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Glee: Saturday Night Glee-ver

“It’s not the broken dreams that break us, it’s the ones we didn’t dare to dream.”

I hope no one was put off by the cringe-worthy title of this episode, because it was one of the best of the season.

I start each one of my Glee reviews by writing the music section, because the music is really why I watch the show. I’m sure that’s the case for a lot of people. If it’s not the main reason why you watch it, it’s in the top three, along with Darren Criss and Naya Rivera. So you can imagine my delight when this week’s episode started off with some sort of surreal Darren Criss advert. The fact that it seemed to happen apropos of nothing added to the impact, it was as if the show was saying ‘if you can’t get onboard with this, please leave now’. Thankfully, I got on the glitter ball, I hope you did too.

Saturday Night Fever was a perfect fit for an episode about following your dreams while singing and dancing. In fact, that’s pretty much the over-arching theme of the series. The main ongoing plot this season has been the struggles of the various senior characters to figure out what they will be going on to do after graduation, and it’s been a bit of a lynchpin. Even though some of the plot-lines this season have been rather dire, most episodes have had least one scene regarding the idea that some of our beloved characters will be leaving at the end of the season, and we’re all invested in finding out what their plans are. It’s something we all care about; just like we used to want Will Shuester to make a success of New Directions and find out what an evil shrew his wife was, way back in Season One.

Tuesday Night Finn-ver

While Mercedes and Santana’s plots were enjoyable to watch, both had nonsensical elements like Glee not understanding how YouTube works, and Lord Tubbington being featured in a Santittany sex tape (don’t get me wrong, that was amazing). It was Finn who really stole the show with that scene where becomes surprisingly articulate about how scared he is of leaving high school behind, of never again feeling what he feels on the football pitch, or on stage with New Directions. I completely understand Finn’s fear that he’ll be a failure, and I’m sure Will does too. Terri was doing her best to make him feel like one when the series began, and neither Will nor Finn wants him and Rachel to end up the same way. I’m not sure that there’s been much evidence of Finn secretly wanting to be an actor though – did he even audition for West Side Story? Maybe he shouldn’t have chosen a profession that is likely to involve a lot of knocks, after all, most actors never make it big.

Actually, Unique’s a Her

It’s kind of hard to believe that Wade would have been worshipping Kurt and Mercedes from afar all this time, only to approach them now, but it’s hardly the most implausible thing that’s happened on the show. While part of me just wants to hoist my rainbow flag and shout “Hurrah for LGBT representation on TV”, I’m slightly worried that some people will have confused Wade’s trans-ness for just enjoying dressing up. As this was only a side-plot, the episode didn’t really have time to explain the difference between being trans and being a cross-dresser, but Alex Newell did a lot with the material, so we got at least some sense of how different Wade/Unique feels. I am fairly confident this will be explored in more depth at some point, if not necessarily next week. While the Glee writers have always been cavalier with guest stars’ storylines, sexuality is one of the strongest recurring themes of the series. Take Karofsky for example. Despite him having very little scene-time this season, and despite us not having seen or heard anything about him since his suicide attempt, his storyline had some of the most powerful scenes of the season.

Loved

-Mr Shue’s glee club diorama. Who can I commission to make me one?

-The video of Lord Tubbington doing household chores needs to be released in full online. If it is intercut with Santana and Brittany doing sexy things... well I’d probably watch that too.

-I wonder if Heather Morris did all the choreography this episode. Regardless, I always enjoy Glee more if it contains plenty Brittany dancing, so this week’s was a treat.

-Alex Newell’s appearance means The Glee Project winners have all made their debut. Alex’s has been far and away the most enjoyable to watch. In case you’re wondering who the others are, they’re the Gerber Baby, Irish Rory (didn’t even notice his absence this week), and Teen Jesus.

- I enjoyed Mr Shue’s flashbacks to That’s The Way (I Like It) (which was in the Director's Cut of the Pilot) and when Sue mentions swag. But how did he remember Rachel saying “mattresses” when he wasn’t there?

-Nice to see Mercedes and Kurt doing things together again.

-They mentioned Blaine's big brother, Cooper, who I miss!

Didn’t Love

-“Disco Sucks” Huh? I am sorry but Kurt would never say that. Not because he’s gay, but because he’s Kurt.

- Stupidest quote of the week: “Your assignment for the week – perform a song from Saturday Night Fever, and then share your hopes for the future.”

-Sue is just now plain nice. I fear this is a permanent personality shift, since her one-liners have consistently become meta-gags and pop-culture references instead of wonderful put-downs.

-Jesse St. James is back, but didn’t have much to do. I am glad of his return, but can’t he be in Vocal Adrenaline rather than coaching it? Remember Bohemian Rhapsody?

-Apparently Sam doesn’t know the difference between 485 views and 485 comments on YouTube. Doh!

Glee Against The Music

The Bee Gees - You Should Be Dancing performed by Blaine with Brittany and Mike:
Glitter balls everywhere. Awesome dancing. Blaine doing a straddle jump. This could not have been more ridiculous or more fun. Grade A-

The Bee Gees - Night Fever performed by Will, Sue, Joe and Blaine with the New Directions:
Impressive falsettos boys. Everyone showing off their moves was very fun and in some cases, hilarious, like when we saw everyone’s nonplussed reactions to Finns moves. Err, I mean move. Grade B+

The Trammps - Disco Inferno performed by Mercedes with Santana and Brittany:
Most flimsy introduction to a song, ever. Other than that, it was great, and Mercedes looked amazing. Grade B

Yvonne Elliman - If I Can't Have You performed by Santana with the New Directions:
I honestly believe Santana could wear a bin bag and still look incredible. Check out the pointing at Brittany too, we learnt last week that’s the way you show who you’re talking/singing to. Grade B+

The Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love performed by Rachel with William McKinley Jazz Ensemble:
This is such an awesome song, and well performed, Rachel. Also, check it out – band members singing. Grade B+

KC and the Sunshine Band - Boogie Shoes performed by Wade/Unique with Vocal Adrenaline:
Wow. Wade/Unique looked and sounded amazing there, and if you take this as the introduction of the first trans character on Glee, it’s a pretty powerful first impression. Lets ignore the fact that Wade could never have kept what he was about to do a secret from everyone, and just enjoy the performance. VA won their Regionals for certain. Grade A

The Bee Gees - More Than a Woman performed by Finn with Santana and Kurt:
Everybody say Aww. I liked seeing Glee’s four main student couples dancing together, it was like a mini-prom. Plus, Brittany getting to wear anything other than her cheerleading outfit always makes me happy. Grade B+

The Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive performed by Finn, Mercedes, and Santana with the New Directions:
You don’t need to have seen Saturday Night Fever to appreciate seeing the cast strut their stuff in the white suits. I hope Becky got paid! The cheesy moves were a lot of fun, but where was Quinn? Grade B+

Quotes for Gleeks

Sue: “Lets be honest, William, you’ve been out of ideas since Madonna week. Why don’t you just embrace that lazy, horribly treacly style of teaching and assign them a famous album.”

Jesse: “The star of Vocal Adrenaline is Vocal Adrenaline. No one is special. You’re the Borg. You don’t like it, there’s the freaking door. Am I clear, Chunks McGriddle?”

Sam: “One of them was disappointed because they thought Mercedes Inferno was a car fail video.”

Santana: “I am a thousand percent sure that I’m actually going to be famous, just like I’m a thousand percent sure that our man-child piano player keeps a petite Eurasian locked in a trunk underneath his bed.”

Sue: “Look at poor Brittany. Her chagrin is limited only by the fact that she has a brain the size of a toddler’s fist.”
Brittany: “I can show you the MRI.”

Finn: “I did one of those quizzes online that was supposed to tell you what job you’d be good at, and my results were: Competitive Eating Champion.”

Brittany: “It’s a bull testicle. I drove all the way to Spencerville to get it. It came with a pair, but I got hungry on the way home, so… It tastes just like a chicken testicle. It’s for Fear Factor. If you want to be famous, you have to eat crazy stuff.”

Quote of the Week: “Kurt Hummel and Mercedes Jones, Unique worships the red carpet you walk on. If you two had a love-child, it would be Unique. And Unique’s grandparents would be Andre Leon Talley and Beyonce, because only the best will do for Unique. Yes fools, it’s real chinchilla! Unless you’re planning on spattering it with red paint, then it’s fake.”

Was this four out of four glitter balls? You tell me.

9 comments:

  1. (shame on me)

    Have watched the show but haven't read (yet) your review. (already Harry ??!! BOOOYAH)

    Oh, I'm givin' it a four glitter balls. Big time. For the music. (barely a few seconds of Quinn and no Sugar this week)

    I shall return....

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  2. Yes, it was a good one. I've been humming Bee Gees all day. And I'm freaking a bit that next season, we're going to lose my two current reasons for watching -- Blaine and Santana.

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  3. This was the episode where Rachel Berry's character is completely assassinated. We go from:
    -"My dreams are bigger than that and they're bigger than you."
    -"Now I'm free to pursue my dreams without anything holding me back."
    -"Thank you, Kurt, for showing me that I don't have to choose between my career and love. Because this? Broadway? That's my true love."
    -"You have to know that I'm... I'm leaving, Finn. I'm going to New York and I'm never coming back."

    To now telling Finn that she can't make it in NY without him, and then, this is when the writers completely destroyed Rachel Berry, told Finn that they didn't have to go to NY if he didn't want to. And the only reason they are going now is because of HIS permission.

    And the acting thing? The writers pulled that out of absolutely nowhere.

    *sigh* I want Rachel Berry back. Although, now everything she does in NYC will be a letdown because it's only because Finn agreed to go.

    However, I liked Brittana in this episode, and usually I don't, so that was pleasing!

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  4. I believe Blaine is a junior not a senior :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Irene wrote: I believe Blaine is a junior not a senior :) I thought so, but I wasn't sure. That would be great.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Considering how most people seemed to dislike Alex Newell during The Glee Project, it's nice to see the turnaround happening after this episode. Out of the four contestants, I really hope the writers bring both Alex and Lindsay back sometime in the future. I don't really care much for Rory anymore, despite having been a major McGinty fangirl originally.

    BUT if the writers HAD to bring someone back, I demand that it's Grant Gustin or Max Adler.

    I always look forward to your reviews, Harry!

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  7. After rewatching it (for and mostly the songs), I now give it a five glitter balls. Disco and the 70's were campy, buy campyness is like chocolate. WE need some once a while.

    Now please excuse me, while I go strut to my kitchen for my breakfast...

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  8. Blaine is definitely a Junior! I don't remember which episode that was mentioned in, but I do believe it came up in a conversation between him and Kurt.

    I didn't realise Mercedes was a senior though until "senior ditch day"!

    WHERE was Quinn? I caught sight of her twice in the choir room for a fraction of a second and ony because I was looking for her! :s

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  9. Yep, Blaine's a junior, he mentioned it when talking to Kurt about auditioning for West Side Story.

    This was a pretty good episode surprisingly, but somehow I still feel like they lose it a bit more each episode. Finn, going into acting, really? He may as well have said he wanted to do dancing, too.

    Poor Quinn. Somehow they really are throwing all of life's troubles at her, huh.

    And is it me or did the two Glee project runner ups get better roles on the show than the two winners? Liked Rory but didn't even notice he was gone, while Teen Jesus doesn't seem to have much of a personality to me...

    Still, these reviews and Blaine leading the New Directions pack next year might just keep me watching :)

    ReplyDelete

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