Glee

Sophomore year is here. New Directions is back for another year of singing, dancing, drama, cheers, tears, and pure glee. I liked the idea of using a lot of current music (it's not like today's generation recognized "Jessie's Girl" last year). Using "Empire State of Mind", "Billionaire", and "Telephone" all in the same episode was a great idea. I loved al 3!



Shannon Beiste,Sunshine, and the Bieber-looking blondie round out the cast of all new characters. I thought there was a bit too much of them and not enough of the old gang. This episode was full of laughs though. Sue Sylvester was great as usual, the Finn as a cheerleader scene was hilarious, and Brittany is comic gold.



This season seems like it'll be good old fun. Looks promising.

If this episode had been the first episode ever of Glee then it would be fantastic. But instead of season one, episode one, this is SEASON TWO, episode one. That means that a lot of history has occurred, that characters have hopefully, realistically, learned and they have suffered and bonded and sacrificed and developed.



But instead, it's very much like the writers refuse to allow the characters to develop, to change to grow, and as a consequence the same old story is repeated anew.



How can the writers expect us to believe that Rachel would do what she did, after what she has been through with the Glee Club for a whole year? Sure she is selfish and self-involved, but when it came down to it, she more than once stepped back for the good of the team. How can Will behave in a way towards another teacher, that is the complete opposite of his personality, the exact opposite of what he has been teaching these kids for a year? It's as if neither he or Rachel have learned anything over the past year.



Even the fight between Santana and Quinn was unbelievable.



Or Finn, as we know, isn't the brightest spark, but to actually believe that Artie and his wheelchair would make a great addition to the football team? Finn never came across as that stupid ... but then it seems like the writers needed some excuse to get him fired from the football team. A pity they couldn't come up with something more believable.



I don't blame Tina for leaving Artie, given the flashback we saw about how he treated her. So again in Artie, we have another character who has learned nothing from his experiences with the Glee Club?



If the writers are going to change the character's personalities and have them behave uncharacteristic to the way they have behaved til now, they may as well fire all the actors and bring out an all new cast ,'cos for the most part these weren't the people and the personalities we grew to love over season one.



Oh, before I forget, again, like she did on a number of occasions in season one, we have Sue manhandling students in her anger. As I said before, in the real world, this is an immediate fireable offence for any teacher. The parent groups would have her head, and the school board would have to fire her under threat of being sued by the parents of the students, the parents who "give" their child to the school with the expectation that the school would keep them safe, would take care of them.



Come on writers let the characters learn and grow and develop, otherwise this show is going to stagnate pretty quickly. Sure have them make mistakes, they are human after all, but don't have them act contrary to their established personalities.

Okay, I'll admit that I'm a Gleek, and I'll excuse a lot of the 'timetable' issues that are so plentiful in an average Glee episode. In fact, I'll forgive a lot of the character development issues as well, simply because I love the music in the show, and the fact that the after the first 5 or 6 episodes, I felt the show started to hit its stride last season, making the characters somewhat believable rather than caricatures representative of most high school cliques.



That being said, the season 2 premiere was HORRIBLE. The show digressed back to the choppy, incoherent, overly ridiculous effort that riddled the show's premiere episode last September. From the opening segment, revealing certain tidbits of information regarding the member of New Directions, it was apparent that this show was reaching for something, but had no idea what that was. Not to mention the fact that some of the information shared was completely inappropriate. From Santana's breast implants to Puck's vasectomy, these "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" moments were incredulous and offensive for a show that presents the characters as typical American teenagers. While the writers managed to divert attention away from Puck's special surgery, the innuendo (sometimes subtle and sometimes blatant) regarding Santana's enhancement should have never made it to air.



So, all surgical enhancements aside, the writers did no favors for any of the characters in the Season Premiere. Let's take a look at some of the low-lights…



- Rachel sending her apparent new rival Sunshine to a crack house. Like Rachel would even know where a crack house is, let alone have the address readily available?

- Finn getting kicked off the football team for his passionate attempt to get Artie a tryout on the team

- Sue using Brittany to accuse the new football coach of molestation

- Will so easily being manipulated by Sue to attempt to ostracize the new football coach



Ironically, the only character that seemed to rise above the ridiculous behavior of the shows regulars was Coach Bieste, the new football coach. It seemed she was the only character the writers even attempted to make sympathetic for the season opener. I'm confused by her stance of kicking Finn off the football team for his apparent "…attempt to make fun of her handicap…" where it would have been more appropriate to kick him off for just being stupid. I can't help but wonder if we're going to learn Coach Bieste has a family member that is paralyzed a la the revelation of Sue's sister last season.



Even the music in this episode was well below the standards they had set last season. It seems the show is going to attempt to utilize more of the current hit machines ("Empire State of Mind," "Billionaire") rather than focus on what they do best – group dominated vocal arrangements of show tunes and pop standards that feature the individual SINGING voices as well as the exception harmonies they arrangements have accomplished in the past.



Personally, I think the writers were simply trying to get through the opener so they could focus on the upcoming Britney Spears episode. My only fear is they are going to screw that up just as badly as they did the opener. The show took nearly half a season to find its footing last year, but when it did, it took off like wildfire. The season opener set the show back considerably, and it can ill-afford to take another half-season to regain it's momentum or it can, as Rachel sang, "Kiss today goodbye."

For a pilot episode, this looks interesting... the fight between Sunshine and Rachel is much awaited. I like the part when they were in the bathroom singing telephone and also the part when Sunshine sang Listen... that blew me away... Awesome. Hope to see more episode like that... i also like the part when the new guy sang billionaire... hope he'll be a love team of Kurt... haha... i wanna see him/her/it fall in love... :) How about falling inlove with a girl? Also, waiting for more scenes of rachel and Finn. More power to Glee. Hope to see Sunshine again. She made my day.

okay this was the real first episode of Glee I saw. after seeing Glee winning a lot of award i figure I start watching it and I loved it and so in this episode it's the start of season 2 and to think that the Gleeks came in 3rd and I think that everyone is a coward for not joining the New Directions who cares if you get name calling or a sluppie throw at you and also I love how Rachel was sing Telephone, Rachel rocks and them we meet the new coach Beastly i think and when I 1st saw her I though is that a man or woman

This episode was surely the nadir of 'Glee'; it was if someone pressed a rewind button and we ended up with the same tired story lines that have been repeated over and over (and over). Budget cuts! Sue plotting! Will has a crisis of conscience! Rachel's ambitious and self-absorbed! Finn's an idiot! Quinn's head Cheerio!



Add some overwrought ballads and the lamest joke ever (Coach Beast? A butch woman named Beast who's the football coach? Really, writers??) made this the worst episode yet. If this show gets any more simplistic they should move it to a children's channel - although that'd be insulting to anyone over five.

The season two premiere of Fox's massive hit "Glee" seemed to falter a little bit as the show spent much of its first episode introducing new characters that frankly aren't needed.



The cast of "Glee" was already large enough and good enough to thrive without the addition of two or maybe three new cast members. I say two or three because I couldn't tell if the character of Sunshine Corazon (Charice) would be a fulltime addition or not. Personally, I hope she isn't because I frankly found her more annoying and irritating than I did interesting and likable. Another new character added to the cast is that of football player who likes to sing in the shower Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet). Overstreet is apparently going to be the Justin Bieber of "Glee" this season. Rumor has it he could be a possible love interest for the character of Kurt (Chris Colfer). The third new character is that of a new (female) football coach Shannon Beiste (pronounced Beast) who has taken over for Ken Tanaka, who had apparently suffered a nervous breakdown. Beiste is the most interesting of the three characters simply because she's going to become another adversary to the wonderful Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), easily one of the greatest characters on television. In the premiere Sylvester and Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) are at odds with Coach Beiste because the football team budget has led to cuts in both the budgets for the glee club and the cheer squad. By the end of the episode Schue realizes that he's been treating Coach Beiste about as bad as Sue treats him. The first episode dealt so much with the new characters that it spent very little time with the original cast. We do know that Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Montieth) are dating, Santana (Naya Rivera) had a boob job, Puck (Mark Salling) had a vasectomy and Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) broke up with Artie (Kevin McHale) to date Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr.). Kurt and Mercedes (Amber Riley) weren't featured much in the episode and Emma (Jayma Mays) didn't even appear in the season premiere.



The music performances in the season premiere included the glee club doing "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, Rachel and Sunshine dueting on "Telephone" by Lady Gaga, Sam singing Travie McCoy's "Billionaire" with the glee guys singing backup, Sunshine's solo on "Listen" from "Dreamgirls" and Rachel's solo on "What I Did for Love" from "A Chorus Line". The best performance of the night was either the entire group doing "Empire State of Mind" or Overstreet's performance of "Billionaire."

Compared to most of the lame premieres this year, The Glee train didn't have any trouble leaving the station; its gears were oiled, and the gas tank was filled to the brim ready to be burned. As usual the Glee members are back to the bottom of the food chain, after losing to their rival Vocal Adrenaline at Regionals in the finale of last season. Although, this time they are not the only ones threatened to be cut, but the cheerios are in danger too, due to the transfer of 10% of their funds to the Football team (as demanded by the new mannified female football coach). To help save the starving cheerleaders and the wayside singers, Sylvester and Shuster form an unusual alliance to get rid of this new "culprit" that is slashing at their budgets. In the meantime, the kids are trying to recruit new members to their club in hopes of finding great new talent that will bring the Nationals trophy to their door. To Rachel's bad luck, she is confronted by a new threatening talent that might rob her from the spotlight. As Rachel takes this matter into her own hands, unfortunate events are let loose and threaten the future of the Glee gang. If you thought Sylvester was too mean and aggressive, then wait till you see the new female football coach, Shannon Beiste (Dot Jones). She is the masculine Sue Sylvester, with a fist of iron that can make the strongest man in McKinley High want to cry…and pee his pants. If that is not a funny addition then I don't know what is! Also, it is great to have someone make a bigger fool out of Sylvester. The younger additions to the show were not as tantalizing, yet still refreshing. Sam Evans played by Chord Overstreet (yeah I know…that is his real name!) musically, doesn't bring much to the table. His rendition of "Billionaire" was rather tame. But as a character, he is the sweet boy that the Glee Club lacks, and could be a potential romantic interest. As for Sunshine Corazon (Charice), she is the female version of Sam Evans except she has an uncanny strong voice that can bring the auditorium down. She is a tiny Whitney Huston. Nevertheless, her voice compared to Rachel's is quite generic and lacking any richness and warmth, which Rachel exuded an abundance of with the song "What I did for Love" from A Chorus Line. Therefore, and without further due, the winner of the best song in this episode is Rachel Berry! All in all, the episode was a lot of fun and much more entertaining than the out-of-character House M.D. and the not-so-funny How I Met Your Mother.

VERY entertaining and VERY funny. The introduction of a couple of new potential Glee members has created a new dynamic. I like how this first episode of season 2 has introduced new characters and at the same time NOT showing us the entire old cast, something for us to look forward to in episode 2. Most of the show was very funny but the most hilarious was the opening monolog. The character Jake Israel is so perfect for that role. The writers should consider something like this more often at a beginning of an episode. That's the endearing part of this show because it makes fun of itself.



Sunshine played by Philippine sensation Charice was breathtaking in her solo number. It is a surprise that she is not part of 'New Direction' and was poached by their nemesis 'Vocal Adrenaline'. That being the case I would not be surprised if she makes further episode appearances which results in her swapping around again. Rachels selfish ways have yet again set the Glee club back. Sue is up to her usual scheming. A pissed-off Sue storming off in the school corridors pushing students out of the way is so funny and never gets old.



I am annoyed with some of the reviews suggesting the characters and generally the show is presenting the same old things continuously i.e. Budget cuts! Sue plotting! Will has a crisis of conscience! Rachel's ambitious and self-absorbed! Finn's an idiot etc…and every episode is centered on these same themes. Sure that may be the case, but if TV shows are an art form and 'The Arts' are reflective of life don't we ALL know people that basically act the same way? Striving to put their agenda into play? Sure we do. This is a show of High School life but with comedy, singing and dancing thrown in. It's fun full stop, and not meant to be taken too seriously.

Glee premiered last night, and millions of teenage girls and "Gleeks," as people say nowadays, tuned in and began updating their facebook and Twitters with every line spoken. After "Modern Family" won the Best Comedy, I was interested in how "Glee" would come across in its return, and I must admit, I was impressed but a little disappointed at the same time. It's been awhile since I've been completely captivated by a Glee episode, mostly because the writers seem to be too intent on taking a theme and driving it into the audience's head until we're cringing (for instance, anyone remember the "funk" episode, where they repeated that word so many times that I felt like turning the volume down? It was that bad, and they do it all the time.. I bet on the "Faith" episode coming up, they keep on repeating the word "faith" to drive it into our head that this is indeed what they're talking about). However, this episode was entertaining enough, focusing on everything "Glee" is good at.



With New Directions coming in third place in the competition, they're back at the bottom of the barrel, forced to try and attract new members with a newly cut budget, the status as losers once again and less motivation than ever. Thankfully, the group's reinvigorated energy to attract new people gives us one of the show's better musical numbers in "Empire State of Mind" and a hilarious interchange between Rachel and the new girl, Summer Corazon, in the form of "Telephone" by Lady Gaga (which Sue interrupts).



We also meet a couple of new characters: a new transfer student named Sam (Chord Overstreet) who joins the football team and possibly the Glee club and a football coach named Biest (pronounced Beast) who looks like a.. well, beast. The new characters are not bad, but Biest's character is exactly the problem I have with the premiere.



In an awful and awkward dramatic moment, Biest freaks out on Finn and Artie after they try to get him on the football team. Finn was simply attempting to help his friend, but Biest's insecurities get the best of her and she kicks Finn off the team and freaks out, throwing a tantrum. Santana and Quinn also start slapping each other around out of nowhere. There was a lot of drama, and while I don't mind a good blending of genres, it was sort of awkward and strange in an episode was was on fire with the comedy (everything out of Sue's mouth tonight and the entire cold open was excellent as well).



Overall, the premiere was good and a great way to get back into Glee. While people are freaking out over the Britney episode coming up next week, I personally don't enjoy gimmicky type episodes. I like it when they focus on characters and how the songs fit into their lives, not vice versa.

The music numbers didnt really impress me, mostly because I dont know or dont care for the songs chosen. But I liked Billionaire. I would really like to see more all boys performances. I really liked the quick recap of the summer. The opening sequence was hilarious. They made fun of themselves but talked back to the nay sayers at the same time. Go Ryan! I really like Coach Beiste. It was interesting to see Will and Sue team up but Im way more interested in seeing what the relationship between the coach, Will and Glee will be. The new additions - Sunshine didnt impress me much but I like Sam. That could be interesting to watch on so many levels. I really cant wait for him to meet Kurt who was suspiciously missing from the performance. Or Im just blind. But whom I liked the most was Finn. He is becoming my favorite character very fast and it is largely due to Cory who is doing such a brilliant job. I also liked all the Finn/Rachel moments since they were pretty much the only reason I really tuned back in after Back 9. Not that I dont like the rest of the group but the only ones I really wanted to know more about were Kurt, Brittany and Finn/Rachel. And I love how they managed to speak all their insecurities in basically two sentences. Awesome scene. Really great job there. This episode opened a whole lot of possibilities and set the bar pretty high. I hope they will manage to keep me interested and not to lower this standard by much in the future

I thought it was a good episode. I think every episode of Glee is good. But, anyways, I am so excited that Charice is on Glee! Filipino pride!



Her addition adds great things to the plot! Rachel has a new rival. And her act of meanness towards Sunshine makes everyone mad at her. Some Glee members confront Rachel's meanness, which forces Rachel to confront herself. Was Rachel really selfish, or was she just caring for the cast in that she wanted to preserve the feeling of 'old times?' Now that Sunshine has joined Vocal Adrenaline, does New Directions still have a chance of proving victorious in New York? Beiste is the new football coach for McKinley after Tanaka has a breakdown. Sue becomes bitter towards Beiste after it is revealed that her cheerleading program will receive less funding. Her character continues to elucidate on the interesting themes so characterizing of the plot-- themes which include 'gender roles' and 'outsiders.'



Finn is kicked off the football team, so it will be interesting to see what he does with his highschool career. Quinn is back on the cheerleading squad, but had to demote Santana in the process, and this endangers their previous best friends relationship. We know Sue is not doing this out of the kindness of her heart, so she must be using Quinn for good appearances and good appearances means good fundraising. Artie and Tina broke up because Artie apparently wasn't a good boyfriend and Cheng was more attractive. Will Artie self-improve in the midst of his angst? I always feel sorry for him. Something good needs to happen to that guy. During this episode, he tried to join the football team in hopes of winning Tina back, but Beiste denied him. Will Artie continue to try to win back Tina, or will the rest of the episodes focus on his disability? A really good episode in general with recent popular music, and I look forward to seeing the upcoming developments in the lives of these turmoil-filled characters. I see Glee only gaining more popularity and Charice hits buzzing on Youtube.

New Directions start their second year as a glee club, and this year, nationals are in NY. The writing is still really good, Brittany is hilarious and Will/Sue trying to bully coach Beiste was funny. However, I'm glad Wills concience got to him - him being a nice guy is a major factor in my onscreen crush on him! However, this weeks soundtrack - really weak! Empire State of mind, felt like it lacked spark, the performance was actually kind of boring. I can't stand the Billionare-song, no matter who sings it, so I guess that wasn't the new guys fault.. The highlight for me was telephone, but that wasn't finished! I kept waiting and waiting for the great numbers I'm addicted too, but alas, they never came. Hopefully next weeks episode (Britney/Brittany) will be better - the teaser sure looks promising!

In general, this episode was nice. the first twenty minutes are pretty good but the second half not as good. but I think it was a good season premiere because it introduces the new characters and we find out what the characters have done during the summer break!



***careful!!! Spoiler alert: the rest of my review contains different elements from the episode***



What I really like is that the characters are back to their usual way :

- Quinn is really the queen of school again

- Rachel is still self-absorbed - Sue is Sue. I love the scene in the stairs where she pushes the students! This is so her!

- Will is the nice guy even if he tries to be mean to the new coach with the help of Sue



So Artie and Tina broke up and Tina is now with Mike....that so good!



Chanice was a really nice addition to the show and the new director of Vocal Adrenaline makes Shelby Corcoran looks really soft! Don't you think.



I was a little upset that the episode doesn't finish with a group song. The group song was in the middle and was one of the best part of this episode : Empire state of mind is such a great song and they are good at it!



So next week episode is going to be huge! at least I hope so if Britney is as good as she was in How I met your mother !!!