Glee 2x04 - Duets
Okay. I am going to go ahead and say it:
This is the best episode of Glee so far. And yeah, I think I'm including season 1 in that assessment.
It's not that season 1 was bad, but it was pretty much stuck doing what it had to do to establish a show, establish relationships between (when you think about it) a lot of different characters, and make you care about them and their stories while still having choreographed song and dance routines every week. It's a tall order, and I'm not going to take that away from Ryan Murphy and the gang.
But this episode? Hands down my favorite so far (with one key exception I will get to in a moment).
The writing was spot on tonight. Msrs. Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennan were riding the wave. This episode did all the things I like about this show while also progressing character, plot, and (dare I say it) the soul of the show. The past few episodes, while not bad, were not to the level I was expecting, especially for the first three episodes in the season. "Duets" puts it all nicely on track again and I can't wait to see the Rocky Horror Picture ep coming up in two weeks (two weeks?! are they nuts?!)
So. Things I Loved:
* Tina and Mike's number. I love watching Mr. Chum dance and tonight was no exception. But that was a perfect choice of music and almost (just almost, there's really no excuse) makes up for it being the first time he sings. Ever. ...at least now we see why. Also? The little sketch between them about the Dim Sum? Priceless. Those kids can act and they are funny.
* Rachel and Finn. Just. R&F. Tonight they were perfect. Machiavellian (or like, Machiavelli's little brother who can kind of scheme but usually leaves it to his brother but when he does it's something convoluted that works but no one knows why) antics and all. I loved their "I am shocked!" faces and Finn's awesome head on his shoulders. They were disgustingly cute and yet still awesome. Goes to show you can have a major couple have problems and conflict without having everything be a huge drama.
* Finn and Mr. Hummel's responses to Kurt. I will admit that last season's Kurt/Finn interaction was strained and kinda uneasy for me to watch. Not because of Kurt's sexuality, but because it was as if he was forcing himself on Finn when he had clearly said no more than once. Kurt's dad's reaction (while awesome. I love Mr. Hummel and I think he's a great dad) kinda grated on me, too for that reason. He lashed out at Finn without putting any of the blame on Kurt's shoulders. I loved the talk he had with his son tonight. I thought it was beautiful and supportive and right. I really like Kurt, and I'm glad that they're putting him on the level of the others again. He's as responsible for his actions as anyone else is. So yay for resolution!
* On the subject, Kurt and Rachel's number tonight was beautiful. But more than their voices (which are like...drops of Jupiter honey floating on the wind) I loved that Rachel is finally stretching out (character development is love!) and that she and Kurt are becoming, if not friends than something like it. I am happy for both of them. And I'm glad that she said what she did about loneliness, I've always thought Rachel was remarkably lonely but not alone.
* This distinction (lonely, but not alone) was a nice running theme and I loved that it kept coming back to this core group of characters and their familial relations to each other. Yes. This is why I watch this show.
* Quinn's little moment of self-assertion. Yes. Darling, why oh why didn't you hold fast to your statement? You do need a year off to deal with yourself. For all that I love Puck with Quinn, the fact of the matter is canon-compliance dictates that their reunion came about because of Quinn's low self-esteem. I think she needs to take the time-out and I think she recognized that for, like, a second. You don't need a man, Quinn! (well, except Puck, but that's my ship showing...)
* Hey! Everyone got to sing! =)
Things I Didn't Like:
* Puck being gone. I disagree with this message. He'd better be back next week. I do not approve. And my head-canon refuses to accept that Puck ran his mother's Volvo into a convenience store and stole an ATM...he loves his mom too much, imho. Plus, it kills my ship as it makes him a real delinquent, something they hadn't done before, and Quinn (as they've portrayed her) could never be (and I wouldn't want her to be) with someone so delinquent...y.
* Brittney. And it wasn't her so much as it was the way she was portrayed this episode. Okay, I get that Artie feels all betrayed and what-not, but that's really no cause to blame Brittney. It takes two to tango, literally in this case, and he was just as much of a willing participant as she was. I feel bad for the kid, I really do, but I don't think it's fair of him to ascribe all of the blame to her. He asked her if they were going to do it and she said yes. If he didn't want to, that would have been the time. I just feel as if it's shaming Brittney for something that isn't entirely her fault. Not to let her off the hook, though. And this is a good step for her in character development, I guess, if they want to go the route of having her feel regret or guilt (?) for "what she's done." I hope they work it out well, though since this line of reasoning easily falls into slut-shaming (imo) and that's not fair.
* No Sue Sylvester? I mean, I guess they didn't need her, but I still enjoy her interactions with everyone. And after that touching moment with her last week (with her sister, asking her to pray for her. And her sister's, "God doesn't make mistakes"...broke my heart in all the right ways) I was kinda sad not to see her.
* Sam/Quinn. No. I refuse. What happened to your empowered speech, Quinn? And I mean, I like Sam. A lot. He speaks Na'avi! He's a nerd! He sings Jason Mraz! But not with Quinn. I did enjoy Finn calling him out on in, too. (What was with Finn being awesome this episode?)
And that is that, I believe. A lot more good than bad. I just feel as if this is the way Glee is meant to be. Funny and emotional and full of interpersonal interactions and weird pairings and goofy songs. It looked like everyone had fun shooting this ep and it really showed. I hope they can keep it up.
This is the best episode of Glee so far. And yeah, I think I'm including season 1 in that assessment.
It's not that season 1 was bad, but it was pretty much stuck doing what it had to do to establish a show, establish relationships between (when you think about it) a lot of different characters, and make you care about them and their stories while still having choreographed song and dance routines every week. It's a tall order, and I'm not going to take that away from Ryan Murphy and the gang.
But this episode? Hands down my favorite so far (with one key exception I will get to in a moment).
The writing was spot on tonight. Msrs. Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennan were riding the wave. This episode did all the things I like about this show while also progressing character, plot, and (dare I say it) the soul of the show. The past few episodes, while not bad, were not to the level I was expecting, especially for the first three episodes in the season. "Duets" puts it all nicely on track again and I can't wait to see the Rocky Horror Picture ep coming up in two weeks (two weeks?! are they nuts?!)
So. Things I Loved:
* Tina and Mike's number. I love watching Mr. Chum dance and tonight was no exception. But that was a perfect choice of music and almost (just almost, there's really no excuse) makes up for it being the first time he sings. Ever. ...at least now we see why. Also? The little sketch between them about the Dim Sum? Priceless. Those kids can act and they are funny.
* Rachel and Finn. Just. R&F. Tonight they were perfect. Machiavellian (or like, Machiavelli's little brother who can kind of scheme but usually leaves it to his brother but when he does it's something convoluted that works but no one knows why) antics and all. I loved their "I am shocked!" faces and Finn's awesome head on his shoulders. They were disgustingly cute and yet still awesome. Goes to show you can have a major couple have problems and conflict without having everything be a huge drama.
* Finn and Mr. Hummel's responses to Kurt. I will admit that last season's Kurt/Finn interaction was strained and kinda uneasy for me to watch. Not because of Kurt's sexuality, but because it was as if he was forcing himself on Finn when he had clearly said no more than once. Kurt's dad's reaction (while awesome. I love Mr. Hummel and I think he's a great dad) kinda grated on me, too for that reason. He lashed out at Finn without putting any of the blame on Kurt's shoulders. I loved the talk he had with his son tonight. I thought it was beautiful and supportive and right. I really like Kurt, and I'm glad that they're putting him on the level of the others again. He's as responsible for his actions as anyone else is. So yay for resolution!
* On the subject, Kurt and Rachel's number tonight was beautiful. But more than their voices (which are like...drops of Jupiter honey floating on the wind) I loved that Rachel is finally stretching out (character development is love!) and that she and Kurt are becoming, if not friends than something like it. I am happy for both of them. And I'm glad that she said what she did about loneliness, I've always thought Rachel was remarkably lonely but not alone.
* This distinction (lonely, but not alone) was a nice running theme and I loved that it kept coming back to this core group of characters and their familial relations to each other. Yes. This is why I watch this show.
* Quinn's little moment of self-assertion. Yes. Darling, why oh why didn't you hold fast to your statement? You do need a year off to deal with yourself. For all that I love Puck with Quinn, the fact of the matter is canon-compliance dictates that their reunion came about because of Quinn's low self-esteem. I think she needs to take the time-out and I think she recognized that for, like, a second. You don't need a man, Quinn! (well, except Puck, but that's my ship showing...)
* Hey! Everyone got to sing! =)
Things I Didn't Like:
* Puck being gone. I disagree with this message. He'd better be back next week. I do not approve. And my head-canon refuses to accept that Puck ran his mother's Volvo into a convenience store and stole an ATM...he loves his mom too much, imho. Plus, it kills my ship as it makes him a real delinquent, something they hadn't done before, and Quinn (as they've portrayed her) could never be (and I wouldn't want her to be) with someone so delinquent...y.
* Brittney. And it wasn't her so much as it was the way she was portrayed this episode. Okay, I get that Artie feels all betrayed and what-not, but that's really no cause to blame Brittney. It takes two to tango, literally in this case, and he was just as much of a willing participant as she was. I feel bad for the kid, I really do, but I don't think it's fair of him to ascribe all of the blame to her. He asked her if they were going to do it and she said yes. If he didn't want to, that would have been the time. I just feel as if it's shaming Brittney for something that isn't entirely her fault. Not to let her off the hook, though. And this is a good step for her in character development, I guess, if they want to go the route of having her feel regret or guilt (?) for "what she's done." I hope they work it out well, though since this line of reasoning easily falls into slut-shaming (imo) and that's not fair.
* No Sue Sylvester? I mean, I guess they didn't need her, but I still enjoy her interactions with everyone. And after that touching moment with her last week (with her sister, asking her to pray for her. And her sister's, "God doesn't make mistakes"...broke my heart in all the right ways) I was kinda sad not to see her.
* Sam/Quinn. No. I refuse. What happened to your empowered speech, Quinn? And I mean, I like Sam. A lot. He speaks Na'avi! He's a nerd! He sings Jason Mraz! But not with Quinn. I did enjoy Finn calling him out on in, too. (What was with Finn being awesome this episode?)
And that is that, I believe. A lot more good than bad. I just feel as if this is the way Glee is meant to be. Funny and emotional and full of interpersonal interactions and weird pairings and goofy songs. It looked like everyone had fun shooting this ep and it really showed. I hope they can keep it up.