Glee 3x02 - "I Am Unicorn"
So.
I should start off by saying I hate West Side Story. I do. It's a long story, but I really do. So I'm not going to talk about the music beyond saying that the mishmash of Kurt and Chris in his Funny Girl number had me grinning like a lunatic with him swooping around and flipping upside-down and using his sai. His legs are also very long. Lea and Darren (and Idina) are obviously very talented, too, but I'm not rushing out to buy singles this week. That's my own issue.
I feel all over the place about the episode, although not in a bad way. There was lots of Kurt, which is always happy for me. Not so much Blaine, and he's a junior (which... okay, I know fandom exploded about this issue this week - I got spoiled for it over and over and over - and people have probably talked far more eloquently than I could about why this makes no sense, because it makes no sense, but it's canon so I'm moving on with my broken heart and a few angry shakes of my fist at RIB for messing with the story they've told), but at least he dressed like Blaine in his number at the end, so that's of the good. (His first outfit with the pink bow tie? Well, the less said the better for me, YMMV.)
I LOVE that they're going there with the fact that Kurt doesn't pass as straight and Blaine does. LOVE IT. But then I wrote a whole story about how Kurt and Blaine are perceived differently, so I suppose that's no surprise. I do think it's a very important story to tell, though, and given the large number of gay people who work on the show I have some hope that they'll do it justice because they'll see its importance. I love that. I love Burt's reaction to Kurt, both that duh, you're gay, you stand out and duh, you should write your own stuff because people are stupid. I love (and hate) that Kurt got to hear the people talking about him, because I love watching Chris feel things. I love that Kurt's reaction was to try to show them they're wrong, because that's my Kurt Hummel right there.
I was also CRAZY HAPPY when Kurt was smiling watching Blaine perform, because he loves him and supports him and thinks he's crazy talented, and I was thrilled that the show was giving us that... and I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ENDED THE EPISODE THERE when they offer Blaine the opportunity to be considered for Tony and Kurt's smile disappears. I'm all over this story line (in theory), but I was blindsided by Kurt being blindsided. Maybe it's because when I tried out for high school musicals we auditioned for our vocal part (like, I tried out as an alto) but didn't specify which actual roles we wanted; the directors did that. So I assumed Blaine was auditioning for everything, and Kurt assumed he was only trying out for the lesser roles (which is what Blaine wrote so he was right). Regardless, I hurt for Kurt about it - about the inequality of how they're perceived, about him possibly not getting to star in the show as a senior and his ticket he thinks to college - as much as I love the idea of the story of it.
I loved seeing Kurt act, which we've never seen before besides his stint with Mellencamp in season one, and he looked and sounded different. Go, Chris! I could believe that was Chris acting as Kurt acting as Romeo. I hated the panel's reactions, though. That's just rude. Especially of Beiste. The smidge of Rachel-Kurt friendship, though, made me happy. I know many people miss Kurt and Mercedes being close, but I gave up on that when she tried to turn him to Jesus in "Grilled Cheesus," and I've always loved the mirrors of Kurt and Rachel. They get each other.
Other notable things:
Finn works in the garage! It's canon! LOVE THAT
Puck holds Kurt's hand while Finn is dancing!
Artie's reactions to Beiste were hilarious.
Santana helping Brittany and encouraging her.
Brit running for class president.
Emma thinking Kurt is dreamy. He's her perfect man!
Kurt's bow tie in his exercise outfit during the first dance session.
Finn and Rachel being cute (although how does she know Finn wouldn't be happy in Lima?).
Was Darren filming the movie in NYC this episode? It was weird that he wasn't around more for some of the events.
One more thing:
As an adoptive mother (who wishes it were possible to have an open adoption with her son's birth family, but that's generally not how international adoption works), I'm sure that I'm going to have quite a lot to say about the adoption story line as it plays out. At the moment I am withholding most judgment. (So unlike me, I know!) I'm adoring seeing Puck go in this direction of wanting a connection (and now we see why Lauren is gone, sigh), but I have issues with both Shelby and Quinn. Shelby has the right and the responsibility to protect her daughter, but she doesn't have the right to dictate to Quinn. She can set limits, but she can't run Quinn's life. As for Quinn, well... I don't know what the heck she's doing with her ups and downs in the past two episodes, but I miss the pink hair. ;) I just need to understand her motivations better. We never saw her pine for Beth before, so wanting custody is kind of a leap.
I am, however, thrilled that they're revisiting this story, because it was all tied up way too neatly at the end of season one, and that's just not how it works.
In conclusion: SHOW!
(Also, I am unspoiled for the future, yadda yadda, please don't spoil me.)
I should start off by saying I hate West Side Story. I do. It's a long story, but I really do. So I'm not going to talk about the music beyond saying that the mishmash of Kurt and Chris in his Funny Girl number had me grinning like a lunatic with him swooping around and flipping upside-down and using his sai. His legs are also very long. Lea and Darren (and Idina) are obviously very talented, too, but I'm not rushing out to buy singles this week. That's my own issue.
I feel all over the place about the episode, although not in a bad way. There was lots of Kurt, which is always happy for me. Not so much Blaine, and he's a junior (which... okay, I know fandom exploded about this issue this week - I got spoiled for it over and over and over - and people have probably talked far more eloquently than I could about why this makes no sense, because it makes no sense, but it's canon so I'm moving on with my broken heart and a few angry shakes of my fist at RIB for messing with the story they've told), but at least he dressed like Blaine in his number at the end, so that's of the good. (His first outfit with the pink bow tie? Well, the less said the better for me, YMMV.)
I LOVE that they're going there with the fact that Kurt doesn't pass as straight and Blaine does. LOVE IT. But then I wrote a whole story about how Kurt and Blaine are perceived differently, so I suppose that's no surprise. I do think it's a very important story to tell, though, and given the large number of gay people who work on the show I have some hope that they'll do it justice because they'll see its importance. I love that. I love Burt's reaction to Kurt, both that duh, you're gay, you stand out and duh, you should write your own stuff because people are stupid. I love (and hate) that Kurt got to hear the people talking about him, because I love watching Chris feel things. I love that Kurt's reaction was to try to show them they're wrong, because that's my Kurt Hummel right there.
I was also CRAZY HAPPY when Kurt was smiling watching Blaine perform, because he loves him and supports him and thinks he's crazy talented, and I was thrilled that the show was giving us that... and I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ENDED THE EPISODE THERE when they offer Blaine the opportunity to be considered for Tony and Kurt's smile disappears. I'm all over this story line (in theory), but I was blindsided by Kurt being blindsided. Maybe it's because when I tried out for high school musicals we auditioned for our vocal part (like, I tried out as an alto) but didn't specify which actual roles we wanted; the directors did that. So I assumed Blaine was auditioning for everything, and Kurt assumed he was only trying out for the lesser roles (which is what Blaine wrote so he was right). Regardless, I hurt for Kurt about it - about the inequality of how they're perceived, about him possibly not getting to star in the show as a senior and his ticket he thinks to college - as much as I love the idea of the story of it.
I loved seeing Kurt act, which we've never seen before besides his stint with Mellencamp in season one, and he looked and sounded different. Go, Chris! I could believe that was Chris acting as Kurt acting as Romeo. I hated the panel's reactions, though. That's just rude. Especially of Beiste. The smidge of Rachel-Kurt friendship, though, made me happy. I know many people miss Kurt and Mercedes being close, but I gave up on that when she tried to turn him to Jesus in "Grilled Cheesus," and I've always loved the mirrors of Kurt and Rachel. They get each other.
Other notable things:
Finn works in the garage! It's canon! LOVE THAT
Puck holds Kurt's hand while Finn is dancing!
Artie's reactions to Beiste were hilarious.
Santana helping Brittany and encouraging her.
Brit running for class president.
Emma thinking Kurt is dreamy. He's her perfect man!
Kurt's bow tie in his exercise outfit during the first dance session.
Finn and Rachel being cute (although how does she know Finn wouldn't be happy in Lima?).
Was Darren filming the movie in NYC this episode? It was weird that he wasn't around more for some of the events.
One more thing:
As an adoptive mother (who wishes it were possible to have an open adoption with her son's birth family, but that's generally not how international adoption works), I'm sure that I'm going to have quite a lot to say about the adoption story line as it plays out. At the moment I am withholding most judgment. (So unlike me, I know!) I'm adoring seeing Puck go in this direction of wanting a connection (and now we see why Lauren is gone, sigh), but I have issues with both Shelby and Quinn. Shelby has the right and the responsibility to protect her daughter, but she doesn't have the right to dictate to Quinn. She can set limits, but she can't run Quinn's life. As for Quinn, well... I don't know what the heck she's doing with her ups and downs in the past two episodes, but I miss the pink hair. ;) I just need to understand her motivations better. We never saw her pine for Beth before, so wanting custody is kind of a leap.
I am, however, thrilled that they're revisiting this story, because it was all tied up way too neatly at the end of season one, and that's just not how it works.
In conclusion: SHOW!
(Also, I am unspoiled for the future, yadda yadda, please don't spoil me.)