Glee Watch: Four Wheels Good
FOX
Spoilers for last night's Glee coming up after the jump:
Good Lord, watching Glee is like watching a bungee jump, isn't it? One week it's way, way up, then a disjointed episode like the previous "Mash-Up" brings it down, then—bwaaaaaang!—an episode like last night's "Wheels" sends it rocketing skyward again.
There have been episodes of Glee with better musical numbers. (I know others will disagree, but I thought "Dancin' with Myself" was like one of those American Idol re-arrangements of a song that didn't need to be re-arranged, while the closing wheelchair number was a little too much like an Idol group sing for me.) But all around, this played like an episode of a show that was confident, that knows its characters, a show in which people with actual human motivations do things that come out of their character and not out of the show's need for something crazy to happen.
There was one standout song: the Kurt-and-Rachel showdown on "Defying Gravity," which was an example of how Glee functions best as a musical: with performances that not only fit organically into the plot but actually work to advance the story and develop character.
The way Chris Colfer not only delivered the song but played his character in doing it—showing us Kurt's pride, his pleasure and his heartbreak in what turns out to be throwing the contest—just piled emotion on emotion, and it brought the waterworks every time I watched the scene. If you haven't yet, try watching the scene a second time, knowing that Kurt is blowing the song on purpose; his expression and manner are heartbreaking, while the lyrics take on an ironic meaning:
Damn.
(One nitpick, I suppose, is that you can't literally imagine anyone in the show choir actually outsinging Rachel: realistically, Lea Michele simply blows the doors off anyone in the cast. But if the scene is played well enough, I can accept, for instance, that Colfer is playing someone who could conceivably beat her out.)
The A plot, meanwhile, showed Glee starting to draw more on its bench strength. This show should be the kind of series where any player can, as it were, take a solo, and Kevin McHale showed he could be much more than a sight gag in this episode. What worked especially well was the inversion of expectations with Artie and Tina: first we learn that her stutter has been a put-on all along, then—after she makes herself vulnerable confessing why she kept up the defensive ruse all these years—he doesn't let her off the hook for pretending to have a disability. The scene is nicely played on both sides, in that it allows more than one take on the situation; you could see Artie's reaction as being entirely justified or see him as a little harsh, precisely because there are no saints in Glee.
And speaking of no saints: Jane Lynch—holy crap. I suppose some fans might see the softer side of Sue Sylvester as a jump-the-shark moment for the show—threatening to take the fun out of her hard-assed mercilessness—but Lynch absolutely killed in the subplot, and I think it has the potential to make Sue not a different character, but an actual person. Having a special-needs sister and showing some actual empathy doesn't undercut her toughness; as she tells Will, being tough on her Down Syndrome student isn't cruel—it's treating her like anyone else.
"You don't know the first thing about me," Sue told Will in one of their confrontations. And that, in a way, is the kernel of Glee, the thing that can get this show from entertaining to great if it chooses to go that way.
Glee is obviously a show about characters who fit into broad types, which can be an advantage starting out—you quickly get a grasp of who's who—but can lead to stereotyping and lazy writing. You can take a show like that and make it into an easy parade of caricatures. Or you can make it a show about taking apart those caricatures, showing that—whether you're looking at the alpha jock or the misfit—you really don't know the first thing about a person just by looking at them. If only they can do the same with Terri some episode soon.
Ryan Murphy recently told the L.A. Times that this episode—which he considers a "game-changer"—will be more representative of the show going forward. I hope so (though there's still the challenge of the fake-pregnancy albatross, not dealt with in this episode). Glee's always been a pleasure, but if it raises its storytelling ambitions this way, it can really defy gravity.
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1
Absolutely can't wait to watch a second time.
Agreed that it's tough to outsing Rachel, but Kurt was believable - the producers are doing a great job of portraying his relationship with his dad.
Some parts of the show are totally believable and suck you in. Some parts are totally farfetched and suck you in. Sounds like a winner to me.
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2
@JP: This is not a Glee-related post but since you are not doing FNL blogs I have to post this comment where I can.
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Specifically, I would like to make a case for why you should be doing FNL posts as they air on DirecTV and not wait until they air on NBC in the Spring. The great thing about your posts on various shows is that not only do you offer insight on the most recent episode and the arc of the season to date but you give interesting speculation as to where you think the season is headed, where you hope the season is headed, and where you hope the season isn't headed. This is why the tuned-in followers like me eagerly check out your blog the day after our favorite shows.
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If you wait to post your comments until NBC airs the eps then you will know what happens in the entire season. Therefore your speculation won't be speculation as much as it will be your attempt not to spoil for fans watching on NBC what you already know will happen.
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My suggestion is that you post your FNL post episode analysis after the original airing on DirecTV in the Fall and then repost the analysis after it airs on NBC in the Spring with the disclaimer "oringially posted 11/12/09 (or whatever date is appropriate)".
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Sorry for intruding on the Glee post. Thanks for letting me post my $0.02.-
2.1
I posted a thread a while ago asking if there was interest and most (if not all) the responses were anti... mainly from FNL fans who didn't have DirecTV. I have been watching the episodes, though, and I reserved the right to ignore the poll and post on it if I want. Mainly it's a matter of triage, and if time is tight, I might not make time to post on the show if most people will skip it. But we'll see; I'll take it week by week.
Keep in mind I often do blog on shows that I have seen several episodes in advance, or even a full season--HBO series, for instance. Anyway, how do you like FNL so far this season?
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2.2
Love the season so far. Watching Coach Taylor have to build a program literally from nothing is a great plot development. Also like watching the tables turned with the Dillon Panthers now the bad guys. Watching Coach Taylor explain to Luke Cafferty how he understands what it means to no longer be a panther was a great moment for Kyle Chandler. This show needs to be on the short list of Emmey voters for Best Drama.
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2.3
*FNL SPOILERS*
I was actually wondering if FNL would follow up on the shirt burning from last week. That it did just makes me feel so happy for the show.
I quit back during series two when the writers kept introducing new (outlandish) story arcs only to resolve them unsatisfying.
This time, we had the reasonably outlandish idea of shirt burning to bring the team together, and instead of everything going back to smiles and hugs, Coach Taylor spent the entire episode trying to raise the money to fund a new uniform. Excellent.
So happy the show has its dignity back, so I'm off to see if series three is worth a look...
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2.4
@Tom: It is worth giving another chance. My advice is to stick with it. It looks like FNL is starting to hit its story-telling stride. Season 3 is shaping up to be the best of the series.
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3
This was the best Glee since the pilot. And I'm so glad they explained away that stutter, which was the worst fake stutter in television history.
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4
I really like this ep! But I don't understand why Quinn is staying with Finn when she likes Puck and he likes her and he is trying to help out with the baby. Oh well.
Pretty sure when we saw Sue's sister I was about to cry. Who knew? It really does add another dimension to her character.
I can't believe how many different story lines they packed in and how well it flowed. Yay Artie got some screentime. I liked Kurt's storyline too.
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5
"But I don't understand why Quinn is staying with Finn when she likes Puck and he likes her and he is trying to help out with the baby."
Quinn is being practical. She wants out of the dead end town they live in, so she wants to hitch her star to an ambitious boy who has the potential to succeed. That's not Puck. He's a loser, a milf chasing pool cleaner. She sees him as a potbellied old man whose peak was his high school football days. He'll never get out of town.
Finn, on the other hand, has better potential. He aspires to go to college, which could lead to success.
Her getting pregnant was a mistake which threatens her plans, but she still sees Finn as her best hope. That's why she lied to him about his paternity.
Her actions can be seen as cold and manipulative, but she sees a college grad as a better hope for herself and her baby.
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6
If the Quinn / Finn storyline doesn't get resolved soon, I may take a hiatus on Glee.
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7
Ryan Murphy recently told the L.A. Times that this episode—which he considers a "game-changer"—will be more representative of the show going forward. I hope so (though there's still the challenge of the fake-pregnancy albatross, not dealt with in this episode).
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I hope that what Murphy means is that the show is going to focus on the students, instead of the adults -- correct me if I'm wrong but this was the first show where Shue/Morrison didn't get his own number, and while he's enormously talented, I'm not watching Mr. Novak, I'm watching a show that was supposed to "be about the underdogs".
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as for the fake pregnancy storyline, its the kind of plotline that can (and should) be disposed of in one episode.. -
8
Thanks for providing the second watch - I loved the DG scene the first time, but seeing Kurt sing while knowing he was throwing his moment made me appreciate Colfer's acting in a whole new way. He simply became his character there, it was a heart-wrenching performance.
I truly hope Glee can stick to this track in the future. Surely the pitfalls the show has experimented with can pay off in the long run now that they have figured out what works and what doesn't? This was Glee at its best.
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9
As a Brit, I'm just happy for Sue's Falklands shout out.
Although I'd like the whole pregnancy situation to sort itself out, I don't really want them to do it in a hasty manner and shove the whole thing under the carpet. It would be nice if they revealed it, then we got to see the fallout in full, played out over the season.
Too many plot strands this season have started and ended in one episode when the effects would have lasted much longer (Mercedes falling for Kurt, Terri giving the kids drugs, April Rhodes joining Glee...); I'd rather the show was a little less goldfish-like, and hopefully this one will set the template, as it returned to Kurt's coming out, and added some depth to the event.
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10
I definately thought this was one of the best Glee episodes. I'm glad they gave Artie a solo song (i think his deep voice sounds wicked cool). And to touch on his solo, I guess you've come to terms with kids singing in the hallway. I guess Glee is going more of the musical direction with that, which I acutally like.
The defying gravity duet was also amazing, i found it on youtube right after the episode i was so impressed with it.
I love Jane Lynch, she is hilarious on the show. I'm so glad they showed another side of her and made her human this episode. I would really like to see her character developed.
Sue with her sister and Kurt with his dad were two very touching scenes. and I think the people making the show did a great job on them.
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11
[...] than the hyper-competitive coach with delusions of grandeur.” James Poniewozik at Times.com writes, “And speaking of no saints: Jane Lynch—holy crap. I suppose some fans might see the softer [...]
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12
[...] week I wrote that watching Glee was like watching a bungee jump, the way its episodes kept boinging up and down in quality. Allow me to amend that: it's amazing [...]
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