Schmigadoon! season 2, episode 5 recap: Famous as Hell

In the last episode of Schmigadoon! season 2, Melissa and Josh were able to create two happy endings, (or so they thought), by pairing off some of the citizens of Schmicago. As this new episode opens, Melissa ends up getting to be the main attraction at the nightclub, since Jenny is off spending time with Topher.

The new couple also leaves the rest of the tribe feeling like they’ve lost their leader. As they wander into the city, they end up finding Josh and decide to make him their new leader.

Josh is reluctant at first but starts to find that he enjoys helping out the tribe of hippies.

Schmigadoon! season 2, episode 5 recap: Being famous feels great, apparently.

Josh and Melissa are both finding joy in their newfound roles in Schmicago. They realize that this might be the happy ending that they were instructed to find, and they might now be able to leave and return to the real world.

However, for the first time, they are happy in Schmicago, and put off leaving the town for a later date. Unfortunately, not everyone is ok with the new status quo.

Topher and Jenny both feel betrayed, since Josh and Melissa took their roles in the Tribe and at the nightclub respectively. They kick Josh and Melissa out of the apartment, forcing them to stay with Miss. Codwell.

She is happy to take them in since they helped her get together with Blight the butcher. Josh and Melissa realize that something suspicious is going on.

Miss. Codwell, who hates orphans, is giving all the children lots to eat and plenty of sweets. The butcher has a brand new, incredibly big, meat grinder even though he still seems to have no way to source meat.

There’s also a chart on the wall keeping track of how much each orphan weighs, and how many sausages can be made out of that orphan. Eventually, Josh and Melissa are forced to admit that their matchmaking skills resulted in a cannibalism plan to get rid of a bunch of children, just as they are caught by Miss. Codwell and Blight.

Surprisingly, Blight and Miss. Codwell don’t want to harm Josh and Melissa. They would never hurt people.

Just orphans. Josh and Melissa try explaining how orphans still count as people, but seem to have trouble getting through to them.

Eventually, Josh figures out that the person that Blight really wants to kill is Kratt, the man who ruined his life, and he’s just using orphan murder to fulfill that hole. He hatches a plan where Melissa will get Kratt alone, so that Blight can finally have his revenge, on the condition that there be no orphan killing or orphan sausages.

Back at the club, Melissa asks Kratt to go to her dressing room with her where Blight is waiting. Kratt agrees, but at the last-minute pulls Melissa to his car and drives away.

Josh chases after them, but is stopped by Sgt. Rivera who holds him at gunpoint. All Josh can do is watch as Kratt and Melissa drive away as the episode comes to a close.

Schmigadoon! season 2, episode 5 recap: Finding the right line

It may not come across right, with how many times the words orphan, murder, and cannibalism have come up in this article. But that whole bit is very, very funny.

It’s a fine line to walk, and there are points where you can almost feel the show pitching too far into the bit. But every time, they’re able to keep the whole thing light and amusing.

In many ways you have a perfect foursome of actors to make the potentially upsetting setup of this part of the show end up being so funny. Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth are two of the best theater actors working today.

They’re able to create such earnest characters built around the absurd setup that the show is giving them, and pull it off wonderfully. Meanwhile Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key both found fame in different sketch comedy shows.

It is there that they would often be confronted with over the top and bizarre situations that they would have to comment on or react to. The show does such a good job of letting each character play to the actor’s strengths and tailoring the story in a way, that it really brings out the best of each performance.

This is just one example from this episode, but it’s been true through this whole series.

What did you think of Schmigadoon! season 2 episode 5? Leave your answers in the comments below!

You can stream both seasons of Schmigadoon! on AppleTV+.