“I brought some bloody marys y’all...It’ll help your hangover. That’s what bloody marys are for. Hair of the dog that done bit your ass.” -Artie
I think it’s time to realize that Glee will never be a perfectly crafted show. While there are glimpses of its potential to do so, it seems to be settling a bit in the middle between what I love and hate. I love the relationships of the students with Will as a type of guide in their paths to success, with a little bit of Sue and Emma sprinkled in. On the outside, this episode seemed to have everything I’d want in a favorite episode, but their exists one problem now: too many plot lines!
We can’t get any continuity with this show. How are we supposed to care about Kurt and Blaine when they weren’t even in last week’s episode? The same goes for Emma and Will. I think we could feel empathy towards Will and root for that relationship if they gave it consistent airtime. With focusing on Will and Bieste this episode, we lost out on the Lauren and Puck story line and they barely touched on Santana and Sam. It’s like if one character isn’t featured that episode, they seem completely useless. I love all the characters in their own respect, so I like to see them working together as a unit, celebrating their wins and being heartbroken by each other’s actions. They have a problem that Hollywood seems to struggle with a lot in that happy couples aren’t interesting. We don’t see much of Artie and Brittany or Tina and Mike because they’re happy. Instead we only see characters that are constantly making up and breaking up. It makes it hard for us to root for couples to succeed in the long term.
I do like the episodic feel of this episode. We got some over arching story arcs, what with Rachel and Blaine, Kurt and his dad, Sue and Will as well as the Glee club tackling a specific issue independent to this episode. This is a strong recipe for success in network television. Shows like House, CSI and NCIS play to killer ratings every week using this formula. It’s a bit hidden with this week’s episode, but just think of accomplishing the task of an alcohol awareness song at assembly like a medical mystery on House. I think Glee can be successful in this respect. As long as we move towards to regionals and we spend some time developing important relationships, I’ll be satisfied.
But is being satisfied enough? Think back to the first half of the episode. The Rachel Berry Extravaganza had real potential to illuminate so many truths about these kids. I would not have minded a bottle episode where we stayed in that party the whole 44 minutes. We could have had a unique introspective look at all the characters relationships. Finn and Quinn could have talked about everything, Blaine and Rachel could have figured out he wasn’t straight by the end of it, Sam and Santana could have connected on another level that’s not purely physical, Puck could have shown more kindness to Lauren, you get the picture. Not that I hated the episode as a whole, on the contrary. I very much enjoyed it. We’re just so close to capturing it’s former greatness, yet so far.
Other thoughts:
Heather Morris continues to amaze me as a performer. I’ll take all the auto tune and Ke$ha in the world if it means getting more of her fronting the Glee club. This also on the heels of her being the “Stripper Girl Drunk” makes for one her finest episodes.
30 plus episodes for an original song and we get “My Headband.” Love it! I know the Rachel Berry original will no doubt help propel the group to nationals, but still, “My Headband” will forever be the first original song on Glee.
The evolution of Artie is probably one of the biggest successes of the show. No sympathy for his being in a wheelchair. Instead they let him flourish as a person.
Kurt is arguing on the wrong side of teenage gay rights. He has to realize that there is something different about him having a gay guy sleep over. Even if they are just friends, a parent of a high schooler is usually not ok with people of the sex they’re interested in sleeping over. Where I normally find Kurt and his father’s arguments about tolerance and homosexuality, I was left a bit angry with Kurt on this one.
I laughed way more than normal at Becky playing the xylophone.
This episode featured just the right amount of Sue and used her in a way that seemed believable. Hopefully we get more of this.
Where was Cheyenne Jackson supposed to fit into all of this? How about the girl he stole from McKinnley? Are we just supposed to forget about that?
Sam saying they haven’t had enough rehearsal is ironic because we never really see them rehearse for any numbers in class, yet they deliver knock out numbers. Like “Blame it” in this episode.
Brittany line of the week: “You guys I’m really nervous. Ke$ha has been a cultural icon for weeks and I really want to do her music justice.
Kurt line of the week: “Bisexual is a term that gay guys in high school use when they want to hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change.”
Showing posts with label finn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finn. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Glee - "Comeback" Review
“Who’s more rock and roll than Justin Bieber? No one. That’s who.” -Sam
Glee walked a fine line tonight. It was able to touch on aspects of things I both love and hate about the show. This was by no means Glee’s worst episode, far from it, but it is still standing in it’s own way from being great.
Let’s start with one of Glee’s biggest problem: Sue Sylvester. Glee is searching for a way to use Sue. We love Jane Lynch’s portrayal of her, but all the jokes are becoming hackneyed and we know the Glee club will not be disbanded anytime soon and the abuse on the students is more implausible than the kids spontaneously breaking into song. The success of the show lies within the relationship of the kids and their quest for regionals. There was way too much of the adults in this episode and the show is going out of its way to make Will and Sue likable again. I’m not unhappy about the appearance of pediatric cancer patients. Glee has proven that it can use material like this very effectively, as evidenced by Sue caring for her disabled sister, but this came across as pandering. It just seemed like they were using them to build the likability of Will and Sue. I didn’t buy it and I didn’t like it. If we care about one adult relationship, it’s between Will and Emma and that appears to be off the radar.
Now credit given where credit is due. Aside from the obvious question of how did Oral Intensity get this far without a coach, I like the idea of Sue being the coach there. It will essentially allow the show to focus back on New Directions while still allowing Sue to be a road block that we don’t have to deal with week in and week out. Hopefully with Sue being out of the spotlight we can get more Kurt. The lack of Chris Colfer is inexcusable. I worried about the show’s split focus and tonight Glee suffered. Kurt is just to interesting and dynamic to leave out of any episode. We need him back at McKinley High ASAP!
As for what I did love about this episode, count me a fan of just about every number on the show tonight. They served a purpose and moved the story. The rendition of “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent was especially on the money. Here we have Rachel Berry singing another Idina Menzel joint. I think it would have been funny if when she was on the cast Rachel just one time said, “Has anyone ever told you you look exactly like Idina Menzel?” Maybe that’s only funny to me. I’m with Glee. Justin Bieber is an epic talent and I’m surprised it took this long to get some of the Beebs on the show. Sam could use a little more dance lessons if he really wants to be The Justin Bieber Experience. Maybe Harry Shum Jr. can teach him some things. It’s clear Tina is learning a little something from him as she booty bumped with Brittany during Lauren’s song.
I also really love anytime the show chooses to focus on the whims of high school students and how it effects their relationships. I really like the love triangle between Sam, Quinn, and Santana. Or is it between Sam/Quinn/Rachel/Finn/Santana? More of a love pentagon I guess you could say. I don’t find all the make up break stuff annoying because it emulates the real life of students. Further, anytime we get to see more of Naya Rivera, I’m a fan. I believe that she can be the answer to the show’s “Sue Crisis.” Santana should just embrace the full time role antagonist. It will focus the show and allow for tension in the group itself. Too many outside influences are watering down the narrative.
Other thoughts:
-Though I’m not exactly sure where the plot line began, I thought it was a nice bit of humor to have all the girls start dressing like Brittany who was just copying Rachel. It seems like it was all a set up for Finn to say that Rachel was the real trend setter. Which leads me to my next point....
-An original song is exactly what this show needs! We’ve heard all sorts of different covers of rock, rap, showtunes and this would really add a lot. I don’t know if I love that Rachel will be writing and performing her own song. I hope it’s more of a group effort.
-Sue’s voice over’s while she’s writing in her diary are annoying. Don’t talk down to the audience. We know Sue is going to try and take down the Glee club, just show us. Don’t tell us and then show us. Redundant.
-Did I see the words “Avatar On Ice” in print? I’d for sure watch that.
Brittany line of the week: “I wore a tank top today because I thought it was summer. No one taught me how to read a calendar.” -Brittany
Kurt line of the week: NONE BECAUSE HE WASN’T IN THE SHOW!
Glee walked a fine line tonight. It was able to touch on aspects of things I both love and hate about the show. This was by no means Glee’s worst episode, far from it, but it is still standing in it’s own way from being great.
Let’s start with one of Glee’s biggest problem: Sue Sylvester. Glee is searching for a way to use Sue. We love Jane Lynch’s portrayal of her, but all the jokes are becoming hackneyed and we know the Glee club will not be disbanded anytime soon and the abuse on the students is more implausible than the kids spontaneously breaking into song. The success of the show lies within the relationship of the kids and their quest for regionals. There was way too much of the adults in this episode and the show is going out of its way to make Will and Sue likable again. I’m not unhappy about the appearance of pediatric cancer patients. Glee has proven that it can use material like this very effectively, as evidenced by Sue caring for her disabled sister, but this came across as pandering. It just seemed like they were using them to build the likability of Will and Sue. I didn’t buy it and I didn’t like it. If we care about one adult relationship, it’s between Will and Emma and that appears to be off the radar.
Now credit given where credit is due. Aside from the obvious question of how did Oral Intensity get this far without a coach, I like the idea of Sue being the coach there. It will essentially allow the show to focus back on New Directions while still allowing Sue to be a road block that we don’t have to deal with week in and week out. Hopefully with Sue being out of the spotlight we can get more Kurt. The lack of Chris Colfer is inexcusable. I worried about the show’s split focus and tonight Glee suffered. Kurt is just to interesting and dynamic to leave out of any episode. We need him back at McKinley High ASAP!
As for what I did love about this episode, count me a fan of just about every number on the show tonight. They served a purpose and moved the story. The rendition of “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent was especially on the money. Here we have Rachel Berry singing another Idina Menzel joint. I think it would have been funny if when she was on the cast Rachel just one time said, “Has anyone ever told you you look exactly like Idina Menzel?” Maybe that’s only funny to me. I’m with Glee. Justin Bieber is an epic talent and I’m surprised it took this long to get some of the Beebs on the show. Sam could use a little more dance lessons if he really wants to be The Justin Bieber Experience. Maybe Harry Shum Jr. can teach him some things. It’s clear Tina is learning a little something from him as she booty bumped with Brittany during Lauren’s song.
I also really love anytime the show chooses to focus on the whims of high school students and how it effects their relationships. I really like the love triangle between Sam, Quinn, and Santana. Or is it between Sam/Quinn/Rachel/Finn/Santana? More of a love pentagon I guess you could say. I don’t find all the make up break stuff annoying because it emulates the real life of students. Further, anytime we get to see more of Naya Rivera, I’m a fan. I believe that she can be the answer to the show’s “Sue Crisis.” Santana should just embrace the full time role antagonist. It will focus the show and allow for tension in the group itself. Too many outside influences are watering down the narrative.
Other thoughts:
-Though I’m not exactly sure where the plot line began, I thought it was a nice bit of humor to have all the girls start dressing like Brittany who was just copying Rachel. It seems like it was all a set up for Finn to say that Rachel was the real trend setter. Which leads me to my next point....
-An original song is exactly what this show needs! We’ve heard all sorts of different covers of rock, rap, showtunes and this would really add a lot. I don’t know if I love that Rachel will be writing and performing her own song. I hope it’s more of a group effort.
-Sue’s voice over’s while she’s writing in her diary are annoying. Don’t talk down to the audience. We know Sue is going to try and take down the Glee club, just show us. Don’t tell us and then show us. Redundant.
-Did I see the words “Avatar On Ice” in print? I’d for sure watch that.
Brittany line of the week: “I wore a tank top today because I thought it was summer. No one taught me how to read a calendar.” -Brittany
Kurt line of the week: NONE BECAUSE HE WASN’T IN THE SHOW!
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