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Glee: Dream On

Jesse: “That’s not a dream. A dream is something that fills up the emptiness inside. The one thing that you know that if it comes true all the hurt would go away.”

I enjoyed "Dream On", but I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed. This was the much hyped Joss Whedon directed episode. I don't know what I was expecting, but I had all these visions of the Buffy musical episode running around in my head. Joss, Neil, Glee - it should have been legen-wait for it-dary.

Instead, we got a good - but not spectacular - episode of Glee.

Well, I guess not everyone is perfect. That's okay, Joss, I still love you.

The Good...

-- The NPH-MM duet of "Dream On" was pretty awesome. Maybe I'm biased, because I looooooove Aerosmith, and that is easily my favorite song, but it was fun to wash them hamming it up. Plus 5.

-- Duets ruled the night: How freaking spectacular was the "I Dreamed a Dream" number with Lea Michele and Idina Menzel? Not only were the performances extraordinary, but they look so much alike its scary. I wonder if Ryan Murphy had this storyline in mind when he was casting for the show? Plus 10.

-- Bryan Ryan with a mullet, and Will with a guido shirt. The Jersey girl in me was all aflutter - plus 10.

-- Artie and Tina. Can we all say, "awwww"? Plus 2.

-- So we finally know what's behind Jesse's romancing of Rachel. Good - b/c at least its not some crazy way to undermine New Directions (at least I don't think so). Bad b/c I honestly think Jesse and Rachel are the cutest couple ever - and I hope that he ends up more than "kinda liking her". Plus 3.

-- Shelby's regret at giving away Rachel was not something I would have expected. Plus 2.

-- The Artie dream Safety Dance - in a mall, no less! Too bad they can't miraculously make Artie walk again, as Kevin McHale is a pretty damn good dancer. Plus 5.

-- Quinn putting her hand on Artie's shoulder at the end of the episode - plus 2.

-- Total: 39

The Not So Good...

-- I don't know, maybe I've been spoiled by Barney on HIMYM, but Neil Patrick Harris wasn't ah-may-zing. I was expecting a more dynamic performance. Minus 3.

-- Other Asian now has a name. I'm in denial - minus 2.

-- The Sue/Bryan angry sex scene? Ew, minus 10. But since I can appreciate the joke (Jane Lynch and Neil Patrick Harris are both openly out), I'll only deduct 5.

-- New Directions jean jackets? Kurt and Santana getting excited? No, that would never happen. Minus 3.

-- There was a definite lack of LOL moments tonight. Minus 10.

-- Minus 10 more because this was a Joss episode. I should have been on the floor cracking up.

-- I wasn't impressed with Tina/Other Asian dancing at the end. I thought her practice tap was kind of good, though. So maybe all those So You Think You Can Dance commercials are getting to me, and I'm getting pickier. Minus 3.

-- Total: -30

The Hmmm...

-- The show has gotten definitely more "musical-y" recently. I like it, but how does everyone else feel about it? More show tunes? Less?

-- The show has also basically conceded to its strengths and lightened up on the plot. In fact, the last few episodes have felt like it was written to accommodate the music. Again - good? Bad? I know its generally a critique of musicals, but I think Glee is better when it doesn't try so hard.

-- Where's Terri? Is she going to come back? Will she sing?

Bits 'n Pieces:

Bryan: "Should I lock the door?"
Sue: "No, I've got a secret room upstairs. Like Letterman."

Rachel: "I came in first place."
Jesse: "You were eight months old."
Rachel: "I was very musically verbal."

Bryan: "Don't make that face. Global warming is a theory."

Bryan: "I was a featured soloist at King's Island in Doodledy Doo Musical Review. ... Nine years later, I woke up on a urine-stained mattress in the West Lima crack district. Then something amazing happened. I was introduced to Jesus. He was my Honduran social worker."

Overall, the episode ended slightly more good than not so good, so 2.5 out of 4 mullets. What are your thoughts?

7 comments:

  1. Well Joss only directed the episode. If he had written it then maybe it would blow everyone away. :) I think his directing contributed to overall better pacing and more focus on character emotions, but i guess he wasn't allowed to alter lines and throw in his jokes. He also said he loves Brittany and she didn't even have a line.

    What i would want from a Glee/Joss collaboration is some songs from Once More With Feeling and/or dr.Horrible. How about Brittany and Santana doing Under Your Spell? ;) Or maybe Mr.Shue's 1st line to Bryan Ryan could be "You look horribly familiar". :)

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  2. It had three musical numbers that I really enjoyed (Dream On, Safety Dance, I Dreamed a Dream), so despite some of the "After School Special" qualities to much of the episode, I'd still give it a thumbs up.

    I kind of liked that they finally gave Other Asian a name. However, I did not like Bryan and Sue having angry sex, funny meta-implications notwitstanding. Ew, indeed.

    Welcome back, Serena!

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  3. Noooo!!!! Other Asian should remain nameless forever - unlike MIB on "Lost". Maybe I'll start calling him "Other Jacob".

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  4. Other Asian has had a name since episode 4.

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  5. What anonymous said, he had a name since he joined the club.

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  6. I went into this with very high expectations. We are, after all, talking about Joss Whedon who directed the greatest musical episode of television -- ever.

    Parts of this were amazing. NPH and MM together were great. I loved both 'Piano Man' and 'Dream On'. It's always fun to watch MM sing with someone else. He tends to step up his game.

    Artie's dance was lovely. In fact, I would go so far as to say that he dances better than some we see week in and week out. I really liked the whole flash mob aspect of it. Does anyone know if it was filmed that way? And I loved Emma's talk with him. She was so gentle, but the look on his face was almost too painful to watch.

    Some parts were less amazing. I watch this show for the music. This episode was song free for the first fifteen minutes. Which would be fine, except this show was even lighter on plot than normal. NPH's contrivance was weak at best.

    I'm not that keen about the Rachel/Shelby storyline. It all seems a bit ridiculous. Shelby, who I assume has been in Lima for some time, sets up one of her students instead of just talking to the dads? Really? That's a stretch -- even for 'Glee'.

    The angry sex scene, even with the inside joke, was just yuck.

    So, overall, it was OK. I'm with Patryk -- songs from Joss' shows would have been much more fun to watch.

    Can I just say -- now that we've had NPH do his guest stint, can we all start making offerings to the gods for Nathan Fillion?

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