As they say, razzle-dazzle them. The second season of the series "Schmigadoon!", set in the sex-and-murder-filled city of Schmicago, is capturing more and more musicals, and we are happy to continue unraveling the tangle of homages and Easter eggs prepared by the creators.

Warning: spoilers for the second season of "Schmigadoon!" follow below.

Previous recaps:

Episode 1

Prison Tango in the Style of Schmicago

So, the first episode ended with poor Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) being thrown behind bars – and in the second episode, we already see him in prison, surrounded by other inmates. The Narrator (Tituss Burgess) makes it quite clear that in Schmicago, it's very easy to end up in the electric chair, so we can only hope that Melissa (Cecily Strong) will find Josh a good lawyer.

Josh gets a cellmate – and it turns out to be Topher (Aaron Tveit), a peace-loving and incredibly charming hippie whose character is modeled after the main characters of the musicals "Pippin", "Godspell", and, of course, "Hair". He is naive and ready to believe every inmate (including the local Conrad from "Bye Bye Birdie", who "didn't touch that girl" and whose fate in Schmigadoon is unenviable).

Topher then performs the hilarious song "My Doorway to Where", which takes a sharp jab at Pippin's main aria "Corner of the Sky", pushing its allegories to the point of grotesque (the original line "Cats have a spot on windowsills" becomes "Socks have a spot in the linen drawer"). At the end of the number, Topher offers Josh a spot on the metaphorical Happiness Bus.

Enter the Lawyer

Meanwhile, Melissa goes to talk to a potential lawyer to defend her husband – and finds one (or rather, her) in the form of Bobbie Flanagan, played by the stunning Jane Krakowski. She is a variation on the theme of the lawyer from "Chicago", Billy Flynn, but the reason why the character was made female and why she was given the name Bobbie will be explained a little later, when it comes up. However, it gives the creators a chance to comment on the position of women in 1970s-80s society.

The entire subsequent section is filled with details from "Chicago", starting from the newspaper on the wall with the headline "Execution Frazzles, Bobbie Dazzles", referencing the song "Razzle Dazzle", and ending with Bobbie's monologue against a jazz backdrop, which is very reminiscent of the introduction to "Roxie".

Bobbie, who (comically) doesn't even question that Josh is guilty, goes to try to get him off the hook and at the same time gives Melissa the idea to audition for the Kratt Club to try to learn more about the murder. Now Melissa, who sings well but dances very poorly, will have to step out of her comfort zone for her husband.

Center Stage

So, Melissa goes to audition for the spot of the deceased Elsie. The audience gets to enjoy a wonderful number based on the iconic musical "A Chorus Line", specifically the song "I Hope I Get It". Particularly amusing are the monologues about the life circumstances of the candidates, as this is exactly what the original musical is built on, and in the Schmicago variation, one of the dancers turns out to be the daughter of Captain von Trapp from "The Sound of Music". By all genre conventions, the main character, Melissa, wins.

Meanwhile, Bobbie visits Josh and promises to get him out of prison, and we hear the inmates asking her to get them out too, frequently repeating her name. This is just the time to discuss the character of Bobbie, because we are clearly being told that they are referencing the character Bobby from the musical "Company", in which a refrain with his name is often heard and which in recent productions has been played by women.

In the end, Josh is taken to a press conference where Bobbie forces him to read a pre-prepared speech about the harmful influence of jazz on his decision to kill Elsie (oh, this is all screaming "We Both Reached For The Gun"). Our hero doesn't want to confess to something he didn't do, but his improvisation leads the press to be convinced of his imminent execution. And the Narrator is just reveling in what's happening (I definitely like this character more and more).

Chains and Freedom

Since, sticking to some lines from the song "Cabaret", the deceased Elsie was Jenny's (Dove Cameron) neighbor, Melissa receives an invitation to take her room. Here, Melissa learns two things: Mr. Kratt (Patrick Page) has replaced one favorite with another in the form of Jenny, and Sergeant Rivera clearly doesn't want Melissa sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Melissa is particularly disappointed by this, as Jaime Camil's character in the first season was her romantic interest.

Melissa, Jenny, and Emcee (Ariana DeBose) perform the number "Bustin' Out" on stage, which is wildly similar to the analogous song from Company called "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" (in which, by the way, you can briefly hear those same constant mentions of Bobby that I mentioned). At the same time, Topher's friends arrive to rescue him – it turns out the Happiness Bus isn't so metaphorical after all. Josh does exactly what his wife is singing about at that moment, namely, he escapes from prison.

Melissa gets her first lead in the search for the real killer in the form of an address and time. The street name "Quick Street" is very similar to "Fleet Street", so it's quite likely that we will soon see a Schmicago variation on the theme of Sweeney Todd (Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth are looming on the horizon).

If you find a reference or error that we missed, write to us in the comments! That's all for today.