Review: Glee 0217 'Night of Neglect'
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Six-word-summary: I'll take 'filler episodes' please, Rod.
I think we'll all agree the title is pretty intriguing. Unfortunately, this episode is anything but.
At this point, a week later, I'm actually struggling to remember what it was about because, as far as I can tell, nothing that happened had any bearing on the rest of the season at all.
More badly caricatured development as Sue gathered together some of this season's most neglected characters to form her League of Doom. In that sense I guess, huh, it followed the 'neglected' theme, but was almost as successful as the benefit itself in shining a light on their true awesomeness. The forced 'funniness' of this gang of Sue-per villains fell totally flat and added barely any humour to the episode at all.
Similarly, the return of Sunshine was dull as dishwater. She added nothing (aside from an admittedly impressive rendition of one of the most horrific songs of all time) and her dialogue was two-dimensional and far too scripted for the audience to have any feelings about the character one way or another. She's obviously been fully mind-wiped by Vocal Adrenaline. Her flip-flop personality did remind me of a certain Jesse St.James.
And lets not even talk about Holly Holliday shall we? Ugh, that woman. The best thing about this episode was her departure.
One upside was certainly the amount of Mercedes we got to see. How a girl as fabtastic as her gets kicked to the back of almost every episode I will never know and, yes, I think the writers were right to focus on her in an episode that was legitimately all about 'neglected' stars. Yet another downside of Kurt's extended absence has been the loss of the Kurtcedes dynamic.
Here, we got a return of the insecure, body-conscious Mercedes from 'Home', and, yes, It was nice to see a bit of her more vulnerable side. However, I always have some trouble reconciling that Mercedes with the girl who wrote a song entitled 'Hell to the No', and I hate when the writers just play-doh characters to suit their plot whims. It did afford some lovely emotional scenes though. Mercedes and Rachel's discussion in the car was really nice (despite Rachel's crazy), although that could just be my natural bias towards any scenes that feature a lot of rain. And of course her top-spot solo was amazing, as only Mercedes can be.
The dynamic between her and Lauren was hilarious too. The quick intercuts as they worked their way through 'Miss Jones'' set of demands was brilliant, and the delivery spot-on.
I would love the producers to take note of Amber Reilly's scene-stealing turns here and give Mercedes a bigger role in future episodes. She's hasn't really had any continuing storylines since day 1 and I can't help feeling that her (as well as Artie and Tina) get entirely neglected EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. Writers: pay attention to your own meta!!
The entire set-up the 'Smarty-pants' competition demonstartes one of the worst issues of long-running comedies-- the one-episode set-up. Nothing has ever been heard or will be heard from them again. Sure, it's harmless, but it's lazy and annoying. not when there's so many other storylines kicking about.
Once more however, Santana is pretty much the best reason to watch this ep. Her verbal ass-kicking of Karofsky is fab, ("Also? I have razor-blades in my hair. Tons, just all up in there...") as is her new role as closeted Protector of the Gays. I <3 Santana.
In all, there is pretty much no point to this episode. Most of the humour falls flat and the plot goes nowhere. I've watched it twice just to see Blaine go all protective-hobbit when Karofsky starts harassing him and Kurt, but aside from that... not much to sit in for.
Quote of the Week: "I crack one of your nuts: right or left, that's your choice..."
xxx
Six-word-summary: I'll take 'filler episodes' please, Rod.
I think we'll all agree the title is pretty intriguing. Unfortunately, this episode is anything but.
At this point, a week later, I'm actually struggling to remember what it was about because, as far as I can tell, nothing that happened had any bearing on the rest of the season at all.
More badly caricatured development as Sue gathered together some of this season's most neglected characters to form her League of Doom. In that sense I guess, huh, it followed the 'neglected' theme, but was almost as successful as the benefit itself in shining a light on their true awesomeness. The forced 'funniness' of this gang of Sue-per villains fell totally flat and added barely any humour to the episode at all.
Similarly, the return of Sunshine was dull as dishwater. She added nothing (aside from an admittedly impressive rendition of one of the most horrific songs of all time) and her dialogue was two-dimensional and far too scripted for the audience to have any feelings about the character one way or another. She's obviously been fully mind-wiped by Vocal Adrenaline. Her flip-flop personality did remind me of a certain Jesse St.James.
And lets not even talk about Holly Holliday shall we? Ugh, that woman. The best thing about this episode was her departure.
One upside was certainly the amount of Mercedes we got to see. How a girl as fabtastic as her gets kicked to the back of almost every episode I will never know and, yes, I think the writers were right to focus on her in an episode that was legitimately all about 'neglected' stars. Yet another downside of Kurt's extended absence has been the loss of the Kurtcedes dynamic.
Here, we got a return of the insecure, body-conscious Mercedes from 'Home', and, yes, It was nice to see a bit of her more vulnerable side. However, I always have some trouble reconciling that Mercedes with the girl who wrote a song entitled 'Hell to the No', and I hate when the writers just play-doh characters to suit their plot whims. It did afford some lovely emotional scenes though. Mercedes and Rachel's discussion in the car was really nice (despite Rachel's crazy), although that could just be my natural bias towards any scenes that feature a lot of rain. And of course her top-spot solo was amazing, as only Mercedes can be.
The dynamic between her and Lauren was hilarious too. The quick intercuts as they worked their way through 'Miss Jones'' set of demands was brilliant, and the delivery spot-on.
I would love the producers to take note of Amber Reilly's scene-stealing turns here and give Mercedes a bigger role in future episodes. She's hasn't really had any continuing storylines since day 1 and I can't help feeling that her (as well as Artie and Tina) get entirely neglected EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. Writers: pay attention to your own meta!!
The entire set-up the 'Smarty-pants' competition demonstartes one of the worst issues of long-running comedies-- the one-episode set-up. Nothing has ever been heard or will be heard from them again. Sure, it's harmless, but it's lazy and annoying. not when there's so many other storylines kicking about.
Once more however, Santana is pretty much the best reason to watch this ep. Her verbal ass-kicking of Karofsky is fab, ("Also? I have razor-blades in my hair. Tons, just all up in there...") as is her new role as closeted Protector of the Gays. I <3 Santana.
In all, there is pretty much no point to this episode. Most of the humour falls flat and the plot goes nowhere. I've watched it twice just to see Blaine go all protective-hobbit when Karofsky starts harassing him and Kurt, but aside from that... not much to sit in for.
Quote of the Week: "I crack one of your nuts: right or left, that's your choice..."
xxx