Episode Reaction: Asian F (everything is tears...)
I think I can safely say that this episode was really freakin' emotional if it made even my little brother cry. (I think he's become a Mike stan, I love it.)
(This doesn't really count as an episode reaction so much anymore, I mean it's so LONG and stuff I think it's now just turned into "feelings and attempted meta-type stuff about everyone ever". I could put some of this into separate posts, I could, but then I also won't. Oh wells.)
Mike Chang. You... I can't. I cannot take all of the feelings I have about you right now.
Mike, who has always been so good at dancing, at being himself, finally learning that not only can he, he wants to express himself. Mike who hears everyone else's voices in his head, not his own, who's only other dream sequence so far was helping someone else's, who got all of the dreams ever this week. Mike who nearly bursts into tears in the principal's office and offers to pay for his own chem tutor and says "I'm so sorry I disappointed you dad" (and has so many colours on his shirt because he is just so confused). Mike who is a very, very good teacher and teaches his mother how to dream and finally, finally gets to stand on that stage expressing himself and singing and dancing.
I love you so hard. You can teach me to dance anytime.
Pretty convinced "Cool" was being sung to himself, by the way. Which I like very much.
Oh and Mike's parents. Loved them both so hard. Mrs Chang, just let me hug you. Your son is a good teacher, he will teach you how to dance and dream and be courageous and everything. Mr Chang just wanted his son to be safe in his future. "What if you hurt yourself. You're one injury away from losing everything". He still just wants his son to have a good, reliable, safe future, he's just approaching making that happen in the wrong way. I hope we see more of both of them. I hope there is more dancing involved with both of them too.
Tina, GOOD ON YOU for continuing to embrace your Asian Vampire ways all this time. I am proud. (There was red light in the background. Yayayayay.)
Also, FUCKING ASIAN FUSION please have all of the healthy sexual relationship ever. That scene, when Mike is imagining Tina there it just- I broke. "It's what makes me feel you." "You're so beautiful." I never ever want them to break up, ever. *wails*
As narceus said on Run The World, "I am so so so not straight oh my god who needs boys". Brittany, you can please dance forever now. I think this season's sex riot rightfully went to you. Hell, you even enchanted Sue/Rachel/Lauren with your magical unicorn magics. And made everyone in the school a lesbian. I so approve.
(Also, dancing your way into the voter's hearts? I like this so, so much. You keep on being you, girl. Even if I still want Kurt to win.)
Will, in this episode, was just so perfectly, brilliantly awful. Will gets what he wants but not what he needs (and right now what he needs is a punch in the face), Will can't have his own dreams so he feeds on everybody else's, Will can't see his own prejudice at all even though he's yelling at someone for their own.
Will, you do not reprimand your girlfriend's parents for referring to their daughter as "Freaky Deeky" and being racist and tying her thumbs together, and then go ahead and grab your girlfriend's hands to stop her from cleaning them. You do not try to "fix" her. When she says "I want to take things slow", that is what you do.
You also do not fuck up big time, like seriously big time, and then get to turn it around so that you're the 'angel boyfriend/teacher/whatever' and make it about Emma and her problems and how awesome you are at 'fixing' them.
Except that you do because it's what you've done all along.
(And how does everything ever that you say manage to be an innuendo? Fugg'n'ell.)
Clearly none of the glee club approves of Will anymore, going by the reactions to "it's not about doing your best, it's about doing better."
Emma, my god. Please, come to my house, I swear I'm clean, I won't ever try to bring your awful, awful parents over or show you my porn or assume that marriage is "not far down the track" or that we'll have children or try to fix you. We could have a cat, a hairless one so it doesn't cause mess. I'll be so good to you, please?
Of course her parents were ginger supremacists, proud of their red-headed heritage, and of course she couldn't 'embrace' that. Of course they tied her thumbs together. Of course she spent almost the entire episode in yellow and at the end not even praying was enough, she's just so tired and just so scared and so ashamed.
Bb I need to hug you so bad.
(In other news, did you offer to "iron some bacon" for Will, or do my ears really just not work at all?)
Okay, most of the Wemma in this episode made me angry (your porn, Will, you gave her your porn), but that little moment after Will's speech to Emma's parents, where she reaches across the table and holds his hand? I loved it. It was sweet, it was nice, it was how I hope Wemma might become.
Kurt for one thing why were you dressed as Alex DeLarge? For another nice work with the flowers, but I see your angst there (you thought you could hide them in the red flowers but oh no, I saw them). For another I would like you to win class president, really. Also you matter, you always matter.
"I'm as much a part of this group as anybody else". This made me have thinky-thoughts but I don't know what. Hmmmm.
"Kurt had nothing to do with this change, it was you". O-FUCKING-RLY? Nothing to do with it. Right. Righto. Of course he didn't, because he didn't realise Mercedes had a crush on him that whole time he was heart-eyesing after Blaine and making her feel worthless, yup. Okay. (This does not count as Kurt hate, this counts as hate for Mercedes having to deal with all of that...) Kurt Hummel you do not attack your best friend like that. You know I love you, I always do, but you just do not do that. Okay?
Blaine. Congratulations on your Tony (lol), hope it all goes well (no really, don't die). Congratulations also on your face. Oh, and congrats on finding a beautiful boy who will give you flowers and be romantic and treat you right and love you. (Also good work on smelling the red, not the yellow flower. I approve.)
ALSO hey, Elsje, can I finally flail over the fact that this means Something's Coming was Blaine's feelings? Because :DDDDDDDDD
Oh and why no Blaine at I-Need-To-Find-Myself-And-Who-I-Am booty camp this time? (I know, I know, Darren was filming, but still...)
I hope fandom will shut up about the gay kisses now that we've seen that heartbreaking little side glance. I just. Oh boys. Come have cuddles and milk and cookies. You matter. (There was theme song too. Eeeeeeee.)
Whoever put in that "you always zig when i think you're about to zag" line can have a fucking medal because I loved it so hard.
Coach Beiste is one of the many reasons why I'll occasionally start laughing for no apparent reason in the middle of serving someone at work. She is just so damn funny. I want all of the fics about her obsession with Ace of Cakes and Dancing with the Stars and Breadstix dates with her donkeys named after the Kardashians.
I am amazed that she, the teacher who has to carb-load because she is doing everything for the students and she's one of the only ones who cares and cares openly (there was no Sue in this ep, how could there have been), can still find Will an okay guy, a good guy.
I may have to award her my "All Of The Awards" this week.
Rachel is just so terrified. And knows that winning isn't always what she wants/needs. But she wins anyway, and she has to keep winning, even if she doesn't want to keep hurting people.
Also, you keep trying to sing I Feel Pretty. I'm not buying it. Remember the last time you sang that? Yeah. If you say it enough it doesn't automatically become true.
'Cedes. Oh Miss Mercedes Jones. I cannot explain how proud of her I am right now and yet also how many tears I have over her and "Diva" and "park'n'bark" and always, always being Effie White even when everyone else gets to be themselves.
(Does fandom really think she's pregnant?)
Also, does fandom really hate her right now? Didn't they listen? Because it's not about whether or not Rachel actually is Will's favourite (because hell he treats her like crap too, although less so after Get It Right, I think), it's about how Mercedes feels there's no point in her even trying because no matter what she will always be second fiddle, she will never be valued as much or more, she will never be "as good". (Special Education, Rachel gets told she's not getting a solo, and only then does Mercedes ask for one).
So we had Aretha and Ain't No Way and Try a Little Tenderness and that change in Mercedes with Sam (linking to my own meta like a boss), and now we have Beyonce and Effie White and Dreamgirls, and Mercedes getting really fucking tired of the fact that Big Black Diva may be all she's ever going to be allowed to be or have, nothing more.
Then there was Spotlight and it broke my heart. Singing it to Will and to Rachel and to ND like that. (So fucked up but so good). You may not have had your Something's Coming moment then (I still feel like that almost happened with TALT, but then didn't quite, so) but you certainly got something and it was lovely. I liked what this episode did with people who were being just themselves and just discovering things about who they are and what they want, for whom it's neither good or bad, just them--they put them in black. (With red dancing footballers or giant red curtains in the back).
All of your pink and your hidden red and your hidden yellow and then joining Shelby's choir with your bright red "PARIS" shirt. Wow.
"I just wanted you to see me how I see myself now: as a leading lady." Oh, how I love you. How I wish you could just be this. How.
Oh, and on a lighter note, FIRST ON SCREEN MERCEDES KISS EVER. CAN I GET A HELLLLLLL TO THE YEAH. (You see, tumblr? She earned it. That's what people do on Glee, they earn their sweet lovin's, and it's beautiful.)
Out Here On My Own was the bestest diva smackdown ever. So much red. And the lines were split perfectly. Mercedes sings about needing to find 'home', needing help, not being able to 'make believe' when you're alone (there was no choir this time, not even a band), needing "you". And Rachel got lines about "who we are" and following the stars and "I may not win, but I can't be thrown", which is perfect.
And then they both got "baby be strong for me, baby belong to me" (because really that's what they both need, from Finn and Shane, a someone).
And then "tell me you were better than me". And Emma's "Oh no". Oh dear, I love you both so much.
("Hey Mr Arnstein, here I am." vs "You're gonna need some star power. Well, here I am.")
Oh Finn. I'm just as conflicted as you are. And then you were the biggest Rachel stan ever and it was adorable and then you couldn't decide whether to ship Furt or Finchel and wanted everyone to just stop fighting and were kind of my own thoughts throughout this whole episode. I love it.
And working in the tire shop every afternoon, yesyesyes.
(ALSO FURT YAY.)
Puck is now the kind of guy that gets to tell people to "cool it" and "lay off" and get them to calm down and admit they've gone too far. This gives me feelings because of reasons. (Like how Puck is very quickly becoming one of the only quality parents on the show. <3)
Shane! Congratulations on making me love you forever and ever.
"I've been here for three years, and nobody's ever told me that."
And then you did, and I don't give a damn I just love you so bad for it.
OTHER THINGS
- The colours in this ep were fucking ridonkulous, and narceus and I worked out what pink is. (false choice, a false sense of power). (Mostly narceus, though, I sat there and applauded while she was awesome).
- That was the reddest of the red-ass stages I have ever seen.
- So the kids need to sing (express themselves) for these auditions, but they don't need to dance (be themselves) or act (be somebody else). Blaine had to act because he had to prove he could pass, Kurt acted in an effort to prove he could, Mike danced because Mike can only ever be himself and he wasn't even singing as Riff really he was singing to Mike (and he picked a role which required dancing, required him to be himself and only himself--oh, I see why Kurt didn't get it now). But everyone else just had to sing. No being yourself or someone else required. Hmmm.
- No one's been cast as Bernardo (yet). Again, makes me happy because of reasons.
- GEE, OFFICER KRUPKE, KRUP YOU. Funny that they cast Kurt as Krupke (or Prince Escalus), the dude who breaks up the initial fight between the Sharks and Jets. I wonder if this goes anywhere. Also, a non-singing role. Because Kurt can't even express himself properly right now?
- Azimio's dad didn't even raise him. Damn this show...
- Loving the ballet references in there. Weeee.
- I am so stoked for what I hope will be buttloads of Anderberry in rehearsal (they can just, like, rehearse at the Hudmels place all the time or something all the time, I don't even care, I just need the Anderberry so hard.)
- I assume most of the rehearsal will have gone on during the three weeks there is no Glee?
- Am I just not getting what's with Artie and the spray thing? Because, like, I really don't get it.
- 'son of a biscuit' is now my favourite phrase. Beiste says "you bet your sweet bippy". I will feel infinitely less lame when I say that now. :D
- I loved the dream sequences and all the visuals and the way scenes were built in this ep. The pacing was, well... But oh my god those scenes just felt spectacular. Especially the way they did Fix You and It's All Over. Lovely.
- I hope I'm not the only one who felt the similarities to The Rhodes Not Taken in this episode. I don't even know why.
- Glee you are putting your parallels alllll over the place. I like it.
And now we wait three weeks and I attempt not to fail my HSC.