Glee v.2

[IenjoyAcidPops]

I have to say (well, I don't have to say, but I will say) that I'm kind of dreading the next episode. An all-disco episode would not be anywhere near a list of theme episodes I'd like to see. I listened to a couple of the songs - "More Than a Woman" and "Night Fever" - and I couldn't even tell who was singing, they were so crazy auto-tuned. Obviously, those are Bee Gees covers, and no one in this cast - not even Mr. Kurt Hummel - can hit those chipmunk-high Bee Gees notes, so some auto-tuning is required. And it's a lot less annoying than when auto-tuning is used just to add a grating robotic effect just 'cause, but I still didn't like how those two sounded. Of course, the problem of, "Who is thins singing?" is not likely to occur when watching the episode. Still, a disco episode. I wonder whose bright idea this was. I embrace the possibility of a pleasant surprise, though, and it would be a surprise.

[BubblyShell22]

I don't know why so many people are against disco. I have to say that I've never hated disco in my life. I've listened to a lot of disco songs, and many of them are actually pretty good if you give them a chance.

As for this episode, it was pretty good with the theme of what people wanted to do after high school. I liked the uncertainty of it and how the characters dealt with that. Sam was so sweet to post that video for Mercedes. I smiled when I saw that. And I'm glad Finn made the decision to go to New York and pursue acting. It sounds like something he'd want to do if he can't be an athlete, though I kind of thought maybe he'd pursue a singing career or something like that. And even though Brittany shouldn't have posted that tape, her intentions were good. I liked the scene where Sue gave Santana a full ride for cheerleading school. That was awesome. And we finally got to see Alex. I liked his character, but I have a feeling he'll be kicked out of VA and go to join ND.

As for the numbers, yes, I believe a lot of them were auto-tuned, but they didn't sound too horrible. I don't think anyone but the Bee Gees themselves could hit those high notes.

I can't wait for next week's episode. It's going to be sad though in a lot of ways.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

I don't know why so many people are against disco. I have to say that I've never hated disco in my life. I've listened to a lot of disco songs, and many of them are actually pretty good if you give them a chance.

Well, I don’t know about many, but it’s obviously personal taste. There are disco songs I enjoy on the guilty pleasure level, and even some I enjoy legitimately. But it seemed an odd a direction in which to go for a theme episode now. I also didn't buy that the "Night Fever" number would so quickly turn the haters in the group over to embracing disco, but that's one of those moments, of Will changing everyone's minds over the course of song because the episode needs it to happen, where you just have to suspend your disbelief, because if you complain about that, then you're watching the wrong show.

I did say I was open to a pleasant surprise, and this was one. It wasn’t a throwaway, “Let’s do a fun disco show!” but actually an attempt to use these songs as a way to serve this story of these characters (Finn, Mercedes, and Santana) figuring out where they really want to go next. That’s not exactly what Saturday Night Fever is about, but it’s close enough that that is a relevant soundtrack to use for an episode of this show at this point. So despite my questioning a disco episode, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great or truly necessary, but it wasn’t bad.

I have mixed feelings about the music in this episode. I don’t actually dislike any of these songs; as disco goes, this is the cream of the crop (along with “I Will Survive,” which The Troubletones did earlier this season). But listening to “You Should Be Dancing,” “Night Fever,” “More Than a Woman,” and “Stayin’ Alive” made me forget about the strengths of the episode and think, “I wish they weren’t just straight-up copying these songs,” because Cory, Darren, Matthew, and even Harry now have good voices, but they’re not the voices of any of the Gibb brothers. More often than not, Glee is just replicating a song rather than doing something new with it, but they don’t often have to manipulate it so much. If I want to listen to a Bee Gees song, I’ll listen to a Bee Gees song. The rest of them were much better to me – Mercedes’ “Disco Inferno” and Santana’s “If I Can’t Have You” were by far the best, but Rachel’s “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Boogie Shoes” by Wade/Unique and Vocal Adrenaline were pretty good too.

Speaking of “Boogie Shoes,” this was apparently the debut of the fourth and final winner of The Glee Project, Alex Newell. I’m pretty sure I liked this character more than any of the others from the Glee Project winners. Who knows where Wade/Unique is going, but at least this was a character I hadn’t seen on this show or a show like this before. It was fresh, and Alex’s performance was pretty solid.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: I've been responding to these stories of Finn trying to figure out what he wants to do after high school (and what he actually can). I'm more like Mercedes myself, in that I have known what I wanted to do, I just don't know how I'm going to get there yet. I'm kind of surprised they're playing this Finn storyline out with as much care as they are - particularly after last week, when a major character being hit by a truck and ending up in a wheelchair was glossed over in about 5 seconds. As this week's "Finn is lost" plot was playing out, I felt like, "This is working, but this better be the last one of these," and it seems to be. But...the Actors Studio? I get Rachel and Kurt going to NYADA, because they're more about being theatrical performers than just singers. But Finn expressing a sudden desire to go to acting school came way out of left field to me. Regardless, Cory was terrific. Also, if Finn and Rachel end up staying in or coming back to Lima next season, that'll require some wacky contrivance, so I'm increasingly curious about how that will play out.

We've been focusing so much on what Rachel, Finn, and Kurt will do after graduation, it was good to finally touch on that with some other characters. It's been kind of a wild ride with Mercedes this season; I started out hating her, because she was behaving like more of a spoiled, entitled diva than ever and still had no depth, and then Sam comes back, and I find them endearing together and feel like they could bring out the best in each other. She still has the diva thing going on, but we seem to be back to the earliest version of Mercedes, where, to quote her, "I am Beyoncé, I ain't no Kelly Rowland," but there's actually a person in there with feelings that we can sympathize with. I liked the way Santana’s plot played out, with her initially insisting she just wanted to be Famous, and then realizing what that means once it kind of bites her in the butt. I did think it was really odd when Will assumed Santana wanted to go to law school and make great strides in gay/lesbian rights, just from her rendition of "If I Can't Have You." Where did that come from?

Oh yeah, Jesse also came back in this episode. That just sort of happened. It was like the writers just said, “Well, you all figured this was gonna happen anyway, so yeah, Jesse’s coaching Vocal Adrenaline.”

Some of the little things that made me laugh:

-“Here’s what you missed on Glee guy saying they should be called the “No Directions”

-Will voiceover: I’m so distracted I can’t even stage musical numbers on my scale-model glee club diorama.

-“Your Rumors week was a resounding success, in that it seemed to solve everyone’s problems for about 5 minutes.” That episode was great, but Sue is correct.

-Emma: (to Finn) These are the ones with the cool glossy papers that you got excited about.

-Brittany spliced the sex tape with clips of Lord Tubbington doing household chores.

-Finn referring to Inside the Actors Studio as “that show with the swear words and the cool dude you [Rachel] made me watch” – funnier considering Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch, and Ryan Murphy were recently on Inside the Actors Studio.

-Finn saying, “I want to go to Inside the Actors Studio,” and Rachel fitting in the correction, “It’s just the Actors Studio” before she congratulated him.

-Sue made a sex tape with Oliver North on Betamax, and she thinks Dick Cheney still has a copy. Now THAT’S what I wanna hear from Sue!

-Sue: Don’t thank me, thank Brittany. She gets an idea every couple of years, and lucky for us, this was a good one.

[gelowo93]

I didn't really like this episode, I'm not sure why, maybe I just wasn't in a very Glee mood when I was watching it Nothing was particularly bad, the episode just didn't keep my attention, and as I was watching it on my laptop I started doing other things while keeping it on in the background. At some points I did feel like they were forcing too many songs into the episode, and Finn suddenly wanting to be an actor? I don't remember him being that keen on acting when they did West Side Story and Rocky Horror, and it just seems like something the writers have pulled out so that he and Rachel can go to New York together.

[Lady Elven]

Originally Posted by gelowo93

I didn't really like this episode, I'm not sure why, maybe I just wasn't in a very Glee mood when I was watching it Nothing was particularly bad, the episode just didn't keep my attention, and as I was watching it on my laptop I started doing other things while keeping it on in the background. At some points I did feel like they were forcing too many songs into the episode, and Finn suddenly wanting to be an actor? I don't remember him being that keen on acting when they did West Side Story and Rocky Horror, and it just seems like something the writers have pulled out so that he and Rachel can go to New York together.

I didn't watch yet but sometimes ideas just click in your head. like I didn't know for the longest time what I wanted til about 2 yrs ago now where I just got in my head to become a photographer. but yeah it is a little convenient. but is there a joke there, like finn doesn't know that's actually a school or he just want to see a taping?

[freelantzer]

Originally Posted by AcidPops

Oh yeah, Jesse also came back in this episode. That just sort of happened. It was like the writers just said, “Well, you all figured this was gonna happen anyway, so yeah, Jesse’s coaching Vocal Adrenaline.”

I was glad to see Jesse for the few seconds he was on, but if you're going to have Jonathan Groff on your show, for Heaven's sake, let the man sing!!! Please! His voice!

I rolled my eyes through most of this episode. If I have to listen to one more declaration of love from Rachel and Finn and "you're my dream, no you're my dream." This was not my favorite episode. For the first time I fast forwarded through several songs. Hope next week is better.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Originally Posted by freelantzer

For the first time I fast forwarded through several songs. Hope next week is better.

Next is the Whitney Houston tribute show, so I'm sure the songs will be.

[Desraelda]

I love disco and I love the BeeGees and I loved Saturday Night Fever, so I figured this episode would be right up my alley.

Alex from TGP was a surprise and it was a pleasure to see him. He really makes a great girl and it was a great number. I couldn't understand what Jesse's problem was with Alex/Unique. It was a great performance and a lot of fun.

I enjoyed the line-dance which was one of my favorite parts of Saturday Night Fever. Everything else didn't work for me. They were dancing the steps but weren't dancing Disco. Blaine's nerdy look totally spoiled the opening number.

Nice to see everyone figuring out what they wanted to do. Not enough of Schuester dancing in the last two episodes.

Anyone else see the spoiler about the Nationals episode? It's two hours and I thought we'd get to see a full competition this time. Unfortunately not.

[Goddess_Clio]

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

I have mixed feelings about the music in this episode. I don’t actually dislike any of these songs; as disco goes, this is the cream of the crop (along with “I Will Survive,” which The Troubletones did earlier this season). But listening to “You Should Be Dancing,” “Night Fever,” “More Than a Woman,” and “Stayin’ Alive” made me forget about the strengths of the episode and think, “I wish they weren’t just straight-up copying these songs,” because Cory, Darren, Matthew, and even Harry now have good voices, but they’re not the voices of any of the Gibb brothers. More often than not, Glee is just replicating a song rather than doing something new with it, but they don’t often have to manipulate it so much. If I want to listen to a Bee Gees song, I’ll listen to a Bee Gees song. The rest of them were much better to me – Mercedes’ “Disco Inferno” and Santana’s “If I Can’t Have You” were by far the best, but Rachel’s “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Boogie Shoes” by Wade/Unique and Vocal Adrenaline were pretty good too.

The falseto of all the guys was so jarring and offputting to me I fast forwarded through every single one. I was not impressed by this episode even though I have nothing against disco and even enjoy disco music.

Speaking of “Boogie Shoes,” this was apparently the debut of the fourth and final winner of The Glee Project, Alex Newell. I’m pretty sure I liked this character more than any of the others from the Glee Project winners. Who knows where Wade/Unique is going, but at least this was a character I hadn’t seen on this show or a show like this before. It was fresh, and Alex’s performance was pretty solid.

Alex's storyline was the only one I didn't roll my eyes through. I thought he was charming, his character was charming in that Glee sort of "I don't know who I am but I think I know who I am and I want someone to validate my self image" kind of way. He was adorable in his fringy dress in his VA number, though I admit I was put off by just how short that dress was, it needed another two inches added to its hem!

We've been focusing so much on what Rachel, Finn, and Kurt will do after graduation, it was good to finally touch on that with some other characters.

I think they're still focusing too much on it. After all, this show doesn't work unless it's at McKinley and in that Glee club room and we need to start getting more emotionally invested in the other characters who will be staying. they need to start introducing some story lines for them that will be hooking us for the next season.

I'm not saying that the seniors shouldn't be getting lots of attention in terms of storylines, they're leaving, they should. Maybe i'm just sick of hearing Finn and Rachel simper at each other. i'm over their on-again-off-again, I'm-mad-at-you-but-now-I-can't-live-without-you relationship.

Oh yeah, Jesse also came back in this episode. That just sort of happened. It was like the writers just said, “Well, you all figured this was gonna happen anyway, so yeah, Jesse’s coaching Vocal Adrenaline.”

I really like Jesse's character. He's kind of an *** but in the same way that Rachel was kind of an *** in seasons 1 and 2 and why they were such charming characters in season 1 and 2 (well, just season 2 for Jesse). They blindly went after what they wanted at the expense of everyone else because they didn't know better. Well, after three years I think Rachel should know better. She's was charmingly selfish but now she's annoyingly so.

-Brittany spliced the sex tape with clips of Lord Tubbington doing household chores.

While I thought that in particular was funny and bery Brittany, I don't like how they are making Santana into the salacious sex-video girl (even though it was Brittany's idea). It seemed very cheap to me.

-Finn referring to Inside the Actors Studio as “that show with the swear words and the cool dude you [Rachel] made me watch” – funnier considering Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Jane Lynch, and Ryan Murphy were recently on Inside the Actors Studio.

Really?? What did Chris Colfer have to talk about? I mean, I love the guy, he plays my favorite character, but Glee is like the only thing he's done...

Originally Posted by freelantzer

I was glad to see Jesse for the few seconds he was on, but if you're going to have Jonathan Groff on your show, for Heaven's sake, let the man sing!!! Please! His voice!

Amen!

I rolled my eyes through most of this episode. If I have to listen to one more declaration of love from Rachel and Finn and "you're my dream, no you're my dream." This was not my favorite episode. For the first time I fast forwarded through several songs. Hope next week is better.

Agreed. I fast forwarded through just about every song because they were all either terrible fake falseto, sappy or just bad and I rolled my eyes through every story line except Alex's from the Glee Project, though even that ellicited an exasperated sigh from me directed at the writers.

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

Next is the Whitney Houston tribute show, so I'm sure the songs will be.

Ug. Am imagining Rachel singing "If I Don't Have You" to Finn and myself shutting off the TV. Am not looking forward to that.

This episode confirmed my belief that I will soon be disembarking the Glee train. If I make it to the end of the season I'll be surprised.

[freelantzer]

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

After all, this show doesn't work unless it's at McKinley and in that Glee club room and we need to start getting more emotionally invested in the other characters who will be staying. they need to start introducing some story lines for them that will be hooking us for the next season.

I'm not saying that the seniors shouldn't be getting lots of attention in terms of storylines, they're leaving, they should. Maybe i'm just sick of hearing Finn and Rachel simper at each other. i'm over their on-again-off-again, I'm-mad-at-you-but-now-I-can't-live-without-you relationship.


Ug. Am imagining Rachel singing "If I Don't Have You" to Finn and myself shutting off the TV. Am not looking forward to that.

This episode confirmed my belief that I will soon be disembarking the Glee train. If I make it to the end of the season I'll be surprised.

Completely agree about developing the newer characters and getting the audience invested in them. But isn't the finale coming up really soon? Like too soon for them to fix this??

And I say Amen to your comments about Rachel and Finn and their declarations of love. Each week I also think about abandoning this show, particularly this week. I'm giving it til the end of this season. That might be it for me.

[Lord Godric]

I've definitely lost interest in Glee. Especially since it has come back from its mid-season break. I still watch the episodes because I'm not the only one in my house who watches it, but they haven't been able to hold my attention. I can't put my finger on what it is, but Glee's lost it.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

Ug. Am imagining Rachel singing "If I Don't Have You" to Finn and myself shutting off the TV. Am not looking forward to that.

I don't know the details of the story, so there could be a Finchel love song, but I do know that that one isn't in the episode. So be glad for that, I guess.

[Goddess_Clio]

Originally Posted by Lord Godric

I've definitely lost interest in Glee. Especially since it has come back from its mid-season break. I still watch the episodes because I'm not the only one in my house who watches it, but they haven't been able to hold my attention. I can't put my finger on what it is, but Glee's lost it.

For me the thing they lost is the biting humor and the campiness. First and second season you tuned in to watch what racial/ethical/sexual-orientation insult Sue would hurl at someone and they were all hilarious. I think the show has lots its clarity of characters in some cases, too. Sue shouldn't be teaming up with Will. Will shouldn't be as easily accepting of her wanting to team up - he should be hugely suspicious of Sue's intentions. I feel like introducing Roz's character is the show's way of bringing in a "new Sue" because Sue has become so tame.

I also feel like the show is less about telling the stories of the characters through music and more about forcing a character's story to fit the most popular songs on the charts right now - come hell or high water we are going to do Somebody that I Used to Know! Even if I have to bend these characters like a pretzel to make it fit them, we are going to do Stronger! I think the producers are trying too hard to keep the show "current" and are losing focus of the fact that, yeah, okay, that song is popular but it doesn't fit the character, the story or the emotion of the moment.

I am also sick of the show doing tribute episodes as a way to keep it current. Okay, Michael Jackson died recently but that doesn't mean his music, or I should say his hits, are appropriate for these character as this time. Okay, I get it, Whitney just croaked but please stop taking these characters that I used to really like and forcing them into a storyline just so they can sing a particular song! Please, Glee! Stop!

I think Glee is one of those shows that would do better on a cable channel with a cable show's episode count. This show could go back to being amazing if they weren't forced by a network to crank out 20 episodes a season which, by definition means that 20-30% of the episodes will be awful and the money spent on producing them could have been better spent on fewer episodes that develop better storylines so we don't get these crummy throw-away episodes like The Spanish Teacher which don't serve a greater storyline and could be erased from the planet and not affect the show or any other episodes in any way.

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

I don't know the details of the story, so there could be a Finchel love song, but I do know that that one isn't in the episode. So be glad for that, I guess.

Well, that's something at least. I still shudder at the thought of what they'll be craming down our throats.

[decarus]

Glee has become pretty much unwatchable for me. I don't care about the characters at all.

[Spacecadet]

Originally Posted by decarus

Glee has become pretty much unwatchable for me. I don't care about the characters at all.

yes im starting to lose interest. Its almost like they want us to start hating the characters because they wont be around much longer. The plot has just gone completely out the window. Quinn has become the flavor of the week for nearly every guy on the show. Rachel has lost a bit of her obnoxious edge which while annoying at times is what makes her rachel. Arty and puck are hardly ever present. Mercedes has no story anymore. Sam is kinda floating out there in space with Tina and Mike. And they even somewhat broke kurt and blaine this week. Its like all the characters are losing their identity and its not fun to watch.

[BubblyShell22]

I'm still a loyal Gleek and will be until the end. Yes, the episodes have been hit and miss, but there have been some good ones as well. Last night's ep was actually pretty emotional and good. I liked Kurt and Burt's conversation and even the little story with Blaine and Kurt. It was just so heartfelt. I also laughed at Puck stealing shot glasses and giving them to the guys. The songs were actually pretty good, and I loved Kurt's rendition of "I Have Nothing." It was just so awesome.

I agree about Finchel. While I like the couple, I don't like the whole declaring their love thing all the time. It just gets annoying. Yes, you love each other. We get it.

[Goddess_Clio]

I'm pleased to announce I wasn't totally repulsed by last night's episode!

Kurt is about the only character I have any residual attachment to and I admit that I was kind of hoping that he and Blaine would break up - for real, not a Rachel and Finn break up that lasts two hours and then they're back together soppily declaring their love for one another again (I am lamenting the lack of an emoticon vomiting into a trash can right now, I'll just type :vomit: and you can picture it) :vomit: I'm also annoyed that they spent an entire and very emotional episode on Karofksy almost killing himself and then Kurt agreeing to be his friend and then we haven't seen hide nor hair of him since! These writers need to figure their $#!^ out and stop dropping the ball.

I was also pleased that the nearly dead wedding story line was resurrected for this episode as I really like Emma and her OCD - she's so cute and charming about it ("Is this about S-E-X?") but that storyline, while being excellent for Emma, reinforced my continued decline of any positive feelings toward Will. I'm really not liking him. I did enjoy Emma's couples counciling of Kurt and Blaine, though. Funny.

The Dreadlocks Dude and Quinn story was interesting but I do agree with Spacecadet that Quinn has become the flavor of the week for all the guys. Though, to be honest, from the moment on the Glee Project that they started talking about how they've always wanted to write a character who stuck to his guns (in terms of his religious beliefs) I knew whomever was cast would be paired with Quinn as a love interest.

The music in this episode wasn't all that terrible, either. I didn't like or understand how the opening number related to anything since it seemed to be about Mercedes pining for Sam but they never talked about it in the episode again, but I did like the arrangement with the three girls and Kurt singing it (though I didn't understand the round-robin of chaning lead singers). I also like that they gave Blaine a not-so-famous song as his stick-it-to-Kurt number (It's Not Right, But It's Okay). All the other songs I fast forwarded through. Well, I skipped forward through Blaine's song but listened to about half of it and thought it was okay; story appropriate but not the catchiest song.

Overall, I'd give this episode three out of five stars. It almost felt like Season One/Two Glee was coming back to us but I am still worried for the show.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

The first episode of Glee that I watched was "Audition," the season two premiere, and then "Britney/Brittany," and then I quickly went through season one on Blu-ray. So, off and on, I've been seeing and hearing people proclaiming that they're seriously considering not watching this show anymore, because it's just gone so far away from the amazing amazingness of the first season, or even the first thirteen. I'm sorry if I come off like a jerk in saying this, but it frustrates me, and makes me think, "So stop watching already and stop broadcasting it." On one hand, it's such a weird push-and-pull: Surely there's some sense of loyalty that keeps you watching the show, or else just a sense of hope that things will return to form. But not enough of a sense of loyalty or hope to stop you from constantly saying you're going to quit really, really soon - until you don't, and then say the same thing again the next week. Again, I don't mean to be a jerk, but I felt like I had to vent that.

On the other hand, I get it to some degree, because this is a frustrating show. Last season, I was also frustrated with the crazy high pedestal to which the first season (or first thirteen) were held because it's rarely a good idea to fix your image of a show based on its earliest episodes. Look at The Simpsons, Friends, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Dick Van **** Show, Mary Tyler Moore, the original Doctor Who, and most other great TV shows that had long runs: They grew and found themselves in their second or even third seasons, not their first. These days, a show is expected to emerge fully formed; the show should be the show from the pilot and remain that until the end. So even though I loved the first season too, and I thought the second was a significant step down, I was reluctant to say that it THAT great. Now, we've seen nearly three seasons of Glee, and we're well equipped to size up the show, we know what it is....and yeah, the first season's the best one. What the show is in season three is what the show was in season one, it's just not as good at it anymore.

Glee's frustrating because it's so inconsistent. When it's really on fire, we have an episode that services more characters than any show should rightly have to, with behavior that feels true (that's the key to the series as a whole: not realistic, but true), music that functions in the way songs in a musical should, serving the story and flowing from it, providing emotional insight or growth rather than songs for the sake of songs, a tone that wavers from melodramatic in that teen-soap way to snarky and self-aware, and a flavor that leaves you with a great rush without having to call it a guilty pleasure. But you can't count on all that, because the next week you could very well see a storyline that you had investment in glossed over irresponsibly in the first minute, or a character doing a total 180 from where they were the previous week, or a teacher who you presumed had some basic grasp on the subject he'd been teaching for years, or a relationship moving in the same tedious motions it has been for years, or a character behaving in the same insufferable diva way she has been for years and it's just not interesting anymore, or an embarrassing fumble of an attempted after-school special storyline (yay, drinking! ... wait, what?), or any number of writing issues that seem like they could have been easily avoided, particularly with a staff that now includes, what, 9 writers?

Me, I love this show, and I do feel a sense of loyalty to it - not the sense of loyalty that I feel toward The Simpsons, Futurama, Saturday Night Live, or whatever show Conan O'Brien happens to be on at the moment, but loyalty just the same. I think there are far more good episodes of Glee than bad ones, although too few great ones. I've never considered quitting midseason, but I am feeling like I'll say goodbye after this season ends. I think season three has been an improvement on season two, but still in "good, but oh, could be so much better" territory. What I'm concerned about is what happens after graduation.

There seem to be three possibilities:

-Scenario 1: We keep it at McKinley, and only at McKinley. I don't know/remember what Sugar and Sam are, juniors or seniors, but we'll definitely have Tina and Blaine around in this case, and Rory and Joe too if they work out. It's too soon to say with Harmony, Sebastian, and Wade/Unique, but they could also be brought back and transferred to McKinley. If the want Finn, Rachel, Kurt, and any other soon-to-graduate seniors around, then it'll require some Saved by the Bell: The New Class-style contrivances, but probably worse. Will, Emma, and Sue will surely stick around, and Will is obviously Mr. Belding, so the question is: Which one's Screech?

Goddess Clio, you said that this show only works in the McKinley High choir room, and I can't agree with that because we just don't know that yet. We haven't gone outside it yet, with the exception of the "New York" season two finale (which was bad). I do agree that we need to be more invested in the new characters who could potentially replace our current stars, but I don't have any problem with the level of focus they've put on Finn, Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes, and Santana for now. My problem is that Rory and Joe are so boring, and they should have made some notable positive impression by now. I like Sugar, but not enough to care about her. Sebastian was a decent villain for about an episode and a half, but I can't invest in him as a serious antagonist. Harmony has New Rachel Berry potential, I guess, maybe. Wade/Unique I hope will develop into an actual character, but who knows? And bringing Rachel, Finn, Kurt, or anyone else back to Lima would require such heavy lifting and the wrong kind of cartoonishness, Even though I get the point that Glee is more about the glee club than anyone within it, I can't get excited about staying there and only there for season four and beyond. Of course, they could develop new characters for the fourth season that are as engaging as Rachel, Kurt, etc. I'm only going by what we've seen so far.

-Scenario 2: We follow Finn, Rachel, and Kurt (and possibly Mercedes, given Kurt's, "Have you considered NYU?" hint in the last episode) to New York, and stay in New York. Rachel and Kurt's stage performances would be the excuses for them to break into song, while Finn...would be having a mental breakdown in which he randomly sings and hears everyone around him singing and only singing, like in that Scrubs episode? I love Finn, Rachel, and Kurt (not all the time, but still), but I don't need this show.

-Scenario 3: Some bizarre hybrid, with half the show taking place at McKinley High with Will, Emma, Sue, some old students and new students, and half the show taking place in New York, following Finn, Rachel, and Kurt (and again, maybe Mercedes), Lea Michel has mentioned Ryan Murphy having some "revolutionary" idea for the fourth season, and I can't recall hearing any show revamp itself in this half-and-half way before, so I'm not counting it out. The thing is...It sounds like an awful idea. It sounds like a bad "having your cake and eating it too" idea, one that would make for a very schizophrenic show. Glee is too uneven and too prone to biting off more than it can chew as it is.

I don't know what other options there could be, but regardless, there will be a fourth season. I'm okay with not following that season. When I started watching, I was worried that this show had an expiration date, because surely it did, surely every high school show does. It didn't ease my worry that Glee is such a specific thing, in its tone, in what it does week in and week out. That specificity is what made it so fresh, and I think that freshness has, as often happens, done it a lot of damage; I'm sure there are a lot of people who, whether they're aware of it or not, got sick of Glee after season one more than they really think it's gone bad. My point is that the inconsistency of seasons two and three, but, more than that, my realization that the options for the future are weak, has made me think that it's not so bad that this show has an expiration date. We're really close to it too, and I'm sad, but I'm sad more like the way I'm sad when a show I've loved is going away, and not as much the way I'm sad when I'm giving up on a show (*coughSmallvillecough*). I really hope that this season ends with enough closure; the first two did, so I'm not expecting a cliffhanger.

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

Really?? What did Chris Colfer have to talk about? I mean, I love the guy, he plays my favorite character, but Glee is like the only thing he's done...

Well, the focus of the episode was Glee. Lea talked about Les Miserables and Spring Awakening a little bit, Cory talked about an episode of Kyle XY a little bit, Ryan talked about Popular and Nip/Tuck a little bit, but this was all very preliminary. It was about Glee. Inside the Actors Studio has done this before; they had episodes with the main casts of The Simpsons and Will & Grace too.

Originally Posted by freelantzer

I was glad to see Jesse for the few seconds he was on, but if you're going to have Jonathan Groff on your show, for Heaven's sake, let the man sing!!! Please! His voice!

Oh, you know he'll have at least one song in an episode coming up. Remember, they may have done ultimately nothing with him last season, but at least he and Rachel did that killer version of "Rolling in the Deep."

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

Kurt is about the only character I have any residual attachment to and I admit that I was kind of hoping that he and Blaine would break up - for real, not a Rachel and Finn break up that lasts two hours and then they're back together soppily declaring their love for one another again

Why were you hoping they'd break up? Because you're that sick of couples fighting and then reuniting in somewhat implausible ways? I mean, if that's it, I'd say that's not something exclusive to Glee. Neither is your example of the killer scen with Kurt and Karofsky seemingly starting a new friendship, which we haven't seen in the three episodes since. First, there's still time, but second, if we don't, then that's not too huge a deal to me, and it's not that outrageous for something big and dramatic to happen in an episode that is ultimately only important for that episode. The last decade plus has been amazing for serialized television, novelistic television, but Glee isn't that. I'm making excuses for sure, but we just have different priorities. I do get your wanting more from the Kurt/Karofsky relationship. I don't get wanting a Klaine breakup, but I want them to be together, or rather I don't want to see them break up (even though they're probably kidding themselves thinking they can do the long-distance, Skype on weekdays, visits on weekends deal).

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

All the other songs I fast forwarded through. Well, I skipped forward through Blaine's song but listened to about half of it and thought it was okay; story appropriate but not the catchiest song.

Do you just hate Whitney Houston's music or...? It can't be that you didn't like the performances, if you skipped most of them. Is it that you can't stand musical performances on Glee? Because if that's the case, I can't fathom watching the show.

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

I'm still a loyal Gleek and will be until the end. Yes, the episodes have been hit and miss, but there have been some good ones as well. Last night's ep was actually pretty emotional and good. I liked Kurt and Burt's conversation and even the little story with Blaine and Kurt. It was just so heartfelt. I also laughed at Puck stealing shot glasses and giving them to the guys. The songs were actually pretty good, and I loved Kurt's rendition of "I Have Nothing." It was just so awesome.

Wow, positivity!

I'm gonna bust out the 'G' word: I thought this was a great episode. I thought it fired on, if not all cylinders, then most of them. The songs weren't all great, but they were all good, and we had every kind of Glee song: the "just for fun" number ("I Wanna Dance with Somebody"), the rousing group number ("My Love Is Your Love"), the number to establish a new relationship ("Saving All My Love For You"), the number to illustrate an emotional high point in a storyline ("It's Not Right, But It's OK," "I Have Nothing"). Most importantly, we got three songs with Santana.

By the way, why is it that this show can do great a cappella, just not with The Warblers? Everyone calls The Warblers a cappella, and they're supposed to be, but a cappella isn't supposed to have as much drum machine action and autotuning as most Warblers songs do. And yet Glee isn't afraid to do a cappella; this episode opened with a great a cappella version of "How Will I Know," and I mentioned "Rolling in the Deep" before. I find it odd.

As I said, I do not want to Klaine to break up (cannot believe I just said "Klaine" - what have I become?), so I was very anxious throughout this episode. From the moment we met Sebastian, I hated him, because he was such an obvious device to do damage to Kurt & Blaine. I kept waiting for the storyline where Kurt thought Blaine was cheating on him with Sebastian, but it never came, so I wondered what the point of Sebastian's character was, if there was one. Now it would seem that he was there to be his Chandler, someone that Kurt could refer to when Blaine got upset that Kurt was texting someone else. I'd like to think that that was planned, but that may be giving Glee too much credit. I thought the execution of all of this was very nicely done. As always, the scene with Kurt & Burt was just emotional enough; I mean, they're always a little Emmy clip-ish, but Chris Colfer and Mike O'Malley are consistently the strongest pair on this show in their scenes together.

I thought it was a little odd that Will was trying to move the wedding up because he was afraid the glee kids wouldn't come otherwise (you need to detach there, Mr. Schue - a lot), but at least he wasn't being a complete creep or jerk or terrible teacher. I did laugh at the scene with Mr. Lavender (LaVENder ), especially when Will said that he will be rapping at the reception.

The Quinn/Joe storyline isn't going anywhere that interests me, but other than that, I was really happy with this episode.

[Goddess_Clio]

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

The first episode of Glee that I watched was "Audition," the season two premiere, and then "Britney/Brittany," and then I quickly went through season one on Blu-ray. So, off and on, I've been seeing and hearing people proclaiming that they're seriously considering not watching this show anymore, because it's just gone so far away from the amazing amazingness of the first season, or even the first thirteen. I'm sorry if I come off like a jerk in saying this, but it frustrates me, and makes me think, "So stop watching already and stop broadcasting it." On one hand, it's such a weird push-and-pull: Surely there's some sense of loyalty that keeps you watching the show, or else just a sense of hope that things will return to form. But not enough of a sense of loyalty or hope to stop you from constantly saying you're going to quit really, really soon - until you don't, and then say the same thing again the next week. Again, I don't mean to be a jerk, but I felt like I had to vent that.

I'll be the first to offer a sincere apology for complaining about the show but my complaints are coming from a place of "You used to be so good, what happened?" I do feel a certain amount of loyalty to the characters, more than the show, and honestly if this week's episode hadn't been Kurt-centric I might have left the show this week but these damnedable writers made this week's show more or less about the two characters I care anything for anymore (Kurt and Emma).

On the other hand, I get it to some degree, because this is a frustrating show. Last season, I was also frustrated with the crazy high pedestal to which the first season (or first thirteen) were held because it's rarely a good idea to fix your image of a show based on its earliest episodes. Look at The Simpsons, Friends, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Dick Van **** Show, Mary Tyler Moore, the original Doctor Who, and most other great TV shows that had long runs: They grew and found themselves in their second or even third seasons, not their first. These days, a show is expected to emerge fully formed; the show should be the show from the pilot and remain that until the end.

I agree that this is absolutely the case in many of the most popular shows of the past. The thing with Glee is that it had be come out of the gates fully formed because people today have the attention spans of gnats. That's the way TV is now: if it's not a hit from the first episode they cancel it and never let it settle in to its tone and find itself as shows of the past were able to do. Honestly, I can only think of two shows that were more or less overnight successes from their first episodes: ER and Survivor. Both were groundbreaking, both were shocking, both were completely new. Glee was this generations' ER to me - a show that was an instant success and had to balance the stories of a very big cast but ER handled it better than Glee has (ER is masterful in weaving mutliple storylines through a single episode and then keeping the ball rolling on multi-episode storylines that Glee doesn't do well at all). Maybe it's the difference between TV drama and TV dramedy, maybe its the writers, I don't know.

Glee's frustrating because it's so inconsistent. When it's really on fire, we have an episode that services more characters than any show should rightly have to, with behavior that feels true (that's the key to the series as a whole: not realistic, but true), music that functions in the way songs in a musical should, serving the story and flowing from it, providing emotional insight or growth rather than songs for the sake of songs, a tone that wavers from melodramatic in that teen-soap way to snarky and self-aware, and a flavor that leaves you with a great rush without having to call it a guilty pleasure.

Glee's inconsistency is what's most frustrating to me. The first season to me was a pretty consistent 4/5 with occassional 5/5 episodes and I honestly can't remember an episode I thought was a stinker. Season two for me was a fairly consistent 3.5/5, still good but not as good as season one, some 5/5 episodes, some stinkers. Season three for me is a fairly consistent 2.5/5 meaning either the show is see-sawing between really good episodes and really bad ones so you never know what you're going to get or that the consitent quality of each episode has dropped low enough that it's no longer worth it to me to slog through the mediocre ones hoping for a great one every three or four weeks. Since we've come back from the winter finale we haven't had a really excellent episode and coupled with the fact that we were left with a huge cliff hanger that was glossed over in just about every way and the fact that we hadn't seen a new episode for about 8 weeks leaves me very worried that Glee is, as you say, fast approaching its expiration date.

Goddess Clio, you said that this show only works in the McKinley High choir room, and I can't agree with that because we just don't know that yet. We haven't gone outside it yet, with the exception of the "New York" season two finale (which was bad). I do agree that we need to be more invested in the new characters who could potentially replace our current stars, but I don't have any problem with the level of focus they've put on Finn, Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes, and Santana for now. My problem is that Rory and Joe are so boring, and they should have made some notable positive impression by now. I like Sugar, but not enough to care about her. Sebastian was a decent villain for about an episode and a half, but I can't invest in him as a serious antagonist. Harmony has New Rachel Berry potential, I guess, maybe. Wade/Unique I hope will develop into an actual character, but who knows? And bringing Rachel, Finn, Kurt, or anyone else back to Lima would require such heavy lifting and the wrong kind of cartoonishness, Even though I get the point that Glee is more about the glee club than anyone within it, I can't get excited about staying there and only there for season four and beyond. Of course, they could develop new characters for the fourth season that are as engaging as Rachel, Kurt, etc. I'm only going by what we've seen so far.

What I mean by "the show only works in the choir room" isn't that the only good moments from the show happen in the choir room, there are tons that didn't - Rachel's entire storyline with Jesse happened out of school, a lot of the poignent moments happen out of school, some of the great songs happen outside of the classroom and outside of school, etc. - it's that show, IMO, only works when the students are stuck in Lima, Ohio, unable to persue their dreams on Broadway or in L.A. or New York. The show is kind of about all these really talented people who are stuck in the most ho-hum place and just want to break away to pursue their dreams of performing. With the exception of Kurt and... is it Mike? all the other seniors want nothing more or less than to leave Lima as fast as possible because they feel like it's a dead end town and it has been portrayed as the place where dreams come to die (Ms. Corcoran returned after trying to pursue her dreams, April Rhodes returned after failing at her dreams, Brian Ryan returned after failing at his dreams, etc.)

Well, the focus of the episode was Glee. Lea talked about Les Miserables and Spring Awakening a little bit, Cory talked about an episode of Kyle XY a little bit, Ryan talked about Popular and Nip/Tuck a little bit, but this was all very preliminary. It was about Glee. Inside the Actors Studio has done this before; they had episodes with the main casts of The Simpsons and Will & Grace too.

So was it the cast of Glee on IAS? Lea and Chris and Cory and Ryan et al there all at once?

Why were you hoping they'd break up? Because you're that sick of couples fighting and then reuniting in somewhat implausible ways? I mean, if that's it, I'd say that's not something exclusive to Glee. Neither is your example of the killer scen with Kurt and Karofsky seemingly starting a new friendship, which we haven't seen in the three episodes since. First, there's still time, but second, if we don't, then that's not too huge a deal to me, and it's not that outrageous for something big and dramatic to happen in an episode that is ultimately only important for that episode. The last decade plus has been amazing for serialized television, novelistic television, but Glee isn't that. I'm making excuses for sure, but we just have different priorities. I do get your wanting more from the Kurt/Karofsky relationship. I don't get wanting a Klaine breakup, but I want them to be together, or rather I don't want to see them break up (even though they're probably kidding themselves thinking they can do the long-distance, Skype on weekdays, visits on weekends deal).

I guess I find it unrealistic (ha! using that word while talking about Glee... ) that so many perfect, long-lasting relationships have come out of Glee and how they're all promising to make it work once they leave Lima. IMO, Kurt and Blaine would be doomed in real life but since this is TV and since this is Glee it'll all work out because we want Kurt to come home and visit Blaine. I guess I also want Kurt to fall for a guy that's completely not his "type" - I always thought he and Karofsky would get together because Karofsky is the antithesis of Kurt but they would fall in love because they accept and appreciate each other... I don't know... As Blaine said in this episode, can't we talk about something other than NYAD or New York?

Do you just hate Whitney Houston's music or...? It can't be that you didn't like the performances, if you skipped most of them. Is it that you can't stand musical performances on Glee? Because if that's the case, I can't fathom watching the show.

No, I don't hate Whitney Huston, I actually really like her. My problem is that I was afraid, as Glee has done, that the entire show would comprise of only her massive hits, the ones that are currently playing on the radio and that I'm already sick of hearing there so I don't want to watch a show where people sing okay covers of them.

Glee's performances used to be my favorite part of the show but lately... I can't put my finger on what has changed. Maybe it's that they're pandering to the charts too much and doing songs that are really popular (Adele, Stronger by Kelly Clarkson, Somebody that I Used to Know) and these all happen to be songs that I liked when they first came out but now I can't stand because they are getting so much air time on the radio.

My favorite Glee moments are when they resurrect songs that I haven't heard in a long long time (the Rumors episode, U Can't Touch This, Hello, Lady is a Tramp, Dream On, etc.) not when they rehash a song on the radio right now.

especially when Will said that he will be rapping at the reception.

See? This is what I like about Glee! Its self-referential self-awareness while at the same time being touching but also completely irreverent. Bring that Glee back and I'd watch 10 seasons of it. I mean, c'mon, when was the last time we had a rant from Sue? "Will, I may buy a small diaper for your chin because it looks like a baby's ***." "Do with your depressing little group of kids what I did with my wealthy, elderly mother. Euthanize it." "I don't trust a man with curly hair. I can't help picturing small birds laying sulphorous eggs in there and I find it disgusting." Sue is so tame now! They're having to bring in Roz to replace her because she's lost her edge. And what happened to Sue's Corner??

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

I'll be the first to offer a sincere apology for complaining about the show but my complaints are coming from a place of "You used to be so good, what happened?" I do feel a certain amount of loyalty to the characters, more than the show, and honestly if this week's episode hadn't been Kurt-centric I might have left the show this week but these damnedable writers made this week's show more or less about the two characters I care anything for anymore (Kurt and Emma).

I didn't mean to call you out, I wasn't speaking about you, but more about the whole thing of people saying that, you know? This is very similar to what I went through with Smallville (a show I did stop watching midseason, during season seven), although I like Glee now a lot more than I liked Smallville even a year before I stopped watching that. It's the frustration of unreached potential; to me, the difference is, Smallville never truly did reach its potential where Glee has/does, but too often doesn't, and we know how much better it can be. It's "I love you, why don't you love me back?" It's "I'm not angry, I'm disappointed." But also sometimes angry.

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

I agree that this is absolutely the case in many of the most popular shows of the past. The thing with Glee is that it had be come out of the gates fully formed because people today have the attention spans of gnats. That's the way TV is now: if it's not a hit from the first episode they cancel it and never let it settle in to its tone and find itself as shows of the past were able to do. Honestly, I can only think of two shows that were more or less overnight successes from their first episodes: ER and Survivor. Both were groundbreaking, both were shocking, both were completely new. Glee was this generations' ER to me - a show that was an instant success and had to balance the stories of a very big cast but ER handled it better than Glee has (ER is masterful in weaving mutliple storylines through a single episode and then keeping the ball rolling on multi-episode storylines that Glee doesn't do well at all). Maybe it's the difference between TV drama and TV dramedy, maybe its the writers, I don't know.

Sure, that is the way it is now, and that's unfair. I kept thinking back to those classic shows as examples of why I felt it was too soon to say that Glee's first season was so great, but now that we know that the first season was the show, I can now agree that it's probably as good as the show will ever be.

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

So was it the cast of Glee on IAS? Lea and Chris and Cory and Ryan et al there all at once?

It was Ryan Murphy, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Matthew Morrison, and Jane Lynch, so just the core people.

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

I guess I find it unrealistic (ha! using that word while talking about Glee... ) that so many perfect, long-lasting relationships have come out of Glee and how they're all promising to make it work once they leave Lima. IMO, Kurt and Blaine would be doomed in real life but since this is TV and since this is Glee it'll all work out because we want Kurt to come home and visit Blaine. I guess I also want Kurt to fall for a guy that's completely not his "type" - I always thought he and Karofsky would get together because Karofsky is the antithesis of Kurt but they would fall in love because they accept and appreciate each other... I don't know... As Blaine said in this episode, can't we talk about something other than NYAD or New York?

Well, we have still had far more couples on this show break up than stay together. Whatever the fourth season is, Kurt and Blaine will both be in it, and you know that they'll break up at some point. That point's not now (to my relief), but it will happen at some point. Finn and Rachel will probably break up at some point too, but maybe not, maybe they'll be to this show what Ross & Rachel were to Friends: the annoyingly on-off couple that you either love or hate but ultimately end up together. It is definitely unrealistic that Kurt & Blaine could make it work right now and in the next year or two, but it's the kind of unrealistic that I like. I don't want to see this portrayed truly realistically the same way I don't want to see this sh ow portray college life truly realistically: I don't want to see Finn struggling to pay the rent, I don't want to see Rachel working miserable hours as a waitress (although depending on the restaurant, that could provide an excuse for musical numbers), I don't want to see Kurt's awful commute to NYADA from the apartment he has to share with five other guys, on and on. Glee should stick to being emotionally true, but practically TV-silly. Now, getting back to Klaine, ther could be a way to break them up and still be emotionally true but not truly realistic, but I don't think this is the right time.

If none of that made sense, just know that it made perfect sense in my head.

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

See? This is what I like about Glee! Its self-referential self-awareness while at the same time being touching but also completely irreverent. Bring that Glee back and I'd watch 10 seasons of it. I mean, c'mon, when was the last time we had a rant from Sue? "Will, I may buy a small diaper for your chin because it looks like a baby's ***." "Do with your depressing little group of kids what I did with my wealthy, elderly mother. Euthanize it." "I don't trust a man with curly hair. I can't help picturing small birds laying sulphorous eggs in there and I find it disgusting." Sue is so tame now! They're having to bring in Roz to replace her because she's lost her edge. And what happened to Sue's Corner??

That self-aware show, and that show with the biting, dark edge, it's not gone. We certainly don't see the biting, dark edge as much anymore (I too miss "Sue's Corner"), but the show hasn't gone all soft. I don't know, I don't really disagree with you, because I do miss the "Oh wow, they actually just said that" moments that we don't get as much of, but they do come sometimes, and when they do, they're great.


Aren't we all glad that the first season didn't end with a big cliffhanger, but rather with the kind of closure that can allow us to watch and treasure it on its own?