I'm not really sure what to say about this week's Glee. Granted I watched it while lying in bed in a cold-induced haze of tissues and Malteasers. A haze I am still in so, in the interests of full disclosure, this might not make the most sense (for a case in point see the next sentence).
What happened this week, let me think. Stuff, did stuff happen? I think stuff happened, yeah, no it did, well done stuff- good job on the happening.
Santana and all that lady kissing stuff
Let's start with the whole Santana thing which seemed to read, for most of part, an excersize in forcing people of the closet. Yes, she shouldn't be ashamed or, in fact, anything other than completely ok with her sexual preference but, if she isn't ready to come out just yet, then let's not force her- yeah. I'm looking at you Finn, you foetus face. I thought that the whole thing with her Grandmother would have been 8 times more effective if we had ever seen her and her grandmother interact before or at least heard Santana talk about how important her grandmother was in her life. The fact that this was not the case seemed odd, especially as this is a story line that's been playing out since at least midway through season 2; could they not have thought ahead and laid some ground work. No, sorry, as I wrote that I realise I seem to have forgotten that this is Glee I'm talking about; the show that only seems to think about a week ahead plot-wise. Here's a novel idea, Ryan Murphy and co, before you start writing a season sit down and plot out what characters are going to do and what the endgame is for those aims. Then, set up steps which will enable getting the various characters to those endpoints in a gradual and sensible way, developing the story-lines bit by bit over multiple episodes. You know- be bloody professional about it, you're writing a television show not creating a work of abstract art by throwing character decisions at a felt board to see what sticks.
All that said, the grandmother scene was pretty well done and was a lot better than the whole I Kissed A Girl incident. If I was told I had to pick a song to be sung by a newly outed Lesbian and her straight female friends as an act of defiance against the world, something that was meant to suggest that being gay not only isn't a choice but even if it was would be a totally valid and legitimate one, do you know what would be quite literally at the bottom of the list? I Kissed A Girl. Surely anyone who has given the lyrics even a moments thought knows that that song provides nothing if not a spectacularly reductive depiction of lesbianism. It says that it's a thing straight women do when drunk and it is something, at least in part, designed for the titillation of straight males. This last point was only added to by the reactions of the male characters, especially Finn and Rory, who spent the whole number looking like the cats who got the cream with their own private peep show. Not the point Glee, not the point even a little. I know they chose this song because it's popular and they've had success with Katy Perry before, but that doesn't mean its ok to pick a song that totally and completely undermines and belittles the point you're trying to make.
Kurt, the election and Rachel.
This story line involved my favourite exchange of the week
Finn- “What were you thinking Rachel?”
Rachel- “I wasn't thinking”
Me- “You never think Rachel, its kind of your thing. ”
(Not a completely accurate transcription of the exchange- a third character, coincidentally called Me, was added)
Leading on from this there was a joke (I think it was a joke) this week, in which Rachel, while talking about why she was unhappy that Kurt might not win, said that the worst bit about it was that it might mean she wouldn't have her “best gay” to help her in New York. And by “help”, she meant do emergency make overs and make soufflés. For a show all up on the GLAAD lists, it's really doing a shoddy job this week on portraying homosexuality as anything other than an outdated cliche. The reason I said I was unsure if it was a joke was because it seemed so obviously self-involved and ridiculous that I couldn't believe that it wasn't a hilarious meta joke about how the character was perceived by many amongst the sentient audience. But given that Rachel's a character that up to this point has displayed as much humour and self awareness as a humourless un-selfaware thing (Good metaphor, Pebbles dear, not shit at at all) it's probably not a joke. So yeah, maybe it was just Rachel being the little shit she always is.
Right on to Kurt; I felt bad for him, he has to deal with having the terrible thing that is Rachel as a friend. But also he's freaking out about not being good enough/being able to jump through the arbitrary hoops to do things you want and that is something I can totally get behind. This was an odd moment for me because I know I'm meant to emotionally commit and emphasise with the struggles the Glee kids go through but I never do, so it's always fun when the show fills the role its meant to. I quite enjoyed the song he sang with Blaine, especially as it got further in. It seemed odd that Santana didn't like it but was bought to tears by Finn's acapella Girls Just Want to Have Fun. That was better to listen to than it sounded on paper, but it sounded super terrible on paper so that's not saying much. Also what does that song have to do with anything?
Quinn, Puck, Shelby.
I kind of want to make it a thing that I don't talk about this whole kerfuffle although I enjoyed Puck pointing out just how 'damaged' Quinn is; something that the show has always done a less than perfect job at pointing out/addressing. Remember when we talked about how they'd never be able to undo her behaviour of late but I looked forward to watching them try; well tonight I think they tried. It was a lot less fun than I had anticipated but, luckily, it was just as unsatisfactory as I had envisioned so it wasn't a total disappointment. Basically we heard her say “Trying to take Beth back was a bit overkill” or something similar, which was then added to by “So lets make another replacement baby”. Er no, how about some counselling or something similar.
Beiste, Sue and Glee kicking itself in the face.
I love Beiste but I can't help feel sorry for her as a character. She has story lines that at times are meant to suggest that Glee is being all supportive about difference and acceptance and how difficult it is to not fit the typical idea of what people are meant to be and look like. When they're not trying to shove that obvious message down our throats they're busy making her out to be a figure of amusement. We, the audience, are meant to get an unpleasant guilty pleasure out of laughing at how much she eats and the look on Will and Emma's face when Beiste talks about doing weights, but they think she's talking about sex. “Ewwww gross, there is nothing worse than unconventionally attractive people having sex” is what Glee is telling us; now there's a great message.
Am I the only one who is pissed Burt won the congress election? Not because I don't want success for him, I do, I love that man. It's more that I refuse, and I mean straight up REFUSE, to believe that a “write-in” independent candidate with a brain-dead, useless Spanish teacher/Glee coach with no political experience as a campaign manager could have won. If it was a Best Mechanic In The Greater Lima Area or a Most Awesome Television Dad Competition then I totally believe Burt could win, provided that Will wasn't involved because, as we've covered, that man ruins everything. Congress race? No. He couldn't. Don't be stupid.
There are two issues I want to present to end with (but don't have the energy to talk about properly):
- This show often has big emotional/singy moments about how much of a supportive family these kids are to each other. This is all well and fine, but I'd like to see them spend a lot more time being nice to each other the rest of the time. They just aren't that nice to each other if the scene isn't specifically about how much of a family they are.
- I like how Rory won a 7 episode guest arc and we're now 4 episodes in and outside his introductory episode he's had all of what one line? Awkward much? Although I guess it could be worse, he could be Tina. Remember how Tina is a regular whose been in it since the beginning? What she's had to do this season? Lets think, one sex based monologue, and one throwaway racist comment. Ideal. This again shows a lack of planning by the writers. Also, she apparently drew “Junior” in the raffle the writers held on their “How old are all our character's day!” so surely they should be pumping up the ones that are going to have to hang around next year, so we don't have a situation where all the ones anyone can even pretend to care about fuck off. I realise they are probably going to conceive some ridiculous how-can-we-make-them-all-stay-because-we've-realised-the-error-of-our-terrible-character-development plot points a la Gossip Girl, but that's going to suck and they shouldn't try. They totally will though, damn it.
My final point is this: (I need say nothing more, it needs no introduction or explanation of why it is here. Which is good because words fail me...)
Ok here's another just for kicks, I think Blaine is praying his boyfriend never EVER wears anything that horrible ever again. EVER.
and a third so you can all see the back:
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