Glee

After a few episodes that didn't initially remind me of why I even enjoyed Glee in the first place, this episode took its best elements and expanded on them a little bit. There were still some little parts that bothered me, but for the most part, this was another solid hour of Glee.



This week's themes was duets. Mr. Shue claims that the winning pair will win a free dinner to a restaurant called Breadsticks, which is apparently some Italian restaurant with unlimited refills of bread and salad (they don't have it in Maine, so I wouldn't know). The glee club begins splitting into different groups, and we see actors who don't normally act with one another or get as much screen time pair up and characters we're already comfortable with prove why they're so likable.



I was most interested in the new character, Sam. For me, I didn't know how well a new character would mesh into the group, especially since the first season set up a really great dynamic between them all. However, so far, so good. Sam's duet with Quinn was superb, and I'm actually a little interested to see where their relationship goes, especially now that Quinn doesn't have that ridiculous plot with Shue's ex-wife. Chris Colfer as Kurt continues to impress me, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the year he takes home the best supporting actor award. Last year, I was too blinded by Rainn Wilson's inability to take home the award, but I have to say, Kurt is a good television character, and between the first four episodes this season, I can't wait to see what happens with him.



However, the lack of Sue and Puck was noticeable (at least to me), and there were times where the drama was laid on pretty thick and there wasn't enough comedy (I mean, this IS a comedy/musical, right? Sometimes, it's easy to forget). Next week is yet ANOTHER theme episode, but this episode reminded me how good Glee can be at just normal, high-school, glee-club orientated episodes. The song choices were great and didn't tailor too much to the Top 40 songs, and overall, it was just an enjoyable hour of television.

I thought this episode wouldn't be anything special, just duets between glee members. And also when I thought of Quinn and Sam doing a duet I just didn't liked that. So commercialized and average.

But then I watched the episode. It was soooo good I don't even have the words to describe it. The song selection was the best! River deep, mountain high was even better than the original. And also Kurt's "duet" was so likeable. I liked everything that was brought back about Kurt's being gay - all that conversations about that and how hard it is for him and how he handles it. Mike and Tina's duet was also very refreshing and so cute. :)

I was sad that we couldn't see Artie sing because I think he (and also Puck, but he's in jail now) has the best voice in the group. That conversation between him and Brittany later was so touching and sad. I felt really bad for him.

So, the best part of the episode. Sam and Quinn. They really surprised me, they have such a good chemistry and their duet... I was so amazed. It was above average and so nice, they connected really nice and the song was perfect. Also their date ended perfectly. :)

Very nice episode, I enjoyed it!

FINALLY, the talented Glee clubbers are finally doing a sensational job. It is always better when the show has random songs than themed episodes (Except the Madonna Episode, that one was freaking fantastic). The most compelling story in this episode was again, Kurt's struggle of finding the right guy , and his inability to understand that NO means NO! Thanks to Finn and his father, Kurt is guided the right way and ends up performing the crap out of "Victor/Victoria"!



And what a great episode it was for Mike Chang! He finally has his break by singing (Yes singing) "Sing!" from "A Chorus Line" a long with Tina! Also the choreography for this piece was hilariously fantastic!



The other good thing about this episode is Brittany's guilty side. This was the first time we see her show an emotion of any kind towards one of her classmates! I hope they bring more of her character to the table. She definitely has a lot to offer!



Last but not least, It was nice to see Sam Evans in full grind, even though he still doesn't bring much to the singing table, he can definitely be dufisly funny!



This episode is the best since "Dream On"

I don't care who has written, directed and musically supervised this episode, he should be resposnible for the show from now on till forever. This episode was everything that made me love Glee all those months ago. It had awesome acting from everyone because they finally had something to do. Issues I had from S1 were resolved, maybe a bit rapidly but at least they were aknowledged and talked out. And while there is still a lot of questions, this episode was a move in the right direction. I hope to see more of the Kurt/Rachel/Finn relationship. And every scene that has CC and MoM in it is a win. No matter what. I loved Finn & Rachel in this episode because they were everything that I always knew they could be if they were allowed to. They were a team, they were those 2 pieces of a puzzle that make a weird but beautiful picture. And my shipper heart, as well as the part of me that actually likes the characters by themselves, was jumping for joy. And their happiness over their manipulations being succesful ... precious. No matter what people say and how much the writers may screw them, they do bring out the best in the other. I loved to see more of Mike and Tina. Not only because we got to see Harry get more then one line. But they were actually showned as interesting. I woulnd't minf to see this relationship explored more. And if it involves some more dancing, I'm all right with that too. I could get on the Artie/Brittany ship. Or at least their friendship. And I'm a little dissapointed we didn't hear them sing in the end. Could have been interesting. Sam & Quinn. I still sort of wish he was gay because I like the idea of Kurt and him. I guess the trouble, or benefit, with Chord is that he actually has chemistry with all of them - Cory, Chris, Dianna. But I'm not sure for how long I will be able to take this relationship because they seriously look like Barbie & Ken. And it is a bit off putting. So a lot depends on the writing in this one. Plus seeing Puck and his reaction to the new "IT" couple should be interesting. Now to the highlight of the episode, the musical numbers. I was blown away. Serioulsy. I actually clapped after every single performance. I love love love Santana & Mercedes doing "River Deep, Mountain High". It was a perfect choice and the execution left me with my mouth hanging open and wishing for more. I don't know what song Mike & Tina did but it was so entertaining. And Harry has a rather lovely voice. I would like to hear more of it. With Jenna, with the boys, on his own. I didn't like the begining of "Lucky" but by chorus it was OK. I find the song highly innapropriate for them since they knew each other for about 2 minutes prior but from performance point of view, it was lovely.



Kurt, with style and heart and perfect. If CC ever gets a part on Broadway, I'm buying a ticket - for the show and the plane, the moment it gets announced. I like how Chris and Lea sound togehter so I enjoyed their last performance even if I yet again didn't know the song. And last but not least, Finn & Rachel. I have no idea what the second song was but it was cute and the reactions of the club were priceless. I will have to check out the context. Or lyrics. But "Don't go breaking my heart" was everything that makes me love all their duets so much. Because to me, together they sound better then anyone, better then either of them by themselves. And Finn was drumming. And they were flirting. And they were dancing around the piano. They were the clear winners of the night for me. On all fronts. I can't remember enjoying an episode of Glee so much since probably the Pilot. Or maybe Journey. But here the annoying character that made me temporaly quit the show, wasnt present, so Duets win the round.

Like many others, I was ready to quit the show entirely after the last episode, and if this one hadn't turned out as great as it did, I would have jumped off and never looked back. Thankfully, crisis was averted and despite a few missteps, this stellar episode has got me once again holding on for the Glee I loved in Season One. Unlike the first three episodes, I actually managed to watch the whole thing without me feeling disgusted, squeamish, bored, and getting a migraine from rolling my eyes so many times. There was only ONE music-video performance and it wasn't completely terrible, there were no forced gross out moments or long, endless stretches of little to no character developmen or ttimes I felt like the writers were bludgeoning me on the head with some hot button issue that they knew little about (the gay issue was actually handled well here), and, I can't believe I'm saying this, no Sue Sylvester with her poorly delivered pop culture references and stupid one-liners and dull, dishonest preaching. Everyone got the development they so desperately needed and I actually felt more for the characters than just wanting to run them over with a steam roller, which has been my general disposition this entire season. The absence of Sue and her monotonous scheming has brought the show back to life, and I love it. Kurt goes back to being my favorite character, and its heartbreaking. I thought his development in previous episodes was forced and served more as a vehicle for the writers to show how edgy they could get and how many un-politically correct points they could gain. Arty's whole storyline has been absurd until this point, but now I'm glad they decided to ignore that whole BS for something emotional again. This in-turn develops Britney, who is quickly becoming a dark horse in the series and don't even ask me how much her last scene (as silly as it was) touched me. For someone like Britney, that was the ultimate act of remorse and I'm thankful for it. Surprisingly still, even Finn shined in this episode, who I'm always regarded as a terrible character(that grilled cheesus **** up didn't help AT ALL), but now he's finally showing some depth and his motivations weren't as blunt and transparent as he usually is. Was he really looking after the new guy, or was it just homophobia? One of the few things I DIDN'T like however was Rachel's sudden HeelFaceTurn, which setup most of the episode. It was as if the writers FINALLY answered our prayers and made Rachel aware of her flaws, but they did it with no buildup at all that it came out of nowhere. Well, besides that, I'm not really complaining, as it led to one of the most horrifyingly hilarious performances in the entire show, and an satisfyingly tender moment between her and Kurt, answering yet ANOTHER one of my prayers (with buildup). Quinn's scenes were great as well, though I'm not really sure she developed much in this episode, as it seems her only purpose was to bring out the new guy Sam, who left me uninterested in the premier and charmed and entertained in this episode. There's just something about his awkwardness and how he holds himself that's extremely endearing, and I like how they left his sexuality into question. We all know he's going to end up with Kurt, but I don't mind a little teasing until then (speaking of teasing, how many times has he been in the shower since the premier??). As for the rest, Santana was wicked and filled the void that Sue left and has been unable to fulfill on any believable level since season one, everything Tina and Mike was hilarious and clever, and while Mercedes didn't do much at least she didn't get worse. Needless to say, I adore this episode, its probably the best one EVER, and I'm absolutely terrified that the next one will fall short of half of this episode's greatness, and that we will go back to the indigestible garbage we've been subjected all this season. Here's holding out hope that that won't happen again. This episode shows that the writers know what they're doing when they try and think about what the show was about, and it wasn't about renditions of boring music videos and being as offensive as possible, it was about a group of misfits and their struggle to fit in by banding together and singing. I'm glad they remembered, even if its probably just a fluke (the next episode's ratings are depressingly low..).