“Bunheads” 1.01 ‘Pilot’ – Full Recap inc. spoilers

Airdate: June 11, 2012

First published 8 Sep 2012

Recap: We open in Vegas, where showgirls sporting gigantic feathers include Michelle and Talia, good friends bonded by their second-line status. Hubbell, a persistent admirer, is backstage after the show and asks Michelle to dinner. She’s not interested and he’s sweet (in a non-stalkery way) but Michelle genuinely has an audition for Chicago (the musical not the place)the following day and blows him off.

At the Chicago audition, the director rejects her without even giving her a chance to perform. Dejected, Michelle returns to her seedy motel and the hooker who lives next door.

Hubbell is backstage again at the next night’s show and as Michelle heads for the door, he gifts her a gorgeous necklace and in return, she opens up about the awful audition and accepts his invitation to dinner. A few glasses of wine later, Michelle listens as Hubbell tells her about Paradise, where he lives. About the ocean view from his apartment and how he would like to look after her and make her happy. “What do you say?” he asks.

Hubbell The first time i saw you on stage I said woooow. Michelle Did I fall?

Next scene she blearily comes to, her head hanging out of a car window. Hubbell is driving and there’s a diamond ring on her fourth finger.

We meet a startlingly familiar Fanny, teaching a ballet class. She’s working the young students hard. Among them are four girls, Melanie (tall and slim), Sasha (slim and spiky) Jenny (short and big-chested) and Boo (relatively normal). Fanny announces that the head of the Joffrey school of ballet will be coming to hold auditions for the summer scholarship programme next week. Boo is keen, but tentative.

The Ballet Girls (left to right): Boo, Sasha, Melanie and Jenny

Hubbell and Michelle arrive at the house and the view is just as amazing as he promised. He omitted to mention that he lives with his mother (Fanny) and her house full of kitsch. Running from Fanny’s confrontation with Hubbell about his surprise new wife, Michelle finds the four girls in the dance school and demonstrates her own ballet skills by fixing Boo’s posture.

Boo strikes a pose

Fanny catches up to invite everyone to a wedding party she’s arranged. Having brought no clothes from Vegas, Fanny directs Michelle to a clothes store called Sparkles. There she meets Truly, the store’s owner and Sam. Truly whimpers that Hubbell is the only man she ever loved but stoically (and psychically) picks out the perfect outfit for Michelle.

Everyone at the party seems to despise Michelle and she escapes upstairs to Hubbell’s room. She tells him she doesn’t love him and he responds simply and they consummate the marriage.

Hubbell You want to live an unexpected life. And I can give you that.

They return to the party, a little dishevelled. Fanny freaks out and Hubbell stands up for Michelle in front of everyone.

Fanny stares daggers at the newlyweds

Without even a movie theater in town for entertainment, Michelle finds the four girls sneaking beers in the dance studio. For fun she holds a mock audition, including a 60s style dance sequence. As they run through it a few times, it’s clear that Boo loves dancing and Sasha is out of her comfort zone. The rehearsal serves its purpose and boosts Boo’s confidence.

Fanny has been watching and takes Michelle to a bar where they bond over drinks and having given up their dreams: Michelle by becoming a Vegas dancer and Fanny by starting the dance school to support her child (Hubbell). They both hit the dance floor when a distraught Truly walks in with the news that Hubbell has been in a car accident… a fatal one.

Alan Ruck as Hubbell waits for Michelle backstage with a bouquet in-hand

Discussion Topics

“You want to laugh and you want to travel. You want to be surprised and challenged. You want to live an unexpected life.” Don’t we all?
Did anyone else wonder if Michelle got pregnant at the party?
Wasn’t it nice to see a familiar face or two? Aside from Emily as Fanny, did you spot the other GG alumni? Miss Celine / Drella the harpist as the hooker, Gypsy as Sam and the pianist from Richard and Emily’s Yale graduation song is behind the piano again in the first rehearsal. Did you spot them? Did I miss any?
For a one-off cameo, Alan Ruck (Hubbell) certainly left an impression. I think his performance was a bedrock for the pilot, although he’s finally starting to look his age. I still can’t believe he was 30 when he played 18-year old Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Of course, our own Keiko Agena was also 30 when she played Lane Kim, also 18. We should all be so lucky… How did you feel about his character’s early departure from the series?
I’m hoping the wackos of Paradise end up meaning as much to me as those of Stars Hollow, but to be honest, the Gilmore Girls pilot episode hooked me more. I might be wrong but it feels like there’s more plot and room for character development in Paradise, whereas the Girls had episodes based on whimsy, for example, a 24-hour dance marathon or having to water a neighbour’s lawn and the ongoing story felt secondary to that. Or is it just that the pilot episode has to do so much?
Where do you think Paradise might be? Round the corner from Stars Hollow?

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All images from abcfamily.go.com