Glee 1.03 Acafellas
Contrary to Mark Batac's contentions, Glee can NEVER be overrated. It's a show that lives up to its hype, and it's really much much smarter than it appears to be. Episode 3 proves this so much.
FOR THOSE READING ON FACEBOOK AND HASN'T SEEN THE EPISODE. STOP READING HERE
The Music
Hello, this is the week that I have NOT heard like 70% of the songs. With the exception of For He's A Jolly Good Fellow and This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan, I don't remember hearing the others until this week!
The Acafellas, the show episode title, introduce new boyband songs to the repertoire. Aside from Montell Jordan, they also did Bell Biv Devoe's Poison at the Benchwarmer's Bar, and I Wanna Sex You Up by Color it Badd at a PTA meeting. Is it me, or I thought the parents were bothered with the Push It number and they'll perform this song at a PTA?? What is up with that? But dude, this performance is super win. From the technicolour lights , to finding out that PUCK, the guy who fart-sang in the Pilot a.k.a. "the hot mohawk dude", COULD SING.
Puck graces the stage with his suave moves.
There are NO major Glee songs from New Directions, but Mercedes busts it with Bust Your Window, originally by Jazmine Sullivan. This was already Online after ComicCon and it looked like a fabulous music video in a vacuum, but putting it in the show and knowing the development of the CONTEXT was just amazing. Mercedes is just FIIIIIIIIIIERRRRRRRCCCCCCE. I love her to bits and pieces. Move over Beyoncé, Mercedes is here. And the back-up singers? She got the entire Cheerios back her up, but she's still a super star.
Mercy, originally by Duffy, was also another show-stopper! We finally hear again from Vocal Adrenaline after Rehab and dude, they're just amazing on this number, contrary to what Dakota Stanley thinks.
Guest Appearances
Whit Hetford
Who is Dakota Stanley?? Kill yourself! He's the Sue Sylvester-esque choreographer for the Vocal Adrenaline and get this: he was an understudy for the Candelabra in Beauty and the Beast for Broadway. LoL. Matthew Morrison doubting being an understudy is PRICELESS especially since his entertainment career took off in Broadway. Anyway, Dakota Stanley, played by Whit Hertford, was just so brutally honest and funny in this episode, he even dubbed the frankenteen handle for Cory Monteith.
Sadly, we are not seeing him soon. He's small.
Victor Garber
Victor Garber sheds his Daddy Spy drab in Alias and became a law-school-aspiring-but-ended-up-working-in-insurance daddy of Will (finally, a character I can relate to in academics: I AM in law school, and I currently have an insurance class). The cheesy/wholesome aspect of the episode arose from his character, with the entire issue of CONFIDENCE and GUTS came about. And this is what I noticed a LOT about Glee episode. Last week's theme was COMPROMISE, and you can hear the word being thrown around a lot.
Josh Groban
A little disappointing that he didn't sing, but OMG, he's so adorable with his big puppy eyes and handing out the restraining order for Sandy Ryerson! While Sandy claims to have a "long-distance girlfriend from Cleaveland" his credibility really plunges when we find out that he's been stalking Josh Groban ("Stop emailing me! Stop sending me edible baskets and locks of your hair..." SUPER LAUGHFEST). Benta rin yung drinking session niya with Mama Schue! This qualifies for a cameo appearance, but the two scenes he was in was just worth it.
All About Love
Okay this episode is just delicious for those looking for love drama.
Rachel-Finn
LQ much? This "couple" is just so cute to watch on screen, even if they were bickering, a perfect sequel to Rachel's Take A Bow and the brief fantasy in the auditorium from last week. Finn is so cute being clueless and confused about Rachel's "chic batty"-ness, and not even knowing what a cliché means. Luckily, Quinn-Finn was not happening in this episode, and it just made the Finnel shipper in me very happy.
Mercedes-Kurt???
I love that they created a resident fag hag in the series! I think it's just hilarious that Kurt is not "out" amid his: Marc Jacob-ness, Mister Cellophane soprano, and constant eyebrow lashing. And this pairing made a LOT of quotables.
"Special Ed kids will get more play than we will. The only thing that gets me by is my knowledge that we are superior to all, of, them."
Rachel: We need to have a gayvention. That's a GAY INTERVENTION.
Tina: It's K-k-k-kurt. He's LADY FABULOUS.
Rachel: It's obvious you like him, we just don't want you to get hurt with feelings he can't reciprocate.
Mercedes: Look, just because he wears nice clothes, doesn't mean he's on the download.
Rachel: He wore a corset to second period today.
Of course, Mercedes becomes BUSTED (ergo, the busted window), but what is this??? The editing here was classic: after Kurt says "I'm in love with someone else," cut to Finn for like 1.5 seconds, blur, and Rachel in a grossed-out face becomes focused. It was such a priceless moment.
Emma-Ken
I'm still Will/Emma, I don't care if there'll be a divorce. But Ken's really sweet when he man-handled Puck:
"Now listen to me you psychopath. My lovelife is hanging by a thread and that thread is Acafellas. It drives my girlfriend nuts in the pants."
There's still something so forceful about Emma cheering for Ken in every Acafella performance thou', but oh well, this show is filled with unrequited love.
Will-Terri
Uh... wild? And also, can Will get any hotter? It's so funny how "often" for them was once a week thou'. BENTA talaga. Also, Will winking at his wife was just so... cute and not tacky!!
Puck-Sue
CLASSIC. I have no words. Let the gif speak for itself:
The Acafellas
Okay, they sure CAN sing. But their personal issues are even much more entertaining.
"Wanna know what I'm feeling? I live in the YMCA, I only have one pair of long pants..."
"Oh please, my life is a disaster with no creative outlet, other than writing my Desperate Housewives fan fiction."
"I'm afraid of my vacuum."
"I know how you guys feel, I apparently don't know how to dance."
"I have no thumbs."
"Sorry."
Let's break it down per member:
Ken
Okay, this I didn't expect. Does Sue and Mr Figgins sing also? And I agree, why doesn't he have long pants? Although the short pants already kinda defines his character.
Sandy
I love this guy. He's like Kurt, in the glass closet. Crazy too. But that Desperate Housewives fan fiction thing was just off the roof, I was literally laughing out loud, six minutes into the show! Plus his response when Howard asked who Josh Groban is, is super win:
"Who is Josh Groban?!? Kill yourself!"
Although performance wise, BLEH. Will put it right "With you in the group, it's creepy."
Will
I LOVE YOU. I will marry you if you ask me, even in his Broadway Bares outfit. But he's such a swooning crooner, performing with the group. I love the fedora hat in the Poison number and I love how he undid his bow-tie for the PTA show. He is style and unbelievable talent in one handsome package. Really reminds me a very sophisticated Justin Timberlake, with a really lovely tenor. Not so surprisingly, Matthew Morrison WAS briefly part of a relatively unknown boyband called LMNT, which I knew because of uh... Lizzie McGuire the Movie, and there was a time I was saying it as L.M.N.T. before someone corrected me to say it was element pala.
Fangirl squee! Moment
Howard
He's the guy who can't fold fitted sheets, and now we learn he can't count past 30. But it's so cute they added a non-faculty member for the original "boyband", even if what brought him there was merely this:
Henri
Okay, is Will the only teacher in McKinley High who: (1) doesn't have a mental illness, or (2) have a drug problem? I guess Henri, the shop teacher, qualifies for both for being addicted to COUGH SYRUP. The Acafellas got together mainly because of Henri. They were doing the male "talk-about-our-feelings" thing because Henri lost both his thumbs while being high on cough syrup, and Sandy broke into "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and Will breaks Sandy by doing a completely shocking, pleasantly surprising, "This is how we do it!!!" So yes, thank you Henri, for breaking your thumbs and presenting the golden opportunity for the group to be formed!
Only Glee is satirical enough so much so that they'll make a guy with no thumb eat a thumb cake =P
Finn & Puck
Finn, we already know Finn can sing, but he tried to quit Glee once more, but Will decided to get him instead.
As for PUCK, OMG, finally. Fandom has been dying to hear him sing, and it was a well-known fact that he was in a band and plays the guitar. And lo and behold, he does play the guitar! I looooove how he finally have his backstory. Santana Lopez breaks up with him because of his bad credit score (super benta talaga!!! Ibang iba si Santana Lopez kay J.Lo, her loves costs a LOT), so he decided to score some cougars with his pool business and his singing skills. I just love how he thought of joining the Acafellas to be able to expand his clientele. It's such an amusing reason, most of us just wanted him to sing, but add this story and it becomes genuinely consistent with how the show has been framed so far.
Conclusion
When is next week?? Do we hear Kristin Chenoweth coming along? *screams* I think what I told Nash perfectly summarises why Glee is pure love: We live vicariously through the characters. Amid the eccentricity and the overwhelming talent, they were able to capture the awkward yet common human experiences that nothing as smart as this was able to articulate. I ♥ Glee!
Credit
glee_tunes
fight_the_sky for the gifs