Glee: My Final Plea for Less Sue

The premise behind the character of Sue Sylvester is this: She’s the cut-throat coach of the cheerleading squad, which, like most cheerleading squads in movies or television shows, has won nationals a bajillion times. She is ruthless and evil because she is the best, because, like the great Zeus or the manipulative Hera, she will smite any threat to her dominance. Her sabotage for the Glee Club comes not from personal vendetta or hatred for any particular person or group, but from a Machiavellian desire to maintain her dictatorial position (and her excessive funding). The most vulnerable she gets is when she admits that her wish to be Madonna was thwarted by a perm gone awry, or when her sister dies (and even then she shows no weakness, just stoic anger). This is the Sue Sylvester that was funny, the one who could justifiably say things like, “You think this is tough? Try being waterboarded!”

But somewhere along the way, Sue lost traction. She’s lost her place on top, and now the (admittedly well-worded) insults and sabotage of New Directions just smack of desperation. Sue Sylvester is no longer totally sure she’s a god amongst men; instead, she’s a petty, vindictive crazy person irrationally attempting to bring the Glee Club down. And it’s not particularly funny. When Sue was the top-dog, raining down insults upon the misfit Glee Club and demanding ever-increasing recklessness from her minions the Cheerios, it was hilarious; she was the crazy dictator, sharp-tongued and maniacal, undermining the confidence of self-conscious teens just for the fun of it. Now, though, the tone has changed. Sue is no longer single-mindedly out to promote herself and Cheerios; instead, her only reason for living is to destroy the Glee Club. But that desire to bring them down is now the motivation unto itself, which is just annoyingly pathetic. The things she says aren’t funny anymore—they’re sad and uncomfortable—and yet the writers spent an entire episode—the season premiere, no less!—shoving joke after painfully pathetic joke down our throats. To make things worse, because the Glee Club is doing so well (they went to Nationals, they’re a happy family, they’re singing fun songs!), not only does Sue just seem like an annoyingly misguided bully, picking on people cooler than her to make herself feel better, but it also taints the happiness and fun of the Glee Club. When Schue launches a counter-offensive against her, it’s no longer the heroic overthrow of an evil dictator; rather, he’s just taking this woman whose life apparently has no other purpose than to demean and destroy something that doesn’t actually affect her and ripping her apart, when, really, he should just be finding her a freaking hobby or something. This isn’t Mad Men or Breaking Bad or something, guys; it’s a show about singing high schoolers. So when the bad guy isn’t easily hate-able and the heroes seem vindictive and childish, it makes for bad television.

Watching singing teens struggle with high school is fun. Watching adults act like children isn’t. And I swear to God if Blaine hadn’t been the essence of cuteness in that bow tie and those high-water red pants singing “It’s Not Unusual”, I probably would have given up right then and there.

But the second episode this season demonstrated that when the show sticks to the actual teenagers, quality television is created. Quinn’s sudden change into a reincarnation of Angela Chase from My So-Called Life has been super controversial (people seem to either love it or hate it), but at least it’s interesting. I love that the return of her unwanted child has turned Quinn into Gollum, vacillating between a sweet-talking people pleaser eager to get her life back on track and a hoarse-voiced shell of her former self, hell-bent on getting back her precious—I mean baby.

I’m also digging that Kurt and Blaine are finally hitting some relationship snags (when Kurt told Blaine to transfer to McKinley, because he wanted “to be with [him] every waking moment” I almost turned the television off). When the directors of West Side Story asked Blaine to read for Tony, even though he promised Kurt he’d only audition for Bernardo, I just knew things were going to get real. Kurt’s audition piece was wonderful, full of acrobatics and an incredible singing voice, the fact is that, like Artie said, he’s “too…delicate.” (Also, he sings alto, not tenor, which apparently escaped everyone’s notice.) It’s obvious that the amazingly-charming, less-falsetto-reliant Blaine is going to get the part, and it’s going to cause some serious DRAMZ. You could just see the total devastation in poor Kurt’s porcelain face.

And see, it’s reasons like that why I’m actually excited to tune in next week. I want to know what happens with Kurt and Britney’s competing campaigns for class president, I want to see the drama between Blaine and Kurt, I want to see if Rachel can get into that “exclusive performing arts school in New York”, and I want to see more baby drama with Gollum—I mean Quinn. And if the show sticks with the kids and leaves the adults alone, I think this season could be pretty promising. Leave Sue in for the bit parts, make Schue grow up, and let the kids act out their own drama.

Glee: A Solid End

Glee Season 2 has come to an anti-climactic end with the solid defeat of New Directions at Nationals in New York (called it!), the budding and/or rebirth of two relationships (Finn and Rachel, which was expected; and Sam and Mercedes, which was definitely not), and the hasty wrap up of a couple different storylines (Sunshine Corazon, Schue going to Broadway, Brittany/Santana). But now that the season has come to an end, I think it’s pretty clear that there have been some distinct winners and some distinct losers this season, for some rather obvious reasons. To wit:

The winners of this season: the tertiary characters of last season.

Remember when Brittany and Santana were merely saboteurs, sidekicks to Quinn, sent by Sue to destroy the Glee club from the inside? My, how things have changed. Besides being easily the funniest part of the show—Brittany’s deadpan and Santana’s quicksilver tongue are hilarious—these two girls now have fully fleshed-out and intriguing storylines, and are an absolute joy to watch. Santana is no longer just the sassy latina; she’s intelligent, amazingly articulate, a leader, and is now dealing with coming out as a lesbian. And as for Brittany, her character isn’t a dumb blonde; she merely sees the world in a different and completely wonderful way. She’s carrying and compassionate, and she’s demonstrated that she is by far the most intuitive and emotionally understanding character on the show. And these girls’ relationship, while hard to define, is equally great; on what other show about the politics of high school are you going to see two girls in the hallway affirming each other instead of calling each other sluts? Plus, Naya Rivera and Heather Morris are incredibly engaging to watch. Santana’s rendition of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black easily should have won that diva-off in“Funeral” and it’s sad to say, but watching Brittany sing “My Cup” was probably the most likeable part of last week’s finale. It’s great to have these two girls there to distract from the ongoing Finn/Quinn/Rachel love triangle, because they’re actually, you know, interesting.

And then there’s Kurt, who was a winning and emotional part of the first season, but really became a driving force this season with the bullying he faced and his relationship with Blaine. Of course Kurt isn’t the best character ever(he’s at times one-dimensional and sometimes a bit whiny), and of course the gay community will always offer criticism because no character can ever fully represent such a diverse group, but Kurt’s struggles with bullying and the slow build-up to his relationship with Blaine were honest, interesting, and a large part of why we tuned inevery week. I challenge the writers to give Kurt some flaws in the next season (a little more depth would be a more positive representation of the gay community, I think), but I appreciate that they’ve created a gay character who is honest-to-goodness just happy, with a supportive parent, a loving boyfriend, and friends who care about him. It’s hopeful, which, really, is what Glee is all about.

And now, the losers of this season: the men.

I think it hit me when I was watching Schu sing that song from his own LP in that empty theatre: the men on this show are boring. Schu is now irredeemable (I hated when he acted like a child at the beginning of the season; I hate how sickly sweet he is now that he’s grown up again, and all of his storylines and love interests are uninteresting to me); Mike can’t sing; Puck has lost his badassery; Sam has no character traits that I can discern; and Artie is so focused on Brittany that he’s lost without her. (When I made that list of characters just now, I forgot Finn. That’s how beige he has become.) There’s a whole lot of boy-band-esque singing, a bunch of Jack-Johnson-like guitar playing, some classic rock appreciating, and a bit of falsetto, but there’s not a whole lot of performing. I’m tired of Schu’s ballads. I’m tired of Puck’s watered-down rockabilly. I’m tired of Kurt’s falsetto (because, I’m sorry, but Jesse St. James was right: Kurt just cannot fill the high heels of powerful women like Merman, LuPone, and Bernadette). I’m even tried of Artie’s rapping. And I don’t understand why, on a show with such a wide range of female talent, there can be such a lackluster cast of men. What I want from next season is a Nathan Lane, or a Kelsey Grammer, a man with presence, panache, and performance. And no, that doesn’t mean Jesse St. James.

But for a season that suffered a terrible start, this year has delivered with quality storylines, interesting characters, good music, and hilarious dialogue. And if the (kind of lackluster) season finale did one thing right, it’s this: I cannot wait for season 3 to start.

Glee: New (Music) Directions?

What a momentous couple of weeks this has been, huh, my fellow Gleeks? We’ve seen the official canning of the Warblers (complete with the recent release of and all-Warblers album available wherever music is sold), the final and surprisingly well-handled acknowledgement that Emma probably has a real mental illness, and, unexpectedly, the return of Kristen Chenoweth as April Rhodes (I’m still holding to my two-episodes-per-guest-star rule, because, although I love that little woman something fierce, her storyline was boring and unnecessary). Santana’s a real lesbian now, Kurt’s back at McKinley, and it turns out Quinn used to fat. Who knew? In any case, here are my thoughts on the last couple episodes, because I know you want to hear them:

Born This Way, the episode, was an almost perfect way to manifest "Born This Way", the song. While Lady Gaga has been making Sam (me, not the character) a little smarmy as of late, even if you are a little iffy on Gaga being the new gay icon, "Born This Way" is a pretty honest shout out to her gay supporters. Coming on the crux of Gaga’s struggle with Target to reverse the whole supporting-anti-gay-candidates thing, "Born This Way" is a token of appreciation to her gay fans and an acknowledgement of the struggle of some of her younger ones, and the Glee episode took that song and used it in exactly the right way. Faced with the task of finding something they dislike about themselves and advertising it on a t-shirt, the members of New Directions accepted themselves for reasons from the admittedly insipid (Zizes has a bad attitude) to the profound (Tina dislikes her brown eyes because she doesn’t think Asians can be sexy), singing ballads throughout, to culminate in a triumphant performance of "Born This Way". Even Emma found the strength to address her foremost flaw, her OCD, in a scene with a therapist that was actually profoundly well-written. The whole episode was sappy and enjoyable, featuring a rather amazing mash-up of “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story and “Unpretty” by TLC, and watching the kids in the club proudly accept their flaws and perform Gaga’s first non-Postmodern hit made me giddy. Of course, there was no need for the episode to be 90 minutes long—Kurt’s version of “As If We Never Said Good-Bye” and the lackluster final Warblers song (which featured them all hugging Kurt while hilariously showing none of their faces) could easily have been cut—but all in all it was a pretty enjoyable episode.

Rumours, on the other hand, was almost a complete failure. Evil Teri was pointlessly back, bringing with her the equally unnecessary April Rhodes (Kirsten Chenoweth), who performed a pretty rocking rendition of “Dreams” but was in only five scenes, including one where she sat next to Schu and watched the team sing. Sue was impressively unfunny, April was annoyingly non-present, and I can’t stand looking at any screen that holds the face of Teri Schuster, so it was up to the kids to push the story forward. And it just didn’t happen. Santana won’t come out of the closet and Sam is poor now and there was drama and there were rumors and blah blah blah, so, plotwise, the whole episode was a bust. But the music—oh, man, the music was amazing. Every song was a cover of a song off Fleetwood Mac’s iconic album Rumours, full of hits well-known enough to be recognizable but not so prevalent as to be annoying. While the storyline was manipulated to fit the songs—Finn and Quinn had to be fighting so they could sing “I Don’t Want to Know”—the quality of the music more than made up for it, and it redeemed the whole episode. Just make sure to fast forward the boring stuff.

But overall, the music on Glee has taken an interesting turn lately; the past few episodes have had songs that are a little more off the beaten path. Yes, we’ve had Pink and Maroon 5, but we’ve also had Adele, we’ve had show tunes, and we’ve had Fleetwood Mac (which, really, someone the age of the demographic this show is geared towards has probably never heard of). It’s fun to not immediately recognize a song on this show, and being reminded of old hits and being offered reinterpretations of songs from musicals makes watching each episode less…mindless. I’m excited to see the show has moved away (however timidly) from the Top 40 and into something a little less ubiquitous and totally right-now; it was a return to Journey, after all, that got the show started.

Glee: The Home Stretch

My friends and fans have probably noticed that I haven’t written about a few (really wonderful) episodes, for which I extend my most heartfelt apologies. I’m all caught up on Glee, and, with the 90-minute episode coming up tonight featuring the TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF KURT TO NEW DIRECTIONS and a lot hanging in the balance, I’ve decided to take a moment to look ahead to Nationals and the season finale and make a few comments about what’s working and what’s not on the show. Rumors are abounding online (is Blaine moving, too? Is Kristen Chenoweth coming back? Is someone going to DIE?!?) and I just want to make sure that Glee is the best show it can be. So listen up, Ryan Murphy (an avid reader of mine, I’m sure) because here comes some constructive criticism.

What’s Working:

1. Klaine (Blurt?):

While the Blaine/Kurt storyline has been a little annoying at times (like when Blaine thought he was straight), the build-up to this relationship has been so excruciatingly titillating that not even the hottest man-on-man kiss this side of an X rating can sate our appetites more Blurt (some people even find the need to create entire websites devoted to Klaine fan fiction and suggestive Blurt drawings). Blaine is too perfect, of course, with his smile and his dorky dance moves and his (well-founded) self-confidence and the whole relationship will probably get rather old, but for right now it’s wonderful to see the two of them finally together. And, I mean, if the paraplegic wannabe rapper and the resident ditz can make it work, why not the two show-tune-loving gay guys?

2. The dancing Mike Chan:

The dance he performed last week was—besides Mercedes’ incredible rendition of “Ain’t No Way” by Aretha Franklin—easily the most entertaining part of the episode. Heather Morris (Brittany) is a professional dancer as well, so why not highlight the other talents the actors have and break up all the GD singing? I know what you’re thinking: “Glee is a show about Show Choir, Sam, and thus must revolve around singing. The dancing is only a garnish, a sprig of parsley atop a massive pile of vocal performance.” But maybe Ryan Murphy should make a show about the high school dance squad, perhaps starring the gratuitous dancer they kicked off the show after last season? Maybe he’ll actually get a name in that series…

3. The Bully:

I’ve been a proponent of the bully story line since it started, and I’m impressed that the show hasn’t let it die yet. Yes, Santana fought him off on behalf of Kurt and Blaine in the last episode, but Karofsky’s bullying is exactly the type that kids like Kurt and Blaine would face: relentless, verging on physical, and absolutely terrifying. I expect no heartwarming resolution to Karofsky’s hatred for Kurt, and I honestly hope that the show doesn’t offer us that satisfaction, painting Kurt as the victim who finally stood up to his bully as opposed to correctly identifying the perpetrator of the threats as the problem. I know Kurt will be back at McKinnley, but I hope this storyline continues without a forced happy ending. But who am I kidding? It’s Glee. They’ll probably end up hugging after an especially poignant Bruno Mars medley or something.

What’s Not Working:

1. Recurring guest stars:

Neil Patrick Harris as Bryan Ryan was hysterical. Kristen Chenoweth as April Rhodes was great and her one-episode return was equally great. Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holiday was also amazing; like a blonde, plastic Mary Poppins, she swept in when Schu was getting annoying or Emma and Carl needed to be broken up, did what needed to be done in her vacuous-Gwyneth-Paltrow way. But when she stopped talking like everyone’s cool uncle and actually developed character traits, the allure was lost. Her relationship with Schu was awkward and unnecessary, and watching her sing that song by Adele at her most depressing turned New Directions’ Mary Poppins into its whiny older sister. Glee’s number one problem is that it doesn’t know when to stop and its writers are just constantly trying to give us too much of good thing (remember all the theme episodes?). And guest stars that overstay their welcome are one way the show tries to forcefully to shove happiness down our throats. So let’s keep a two-show maximum, eh?

2. Terri Strikes Back:

No. Just no. Terri—the most annoying character of last season at the center of the most annoying storyline of last season; the only character without any redemptive qualities; the woman who tried to buy a baby; the suffocating, sadistic, selfish wife; the woman whose very voice makes even the most forgiving person want to gouge his ears out; THE WORST CHARACTER EVER CREATED—is apparently back with a vengeance (literally). No. Just. No. You don’t even love to hate her. You just hate her. This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now. We’re all just willing to pretend it never happened.

3. The Warblers:

As Kurt aptly put it, their name should actually be “Blaine and the Pips”, and having an entire all-male a cappella group on the show solely to back of Kurt and Blaine’s blossoming romance is, at this point, a little excessive. It’s awkward ignoring the fact that none of these other guys have lives or storylines or names or any individual characteristics. And now that the team has lost Regionals, let’s do what we do with all the other uncomfortable baggage on this show (Quinn’s baby, Rachel’s birth mom, Quinn’s family, Santana’s lesbianism) and dispense with it without resolving it. I’m sure Kurt and Blaine eventually will return to McKinnley High (provided they don’t break up first), so let’s not drag on the death of the Warblers. If we just pretend they don’t exist, they’ll go away.

Glee: Drunkity Drunk Drunk

We were all waiting for it to happen, weren’t we? These Glee kids are supposedly all in high school, so it was only inevitable that we’d run into an episode about drinking and partying. And, of course, in true Glee form, the group’s experimentation with the sauce coincidentally comes the same week that Principal Figgins asks New Directions to sing a song during his Alcohol Awareness Week.

The group discovers the joys of alcohol when Rachel’s dads go out of town and Puck convinces her to host a party and raid the liquor cabinet rather than provide only two wine coolers for everyone. From there, hilarity ensues, all while Rachel is wearing that ridiculous 1970s nightgown thingie which, honestly, takes the simultaneous grandma/toddler look a little too far (there is such a thing as too much lace, Rachel). While Finn and Kurt decide not to partake (Finn needs to drive and Kurt needs to not get sloppy in front of Blaine), the rest of the group slowly descends into stereotypes of female drunkenness, which, while probably sexist, are still pretty hilarious. In any case, the party really heats up when they play a short-lived game of Spin the Bottle, which, sadly, results in no Blurt (Kaine?) kissing, but rather in an unexpected Rachel/Blaine kiss so earth-shattering that they just have to sing “Don’t You Want Me Baby”.

The next day, the members of the group, all dressed in Mary Kate sunglasses and hung over to the extreme (Tina: “When I shut this locker it’s going to sound like a gunshot.”), decide to continue drinking and perform “Blame It On the Alcohol” to wild praises from Schue. What’s actually interesting here—and what I think the show does well in addressing teen drinking—is that the group thinks alcohol is harmless so long as they have a designated driver, so Schue enlightens them on alcohol poisoning, and later, the terrible effects of drunk-dialing.

Rachel is so incredibly turned-on by her kiss with a gay man that she ends up downing a couple glasses of Rosé and calling Blaine up to ask him on a date, which he agrees to. Kurt is, of course, devastated, and tries to help Blaine remember that he is, in fact, gay. Kurt actually gets called out twice in this episode for playing the gay card and trying to paint himself as the victim. Blaine chastises Kurt for not being supportive of his endeavors to try something new and explore his sexuality (after Blaine kisses Rachel soberly, he realizes he’s gayer than a handbag full of rainbows, so Kurt’s pretty justified in this one), and when Kurt’s dad catches the fully-clothed Blaine in Kurt’s bed and reprimands Kurt for having an unauthorized sleep-over, Kurt tries to insinuate that his father is being homophobic (which is ridiculous given that good ole Mike O’Malley has been nothing but adorably and dopily supportive). I like that Kurt, while he’s certainly been the victim of bullying, is being shown that he can be biased, judgmental, or overly sensitive, too. Nobody on this show is perfect (besides Blaine) and Glee doesn’t let any character get off easy.

Meanwhile, Schue gets drunk with Beiste, tries to drunk dial Emma, accidentally drunk dials Sue, yadda yadda yadda, it was unexciting and unimportant. When the time finally comes for New Directions to sing their Alcohol Awareness song (as Figgins calls it: “’Tick and also Tok,’ by rapper Ke Dollar Sign Ha”), they all end up puking on each other (Question: Since when does puke look like grey slushie?). Figgins thinks it was all planned and Schue gets them to agree not to drink until after Nationals.

In sum, it was a pretty meh episode: not great, but not terrible. Kurt and Blaine are again the most compelling part of the show, with Rachel taking up a close second. Hopefully the return of Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holiday—this time subbing as the Sex Ed teacher—will stir up some more exciting musical numbers. This episode makes me excited for Regionals and the song-after-epic-song awesomeness that is a competition episode on this show. While I’m glad plot is taking precedence over theme-based songs, I’d still like something a little more riveting than Schue and Beiste singing “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.”

Glee: Bieber Fever

This week’s episode revolved around four storylines: Sue’s diminished will to live; Rachel’s desire to be famous; the love triangle (now a love square) with Finn, Quinn, Sam, and Santana; and letting the new girl find her voice in the Glee club. Rachel’s continued attempt to make herself a star by paying Brittany to dress like in Rachel’s “sexy schoolgirl librarian chic” style was a hilarious secondary storyline, and every joke was a winner. The secondary storyline with the new girl was disappointing, mostly because she can’t actually sing. In any case, the other storylines are worth commenting on.

Sue’s depression came from her Cheerios losing Regionals after her three stars quit for Glee Club, and her “Sue-icide” attempt led Emma to suggest that she join New Directions for a week. How Emma and Schu didn’t realize that Sue’s new desire for a singing career was a farce was beyond me, but she was in true Sue form when she attempted to tear the team asunder from the inside when she pitted Rachel and Mercedes against each other in a Diva-Off. “Take Me Baby or Leave Me” from RENT was amazing and, unsurprisingly, both girls have so much fun by the end that they’re totally friends again.

Because Schu didn’t like Sue’s response (“Where was the HATE?”), he takes her to sing with children at the local hospital, because apparently pediatric cancer and cuteness are endemic of Lima, Ohio. In any case, I guess Sue has a weakness for people with debilitating illness, be it Down syndrome or cancer. The whole sequence was painfully heavy-handed, even by Glee’s standards. It made Schu once again annoyingly perfect (he has great hair, an amazing voice, a rockin’ bod, AND HE SINGS TO TERMINALLY ILL CHILDREN WITH LOVABLY DOPEY FACES AND A LACK OF HAIR?!) and took Sue so out of character that I was reminded of how much I love Jane Lynch as a person. In any case, Sue isn’t fundamentally changed; she decided to take her new love of Glee to coach Aural Intensity, which will either be a hilarious turn in the show or the reason the show jumps the shark, so keep your fingers crossed.

I’m really into all the drama being stirred up within the Glee Club, with Quinn cheating on Sam with Finn and Sam cheating on Quinn with Santana. Sam’s attempt to win Quinn back by channeling his inner-Beiber (which, really, was his outer-Beiber because I barely noticed that he had changed his hair at all) was fun, if grating on the ears, and I was really glad that this didn’t turn into an ill-advised Beibs-themed episode. Two Justin Beiber songs—which, admittedly, were more satire than cover, given that even the gothic girl swooned over Sam’s weirdly-combed hair—is more than enough for me. But it’s fun to watch these characters go through the drama of high school dating without the wholesome commitment of Boy Meets World or the sluttiness of One Tree Hill. Plus, any episode with no less than four jokes about the size of Chord Overstreet’s mouth is a good episode, especially when they come rapid-succession from Santana. Sometimes Glee has those moments where the hilarity is non-stop (see, for example, the conversation where Sue convinces Kurt he’s straight) and Santana’s conversation with Sam is one of them. That one about licking giant stamps? Or how he should unhinge his jaw to swallow Finn alive? GENIUS. The mouth jokes are so relentless it makes you almost feel sorry for poor Chord until you remember that God made up for his freakish lips with those killer abs and arms (ladies, am I right?).

Overall it was a great episode, even with the Justin Beiber songs and even though the so-called “anthem” was a My Chemical Romance song (gross) (Editor's Note: Awesome!). Again, it was another episode where the whole thing is great besides the music. As Finn said, it’s great to see Rachel “focused, and take-no-prisoners” and trying to be the leader of New Directions again. We’ll see if she leads the team into total oblivion with her idea for writing their own songs; after all, what’s Glee without Journey covers?

Glee: My Rapid-Fire Catch-Up

Alright, so I’ve gotten behind on my Glee. I moved. And then it was Christmas. And, to be real with you, I don’t actually have television. So I understand that there are five, maybe six Glee episodes I haven’t commented on. But have no fear, readers. I spent the entire Super Bowl ignoring the game and the insipid Halftime Show and watching every episode I have missed and I am now completely up-to-date. And because commenting on every episode in depth would be unbearably boring for everyone except for me, I’m just going to hit you with Twitter-sized reviews of each episode I’ve missed.

“The Substitute”: Who knew an injection of shiny hard plastic (Gwyneth Paltrow) would revitalize Glee? Yay! The show makes fun of itself. "Umbrella"/"Singin' in the Rain" mash-up was boss.

“Furt”: Dancing wedding was magic, if ripped-off. I cried. Finn’s song for Kurt was equally magic. I cried again. Carol Burnett storyline was boring except for “Ohio”.

“Special Education”: Rachel being a diva is Rachel at her best. Evita song was exactly what Rachel and Kurt needed to sing. Sectional performances were spectacular. Dog days really are over!

“A Very Glee Christmas”: Really good filler episode. Kurt/Blaine duet was justified in its hype. Grinch storyline was hilarious. I still don’t like new girl. Shu is being an adult, thank God.

“The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle”: Everything was great except the music. Finn returning to leadership makes me happy. Cannon was funnily far-fetched. Why the kiss at the end? Still don’t like new girl.

“Silly Little Love Songs”: High school love heptagons are funny. Remember that these are hormonal teens? Blaine is too perfect. New girl is growing on me. “Firework” shows: Rachel Berry > Katy Perry.

But since I’ve seen a lot of episodes in rapid succession, I thought I’d also comment on the bullying theme. I was super hesitant when it was announced that Glee would be addressing bullying this season, and my fears seemed well-founded when the show almost messed it up immediately. Making the homophobe a repressed homosexual is convenient and satisfying but teaches the wrong message, namely, that bullying is only ever caused by jealousy or repressed desire as opposed to ingrained and sometimes systemic hatred. And the seriousness of the storyline—Korofsky tells Kurt he’s going to kill him—seemed too much for the show to handle. But the fact that everyone forcefully stepped up on Kurt’s behalf—Mr. Schu, Sue Sylvester, Kurt’s parents, Korofsky’s parents—and still nothing changed until Kurt transferred schools demonstrates the complexity of this issue, that it doesn’t go away, that school systems are frequently geared towards appeasing the bully rather than protecting the bullied. I also appreciate that the show hasn’t let the story drop; the members of New Directions still stand up for Kurt and make Korofsky certain that his bullying of Kurt would never be okay. And even being forced to participate in the Glee Club—something he secretly enjoyed—hasn’t changed Korofsky’s behavior. In some ways, I think it takes a show like Glee, where all problems are solved through singing, to address bullying as a problem that doesn’t disappear when confronted with happiness and togetherness and Journey. I’m impressed with Glee for addressing the bullying issued and for also making sure it hasn’t bitten off more than it can chew.

Glee: Reruns and Memories

So instead of talking about the Rocking Horror Glee Show episode, which was entertaining but inconsequential (quick rundown: “Touch Me” was genius, and Mercedes’ taking the reins as leading lady during her rendition of “Sweet Transvestite” was a treat) I’d like to examine the two reruns that have recently aired and take a little trip down memory lane.

Two things:

1. Remember when Glee was about a bunch of misfits who simultaneously hated and needed each other? In the first rerun from last season, Kurt and Rachel, who are in cut-throat competition not only for the lead of the Glee Club, but also for Finn’s heart, exchange harsh words and—despite both being relative freaks—ruthlessly make fun of each other. In the same vein, Mercedes’ rejection of Quinn’s right to sing soul because she doesn’t have it rough before finally realizing how hard it must be to be pregnant and in high school demonstrates the reflexive animosity the team had to overcome to get themselves to Regionals. The narrative arc of last season was one that involved watching a group of unpopular teens, so used to the harshness of high school life, defensively hurt each other before finally becoming a type of family for one another. The knowledge that eventually these singing adolescents vying for star billing in the Glee Club would come to their senses and recognize that they need to unite against the rest of the world was the driving force of last season, and it was amazingly fun to watch these little dorks try to outdo each other while still trying, however reluctantly, to help each other out for the betterment of the team. But now that they’re all friends and love each other, it leaves me to wonder: How can we expect the show to continue to grow? Besides Sue Sylvester’s constant plot to bring them down, where’s the conflict? Where’s the banter? Brittany’s dimwittedness and Santana’s ego can only get us so far when the team seems to be running perfectly otherwise. Let’s throw a wrench in that dynamic and bring back a little animosity.

2. Remember when the kids used to sing just to sing? The most recent rerun of Glee featured Finn and Puck, working a minimum-wage job at Sheets and Things, singing Beck’s “Loser.” The premise was, of course, a fantasy—Puck and Finn weren’t actually singing—but it was a pleasant surprise to remember how the kids on Glee attempted to express themselves through song, instead of using songs to fit a theme. One of the best moments of last season, and the moment in which I realized the true potential of the show was when Mercedes, pissed off at Kurt’s rejection of her advances, breaks the windshield of his Escalade and sings “Bust Your Windows.” Even Quinn’s selection of “It’s a Man’s World” for her demonstration of the funk genre was rooted in her personal experiences; unlike in the episodes that have dominated this season and the end of last season, the song had meaning, fit with Quinn’s life, and articulated, however shallowly, at least some emotional relevancy.

I realize, however, that this season is only 4 episodes old, that it could take a wonderful and unexpected turn, or that I could just be hesitant to like change. But I also know that I’m not the only one. This is a sign from The Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear:



Now that’s a cause I can get behind.

Glee: Happy Days Are Here Again!

We are now four episodes into the new season of Glee, and, while Season Two has started a little rough, things are looking up! Sue Sylvester has once again been relegated to her role as supporting comic relief, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Madonna are wonderfully absent, and Kristen Chenoweth is in every single epi—Oh wait. Well, two out of three ain’t bad.

In any case, let’s review. Last week we were invited to watch as a practicing homosexual was converted to Christianity! Okay, okay, that’s not exactly what happened. While the conversation about faith the occurred in last week’s episode was pretty universally Judeo-Christian, and though Kurt’s final relenting to prayer was a little contrived and, frankly, a bit unexpected for Glee, if one imagines that Kurt isn’t giving in to a specific religion so much as recognizing that the help of friends, however presented, is a welcome support, the episode was pretty heartwarming. I’m like a freakin’ waterworks when it comes to Kurt and his dad, and Chris Colfer does an amazing job of crying just enough to make me feel bad without making me want to hit him. And though I’d been waiting the whole episode for someone to sing “Losing My Religion” by REM (and hilariously fitting that it was Finn, who had recently developed a single-member cult around his Grilled Cheesus finally debunked at the end of the episode, sang this song), the way in which Corey Montheim sang it, echoing Michael Stipe but not quite capturing his 90s angst), left me a little disappointed. I knew Glee could do better.

But let’s move on to the Duets episode, which had to be the best episode this season. I was initially very skeptical—yet another themed episode with no plot, it seemed—but this one quickly redeemed itself. Finn and Rachel as the new power couple of the Glee Club, working in collaboration to get the team to Nationals is wonderfully adorable, and I’m thoroughly enjoying that the writers are giving Michael Chen (heretofore known as “Other Asian”) something to do beyond dancing, while acknowledging that he’s not much of a singer (nothing auto-tune can’t fix, am I right, Glee?). The blossoming romance between New Guy With The Weird Mouth and Quinn is expected, but, given that the joy of Glee is that each character has a redeemable quality except Shuester’s wife, it’s wonderful to see a thoroughly un-Regina-George side of Quinn. However, this episode totally and utterly redeemed the last three iffy episodes when Rachel approached Kurt, who had done a solo duet a la Julie Andrews because his homosexuality ostracisized him, and asked him to sing the most spot-on rendition of the “Get Happy”/”Happy Days Are Here Again” mash-up in the style of Babs and Judy, saying, “There are twelve people who love you just for being who you are.” Glee has once again become the show about the group of misfit adolescents singing their way into their places in the sun.


This is the original version of that duet. Rachel was totally channeling some serious Barbra.

Glee: Too Much of a Good Thing

Let me just begin by saying that I am not one of those Glee fans. You know, the freakish “Gleeks” with the four Glee soundtracks on their iPods, who know all the cast members’ names and their previous musical theatre gigs, and who secretly write Puck/Quinn slash fiction for obscure pornographic websites. My love of Glee is a healthy and understandable passion for teary-eyed ballads by arrogant teenage divas and paraplegic nerds rapping like Jay-Z. The cool head I maintain during the show (yes, I cried when Quinn’s dad kicked her out and Finn’s mom said she could stay with them, and of course I broke down when Kurt’s dad defended him when Finn dropped the F-bomb, but who didn’t?) allows me to keep a good, critical eye on the show. And thus, for my first post to the Blogulator (hello, all), I’d like to rant a little bit about where this show is going in its second season. The first two episodes are really bringing me down, and here’s why: the fears I have for the show are being realized and I’m afraid it might jump the shark early in its career. The biggest faux pas (faux pases?) are the following:

1. There is just too much Sue Sylvester. Bear with me on this one, for I know it makes me a Glee blasphemer, but too much Sue Sylvester could easily ruin the show. Jane Lynch’s brand of comedy is hysterical, but not leading-lady worthy. And what makes Sue Sylvester so phenomenal is that the character usually has one scene in every episode in which everything she says is completely and totally hilarious, and then she will make herself scarce (sometimes for episodes at a time). What makes her great is that she always leaves us wanting more. “Give us just one more one-liner, Sue!” we shout. “Call him ‘Baby Face’, I beg you!” we scream. “Make a slightly offensive reference to racial minorities, please! I’ll even take a minor racial epithet!” we plead. However, when we she’s in every scene, making jokes in the same deadpan over and over again, it gets stale. And when we no longer want Sue Sylvester, she just becomes this overbearing, man-ish gym teacher who just tries way to hard. And thus something deep inside the soul of Glee putters out and dies. To find that the entire first episode revolved around Shu and Sue’s new-found pact was disconcerting. Glee may be offering us too much of a good thing to keep us watching but, like when one eats two dozen Krispy Kremes in one sitting, all that glazed goodness just becomes somewhat nauseating.



2. The creators are relying on too many themed, plot-less episodes riddled with cameos and rip-offs. Let me make myself clear: Glee’s Madonna episode was by far the pinnacle of the first season. The revelation that Sue Sylvester was a closeted Madonna fan whose world was crushed when a perm-gone-bad ruined her chances to mimic Madonna’s lustrous locks was sheer genius, and the shot-by-shot remake of Madonna’s “Vogue” music video featuring Sue Sylvester was a jewel of comedic enterprise. However, as is evidenced by the insanely boring “Lady Gaga” episode, performing a medley of songs by an iconic artist in the style of that same artist falls flat. Why would I want to see a bunch of teenagers attempt to be Lady Gaga when I can just watch videos of Lady Gaga being Lady Gaga? Thus, I was disappointed when the second episode of this season was a Britney Spears episode consisting of nothing but music video remakes written off as nitrous-oxide-induced hallucinations. And while I’m glad to see Brittany S. Pierce (Heather Morris) get a chance to show off her amazing dancing chops (she was a back-up dancer for Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” promotional tour, you know) and to have Sue Sylvester back in her role as random supplier of absurdity, the episode left me feeling bored and flat. Glee is about auto-tuned adolescents singing about their feelings, and these artist-themed shows with these regurgitations of unimpressive music videos stray from the course toward awesomeness that this show was on.

All in all my remedies for these maladies (are you listening Glee writers?) involve a) more plot, b) more show tunes, and c) more Kristen Chenoweth. I wait with bated breath.