The Glee kids were off to sectionals this week, but not before learning a valuable lesson about team spirit…a lesson that took about three quarters of the episode for the kids to learn.
The episode starts with Mr. Schue discussing the upcoming Sectionals competition with colleague and love interest Emma Pillsbury. She inspires him to abandon the format of using Broadway-bound Rachael Berry and her boyfriend Finn to headline their performance – instead he turns to the “untapped talent” of the other Glee members. Brittany S. Pierce receives a “magic comb” to help her dance her best and only after losing said comb does she realize she had that ability all along…a touching moment indeed and after two speeches from Mr. Schue about him being sick of the “I” mentality and something about an overweight female wrestler joining the Glee club we finally arrive at the actual competition, which pays off pretty well.
Joined at Sectionals alongside our protagonists New Directions are a geriatric glee club who are apparently earning their GED’s and Kurt’s new school, The Dalton Academy Warblers. The geriatric Hipsters are really nothing more than a decent sight gag with good voices…they’re forgettable to say the least. The Warblers showcase their tremendous voice talent alongside a refreshing arrangement of Train’s Hey, Soul Sister. New Directions performs (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life of Dirty Dancing fame (Hey, didn’t The Black Eyed Peas just sample that in their new song that they released a few weeks ago…what a coincidence) and the lesser known, but equally triumphant Valerie, originally by The Zutons. In spite of the sarcastic remark earlier regarding the team’s new “team spirit” it is refreshing to be reminded just how talented the other Glee kids really are. Sam and Quinn shine in their Dirty Dancing moment and Santana, Brittany and Mike Chang really stand out in Valerie. It should also be noted that while it wasn’t part of the competition, Mercedes and Tina’s rendition of Florence + The Machine’s Dog Days are Over was pitch perfect…even if the rationale for the kids to sing it was a little hackneyed.
Aside from Rachel getting increasingly unlikable, Kurt’s awkward entrance into Dalton and the episode’s overall tendency to tread water until it was time for the actual competition, it was a good episode. It does what Glee is meant to do – offer a few good laughs, advance the narrative and most importantly showcase some damn fine music.
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I think it should be noted that while The Zutons are the writers of "Valerie", Amy Winehouse was the only person that charted with the song. It is off of Mark Ronson's amazing album "Version". (I'll bring a copy for you if you don't have it, next time I see you. It is awesome.) The Glee performance had much more in common with the Winehouse version than the Zuton version. I would imagine that is the version they were covering.
Second of all, I still enjoy watching this show, but damn can it get any more inconsistent? It easily the most inconsistent show on TV these days.
The writers seem to be falling on the same crutches for every episode. There is only a number of times I can think that Rachel has gotten past being a bitch (obviously she hasn't), or that Mr. Schue has manned up and stopped being a whiny little pansy (he hasn't), or that Kurt has proved himself to be bigger than his problems at school.
The writers are all too happy to retread moments from the past 30 episodes, and their characters are no longer seeing development. Sure, there are speedbumps, but none that seem to change the characters for the better.
The only positive improvement of any character I have seen in the show is of Quinn, whose transformation into head bitch of the school to humble show choir member is refreshing.
So, lets see some of our characters grow up, and stop creating forced drama. A lot of the arcs are fine, but the characters never seem to match. Everyone has an overreaction to the events occurring around them.
One other thing, Glee seems to forget what people love most about this show is the music. This is the second time in two weeks where the first half of the show has featured almost no musical numbers. I remember writing something about Murphy wanting to tone down the music of the show, but I didn't think he'd be serious. Apparently someone has a gross misunderstanding of what makes his show popular.
Despite the fact that this all sounds very negative, I do enjoy the show, it just could be so much better.
I completely agree on virtually all points. As soon as Rachel started her bitch-fest this week, I went back to review one of the comments you left on an earlier episode describing the same phenomena. I am glad that stuff is finally starting to "happen" this season plot-wise.