain of the whole season, was pretty much missing from this episode. His police sidekick who clearly has a character arc to go through, wasn’t present either.

We know that what Melissa and Josh are doing isn’t going to solve their problems, (killing orphans for sausages is not a good happy ending), but we don’t know where the show is headed yet either. On top of that, we only have two more episodes to go.

What did you think of Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 4? Leave your answers in the comments below!

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