Originally the plan was to have a three-way. Three, separate, one paragraph in length reviews of last night's episode of Glee, written by me, the increasingly bitter Marja, and California Kara. That was the plan. Sadly, a heavy work-load forced me to miss last night's episode so, outside of making a quick banner for Kara's debut, I am unable to participate. California Kara and Bitter Marja more than picked up the slack as they callously abused the one paragraph rule. Anyway, without further ado, I give you:
Two For Glee
Overall, this episode was filler, but it was sweet filler, with charming moments. "So freakin' charming," as Santana said.
Before I get into any of the banalities around tonight's ep of "Glee" I have to back up because of the breaking news that was all over the news yesterday. No, not those Chilean miners who are the hottest hole huggers since little Jessica McClure fell down a well in Texas. I'm talking about the shocking news that Eric Stolz was the original Marty McFly in "Back to the Future." And not just cast in the role, but had completed 5 weeks of principal photography.
What the hell does this have to do with Glee? I'll tell you: Roy L. 'Rocky' Dennis himself directed tonight's ep. I did a double-take when I saw the "Directed by" card flash up on the screen. (He was no Joss Whedon, but who is?) Now, I could be sappy and say that with Mask at the helm we peeled back the character's horrible charicatures of themselves that we've stood witness to over the past two weeks. And that would be true. But really, tonight's ep was about lady lips (said twice), boobs, and characters. And lady lip characters with boobs who scissor.
"Duets" was really about the moments, which gave us a lot of quality vignettes between pairs of WMHS students. There were a number of favorites to call out.
First, Quinn and BlondeBeiber singing Jason Mraz' treacly "Lucky," during which I melted a little. And Diana Agron getting a semi-solo finally? Bonus. Her voice was perfectly matched for this song. Later, during her non-date at the happenin' hip spot Breadsticks, you could tell it physically hurt Quinn to say, "Gentleman always pick up the check on the first date."
Kurt and Rachel, reminiscent of Jack and Karen from the final piano duet scene of "Will & Grace," during their duet. Seeing them sing a song they both love and obviously enjoyed performing was pure joy. As much as Kurt and Rachel have had their differences, this sweet performance allowed their mutual adoration for one another to shine through. Rest of New Directions take note: THAT'S a performance. Kurt had earlier channeled Jack when, in the rehearsal room, he snapped around toward the piano and flicked his foot up. Jack McFarland, your heir apparent has arrived.
Tina and Other Asian (aka Mike Chang) with a cute take on duets. That's the most lines Other Asian has ever had. The bonus material included a showcase for his mad dance skillz, which you should have already seen by watching The LXD, his off-Glee dance troupe. Funny aside: the Asian Mom dimsum convo.
Mercedes and Satan...er, I mean Santana. Best part of their duet: Santana doing the Snoopy dance. Second best part: Mercedes voting for "Mercedes and Satan."
Rachel and Finn, acting as Glee Club Mom and Pop in this ep. It was fun watching theme throw the competition so Sam would stay in the club. And, of course, Finn calling Rachel out for really just doing it so they could get to Nationals.
Odd that coming off Jane Lynch's stellar Saturday Night Live hosting gig, we saw none of her tonight. (Kenan Thompson did a spot-on Mercedes.) And was I the only one who thought they made way too big a deal about Puck not being there? More importantly, what does it say about me that I really didn't miss either one of them. But I love Sue Sylvester. What's wrong with me? Maybe I should go to Asian Couples Therapy.
--Thanks CK. Now we give you the increasingly bitter...
After last week’s intolerant “God is Great” Glee episode, I was all prepared to pull a classic bitter Marja and blast last night’s duet themed dud, but somehow it just felt wrong. Sorta like booing the band on the Titanic. The thing is, Glee didn’t have a shot in hell last night. No Puck? No Sue? No Coach Bieste? For a show that has primarily relied on one-liners lately (and we all know how well that works, just ask Matt LeBlanc), losing Sue for an entire 40 minutes was like watching How I met Your Mother without Neil Patrick Harris. Seriously, what’s the point? Although they did manage to shove through a couple of zingers – Santana’s awkward girl on girl make-out session with Britney was explained, “I’m like a lizard. I need something warm underneath me to digest my food” – the rest of the episode faltered, stumbled, and eventually fell as flat as Finn’s abominable rendition of “Losing My Religion” last week. There was a glimmer of hope in Santana and Mercedes’ brilliant “River Deep, Mountain High” (I think I actually caught myself singing aloud mid shuffle-ball-change), but mostly Glee has suffered from too many themed shows that turn it into amateur night karaoke at Wong’s Dragon Room on University. Glee needs to return to its soap roots if it’s ever going to have a chance at keeping it’s adult audience. Last season we had fake pregnancies, baby daddy drama, love triangles, sabotage, divorce, OCD disorders, and forbidden workplace romance. This season we have Finn and Rachel’s relationship (which is about as interesting as an Ashton Kutcher tweet) and a whole lot of time devoted to showing us just how gay Kurt really is. While I applaud the writer’s efforts at pumping up the Santana and Britney banter (which is as inappropriate as a Courtney Love tweet), Glee needs a storyline beefier than a bunch of horny teens bed hopping under the tutelage of a creepy jew-fro’d choral director. Give Sue her own spin-off and put the nail in this glittery pink coffin.
Good Day
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