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Glee: Blame It on the Alcohol

“My nose is still filled with the acrid stench of teen vomit.”

New Directions discover the delights of the wet devil just as Figgins decides it’s alcohol awareness week, and Sue tries to get Will to check into rehab just as he plans a massive night out with Coach Bieste. The designated drivers look on in horror as we look on with glee.

It was a Berry Good Beer

It was hella fun seeing our beloved New Directions get a little bit wasted, so it didn’t matter that the rise in alcohol-related incidents at McKinley came out of nowhere. I particularly enjoyed Finn’s rundown of the type of drunks the girls became (go go Stripper Brittany), especially since Rachel was the worst of them all. Kudos Lea Michele for doing a great job – I was not only cringing through every scene with the Needy-Girl Drunk, it was also comic gold dust and dare I say it, even oddly sexy. No I don’t dare – alcohol is bad gentle readers, baaaad; well illustrated by the actions of the Blaine and New Directions throughout the episode. Sometimes Glee’s moral messages can be a little unsubtle or heavy-handed, but this week they got the perfect balance. It wasn’t necessary to lay it on thick about how dangerous alcohol can be, the way everyone changed (or vomited) when drunk was warning enough. Figgins did a good job of adding to the comedy while providing a semi-authority figure in place of Will, who seems to have finally hit rock bottom in failing to cope with his myriad problems.

Singing the Roadhouse Booze

Not only did Glee get its message across through the students, Will also behaved atrociously this week, and it made for brilliant TV. After scenes of him hitting on Emma, spotlight from his kids, getting bumpy with Terri and making generally bad decisions all through this season, I thought it was entirely plausible that he would go completely off the rails on a night out. The fact that it involved cowboy hats and a mechanical bull just made it doubly as amusing to watch. Unfortunately he took it too far with the drunk dial, and waaay too far not taking his grading papers seriously. I was pleased when Bieste kissed Will and said ‘I love you’ by way of goodnight; the writers seem to be picking up the thread of that very unwise Will and Bieste kiss in the locker room in Never Been Kissed after all. I’m glad – Bieste is a very sensitive woman and completely understandable that she should develop feelings for the man who first kissed her and who is (most of the time) a genuinely lovely guy. Good luck solving That problem with a kiss, Will.

Bye Bi Blainey

Under Finn’s classification system, I guess Blaine would be closest to a stripper drunk – his libido went so haywire that he got flirty with Finn then Frenchy with Rachel. Drunk Blaine was a lot of fun to watch, and further served to illustrate the damage that can be done with a little booze. Blaine’s experimenting with Rachel could have turned out much worse, but thankfully the only damage done was a little argument between him and Kurt. Kurt’s line: “bisexual is a term that gay guys in high school use when they wanna hold hands with girls and feel normal” was pretty out there. Sure it can be a stepping stone to coming out as gay for some people (I thought I was bi for about 6 months during secondary school – turned out I just liked the girl’s hair) but some people genuinely are bi so I thought that the episode making light of Blaine’s flirtation with bisexuality was a little biphobic. However, it worked very well in the context of the episode with Kurt so desperate for Blaine to be gay and Rachel searching for life experiences to write about in song.

Loved

- Thanks for explaining how Sue got to be Aural Intensity’s Director. That clumsy guy, falling down Two sets of stairs
- Rachel citing Carol King and Gerry Goffin and Joni Mitchell as song writing greats
- We got another awesome group phone call split screen scene – “Noah, it’s Santitney and Artcedes”
- Rachel stepping in front of the Rachel painting. Terrifying and hilarious!
- Rachel’s completely hideous ‘party dress’ – underlining how much she will Never be a fashion icon
- Santana + Britney x Belly Button Tequila Slammers = What I will dream about tonight and hereafter
- Puck finally got Lauren’s bosom for a pillow during Don’t You Want Me
- Great to see New Directions letting go and having fun like that.
- AWWW tousled, sleepy dust, hungover Blaine
- The giant post-drinking sunglasses were only topped by Brittany’s amazing hat-animal!
- Bieste had an insane amount of meat for her lunch
- Kurt was so unsubtle, prying about Rachel and Blaine’s date: “Oh, was that tonight?!”
- Scenes with Burt and Kurt are always gems. He’s a great dad to make soufflĂ© with his kid.
- Some moments in this episode were so ridiculous you just had to laugh, like Kurt making his dad agree to educate himself about gay sex just so he could educate Kurt?
- Becky’s xylophone
- Will’s drunk-dial. So utterly cringeworthy and yet somehow adorable
- Santana says ‘cool beans’! I say that all the time, maybe we’re destined to be together?

Didn’t Love

- Not only does Kurt use the phrase ‘fag hag’ but he shortens it to ‘hag’. Gross.
- In fact Kurt was a real bitch in that whole scene. But I loved it really!
- Don’t cry Santana! She started right after Will mentioned how many people are killed via alcohol poisoning every year. Could that have hit a nerve?

Songs I wished were in this episode: Barenaked Ladies – Alcohol, Rihanna – Cheers (Drink to That), Frank Sinatra – One For My Baby. Has anyone got any more?

Glee Against the Mus....hic!

My Hairband – Rachel Berry
Well done Rachel, that was simply beautiful. That deserves an A+

Don't You Want Me - Human League (Rachel and Blaine)
Wow Blaine is getting to warble a lot this season. Such a fun performance with the audience reacting in different ways; Kurt turned green with envy and Mercedes just sat there grinning like a loon. Blaine and Rachel sound great together and their drunkenness added to the cheesy goodness. I wish that one day I’ll walk into a karaoke bar and find these two going at it. A-

Blame It – Jamie Foxx (Artie, Mercedes, Santana and Puck)
Awesome staging with the rotating sofas and red lights, even if those were . What with this and the glowing Bieber ceiling from last week (Somebody to Love), Will’s really making use of the appropriation of the Cheerios’ budget. Grade B

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer – (Will and Bieste)
Was Will a really gay drunk, or am I projecting? Anyway I liked that Bieste’s singing debut was so well worked into the story, unlike Lauren’s last week. Song itself was a perfect fit, but not all that riveting. C+

Tik and also, Tok – Kee Dollar Sign Ha (Brittany and New Directions)
Not only did Brittany look the part, but her choreography stomped on Ke$ha’s drunken ass. That is until she vomited what looked like blueberry cement all over Rachel; that was the ultimate Ke$ha homage. Poor Rachel – “Guys! I’m meltiiiiing”. On the downside, this was very similar to the original song. B+

Quotes for Gleeks:

Rachel: “Brittany, remember the rules: no sitting on anything!”

Rachel: “Your face tastes awesome.”
Mike: “I told my mum I had the flu and she made me a traditional tea made out of panda hair”

Artie: “How about some Bloody Marys y’all?”

Rachel: “Mr Shue? First of all that vest is very cute – you are all kinds of awesome

Blaine: “I'd say ‘bye’ but I wouldn't wanna make you angry.”

MC: “Welcome everybody to Rosalita’s Roadhouse, where the men are men and the sheep are nervous!”

Rachel: “...frankly I did expect a little snog as the date drew to a close, but I guess the timing just wasn’t right”
Kurt: “Or the blood alcohol level”

Will: “Yay, happy face...Ok....*burp*”

Burt: “I don’t know what two guys do when they’re together! You know I sat through that whole Brokeback Mountain – from what I gather, something went down in the tent.”

Brittany: “Ke$ha has been a culture icon for weeks.”

Rachel: “I have mixed us a playful showbiz cocktail of what was left in my dads’ liquor cabinet. There’s some brandy and vermouth and port wine and scotch in here and also some kool aid and some crumbled up oreos.”
Santana: “Oh my god this tastes like cough syrup.”
Rachel: “There’s also cough syrup in here.” Anyone for a Racheltini?

Figgins: “And now, performing the hit song Tik and also Tok, by rapper Ke and dollar sign ha, New Directions.”

Brittany: “Everybody drink responsibly.”

Will: “...hey and I rode a bull and I was thinking of you!”
Quinn: “There’s a fair amount of the pot calling the kettle black right now.”
Brittany: “That is so racist!”

Santana: “But if you don’t drink what will you have to live for?”

...and the Quote of the Week -
Santana: “Oh you’re one to talk! How about you crack a 4 Loco Count Boozy von Drunk-a-ton?”

I lost count of the number of times I burst out laughing during this episode. In fact, I even found it hard to see through my tears of laughter at one point. Any Glee episode that can do that while working thematically and providing my ipod with the auditory equivalent of a rejuvenating seaweed wrap deserves four out of four spinning bottles. Now I’m off to find me some frozen yoghurt. Until next week, hic!

11 comments:

  1. I liked this episode but it actually made me want to drink more than less ... surely not the intent, right?

    Brittany's version of Tik Tok and the Rachel/Blaine duet was my music highlights this week.

    Kurt's dismissal of bisexuality annoyed me but it seemed in character for some reason though.

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  2. Loved Rachel and Blaine doing "Don't you want me baby". I also really loved Will and Bieste and "One Bourbon." And the party. Getting drunk and silly has its place. (I'm a happy girl drunk, by the way. :) I was getting frustrated with Kurt and "there is no bi", but Kurt is in love with a friend who doesn't feel the same way; it was in character. Terrific episode. And a great review, Harry.

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  3. I really liked this episode! I was pleasantly surprised that the writers gave us a subtle, balanced message about alcohol instead of repeatedly beating us over the head with a moral.

    I don't know why Rachel felt like she didn't have any life experiences to write about, though. She finally discovered her biological mother, who decided she didn't want a relationship with Rachel. She cheated on her boyfriend and lost him. Her ex-boyfriend and his teammates threw eggs at her. She was bullied and isolated and generally misunderstood. Surely there's a song somewhere in there.

    I guess if that's my biggest issue with the episode, that's a pretty good sign.

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  4. I reckon if I had seen this episode before my 21st a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have ended up with alcohol poisoning. Well, I still would have, but I would have felt so much worse about it.

    Did anyone else think that Puck looked ridiculously sexy in Lauren's glasses? Just me? Okay.

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  5. At first I wasn't a huge fan of the episode but the more I watch it, the more I love it. Honestly, everything in this episode was pure genius right down to Rachel's highly attractive/not surprising party dress. I really enjoyed Rachel and Blaine singing together, their voices really mesh well. It's also great seeing the glee club outside of school and just having fun together. I also really liked when Blaine said "I would say bye but I don't want to upset you". That was one of my favorite parts...Rachel's headband song being another favorite. I didn't really mind Finn this episode but he was kind of harsh to Rachel even though she was definitely the Needy-Girl drunk. When I first heard that Rachel was throwing a party, I was initially shocked like most people but it eventually tied in nicely to her supposed "comeback". Overall I think the plot was pretty good. I'm sure there will be some controversy about underage drinking (blah, blah, blah) but this episode was relatively true. This is what happens in high school...except people don't burst into song (although I greatly wish they did). I can't wait for Holly Holiday's return in two weeks though! Oh, and everyone should check out the Glee original songs for the regionals episode. I love them.

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  6. Thanks Harry for wonderful post/review. I love that you post your favourite quotes because I always miss half of them! I guess that is why I can watch each episode many times after because I always discover some new jokes to laugh about! Love reading your reviews! and love reading the comments. I love that episode as well and couldn't stop laughing my head off!!!!

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  7. Wow thank you Anonymous, what a lovely comment. I shall keep my oversized ears pricked for the best quotes for ya.

    Marissa I didn't know about Holly or the original songs - I don't want to be spoiled but how can I stop myself now I know they're waiting for me? :)

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  8. Great review sometimes i read the review before the watching the episode you write them so fast!

    S

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  9. the scene with Sue and Becky and xylophone is a total homage to the movie Grease.

    and kurt's biphobia bugged me.

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  10. Just watching this on E4 and, although Kurt's behaviour and attitude is terrible, it's great that Blaine really tore him to shreds and put him in his place. That needed doing.

    Also it needs saying that Puck is incredibly hot with glasses on.

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  11. Thought this episode was great -- not too preachy, but got the point across.

    '1B1S1B' is one of my favourite drinking songs, so I was very pleased to see it included here. That song actually premiered at the bar where I used to drink when I was (shock, horror) underage.

    I was a bit put off by Sue playing Will's phone call for the whole school. That seemed particularly cruel -- even for her. I just kept hoping it would end soon. Interesting that Will has decided to give up the booze until the end of the season. Is this the beginning of his climbing out of the pit?

    And as for Shannon's kiss and 'I love you', I didn't take it romantically. I think she cares about Will and values their friendship. Maybe I'm wrong...

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