Glee - Makeover

The last couple of episode have been mainly focused on the new guys coming into Glee, and Rachel getting used to NYADA.  For this episode, though, the spotlight shifts off of the newbies and returns to some familiar faces, while Kurt takes the focus in New York.

So what does McKinley have in store for us today?  For starters, Schue finds that he's not enthusiastic about Glee anymore, and decides that maybe he could try making a difference in the world.  Okay, I'm a little mixed on this plot.  For one thing, we kind of alright saw this with the whole Sue versus Burt for congress plot last year.  On the other hand, Schue does need a plot to keep his story moving.  Then back to the bad, we've seen before that Schue has had to pick between his dream and the kids...he chose the kids.  So, let's hope that this plotline isn't just a recycle piece that we've already gotten tired of.  If they keep it fresh, then it could actually be interesting.

The main plotline at the school, though, is another kind of political battle.  Brittany wants to be president for another year, while Blaine is interested in making his mark on the school. Brittany snags Artie as her vice-president telling him that he'll be the one doing all the work if she wins, while she hands Sam over to Blaine. This whole thing comes to a head with another one of those Brittany moments that just make me cringe.  Her argument, she'll cancel weekends and summer because she loves everyone in school.  This girl isn't just dumb, she's insane.  While she's meant to be funny, I just can't accept that a teenage girl would actually say something like that.

For me, the real star of this episode was Sam, though.  While Blaine tries to teach him the info he needs to know about being vice-president, Sam tries to help Blaine lose his uptight persona.  When Blaine finds that Kurt has no time for him (we'll get to that later) Sam steps in and let's him know that the bowtie isn't really working.  Sam then gets an awesome moment where at the debate he gets asked if he's ashamed of being a stripper. At first I expected this to be another angst moment for Sam, but instead he just surprises everyone and rips off his shirt.  No doubt thanks to this, and Brittany's horrible ideas, Blaine wins the election.  At the end we find that he's managed to really start building a strong friendship with Blaine.  And he may have won over Brittany too.

I'm sticking to my prediction that Sam and Brittany are going to get together.  The next episode is supposed to feature a breakup, and it's very clear that Brittany and Santana are having issues.  Brittany was shown being very cuddly with Sam after she lost the election, and I think the two of them may have something.  As for Mercedes, we haven't seen any sign of her, but I think we can assume that she and Sam have broken up...if they ever actually did get together for good.

Lastly, we got to see Kurt get into work at Vogue.com.  Unlike Cassandra July, his mentor, Isabelle Wright, is positive, but insecure with herself.  She encourages Kurt to never lose his optimism and is eager to help him give Rachel a makeover.  I can say that she's add a nice burst of positivity to the New York plot, while still being able to show her own weaknesses.  By the end, she lets Kurt join her on the fashion discussion, and tells him that maybe this is the life for him.

The episode ends with Rachel and Brody.  Despite both being aware that Rachel hasn't forgotten Finn, they eventually give in to a kiss.  Then, who should decide to show up for a surprise visit, but none other than Finn.  Well, looks like Rachel's going to have some serious drama in her life, but that's for next episode.  Whatever happens, it's got my attention.

So this episode gave us a nice look back at some of the older characters.  Marlie, Wade, and Jake took the backseat from their plot to give Blaine, Artie, Sam, and Brittany a chance to take up the stage.  I'd say this is a good kind of balance for the kids.  Schue has got his plot rolling which could really do either way at this point.  Kurt's got a new life in store for him which seems to be a pretty uplifting experience so far.  And Rachel is in trouble.  All in all it looks like we're on the right path.  Next episode should continue on with these plots and see if it can keep them interesting.

And did you notice any reason why this episode was so much better than the last two?  That's right, no Kitty!

Glee - Britney 2.0

Glee's new episode is a repeat of a theme we've already seen.  That should give you a pretty good idea of what kind of episode this was.  I know Brittany is a big break out character from the series, but I've never really liked her and I espescially find her central episodes to be ridiculously annoying.  This one may have been one of the worst.  Let's break it down by plotline this time.

Brittany's Plot: The main plot of the episode and like I said, incredibly annoying.  Brittany is feeling down, so Schuester suggests that they do a Britney Spears theme to cheer her up.  Okay, sounds like a good idea, except we already had an episode dedicated to Britney Spears, we don't need another one.  Furthermore, the entire plot is just a parody of Spears's dark times.  Brittany freaks out and tries to shave her head, attacks people with an umbrella, and lip syncs a song.  Also a guy exclaims, "Leave Brittany alone!"  Having references to something is good and could be funny, but all this was was taking famous moments and giving them to our Brittany to replicate.  At the end, we learn that this was Brittany's intention after all, but it still doesn't make the entire plot any better.  Something else that bugged me was the extreme reaction to lip syncing.  I can see why Schue would be upset, but why would they be banned from competing at Nationals simply because they lip syncing one school-based concert?  Brittany even gave a reason for it, she didn't want to damage her voice and she wanted to focus more on choreography.  In short, this plotline was nothing more than a repeat of the last Britney episode and some of Britney's infamous moments.

Rachel's Plot: This plotline was somewhat better, but still irritating at parts.  In Rachel's storyline we learn that Cassandra July used to be a Broadway star before freaking out at a man with a cellphone ringing during her performance.  And the reason why she's so hard on her students is because she doesn't want her students to explode at an inappropriate time.  Pretty predictable storyline, but seeing her over the top reaction to the guy with the phone was pretty amusing.  When Rachel gets fed up with Cassie she slaps her with this.  After a moment of silence Cassie tells Rachel to get out.  I don't know if we're supposed to support Rachel or not, but I'm definitely on Cassie's side for this one.  What Rachel said was incredibly inappropriate and probably very hurtful to Cassie, regardless of how hard she is on Rachel.  Also, Brody is continuing to advance on Rachel.  She has to remind him that she's still thinking about Finn, which he respects.  Still, though, it feels like Brody is being pretty immature about the whole thing, moving in on Rachel when she's clearly stated that she's not done with Finn.  So, this overall plot had some interesting moments, but still wasn't the best.

Jake's Plotline: Along with Brittany, Jake was pretty much the star of this episode.  We learn that he's a womanizer, yet Marley still has her eyes on him.  Jake seems to return the feeling and in another heartwarming moment, gets in a fight with some jocks for making fun of Marley's mom.  I'd say that's very impressive of him, even if it was a bit violent.   We get a quick cameo from Puck who tries to send Jake in the right direction.  It would have been nice to see the two of them interact for a little more than one scene, but I guess you have to make cuts to fit in the time constraints.  Jake eventually joins Glee club and it looks like he's going to have a relationship with Marley...until Kitty shows up.  We were almost out of an episode without her ruining, not that this episode needed any help from her.  Anyways, she announces that she is Jake's girlfriend.  This is another one of those moments where I just have to shake my head at the disaster character known as Kitty.  Jake got into a fight with her two jock lackeys, defending a girl Kitty's been tormenting, and then joins a club which Kitty also seems not to fond of.  So therefore she must want to date him?  Unlike Finn and Quinn from season one, this relationship has no set up and seems like it's just thrown in to cause some more drama.  Of course, this kind of thing has been driving me crazy forever.  Relationships in Glee pop up everywhere out of the blue and usually fizzle out in a couple of episodes.

The songs of this episode were nothing special really.  Like I said, we already had a Britney episode, so there wasn't the same appeal as there was before.  No songs stood out as exceptional and were mostly just thrown in without much relevance.

Another thing that struck me about this episode is the line between fantasy and reality.  Of course, it's always been a blurry line Glee, but I think that usually they are able to keep them separate enough.  A running gag through this episode is Brittany accidentally saying her voice overs out loud.  Definitely crosses the line, but it's funny so I can accept it.  What I don't get is the whole "Womanizer" bit.  A bunch of girls, both in and outside of the glee club, sing about how Jake is nothing but a womanizer.  By the end they're all dancing and singing in the gym while Jake watches.  Seems like your typical fantasy number, right?  Except, at the end, they rope Jake and pull him in, following which the song ends and Jake asks Marley to hang out.  So, it wasn't a dream and somehow all that actually happened?

I'm going to stay positive and not let this episode bring me down though.  The show can still be enjoyable and I'm looking forward to seeing what else they can do.  For example, I definitely saw hints of a Sam and Brittany relationship.  Last time we saw, Sam and Mercedes were still together, but they were never really strong.  As for Brittany and Santana, they're clearly having issues.  I think it could be an interesting couple to explore if they do it right.  Whether it goes anywhere or not, though,  I'll keep my fingers cross that they've got some good plots in store for us.

Glee - The New Rachel

Okay, September is here and that means that shows are coming back.  Let's start with something a little different than what I've done before, Glee.  The episode overall was a bit of a mixed bag for me.  It still has many of the good features that we love Glee for, while throwing in some new characters and plots.  But there were also a lot of things that bugged me.  I'm not going to be covering the whole episode, since they're so long, but just go over the main things.

First off, characters.  Of course, one of the main issues I, and a lot of other people, had with the last few seasons was that screentime was dominated by Rachel, Finn, and Kurt.  But all of the major camera hogs have graduated and it's time to give other people a chance.  Fitting with the theme of "The New Rachel" it seems like Tina, Brittany, Blaine, and newcomer Wade/Unique will be stepping forward and trying to claim this role.  Brittany and Blaine both got their fair share of screentime last season, Tina has been about average, and Wade/Unique of course is new.  I have no problem with these four, and from the looks of it, Artie as well, becoming stars, as long as they give focus to the other characters as well.  Sugar is one of the most amusing characters on the show, and the fact that she can't sing should really make some interesting stories.  She had pretty much no relevance last season, so hopefully they can change that.  And then there's Joe, who I've been hooked on since his performance of "Stereo Hearts."  He's got a nice voice and he's an interesting character; again, I hope for more of him.  I was disappointed to see that the little cutie, Rory, is gone without ever getting a chance to stand out.  He'd better come back later on, like how they did with Sam last season, since he definitely could offer more.  Now onto the new characters.

Kitty: Um...I absolutely hate her!  It's not simply because she's a mean girl, though.  Sue introduces her as her new head cheerleader, and she is clearly filling the role that Quinn and Santana had in their time as head cheerleaders.  We've never seen her before, but somehow, here she is, top of the food chain already.  And she's not bringing anything new at all.  She's playing the same game that we've seen so many times by now in the last three seasons.  But while Quinn and Santana had stories that clearly showed that they were more than some jerk, so far, that's all Kitty is.  Now, it is only the first episode, so I'll give her a bit more time, but it didn't long for Quinn to establish herself as deeper than she looked, so Kitty had better get some depth soon or else she could very well end up as the worst character on the show.

Marlie: While the old glee kids are fighting for who shall be the new Rachel, in walks Marlie who clear embodies just that.  Unlike Rachel, though, Marlie seems like a much nicer character.  Then there's the plotline with her mother, the lunch lady.  While this would typically play out with the daughter trying to keep it a secret, Glee takes it in just the opposite direction and has the mother try to keep it a secret in fear that Marlie won't make any friends otherwise.  Marlie, however, won't have any of this and tells everyone that the person they're making fun of is in fact her mother.  She's nice and brave; truly an admirable character.  She could be considered sickeningly sweet, and maybe she will end up like that, but right now I'd say that it's a nice refresh to have a character as positive as she is.

Jake: While Marlie is bringing the positive, Jake is clearly going to be bringing some negative drama onto the show.  He's the half-brother to our old friend, Puck.  Like Puck, he's clearly got some issues, perhaps even more than his brother.  He's a good singer, but he has to have things go his way or else he gets mad.  This leads to a confrontation with Shue, and leads to him rejecting the glee club.  Obviously he's going to be playing a deep role, and while he still is negative, unlike Kitty (yes, I'm still on her) he has already shown to have more sides than that.

Brody: The new love interest to Rachel.  He seems nice, but a little bland.  That's all I've got on him for now.

Cassandra July: Rachel's dance instructor.  Meh, she bores me.  I mean, we've all seen the typical, nasty coach who just wants to see her students succeed.  Even if that isn't exactly how Cassandra's going to play out, it's clear that that's the idea they're going for.  She reminds me of Sue, except that instead it seems like her quips are meant to be taken more seriously.  And since she's not as over the top as Sue is, she's really just a boring version of her.

Dottie: She has no relevance to the plot, and if she had any lines, they weren't memorable.  Yet I still find myself greatly enjoying Tina's new assistant.  She was just, simply cute.  I hope they actually do something with her and don't just have her as a throwaway gag.

Now, let's move onto the new format.  Instead of focusing all our attention on McKinley High and its glee club, they've now dedicated half of the show to Rachel in New York.  This has its own pros and cons.  I definitely liked seeing how Rachel is doing and how different her world has become.  However, on the other side, this means that we're losing time to focus on the main plot and as such the episode's storylines can't quite develop as much as before.  I guess that's the price to pay, though.  I'm hoping that it's not going to be pure Rachel, though, I'm curious to see how Santana or Puck are doing.

Alright, now I have to mention something that really, really bothered me.  For the past three seasons it has been repeated time after time that Shue wants glee club to become more popular.  They've been desperate for members just so they can meet the minimum requirements, and just to get the club off of the bottom of the food chain.  And now Will's dream has come true and glee club is idolized, people are eager to audition.  So, maybe he'll have to turn away some kids, like we saw with Sugar last season, right?  But a big theme has always been that glee club is open to everyone who auditions, and it's not like they're running out of space.  And yet when the list goes up, are you ready for this, there is one person who made past the audition?  One person?!  So, they're still under the requirement and it's become the kind of clique where only the best can enter?  Why, just why?

I mentioned that the glee club has become super popular, well that leads me to another thing that bugged me.  For three years these kids have been bullied and no matter what they do, nothing seems to change.  They win Nationals, though, and everybody loves them.  Okay, I'll accept that.  But by the end of the episode, things are right back to how things started.  All because Kitty decided that she doesn't like Marlie and Wade, and remember this is a girl who we've seen nothing of since now (I'm not letting this go), where is she getting this kind of influence from?  And to just emphasize my previous point, maybe this could have been avoided if Shue let more people join and they actually became a strong fraction of the school population.

But enough about what I didn't like.  As usual, the music was amazing.  Two songs in particular stood out to me: Blaine's "It's Time" and the competitive attempt on "Call Me Maybe."  Of course they had to put that song in there, it's huge.  And they did it justice, in a fun sort of way with the four "New Rachel"s trading lines between each other.

I really am looking forward to what more plotlines we'll be seeing.  Like I said, we've got plenty of potential in some of the older characters, and we've got a lot to explore with Jake and Marlie...and I'm hoping for Dottie too.  Rachel and Kurt's storylines are both different from what we've seen and could definitely be something interesting.  Who knows, maybe I'll even come to like Kitty...maybe.