Liz's Instant Glee-Cap - 5x05 - The End of Twerk
You know, you can only say or read or write the word "twerk" so many times before it starts sounding completely idiotic. And that limit is probably about three. I'm way over that limit, is what I'm saying.
I... can't decide what I think about "The End of Twerk." I'm having serious writer's block as I try to re-cap it in my usual style, and not just because I was watching it with a friend who doesn’t regularly watch the show so I both spent a lot of time explaining and catching her up on salient points, and yet didn’t go back and re-watch scenes in a way I might have, otherwise.
(Her thoughts, by the way: Schue is creepy, Rachel is predictable and boring. "Blurred Lines" was six months too late.)
Anyways, we start off with Blaine twerking his way around the choir room when he thinks he’s alone, but Tina is filming him. All of the Darren fans are frantically making gifs, and I’m just glad to see that Blaine’s Ass still has its contract as a series regular.
(I mean seriously. DAT ASS.)
The whole twerk thing? Meh. Call me an old lady, but I come close to agreeing with Sue on this one. Though, I suppose it’s in keeping with Schue’s status as CREEPIEST TEACHER EVER that he would have everyone twerking through the halls as HE sings the creepiest song of the summer. Except that it’s not yet summer at McKinley? I don’t know, their timeline or lack thereof is making me go cross-eyed.
Though I sort of enjoy that they seem to be deliberately painting Schue as an idiot in the last few episodes. And though it was overwrought, I liked the little “history of scandalous dances” piece, especially Blaine rocking the Buddy Holly glasses and doing the pony.
The Jake/Marley/Bree thing continues, and all I have to say about it is that I hope this is well and truly the end of Jarley. They were never a good match, and he’s a jerk. Bree… god, I’m so sick of the evil maneater Cheerio. Why oh why won’t they kill off the Lima side, already?
Unique had a big episode, and I do enjoy her very much as a character. I like both her sass and her vulnerability. I feel like she really and truly has given me a window into her struggle and her daily reality, and I am grateful for being able to (try to) understand that.
But then Schue sweeps in to help and gives Unique the speech he DID NOT give to Kurt in Season 2, and now I’m a little annoyed. I feel like Unique in this episode was Kurt’s entire Season 2 compressed into a single episode, and it just feels too rushed to me. Maybe that’s not fair. It’s not as though we didn’t see Unique get crap for being herself last season as well. I don’t know, something about Schue being ever so helpful just felt too convenient to me.
So even though I think Unique was really great in this episode, it didn’t quite make me connect emotionally in the way that I might have hoped.
(And are we EVER going to see any kind of anything between Ryder and Unique? I like that he stood up for her with the other guys. But in “All or Nothing,” he was ready to quit the club post-Catfishing, and nothing ever came of it. We have seemingly forgotten it ever happened. I don’t even much care which way it gets resolved, but it still seems a strange thing to put all of this time into, and then completely drop.)
Over in New York, Rachel is rehearsing for “Funny Girl,” and pisses off the director by showing up with a dramatic new haircut (except not really). Meh, it didn’t do anything for me. Peter Facinelli always makes me think he’s trying to be Tom Cruise, so I don’t love him as the director. Rachel’s co-star means nothing to me. The song they did was good, Rachel is always great, but again, I just didn’t connect.
I did like the interactions between Kurt and Rachel, however, which I always adore. I liked the feeling that, as they work through the grief of losing Finn together, they felt like they needed to shake things up to feel a little bit alive again.
Kurt being boring as hell and watching nature shows while eating ice cream on the couch makes me laugh, and HEY LOOK AT THAT! APPARENTLY HE AND BLAINE SKYPE EVERY DAY! See, writers! That wasn’t so hard. You’ve put off my screaming about them not interacting for another week. Except that it makes me sad that their Skype conversations are not of the sexy variety if Rachel is to be believed. Oh, fanfic, you have ruined me and my expectations for exactly how sex-obsessed these two are.
And hey, I love that they were taking shots of freaking Limoncello because it was what they had, and HATING it. That is so perfect for their goody-two-shoes underaged selves. (It tastes like lemons and gasoline. Yeah, pretty much.)
Anyways, they hit up the tattoo parlor and while Kurt frets that Blaine won’t like it, Rachel reminds him that Blaine does have a thing for Adam Levine. Can’t argue with that.
But the best part of all is that it means the next morning we get HUNGOVER SHIRTLESS KURT. And the clouds parted and the angels sang, and LO IT WAS EVER SO GOOD. Colfer. I mean. Damn. Do that again.
Except Kurt’s (kind of lame and weirdly-placed) tattoo has a typo, so instead of saying “it gets better,” it says “it’s get better.” Brilliant. And when he goes back to yell at the tattoo artist, he ends up getting a life lesson and is told to GO MORE NUTS. And he does, because that seems like a great guy to take life advice from. So now his tattoo reads “it’s got Bette Midler” and he has a freaking TONGUE PIERCING. Um, whut? I don’t even know. I thought the tongue piercing was going to be a fake like Rachel's wig, but apparently not.
But he’s going to go Skype with Blaine and see if he can get cyber-lucky, so FINE. I’M IN. And there’s this week’s crop of fanfic.
Oh, and Rachel claims to have chickened out on the tattoo (I’m confused about the timeline and/or level of drunkenness at the tattoo parlor, but oh well), but actually got a little script “Finn” on her waist. Ultimately, I’m glad they are letting Rachel and Kurt do some of this grieving together. It works for me, and I’m glad they haven’t forgotten about it.
And we end back at McKinley, where Schue has cancelled the week’s lesson on twerking as part of a bargain to help out Unique. Oh, and remember how we spent the last two weeks saying what we REALLY NEED for Nationals is to push the envelope and take risks? Yeah, he’s changed his mind. What they REALLY NEED is to be their happy, optimistic selves. They sing “On Our Way,” which I had never heard before this moment, but it was cute and I do enjoy a happy large-group New Directions number to end an episode.
All told? I liked parts of this episode (*cough* Kurt *cough*), but I didn’t quite love any of it. Maybe I was too distracted while watching, maybe someone will point out some things about it that I missed, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it, either. As my friend said, there was nothing that truly made me roll my eyes, nor did I feel compelled to throw anything at the TV (as I occasionally have in the past, believe me). But all told, “The End of Twerk” never quite managed to pull me in.
Liz’s Instant Glee-Cap Rating: I think I’m going to give it a tentative 3 / 5 stars, though I’m tempted to go lower. There were some funny throwaway bits, and a few things I liked. And I didn’t hate it. But I really didn’t love it, either.
Liz’s Instant Song Downloads: eh? Maybe that last one? Really didn’t get into any of the performances this week, but some of them might grow on me with time.
What did you think, friends? Did you like this a lot and I just missed something? Or was this just kind of… eh?
And where was the rest of Pamela Lansbury, and was Santana just shacking up with Dani this week? I missed them.
I... can't decide what I think about "The End of Twerk." I'm having serious writer's block as I try to re-cap it in my usual style, and not just because I was watching it with a friend who doesn’t regularly watch the show so I both spent a lot of time explaining and catching her up on salient points, and yet didn’t go back and re-watch scenes in a way I might have, otherwise.
(Her thoughts, by the way: Schue is creepy, Rachel is predictable and boring. "Blurred Lines" was six months too late.)
Anyways, we start off with Blaine twerking his way around the choir room when he thinks he’s alone, but Tina is filming him. All of the Darren fans are frantically making gifs, and I’m just glad to see that Blaine’s Ass still has its contract as a series regular.
(I mean seriously. DAT ASS.)
The whole twerk thing? Meh. Call me an old lady, but I come close to agreeing with Sue on this one. Though, I suppose it’s in keeping with Schue’s status as CREEPIEST TEACHER EVER that he would have everyone twerking through the halls as HE sings the creepiest song of the summer. Except that it’s not yet summer at McKinley? I don’t know, their timeline or lack thereof is making me go cross-eyed.
Though I sort of enjoy that they seem to be deliberately painting Schue as an idiot in the last few episodes. And though it was overwrought, I liked the little “history of scandalous dances” piece, especially Blaine rocking the Buddy Holly glasses and doing the pony.
The Jake/Marley/Bree thing continues, and all I have to say about it is that I hope this is well and truly the end of Jarley. They were never a good match, and he’s a jerk. Bree… god, I’m so sick of the evil maneater Cheerio. Why oh why won’t they kill off the Lima side, already?
Unique had a big episode, and I do enjoy her very much as a character. I like both her sass and her vulnerability. I feel like she really and truly has given me a window into her struggle and her daily reality, and I am grateful for being able to (try to) understand that.
But then Schue sweeps in to help and gives Unique the speech he DID NOT give to Kurt in Season 2, and now I’m a little annoyed. I feel like Unique in this episode was Kurt’s entire Season 2 compressed into a single episode, and it just feels too rushed to me. Maybe that’s not fair. It’s not as though we didn’t see Unique get crap for being herself last season as well. I don’t know, something about Schue being ever so helpful just felt too convenient to me.
So even though I think Unique was really great in this episode, it didn’t quite make me connect emotionally in the way that I might have hoped.
(And are we EVER going to see any kind of anything between Ryder and Unique? I like that he stood up for her with the other guys. But in “All or Nothing,” he was ready to quit the club post-Catfishing, and nothing ever came of it. We have seemingly forgotten it ever happened. I don’t even much care which way it gets resolved, but it still seems a strange thing to put all of this time into, and then completely drop.)
Over in New York, Rachel is rehearsing for “Funny Girl,” and pisses off the director by showing up with a dramatic new haircut (except not really). Meh, it didn’t do anything for me. Peter Facinelli always makes me think he’s trying to be Tom Cruise, so I don’t love him as the director. Rachel’s co-star means nothing to me. The song they did was good, Rachel is always great, but again, I just didn’t connect.
I did like the interactions between Kurt and Rachel, however, which I always adore. I liked the feeling that, as they work through the grief of losing Finn together, they felt like they needed to shake things up to feel a little bit alive again.
Kurt being boring as hell and watching nature shows while eating ice cream on the couch makes me laugh, and HEY LOOK AT THAT! APPARENTLY HE AND BLAINE SKYPE EVERY DAY! See, writers! That wasn’t so hard. You’ve put off my screaming about them not interacting for another week. Except that it makes me sad that their Skype conversations are not of the sexy variety if Rachel is to be believed. Oh, fanfic, you have ruined me and my expectations for exactly how sex-obsessed these two are.
And hey, I love that they were taking shots of freaking Limoncello because it was what they had, and HATING it. That is so perfect for their goody-two-shoes underaged selves. (It tastes like lemons and gasoline. Yeah, pretty much.)
Anyways, they hit up the tattoo parlor and while Kurt frets that Blaine won’t like it, Rachel reminds him that Blaine does have a thing for Adam Levine. Can’t argue with that.
But the best part of all is that it means the next morning we get HUNGOVER SHIRTLESS KURT. And the clouds parted and the angels sang, and LO IT WAS EVER SO GOOD. Colfer. I mean. Damn. Do that again.
Except Kurt’s (kind of lame and weirdly-placed) tattoo has a typo, so instead of saying “it gets better,” it says “it’s get better.” Brilliant. And when he goes back to yell at the tattoo artist, he ends up getting a life lesson and is told to GO MORE NUTS. And he does, because that seems like a great guy to take life advice from. So now his tattoo reads “it’s got Bette Midler” and he has a freaking TONGUE PIERCING. Um, whut? I don’t even know. I thought the tongue piercing was going to be a fake like Rachel's wig, but apparently not.
But he’s going to go Skype with Blaine and see if he can get cyber-lucky, so FINE. I’M IN. And there’s this week’s crop of fanfic.
Oh, and Rachel claims to have chickened out on the tattoo (I’m confused about the timeline and/or level of drunkenness at the tattoo parlor, but oh well), but actually got a little script “Finn” on her waist. Ultimately, I’m glad they are letting Rachel and Kurt do some of this grieving together. It works for me, and I’m glad they haven’t forgotten about it.
And we end back at McKinley, where Schue has cancelled the week’s lesson on twerking as part of a bargain to help out Unique. Oh, and remember how we spent the last two weeks saying what we REALLY NEED for Nationals is to push the envelope and take risks? Yeah, he’s changed his mind. What they REALLY NEED is to be their happy, optimistic selves. They sing “On Our Way,” which I had never heard before this moment, but it was cute and I do enjoy a happy large-group New Directions number to end an episode.
All told? I liked parts of this episode (*cough* Kurt *cough*), but I didn’t quite love any of it. Maybe I was too distracted while watching, maybe someone will point out some things about it that I missed, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it, either. As my friend said, there was nothing that truly made me roll my eyes, nor did I feel compelled to throw anything at the TV (as I occasionally have in the past, believe me). But all told, “The End of Twerk” never quite managed to pull me in.
Liz’s Instant Glee-Cap Rating: I think I’m going to give it a tentative 3 / 5 stars, though I’m tempted to go lower. There were some funny throwaway bits, and a few things I liked. And I didn’t hate it. But I really didn’t love it, either.
Liz’s Instant Song Downloads: eh? Maybe that last one? Really didn’t get into any of the performances this week, but some of them might grow on me with time.
What did you think, friends? Did you like this a lot and I just missed something? Or was this just kind of… eh?
And where was the rest of Pamela Lansbury, and was Santana just shacking up with Dani this week? I missed them.