Glee Season 3 Re-watch - 3x16 - Saturday Night Glee-ver

Feb 05, 2014 20:25

Oh hai! No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Just buried under a pile of snow days and sick kids (and sick me - damn that plague the kids bring home from school). But I’m getting quite behind and am DETERMINED to finish Season 3 before the Epic Winter Hiatus of My Discontent is over.

I hope you’ve got your disco shoes ready, because here we go with “Saturday Night Glee-ver.” (Really? You couldn’t resist the temptation to name the episode like that? Ugh.)

So, I mean, there are worse ways to start an episode than having Blaine, Mike and Brittany bust out some amazing hip-grooving disco moves in the middle of study hall. (Plus, some of them are in slow-mo: DRINK!) I could watch that number an awful lot of times in a row, despite the fact that I have to agree with most of the rest of New Directions: disco sucks.

(Okay, it doesn’t all suck. But it’s not my favorite.)

Anyways, Schuester decides to try to be a Real Teacher this week. The end of the year is approaching, and he’s particularly concerned about three of his seniors. Finn has skills but no self-esteem. Mercedes is just as talented as Kurt and Rachel, but has no direction. Santana just wants to be famous, she doesn’t care how it happens. Schue goes to Sue for advice, who conveniently suggests a theme week to Saturday Night Fever, complete with swag to compete for.

Kurt is chatting up Mercedes at her locker - trying to get her to apply to colleges in New York - when we get the entrance of one Wade/Unique Adams! Wade is their biggest fan (you have excellent taste, dear!) and boycotted West Side Story because they weren’t Tony and Maria. Kurt is ON BOARD WITH THIS. Anyways, Wade wants to ask their advice.

You see, Wade gets picked on constantly, including by one Jesse St. James (oh, he’s back!), the current coach of Vocal Adrenaline. So he copes by imagining someone else, the person he really wants to be: Unique. (The dream sequence of Unique walking down the hallway proclaiming herself to be the love child of Kurt and Mercedes is PURE GOLD. I do love Unique.) Anyways, Wade wants to perform with Vocal Adrenaline at Regionals as Unique in a dress and heels. What would Kurt and Mercedes do? We cut away as both of them look a little conflicted.

(Personal note: yes, I know I'm switching back and forth between "Wade" and "Unique" in this recap, as I do in the early part of Season 4 (if memory serves). Because I think at this point in the story, that's what the character is doing - treating those two identities as somewhat separate. I don't mean to mis-gender or offend, more to distinguish between which of those identities is in play at the moment. I know Alex Newell has talked about that as well, treating Wade and Unique pretty differently. By the middle of Season 4, I feel like Unique is much more solid in her identity, at which point I think I'm pretty consistent in identifying her as such. It's a somewhat intentional choice on my part, but I'm choosing to do it as the character develops, not to disrespect Unique's femininity. We cool? I hope so.)

Back in the choir room, Sue has imported her replica Saturday Night Fever light-up floor for a dance-off, with the prize being a custom-made white suit a la John Travolta. Blaine’s delight when he sees the floor and Kurt’s “oh my god I need that suit!” both make me grin. They kick off “Night Fever” and everyone takes their turn getting their groove on, and we’re even treated to a Kurt cartwheel. (Finn just kind of does the dopey disco point.)

Schue announces that the three finalists for winning the suit are Santana, Mercedes, and Finn, in case you were wondering if this thing was rigged from the start.

(And, I’m sorry, I can’t get over how much I love Kurt’s outfit in this scene. Distressed jeans, white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, suspenders hanging down off his hips. God he looks good when he’s casual.)

Anyways, Schue pretty quickly owns up to the sham. He says the three of them are the only ones who don’t know what they want to do with their lives, and they’re running out of time. (Which, hello, they’re seniors in high school. I “knew” what I wanted to do with my life when I was 17, and that major lasted a single semester. Not a fan of trying to have it all figured out. But hey, that’s what a lot of people try to tell you at that age, Schuester included.)

Mercedes takes exception to that. She knows perfectly well what her dream is, she just doesn’t know how to get there. But the first step, apparently, is to perform the HELL out of “Disco Inferno.” God, she is spectacular. Her voice is amazing, and I can see the future Dancing with the Stars winner in this performance.

Anyways: her dream. She wants to be the next Mariah, the next Whitney, the next Aretha. She wants to belt out number one singles. But she has no idea what to do, she’s terrified of moving to LA without a plan, much less a contract. “The cream always rises to the top,” says Schue. “I’m cream in here,” says Mercedes. “What if out there I’m just skim milk?”

God this is SO GOOD and Mercedes is TRAGICALLY under-used. Her fears are just as real as her talent.

(Sam, in the back of the room, just smiles as he watches the video playback of her performance on his phone. He got the whole thing.)

Rachel and Finn still aren’t speaking after last week’s fight over Finn following Rachel to New York and not having a dream of his own (or whatever). Puck desperately wants Finn to come with him to LA, because as badass as his rep is in Podunk, Ohio, the idea of going to LA alone is terrifying. Finn says no, it’s not his dream. But he still doesn’t know what his dream is. Puck, in one of his rare nuggets of wisdom, tells him to make sure whatever Finn’s dream is, it’s as big as he is. He owes it to himself.

Sue calls Kurt and Mercedes into her office. Surprising to no one, really, she has most of the school bugged, and found out about their little conversation with Wade. She’s mad that they were assisting “the enemy,” but they say it wasn’t like that. Anyways, they suggested that Wade not go on stage as Unique. It’s Ohio, it just doesn’t seem wise. Sue thinks they should convince Wade otherwise, for that exact reasons: if Wade performs as Unique, they’ll lose and help ensure a New Directions win. DUN DUN DUN.

Santana is up, at her disco best, singing “If I Can’t Have You” as all of the couples in the room give each other loving (or longing) looks. Schuester, the idiot, interprets the song as Santana wanting to go to law school so she can work on the fight for marriage equality. Santana tells him that he is, in fact, an idiot. What she wants is to be famous. And she will be. Full stop.

Finchel reunite in the auditorium and are glad to be on speaking terms again. Rachel offers that, if Finn doesn’t want to go to New York, then they don’t have to. (Thankfully, he can tell that’s ridiculous. Rachel IS GOING to New York.) “What if your dream is bigger than mine?” Rachel asks. Finn doesn’t think that’s exactly the issue. And what better way to help work on finding Finn’s dream than to have him sit on a stool while Rachel sings to him?

(I know I’m sarcastic, but this is a sweet scene between them. Rachel talks about always feeling out of place, and that her dream was that going to New York would be going home, except now she feels like “home” is a person, not a place. Very sweet.)

She sounds lovely on “How Deep is Your Love,” no surprise. And they end up having a meeting with Miss Pillsbury to get some college pamphlets. Finn appreciates everyone’s efforts, but you can tell he mostly only feels more pressure, not actually any closer to a dream. He chucks the viewbooks into the recycling bin before he’s even halfway down the hall.

Santana, meanwhile, is getting even more weird looks than usual as she walks the halls. That would be because Brittany decided to “help” Santana get famous by posting their sex tape on the internet (spliced together with Lord Tubbington doing everyday household chores). The look on Santana’s face is nothing less than OH SHIT.

Schuester apparently followed Finn out of the office and saw him dump the pamphlets, and confronts him about it. We finally get to the core of Finn’s insecurity: what if he really is a Lima Loser? What if he isn’t qualified to do ANYTHING? What if Rachel figures this out about him? Why can’t he just stay the 17-year-old quarterback forever? And BOY isn't that Finn in a nutshell.

Schue’s method for helping him through this crisis is to sit him down and make him watch Saturday Night Fever. Um, okay? Schue thinks that Finn *does* know what he wants, but he’s too afraid to let himself dream it.

Santana is still the talk of the school post-sex-tape. Santana asks Britt to take it down, but she says no, it’s only the first step on her road to fame! Next up: a (trashy) reality show. How far is Santana willing to go for fame?

Backstage at Vocal Adrenaline’s regionals competition, Kurt and Mercedes are there looking for Wade. As part of Sue’s master plan, they passed along some sparkly platform heels, but now they regret it. They’re still pretty sure that performing as a woman is near-suicidal in Ohio. They find Wade to tell him as such. Kurt says, “I admit that I have worn some flamboyant designer outfits, but I’ve never dressed as a woman.” Wade/Unique is disappointed. “That’s because you identify yourself as a man. I thought you of all people would understand.” The look on Kurt’s face tells us that, clearly, he did not understand.

It is Unique who takes the stage and the lead on “Boogie Shoes,” nearly giving Jesse St. James an aneurysm. But HOT DAMN, Unique is a STAR. She is spectacular. Amazing voice, impressive moves, so much presence. The audience gives her a much-deserved standing ovation.

Unfortunately, it is immediately followed by Finn’s choice of songs from Saturday Night Fever: “More than a Woman.” I’m sorry, but this makes me squirm almost out of my seat. For one, I’ve pretty well reached my limit on falsetto during this episode, and it is NOT a strong spot in Finn’s voice. And then there’s the outfits and the dancing, especially when the three other couples in the room join in. You’d think I’d be ALL OVER the chance for Kurt and Blaine to dance together. But the styling and the choreography... I just can’t. I’ll just say it’s REALLY NOT MY STYLE and leave it at that.

But I guess that was maybe a dream sequence, because the song ends and the costumes (and other people) are gone, and Finn wants to tell Rachel that he’s figured out his dream. He wants to move to New York with her and become an actor. It’s always been his dream, he was just afraid to say it out loud, but now he feels bold because of Rachel.

*record scratching* WHUT?

I mean, yes, I know how this all ends up. But that’s not even what makes me say WTF right now. Since WHEN did Finn want to act? He actively declined to perform in West Side Story, and I think he might have been strong-armed into the ill-fated Rocky Horror. I just... don’t see it.

At any rate, Rachel is happy for him and wants to make him happy and he wants to be a great man for himself and for her and live happily ever after in New York together and now I want to cry because I see what’s coming, both in the short and long term. Oh, parts of this season are SO HARD to watch after losing Cory.

Kurt and Mercedes are back in the hallway, marveling at how Unique pulled off her performance. “Something to be said for the power of a dream,” says Kurt. As they walk, though, Sam comes up to say something to Mercedes, and Kurt, the best/worst wingman EVER, does an abrupt 180 to leave the two of them alone. (God, he cracks me up.)

Without telling her, Sam put Mercedes’s “Disco Inferno” performance up on YouTube. And now it has a few hundred comments telling her how amazing she is. He believes in her, wants her to succeed, and thinks she just needs to make her way out to LA and her dreams will come true. Now I’m squirming for a whole different reason, because he is so earnest and sweet and they kiss and it is ADORABLE. Samcedes 5EVA, man.

And then we have Santana and Britt in Sue’s office, being lectured not so much for the sex tape in particular, but for the desire to be famous no matter the method. Santana swears she has seen the error of her ways, so Sue pulls a college scholarship almost literally out of her back pocket, so Santana can go to the University of Louisville on a full ride for cheerleading. Which was apparently Brittany’s idea? So, yay, all is happy there. For the moment.

In the end, the three winners of the white suits get us started on a bell-bottomed “Stayin’ Alive.” Which, if you didn’t see coming, I don’t even know what to tell you. It’s arguably the most well-known song from the movie, it’s a big group number, you just knew it was coming. To me it’s a bit lackluster. Again, I’m ALL DONE on the whole BeeGees falsetto thing, and while it’s mildly fun to watch a few of the individual dance moves, the whole thing doesn’t feel like it has a lot of energy to me. Oh well.

All told, while I don’t *adore* this episode, I think it’s a pretty strong one. Single-artist tribute episodes have an incredibly spotty track record on Glee, but this one worked for the same reason that “Rumours” did in Season 2. It worked because it was more about the album, which already had an interesting story/plot to tell, rather than being a random greatest-hits selection from a single artist.

In this case, it was all about finding your passion and figuring out a way to make it happen. An appropriate story for a handful of high school seniors, even if the stories themselves are still a bit fuzzy. Mercedes came out the clearest: she wants to move to LA and be a recording artist. Finn’s was more questionable: I’m not sure I buy that he “always” wanted to be an actor, and wonder if it’s more about finding something that fits better with Rachel’s dream. Santana found her initial dream (fame at all costs) was not so wise, but ended up at least with an open door to a viable future in college.

I think the main reason I didn’t *love* this episode is the music, itself. Until today, I did not purchase a single song from it. The disco stuff just doesn’t do it for me, and as I said, the excessive BeeGees falsetto was NOT playing to their strengths. On re-watch, I remembered how great “Disco Inferno” and “Boogie Shoes” were, so I’ll download them now. But mostly I just didn’t connect with it.

Anyways, all told, a pretty darn good episode.

What did you think?

Back as soon as I can manage with “Dance With Somebody” and “Choke.” (Oooh, good stuff!!)

episode recaps, season 3, tv: glee, saturday night glee-ver, 3x16

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