Glee Season 3 Re-watch - 3x01 - The Purple Piano Project
Welcome to Week 1 of the 2013/14 winter hiatus, Glee fans! I am officially kicking off my Season 3 re-watch, and I will never stop loving "The Purple Piano Project."
Shalom, blogosphere! It's a new season and a new school year, so JBI is here to set the stage for us. Honestly, they did it three season openers in row, but I'm totally down with this as a strategy for setting the scene. After being a little fuzzy on how old all of these kids are, we spell it out. Senior: Finn, Mike, Rachel, Kurt, Santana, Brittany, Mercedes. Junior: Tina, Artie.
Finn is stammering, unable to answer any question relating to his future. He has no idea. Mike's parents want nothing less than an Ivy. Rachel and Kurt are all about New York and Julliard. (Kurt's posing for the camera while Rachel talks cracks me up to no end.) Kurt is striking me with how different he is from the grown-up Season 5 man I've been watching recently.
Mercedes admits to dating Sam a few months back (oh, Samcedes, I wanted to ship you), but he wanted to make it as a solo artist his parents moved out of state, so now she's dating random gigantic football player dude named Shane. 'Kay. Santana is fierce, Brittany is working on a time machine, and Quinn is MIA.
Schue and Emma are now fully co-habitating and making squicky remarks about morning wood before making each other breakfast and packing lunches. Oh how cute. I guess.
In the choir room, after the disaster of losing last year's Nationals, Schue intends to push them harder than ever before (don't worry, they still won't choose songs until a few hours before each competition). Mercedes is bummed about being the laughing-stock of the show choir world ("And that's sayin' somethin'," says Artie), and Kurt just likes the comments on the YouTube video of Finn and Rachel's kiss ("why's the T-Rex eating the Jew?").
Anyways, they need more members, because Sam is gone, Quinn is MIA, and Zizes is way too cool for this nonsense. So, it's Purple Piano Project time. Yippee!
Kurt and Rachel check in with their friendly neighborhood guidance counselor, who helpfully provides a pamphlet entitled "Me and My Hag," as well as clues them into the fact that Juilliard doesn't have a musical theater program. No matter, these two WILL go to New York, and thus we are introduced to every Gleek's favorite acronym, NYADA. (Though I do love Emma's bit about suggesting Kent State and the fact that it has a macabre backstory. Brilliant.)
(Personal note: I used to be a guidance counselor and the whole on-again-off-again college stuff in Season 3 kind of makes me roll my eyes out the back of my head, but I'm working on getting past it.)
Becky brings poll numbers to Sue, who is running for Congress. Oh, right. I forgot how much I hated this storyline. Anyways, Sue thinks she can connect with The People by being against something that everyone hates. Since Mike and Tina are playing chopsticks on a hallway piano, she decides to take a wire cutter to the thing and let us know that she, once again, hates the Glee Club. And now is going to run for Congress on a platform of anti-arts education.
Kurt and Blaine are in the Lima Bean and I have seen this scene eight gajillion times and it still makes me wiggle in my seat and clap my hands. I love them so much here as Kurt tries to convince Blaine to leave Dalton for McKinley. They're sweet and adoring, but also playfully teasing, and it just makes my heart happy. Blaine is at least a little conflicted about deserting his friends at Dalton, but how can you resist when Kurt Hummel looks straight at you and says he wants to spend every waking moment by your side? You can’t. You just can’t.
And then we're introduced to skank!Quinn. She's got hot pink hair, ripped clothes, a nicotine addiction, and a Ryan Seacrest tattoo. Honestly? I kind of love skank!Quinn. And for all that the writers gave her eight million different personalities over the years, I like that the buttoned-up popular girl is having an identity crisis. Rachel and her vintage dress come to find Quinn under the bleachers to try to convince her to re-join the Glee club. She's sweet and genuine and awkward in her way, but recognizes that what Quinn really is, is sad.
Sue's back on the insane local news to rage against the arts. "Unless it's a day she's being screened for hepatitis, this girl ain't positive." Heh. She makes the case that we can't afford arts programs when academics are falling behind. For as crazy as Sue is, it's a logical-sounding argument. A flawed one, in my opinion, but at least it's based on something legit instead of "arts will just make everyone gay" or something.
Will is outraged and makes the case for all that the arts bring to students (yay!). But then it turns into Schue flipping out over Emma and maybe starting a family and oh wait they still aren't having sex and ARE YOU REALLY HAVING THIS CONVERSATION IN YOUR BOSS'S OFFICE?
Sue has named Santana and Becky co-captains of the Cheerios, and both of them are outraged. Sue wants them to sabotage the Purple Piano Project and insists on Santana's loyalty to her over the Glee club. Sue makes a loaded comment about Santana “playing for both sides,” and for all the over-the-top aggression that Sue has had over the years, this quiet remark is as cutting as it gets. We immediately see the cracks in hard-ass Santana’s outer shell, terrified to be publicly outed even if everyone quietly knows she’s with Brittany.
Lunchtime in the cafeteria and there's a Purple Piano planted. Rachel wants to do their big Go-Go's number while most of them think it's suicide. But hell, it's a song and there are tables they can dance on, so "We've Got the Beat" is SO ON. It's fun and full of energy and it it ends to a few seconds of absolute crickets as the rest of the student body is utterly unimpressed. But then Becky tosses a cup of peas and JBI screams the words we all love to hate: FOOD FIGHT! Watching each of their reactions to being pelted with food cracks me up to no end, especially Rachel bursting into tears and Kurt taking cover under a cafeteria tray.
Cleaning up in the choir room, we meet the utter delight that is Sugar Motta. I was really skeptical of her when I first saw this episode, but I have grown SO fond of her brand of crazy. Rachel is defensive when Sugar wants to audition, but when we realize Sugar is tone-deaf, Rachel's smirk is kind of perfect. Schue is conflicted because he's never denied anyone a spot in Glee Club, but Sugar is so horrific, he's going to need to think about it.
Beiste is there for a pep talk about how letting everyone in doesn't necessarily do people any favors. Emma comes in to let us know Sue is rising in the polls, and Schuester takes it personally and goes into battle. Emma is turned on for the first time in her life. Eh.
Kurt and Rachel meet in the auditorium (in two of my all-time favorite outfits) to prepare for their NYADA mixer. "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" might also be my all-time favorite Hummelberry duet. They sound amazing, they look amazing, the choreography is adorable. Tons and tons of fun. This is when I really start to love their friendship. They're both ambitious and theatrical and want and love so many of the same things. They're so great together (as long as they aren't in direct competition with one another).
Sue is holding Cheerios tryouts, which Will comes in to glitter-bomb. It's... ridiculous.
But WAIT! THERE ARE BARE ANKLES AND CROPPED RED PANTS AND A BOWTIE COMING DOWN THE HALLWAY! Oh, hallelujah, Blaine Warbler has arrived at McKinley. The flirty way he shows up at Kurt's locker and clues him into the fact that he really is there... oh goodness, there are no words. The grin and the hug and the heart-eyes… oh, perfection. Back here in Season 5 land, it makes me miss all of those sweet, funny interactions. Ugh, god, get them back in the same place PLEASE. /end tangent
Anyways, what better way to introduce yourself to the population of McKinley High than a musical number in the courtyard with a bunch of Cheerios as your backup dancers? And not just any song, of-another-era Blaine rocks out the Tom Jones with "It's Not Unusual" and we learn that our Warbler was hiding the fact that he can work those hips. It's so fun to watch him in his first really unbuttoned, blazer-free performance (well, first one sober).
Alas, Blainers has not yet figured out that he should be wary when Santana shows up on the scene, and the purple piano bursts into flames. Oops.
Rachel and Kurt show up for their NYADA mixer, certain their star power and once-rehearsed Wizard of Oz number will be so intimidating to the other prospective applicants that they'll all just fall at their flawless feet. Alas, they walk into the room to find a few dozen of their incredibly-talented clones. Guess you two aren't such big fish when thrown into a larger pond.
In fact, Harmony and the rest of the NYADA fanatics have been getting together for years, and have a wild tap number prepared whose skill level blows Rachel and Kurt's adorable song out of the water. "Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do" is a riot, even if they're all dancing around Harmony (yay for selective choreography), and the whole thing is an enormous wake-up call for Rachel and Kurt. They might be hot stuff at McKinley, but outside of Lima, they might not even be stuff.
Rachel and Kurt's teary conversation in her car is one of my favorite things the two of them have ever done. So heartfelt and genuine from both of them. In typically dramatic fashion, but not without a dose of hard reality, Rachel reminds us that "not everyone's dreams come true," and maybe they should just resign themselves to a lifetime of community theater. But dammit, Kurt is ending this pity party here and now. Screw it. They ARE special. Both of them. And they are going to MAKE those dreams come true. They might have more competition than they had imagined, but Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel are fierce. Pinky promise and gay high five, they are going to do this.
Schuester has to deliver the bad news to Sugar, who doesn't take it well. Shoot.
Blaine makes his earnest and enthusiastic entry into the choir room to surprisingly tepid applause. Finn, clearly, is feeling threatened by a new male lead in the room, despite Blaine being all gung-ho go-team. He also blames Blaine for the piano bonfire, but Santana doesn't hide the fact that it was really her. So Schuester kicks her out of the club until she can find some loyalty. (Whoa! Schuester! Making a reasonable decision for once!)
Two more pieces of scene-setting business: Rachel announces that they should do West Side Story for the school musical, since she's pretty ideally suited to be Maria, but Mercedes is ready to fight for the lead. And Kurt, realizing he's mighty short on extracurriculars, is running for Senior Class President.
We marvel at the metaphor of the beat-up purple pianos for a moment, before Rachel leads us into a song. She starts the slow, heartfelt intro to "You Can't Stop the Beat" until it picks up the tempo and busts into the auditorium and I can barely stop myself from bouncing along. It's classic Glee in the very best sense, a perfect, high-energy group number. Mercedes sounds particularly awesome on it, and Blaine is my absolute favorite to watch throughout. It's his first big dance number, and lo and behold, our pint-sized Warbler is actually a little firecracker of energy, complete with a cartwheel at the end.
"The Purple Piano Project" is easily in my top 10 Glee episodes from any season. There are pieces of other episodes that hold incredibly special places in my heart, but as a cohesive whole, this one is incredibly successful. My only criticism is that I don't adore the times when we focus on the adults (what else is new?), but I love every single other thing about it. I love my Klaine, I love my Hummelberry. I love the songs, I love the way it sets the stage for this school year.
We set up a clueless Finn, driven-but-suddenly-petrified Rachel and Kurt, Mercedes wanting her voice to be heard, Quinn in a rebellious phase, and Santana holding onto an open secret. We even have three fairly happy, functional, supportive couples in the choir room. This episode got me so damn excited for Season 3.
Now that I'm re-watching from my place in the Season-5 future, obviously I am reminded how much I miss the Old New Directions. I miss Mercedes and Finn, I miss Santana and Brittany together in the choir room, I miss having all of the stories take place in one state. It's fun to see how people's looks have changed, too. I really enjoyed Season 3 vintage!Rachel, and it's a little nostalgic to remember the days before Blaine's gel-helmet. Alas.
Anyways, the Season 3 re-watch is underway. What do you think friends? Did you love The Purple Piano Project as much as I did?
Back later in the week with “ I Am Unicorn!”
Shalom, blogosphere! It's a new season and a new school year, so JBI is here to set the stage for us. Honestly, they did it three season openers in row, but I'm totally down with this as a strategy for setting the scene. After being a little fuzzy on how old all of these kids are, we spell it out. Senior: Finn, Mike, Rachel, Kurt, Santana, Brittany, Mercedes. Junior: Tina, Artie.
Finn is stammering, unable to answer any question relating to his future. He has no idea. Mike's parents want nothing less than an Ivy. Rachel and Kurt are all about New York and Julliard. (Kurt's posing for the camera while Rachel talks cracks me up to no end.) Kurt is striking me with how different he is from the grown-up Season 5 man I've been watching recently.
Mercedes admits to dating Sam a few months back (oh, Samcedes, I wanted to ship you), but he wanted to make it as a solo artist his parents moved out of state, so now she's dating random gigantic football player dude named Shane. 'Kay. Santana is fierce, Brittany is working on a time machine, and Quinn is MIA.
Schue and Emma are now fully co-habitating and making squicky remarks about morning wood before making each other breakfast and packing lunches. Oh how cute. I guess.
In the choir room, after the disaster of losing last year's Nationals, Schue intends to push them harder than ever before (don't worry, they still won't choose songs until a few hours before each competition). Mercedes is bummed about being the laughing-stock of the show choir world ("And that's sayin' somethin'," says Artie), and Kurt just likes the comments on the YouTube video of Finn and Rachel's kiss ("why's the T-Rex eating the Jew?").
Anyways, they need more members, because Sam is gone, Quinn is MIA, and Zizes is way too cool for this nonsense. So, it's Purple Piano Project time. Yippee!
Kurt and Rachel check in with their friendly neighborhood guidance counselor, who helpfully provides a pamphlet entitled "Me and My Hag," as well as clues them into the fact that Juilliard doesn't have a musical theater program. No matter, these two WILL go to New York, and thus we are introduced to every Gleek's favorite acronym, NYADA. (Though I do love Emma's bit about suggesting Kent State and the fact that it has a macabre backstory. Brilliant.)
(Personal note: I used to be a guidance counselor and the whole on-again-off-again college stuff in Season 3 kind of makes me roll my eyes out the back of my head, but I'm working on getting past it.)
Becky brings poll numbers to Sue, who is running for Congress. Oh, right. I forgot how much I hated this storyline. Anyways, Sue thinks she can connect with The People by being against something that everyone hates. Since Mike and Tina are playing chopsticks on a hallway piano, she decides to take a wire cutter to the thing and let us know that she, once again, hates the Glee Club. And now is going to run for Congress on a platform of anti-arts education.
Kurt and Blaine are in the Lima Bean and I have seen this scene eight gajillion times and it still makes me wiggle in my seat and clap my hands. I love them so much here as Kurt tries to convince Blaine to leave Dalton for McKinley. They're sweet and adoring, but also playfully teasing, and it just makes my heart happy. Blaine is at least a little conflicted about deserting his friends at Dalton, but how can you resist when Kurt Hummel looks straight at you and says he wants to spend every waking moment by your side? You can’t. You just can’t.
And then we're introduced to skank!Quinn. She's got hot pink hair, ripped clothes, a nicotine addiction, and a Ryan Seacrest tattoo. Honestly? I kind of love skank!Quinn. And for all that the writers gave her eight million different personalities over the years, I like that the buttoned-up popular girl is having an identity crisis. Rachel and her vintage dress come to find Quinn under the bleachers to try to convince her to re-join the Glee club. She's sweet and genuine and awkward in her way, but recognizes that what Quinn really is, is sad.
Sue's back on the insane local news to rage against the arts. "Unless it's a day she's being screened for hepatitis, this girl ain't positive." Heh. She makes the case that we can't afford arts programs when academics are falling behind. For as crazy as Sue is, it's a logical-sounding argument. A flawed one, in my opinion, but at least it's based on something legit instead of "arts will just make everyone gay" or something.
Will is outraged and makes the case for all that the arts bring to students (yay!). But then it turns into Schue flipping out over Emma and maybe starting a family and oh wait they still aren't having sex and ARE YOU REALLY HAVING THIS CONVERSATION IN YOUR BOSS'S OFFICE?
Sue has named Santana and Becky co-captains of the Cheerios, and both of them are outraged. Sue wants them to sabotage the Purple Piano Project and insists on Santana's loyalty to her over the Glee club. Sue makes a loaded comment about Santana “playing for both sides,” and for all the over-the-top aggression that Sue has had over the years, this quiet remark is as cutting as it gets. We immediately see the cracks in hard-ass Santana’s outer shell, terrified to be publicly outed even if everyone quietly knows she’s with Brittany.
Lunchtime in the cafeteria and there's a Purple Piano planted. Rachel wants to do their big Go-Go's number while most of them think it's suicide. But hell, it's a song and there are tables they can dance on, so "We've Got the Beat" is SO ON. It's fun and full of energy and it it ends to a few seconds of absolute crickets as the rest of the student body is utterly unimpressed. But then Becky tosses a cup of peas and JBI screams the words we all love to hate: FOOD FIGHT! Watching each of their reactions to being pelted with food cracks me up to no end, especially Rachel bursting into tears and Kurt taking cover under a cafeteria tray.
Cleaning up in the choir room, we meet the utter delight that is Sugar Motta. I was really skeptical of her when I first saw this episode, but I have grown SO fond of her brand of crazy. Rachel is defensive when Sugar wants to audition, but when we realize Sugar is tone-deaf, Rachel's smirk is kind of perfect. Schue is conflicted because he's never denied anyone a spot in Glee Club, but Sugar is so horrific, he's going to need to think about it.
Beiste is there for a pep talk about how letting everyone in doesn't necessarily do people any favors. Emma comes in to let us know Sue is rising in the polls, and Schuester takes it personally and goes into battle. Emma is turned on for the first time in her life. Eh.
Kurt and Rachel meet in the auditorium (in two of my all-time favorite outfits) to prepare for their NYADA mixer. "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" might also be my all-time favorite Hummelberry duet. They sound amazing, they look amazing, the choreography is adorable. Tons and tons of fun. This is when I really start to love their friendship. They're both ambitious and theatrical and want and love so many of the same things. They're so great together (as long as they aren't in direct competition with one another).
Sue is holding Cheerios tryouts, which Will comes in to glitter-bomb. It's... ridiculous.
But WAIT! THERE ARE BARE ANKLES AND CROPPED RED PANTS AND A BOWTIE COMING DOWN THE HALLWAY! Oh, hallelujah, Blaine Warbler has arrived at McKinley. The flirty way he shows up at Kurt's locker and clues him into the fact that he really is there... oh goodness, there are no words. The grin and the hug and the heart-eyes… oh, perfection. Back here in Season 5 land, it makes me miss all of those sweet, funny interactions. Ugh, god, get them back in the same place PLEASE. /end tangent
Anyways, what better way to introduce yourself to the population of McKinley High than a musical number in the courtyard with a bunch of Cheerios as your backup dancers? And not just any song, of-another-era Blaine rocks out the Tom Jones with "It's Not Unusual" and we learn that our Warbler was hiding the fact that he can work those hips. It's so fun to watch him in his first really unbuttoned, blazer-free performance (well, first one sober).
Alas, Blainers has not yet figured out that he should be wary when Santana shows up on the scene, and the purple piano bursts into flames. Oops.
Rachel and Kurt show up for their NYADA mixer, certain their star power and once-rehearsed Wizard of Oz number will be so intimidating to the other prospective applicants that they'll all just fall at their flawless feet. Alas, they walk into the room to find a few dozen of their incredibly-talented clones. Guess you two aren't such big fish when thrown into a larger pond.
In fact, Harmony and the rest of the NYADA fanatics have been getting together for years, and have a wild tap number prepared whose skill level blows Rachel and Kurt's adorable song out of the water. "Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do" is a riot, even if they're all dancing around Harmony (yay for selective choreography), and the whole thing is an enormous wake-up call for Rachel and Kurt. They might be hot stuff at McKinley, but outside of Lima, they might not even be stuff.
Rachel and Kurt's teary conversation in her car is one of my favorite things the two of them have ever done. So heartfelt and genuine from both of them. In typically dramatic fashion, but not without a dose of hard reality, Rachel reminds us that "not everyone's dreams come true," and maybe they should just resign themselves to a lifetime of community theater. But dammit, Kurt is ending this pity party here and now. Screw it. They ARE special. Both of them. And they are going to MAKE those dreams come true. They might have more competition than they had imagined, but Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel are fierce. Pinky promise and gay high five, they are going to do this.
Schuester has to deliver the bad news to Sugar, who doesn't take it well. Shoot.
Blaine makes his earnest and enthusiastic entry into the choir room to surprisingly tepid applause. Finn, clearly, is feeling threatened by a new male lead in the room, despite Blaine being all gung-ho go-team. He also blames Blaine for the piano bonfire, but Santana doesn't hide the fact that it was really her. So Schuester kicks her out of the club until she can find some loyalty. (Whoa! Schuester! Making a reasonable decision for once!)
Two more pieces of scene-setting business: Rachel announces that they should do West Side Story for the school musical, since she's pretty ideally suited to be Maria, but Mercedes is ready to fight for the lead. And Kurt, realizing he's mighty short on extracurriculars, is running for Senior Class President.
We marvel at the metaphor of the beat-up purple pianos for a moment, before Rachel leads us into a song. She starts the slow, heartfelt intro to "You Can't Stop the Beat" until it picks up the tempo and busts into the auditorium and I can barely stop myself from bouncing along. It's classic Glee in the very best sense, a perfect, high-energy group number. Mercedes sounds particularly awesome on it, and Blaine is my absolute favorite to watch throughout. It's his first big dance number, and lo and behold, our pint-sized Warbler is actually a little firecracker of energy, complete with a cartwheel at the end.
"The Purple Piano Project" is easily in my top 10 Glee episodes from any season. There are pieces of other episodes that hold incredibly special places in my heart, but as a cohesive whole, this one is incredibly successful. My only criticism is that I don't adore the times when we focus on the adults (what else is new?), but I love every single other thing about it. I love my Klaine, I love my Hummelberry. I love the songs, I love the way it sets the stage for this school year.
We set up a clueless Finn, driven-but-suddenly-petrified Rachel and Kurt, Mercedes wanting her voice to be heard, Quinn in a rebellious phase, and Santana holding onto an open secret. We even have three fairly happy, functional, supportive couples in the choir room. This episode got me so damn excited for Season 3.
Now that I'm re-watching from my place in the Season-5 future, obviously I am reminded how much I miss the Old New Directions. I miss Mercedes and Finn, I miss Santana and Brittany together in the choir room, I miss having all of the stories take place in one state. It's fun to see how people's looks have changed, too. I really enjoyed Season 3 vintage!Rachel, and it's a little nostalgic to remember the days before Blaine's gel-helmet. Alas.
Anyways, the Season 3 re-watch is underway. What do you think friends? Did you love The Purple Piano Project as much as I did?
Back later in the week with “ I Am Unicorn!”