Glee Season 3 Re-watch - 3x03 - Asian F
Did you know that an A- is an Asian F? So says Glee.
Anyways, come, let's have an episode about different characters' relationships with success. Rachel wants to win it all, Mercedes just wants to get a win, for once, and Mike Chang wants to define success for himself, not for his parents.
It's booty camp time in the auditorium, where Santana has inexplicably returned. She claims to have re-sworn her allegiance to New Directions, but I still don't understand why SHE is in booty camp with the likes of Finn and Puck. Penance, maybe? Assistant teaching with Mike? No idea. Anyways, Mercedes shows up late, makes excuses, and almost pukes in the trash can after four counts of dance moves. She complains that Schue has them scheduled too heavily, but no one else seems to be struggling the same way. Schuester gets a little nutty in pushing them all to DO BETTER. He's got the crazy eyes.
At the Schuester-Pillsbury apartment, Emma is mortified that Will has discovered her secret stash of bookmarked and indexed bridal magazines. Don't feel bad, Emma, Will is going to commiserate by sharing his box o' porn. (OMG) Anyways, he totally wants to marry Emma, because maybe that means one of these days they'll actually have sex. (Ick.) But he also wonders why he still has yet to meet her parents. She freaks out, tells him it's a bad idea, and flees.
Mike Chang, Sr., wants Principal Figgins to drug-test Mike Chang, Jr., because he got an A- on a chemistry test. I have very mixed feelings about the fact that Mike's dad actually said the words, "an A- is an Asian F." So, yeah, Mike Jr. is under some serious pressure from the parental units. (And Figgins still thinks Tina is a vampire, which is my favorite thing.) He needs to bring those grades up, because otherwise his dad thinks he should quit performing as it is simply a waste of his time.
Coach Bieste has roped half the football team into auditioning for West Side Story. How will they learn to dance in the next two days? All eyes on Mike.
At lunchtime, Mercedes' boyfriend Shane can't believe Mercedes would hug the competition (Rachel) before her Maria audition. He doesn't think she ever gets the recognition she deserves, and he's not wrong. Mercedes dream-sequence-ish sings “Spotlight” in the choir room while Schuester focuses all of his attention on Rachel, and continues the performance as her audition. She sounds spectacular - Mercedes ALWAYS sounds spectacular, and it's true that she never gets the spotlight she deserves. Shane occupies the traditional boyfriend spot in the wings of the stage, while Rachel looks on from the other side in horror. She knows she has serious competition, and you can just tell she's going to do something stupid.
Ever-supportive (supporting) Tina finds Mike at his locker, ready to pump him up for his own West Side Story audition. He doesn't feel like he can do it, he already has too much on his plate and is feeling the heat from his parents.
Kurt is chatting high school politics with Rachel while trying to hand out campaign buttons to his skeptical classmates - so far, he's leading Brittany by 11 points. Santana and Brittany come over to talk trash and ask for Rachel's vote, ladies supporting ladies, but she says she's in Kurt's corner. No matter. Santana has organized a girl-power flashmob. Because nothing says "girl power" like Brittany in thigh-highs and a leather micro-miniskirt. Oh hell, who am I kidding. Watching Brittany dance is mesmerizing, and she kicks ass through "Run the World (Girls)." Kurt is the only guy watching in the all-women pep rally, and his mouth has dropped through the floor (along with his heart and his stomach, most likely).
In the teacher's lounge, Bieste and Emma think Rachel and Mercedes are too close to call in the race for Maria. Even better, they give Schuester credit for Mercedes' newfound presence and confidence! (gag). Time for a callback. Mercedes is annoyed that they have to audition again, and Rachel is utterly condescending. When Mercedes refuses Rachel's (manic) offer of a hug, Rachel looks completely taken aback. When was the last time someone well and truly stood up to her and gave her a run for her money?
After school, Mike is on his way to meet the chemistry tutor but gets derailed when the dance studio calls his name. He needs to dance his feelings out, and the fact that we get to see both him and Brittany do major dance numbers in one episode is a gift. Mike is alone in the silent studio, no sound but his feet whispering across the floor. In one corner, he hallucinates his father, telling him how foolish he is to consider a future in performing. In the other, it's Tina, telling him that movement is the very core of his being, and what she loves about him.
He's late, but Mike keeps his audition slot for the musical and ROCKS "Cool." So much for the CAN'T SING shirt from "Born This Way." The singing isn't amazing, but it's totally solid, and the dancing is spectacular. He even gets the football boys in there, whom he's clearly been tutoring. Bieste congratulates and thanks him after the audition, and hopes he didn't "waste too much of his time."
"It's what I love to do. It will never be a waste of my time."
Over a giant bowl of pasta, Will complains to Bieste that Emma clearly isn't proud of him because she hasn't introduced him to her parents. In the worst piece of advice since "confront him," Bieste tells Will to introduce himself.
Kurt climbs up the courtyard steps to find one Mr. Anderson at the top, a little nervous about the cast list for West Side Story. Far from letting it divide them, Kurt can see the same thing everyone else can: Blaine is the best guy for Tony, hands down, and offers up gorgeous roses as a pre-emptive congratulations. Blaine, clearly, was expecting this to be more of a sore spot between them than this, and is surprised and delighted by the gesture (“you always zig when I think you’re going to zag”). But as he steps down closer to Kurt, seemingly ready to show his thanks with a kiss, Kurt looks around nervously and Blaine awkwardly changes course with a friendly pat on the shoulder.
That both of them looked so uncomfortable and uncertain in this environment was perfect to me, but I will always wish we could have just a little more discussion about what it means for them. In what ways are they comfortable being a couple in public, and where do they draw the line with PDA? Is it different in the choir room versus the school hallways versus Breadstix? Do they agree on where those lines are drawn, or is it a constant thorn in one of their sides? That Blaine even looked like he *might* lean in for the kiss suggests that they’re comfortable with one another in that way, just not in the current surroundings, but really that’s mostly guesswork on my behalf. Grr. I want to know it ALL.
Booty camp time again, and Mercedes isn't getting the move down. But when Schue pushes her, she snaps and everything that's been building up for two years comes out. She's sick of playing second fiddle (at best), she's sick of everyone bowing down to Rachel and leaving nothing for anyone else. As she storms out, Schue says there's no coming back if she goes now.
The Dreamgirls number “It’s All Over” has never been my favorite, but that's not because it isn't well-suited to the moment. Much of the club feels like Mercedes has been making one excuse after another, while Mercedes feels like they're ganging up on her. Neither of those things is exactly wrong - Mercedes has been full of excuses in a way that the other club members are not, but her frustration about Rachel hogging the spotlight is justified. I think the staging and costuming just doesn’t quite do it for me, even though it’s appropriate to the song.
The dream sequence ends, and Mercedes is alone. It's over.
This time, when Mike is dancing out his feelings in the school studio, he isn't hallucinating the extra person hovering in the doorway. His mom has arrived and wants to know why he's lying and ditching his chemistry tutor. Mike confesses both that he auditioned for the musical, and that being a performer is what he truly wants to do. Instead of shooting him down, Mike's mother remembers the feeling of her own dreams being crushed, and vows to support Mike in his own. She, in fact, also wanted to dance. Mike offers to dance with her, and my mama heart grew a few more sizes, today.
The directors of West Side Story have decided to make it a head-to-head Maria-off for the callback. Rachel and Mercedes both get boyfriend pep-talks in the wings before facing one another on stage. They trade off on "Out Here on My Own," and of course they both sound fantastic. But they finish, and while Finn tries to cheer for Rachel, she immediately says that Mercedes was better than her.
Rachel puts on the crazy eyes and marches straight down the hallways into Coach Bieste's office. No good can come of this.
Emma comes home from work to find a lovely table set, and an ambush from her horrible parents who immediately call her "my little freaky-deaky." WELL PLAYED, SCHUESTER. He finally clues in that Emma is avoiding her parents, not him. Except... she says it's because they're "ginger supremacists."
And then we went off the rails.
Like, seriously? There was no other way to introduce Emma's parents as awful than to say they're ginger supremacists? Oy.
But, then, I suppose it gives a moment of absurd comedy to the fact that they're particularly awful to Emma when she starts to exhibit her OCD behaviors under the stress of having them there. Will, at least, stands up to them once he realizes how terrible they're being, but the damage is done.
Kurt confronts Rachel at her locker - her dramatic conference with Coach Bieste was to put herself in as a candidate for Senior Class President. Kurt feels positively betrayed that Rachel would run against him. She tries to wheedle her way out of it, saying she'd totally make him her Vice President if she won, but also admits that it was out of sheer panic at the idea that she might not get cast as Maria, and what that could mean for her college applications. Except that she also knows that Kurt is in the same situation - unlikely to get the lead, and "woefully thin on extracurriculars." When push comes to shove, Rachel's blind ambition means she will trample anyone she perceives as being in the way of her path to success, no matter how much it might hurt those closest to her.
And that, in a nutshell, is the difference between Kurt and Rachel at this point in the show. They're both talented and ambitious with big Broadway dreams that they'll do almost anything to realize. But while Kurt sees his dream role going to his boyfriend and brings him flowers (even if it hurts), Rachel sees the potential of hers going to Mercedes and is ready to go nuclear, no matter what collateral damage is done.
Rachel and Mercedes are in Emma's office to learn that the directors couldn't make a decision, so they're double-casting Maria and adding a second weekend of performances. Rachel is obnoxious to start, but seems to realize she should back down and be grateful that she still gets to play the part. Mercedes calls shenanigans. "Tell me you were better than me," she says to Rachel, who keeps her mouth shut for once. "Why does no one ever want to hurt her feelings?" Mercedes asks. She's not wrong, but ultimately she cuts off her nose to spite her face and turns down the role.
Rachel tells Finn the good(ish) news, and he's happy because he assumes that means she'll be dropping out of the student council race and leaving it to Kurt and Brittany. But no, Rachel's feeling power-hungry and desperate. She's staying in, and Finn now has to choose between his brother and his girlfriend for who gets his vote.
Things are not so great in the Schuester-Pillsbury household. Emma's OCD behaviors are skyrocketing in the aftermath of dinner with her parents. Will... I have really mixed feelings here. He sees that she's hurting. He apologizes for not listening to her when it came to meeting her parents. He genuinely wants to help. But then he sings "Fix You," and it tips over the edge into condescending, which is really too bad. For a second, there, I almost liked Will Schuester.
While they sing, Artie puts up the (partial - where is Bernardo or anyone else?) cast list. Mike is thrilled with Riff, Blaine is delighted about Tony and hugs Kurt, who seems to be barely containing his own heartbreak in favor of being happy for Blaine. Rachel at least has the grace not to look too excited as Mercedes walks by. It's not a great feeling to not be sure you earned it, even if it's the result you hoped for.
Mercedes, with no Glee club and no musical, walks right into Shelby's office and offers herself up as the star of the new group.
As far as I’m concerned, we got three really great episodes to kick off Season 3 of Glee. Asian F even gave us some very real plots and character development for the totally under-used Mike and Mercedes, and both of those things felt like they were really done right. I believed the pressure Mike was under, but also the fact that he simply can’t NOT dance. Mercedes may have been a bit whiny, but given the crap she’s put up with in Rachel’s shadow for the last two years, I believe that, too.
Rachel continues her path of self-centeredness. We see how she reacts when challenged, and it is not pretty. But I *like* that I dislike Rachel in this moment. It feels so right for a girl who is so ambitious and has always been so assured of her own brilliance, to let some really ugly stuff come out when her success is threatened. And even with the ridiculousness that was “ginger supremacy,” this might be as engaged as I have felt in Will and Emma since early Season 1. It was messy and they didn’t communicate well, and Jayma Mays gives Emma so much heart that she absolutely refuses to become a caricature.
Thumbs up, all around. Well done, Glee.
Back later this week with " Pot o' Gold."
Anyways, come, let's have an episode about different characters' relationships with success. Rachel wants to win it all, Mercedes just wants to get a win, for once, and Mike Chang wants to define success for himself, not for his parents.
It's booty camp time in the auditorium, where Santana has inexplicably returned. She claims to have re-sworn her allegiance to New Directions, but I still don't understand why SHE is in booty camp with the likes of Finn and Puck. Penance, maybe? Assistant teaching with Mike? No idea. Anyways, Mercedes shows up late, makes excuses, and almost pukes in the trash can after four counts of dance moves. She complains that Schue has them scheduled too heavily, but no one else seems to be struggling the same way. Schuester gets a little nutty in pushing them all to DO BETTER. He's got the crazy eyes.
At the Schuester-Pillsbury apartment, Emma is mortified that Will has discovered her secret stash of bookmarked and indexed bridal magazines. Don't feel bad, Emma, Will is going to commiserate by sharing his box o' porn. (OMG) Anyways, he totally wants to marry Emma, because maybe that means one of these days they'll actually have sex. (Ick.) But he also wonders why he still has yet to meet her parents. She freaks out, tells him it's a bad idea, and flees.
Mike Chang, Sr., wants Principal Figgins to drug-test Mike Chang, Jr., because he got an A- on a chemistry test. I have very mixed feelings about the fact that Mike's dad actually said the words, "an A- is an Asian F." So, yeah, Mike Jr. is under some serious pressure from the parental units. (And Figgins still thinks Tina is a vampire, which is my favorite thing.) He needs to bring those grades up, because otherwise his dad thinks he should quit performing as it is simply a waste of his time.
Coach Bieste has roped half the football team into auditioning for West Side Story. How will they learn to dance in the next two days? All eyes on Mike.
At lunchtime, Mercedes' boyfriend Shane can't believe Mercedes would hug the competition (Rachel) before her Maria audition. He doesn't think she ever gets the recognition she deserves, and he's not wrong. Mercedes dream-sequence-ish sings “Spotlight” in the choir room while Schuester focuses all of his attention on Rachel, and continues the performance as her audition. She sounds spectacular - Mercedes ALWAYS sounds spectacular, and it's true that she never gets the spotlight she deserves. Shane occupies the traditional boyfriend spot in the wings of the stage, while Rachel looks on from the other side in horror. She knows she has serious competition, and you can just tell she's going to do something stupid.
Ever-supportive (supporting) Tina finds Mike at his locker, ready to pump him up for his own West Side Story audition. He doesn't feel like he can do it, he already has too much on his plate and is feeling the heat from his parents.
Kurt is chatting high school politics with Rachel while trying to hand out campaign buttons to his skeptical classmates - so far, he's leading Brittany by 11 points. Santana and Brittany come over to talk trash and ask for Rachel's vote, ladies supporting ladies, but she says she's in Kurt's corner. No matter. Santana has organized a girl-power flashmob. Because nothing says "girl power" like Brittany in thigh-highs and a leather micro-miniskirt. Oh hell, who am I kidding. Watching Brittany dance is mesmerizing, and she kicks ass through "Run the World (Girls)." Kurt is the only guy watching in the all-women pep rally, and his mouth has dropped through the floor (along with his heart and his stomach, most likely).
In the teacher's lounge, Bieste and Emma think Rachel and Mercedes are too close to call in the race for Maria. Even better, they give Schuester credit for Mercedes' newfound presence and confidence! (gag). Time for a callback. Mercedes is annoyed that they have to audition again, and Rachel is utterly condescending. When Mercedes refuses Rachel's (manic) offer of a hug, Rachel looks completely taken aback. When was the last time someone well and truly stood up to her and gave her a run for her money?
After school, Mike is on his way to meet the chemistry tutor but gets derailed when the dance studio calls his name. He needs to dance his feelings out, and the fact that we get to see both him and Brittany do major dance numbers in one episode is a gift. Mike is alone in the silent studio, no sound but his feet whispering across the floor. In one corner, he hallucinates his father, telling him how foolish he is to consider a future in performing. In the other, it's Tina, telling him that movement is the very core of his being, and what she loves about him.
He's late, but Mike keeps his audition slot for the musical and ROCKS "Cool." So much for the CAN'T SING shirt from "Born This Way." The singing isn't amazing, but it's totally solid, and the dancing is spectacular. He even gets the football boys in there, whom he's clearly been tutoring. Bieste congratulates and thanks him after the audition, and hopes he didn't "waste too much of his time."
"It's what I love to do. It will never be a waste of my time."
Over a giant bowl of pasta, Will complains to Bieste that Emma clearly isn't proud of him because she hasn't introduced him to her parents. In the worst piece of advice since "confront him," Bieste tells Will to introduce himself.
Kurt climbs up the courtyard steps to find one Mr. Anderson at the top, a little nervous about the cast list for West Side Story. Far from letting it divide them, Kurt can see the same thing everyone else can: Blaine is the best guy for Tony, hands down, and offers up gorgeous roses as a pre-emptive congratulations. Blaine, clearly, was expecting this to be more of a sore spot between them than this, and is surprised and delighted by the gesture (“you always zig when I think you’re going to zag”). But as he steps down closer to Kurt, seemingly ready to show his thanks with a kiss, Kurt looks around nervously and Blaine awkwardly changes course with a friendly pat on the shoulder.
That both of them looked so uncomfortable and uncertain in this environment was perfect to me, but I will always wish we could have just a little more discussion about what it means for them. In what ways are they comfortable being a couple in public, and where do they draw the line with PDA? Is it different in the choir room versus the school hallways versus Breadstix? Do they agree on where those lines are drawn, or is it a constant thorn in one of their sides? That Blaine even looked like he *might* lean in for the kiss suggests that they’re comfortable with one another in that way, just not in the current surroundings, but really that’s mostly guesswork on my behalf. Grr. I want to know it ALL.
Booty camp time again, and Mercedes isn't getting the move down. But when Schue pushes her, she snaps and everything that's been building up for two years comes out. She's sick of playing second fiddle (at best), she's sick of everyone bowing down to Rachel and leaving nothing for anyone else. As she storms out, Schue says there's no coming back if she goes now.
The Dreamgirls number “It’s All Over” has never been my favorite, but that's not because it isn't well-suited to the moment. Much of the club feels like Mercedes has been making one excuse after another, while Mercedes feels like they're ganging up on her. Neither of those things is exactly wrong - Mercedes has been full of excuses in a way that the other club members are not, but her frustration about Rachel hogging the spotlight is justified. I think the staging and costuming just doesn’t quite do it for me, even though it’s appropriate to the song.
The dream sequence ends, and Mercedes is alone. It's over.
This time, when Mike is dancing out his feelings in the school studio, he isn't hallucinating the extra person hovering in the doorway. His mom has arrived and wants to know why he's lying and ditching his chemistry tutor. Mike confesses both that he auditioned for the musical, and that being a performer is what he truly wants to do. Instead of shooting him down, Mike's mother remembers the feeling of her own dreams being crushed, and vows to support Mike in his own. She, in fact, also wanted to dance. Mike offers to dance with her, and my mama heart grew a few more sizes, today.
The directors of West Side Story have decided to make it a head-to-head Maria-off for the callback. Rachel and Mercedes both get boyfriend pep-talks in the wings before facing one another on stage. They trade off on "Out Here on My Own," and of course they both sound fantastic. But they finish, and while Finn tries to cheer for Rachel, she immediately says that Mercedes was better than her.
Rachel puts on the crazy eyes and marches straight down the hallways into Coach Bieste's office. No good can come of this.
Emma comes home from work to find a lovely table set, and an ambush from her horrible parents who immediately call her "my little freaky-deaky." WELL PLAYED, SCHUESTER. He finally clues in that Emma is avoiding her parents, not him. Except... she says it's because they're "ginger supremacists."
And then we went off the rails.
Like, seriously? There was no other way to introduce Emma's parents as awful than to say they're ginger supremacists? Oy.
But, then, I suppose it gives a moment of absurd comedy to the fact that they're particularly awful to Emma when she starts to exhibit her OCD behaviors under the stress of having them there. Will, at least, stands up to them once he realizes how terrible they're being, but the damage is done.
Kurt confronts Rachel at her locker - her dramatic conference with Coach Bieste was to put herself in as a candidate for Senior Class President. Kurt feels positively betrayed that Rachel would run against him. She tries to wheedle her way out of it, saying she'd totally make him her Vice President if she won, but also admits that it was out of sheer panic at the idea that she might not get cast as Maria, and what that could mean for her college applications. Except that she also knows that Kurt is in the same situation - unlikely to get the lead, and "woefully thin on extracurriculars." When push comes to shove, Rachel's blind ambition means she will trample anyone she perceives as being in the way of her path to success, no matter how much it might hurt those closest to her.
And that, in a nutshell, is the difference between Kurt and Rachel at this point in the show. They're both talented and ambitious with big Broadway dreams that they'll do almost anything to realize. But while Kurt sees his dream role going to his boyfriend and brings him flowers (even if it hurts), Rachel sees the potential of hers going to Mercedes and is ready to go nuclear, no matter what collateral damage is done.
Rachel and Mercedes are in Emma's office to learn that the directors couldn't make a decision, so they're double-casting Maria and adding a second weekend of performances. Rachel is obnoxious to start, but seems to realize she should back down and be grateful that she still gets to play the part. Mercedes calls shenanigans. "Tell me you were better than me," she says to Rachel, who keeps her mouth shut for once. "Why does no one ever want to hurt her feelings?" Mercedes asks. She's not wrong, but ultimately she cuts off her nose to spite her face and turns down the role.
Rachel tells Finn the good(ish) news, and he's happy because he assumes that means she'll be dropping out of the student council race and leaving it to Kurt and Brittany. But no, Rachel's feeling power-hungry and desperate. She's staying in, and Finn now has to choose between his brother and his girlfriend for who gets his vote.
Things are not so great in the Schuester-Pillsbury household. Emma's OCD behaviors are skyrocketing in the aftermath of dinner with her parents. Will... I have really mixed feelings here. He sees that she's hurting. He apologizes for not listening to her when it came to meeting her parents. He genuinely wants to help. But then he sings "Fix You," and it tips over the edge into condescending, which is really too bad. For a second, there, I almost liked Will Schuester.
While they sing, Artie puts up the (partial - where is Bernardo or anyone else?) cast list. Mike is thrilled with Riff, Blaine is delighted about Tony and hugs Kurt, who seems to be barely containing his own heartbreak in favor of being happy for Blaine. Rachel at least has the grace not to look too excited as Mercedes walks by. It's not a great feeling to not be sure you earned it, even if it's the result you hoped for.
Mercedes, with no Glee club and no musical, walks right into Shelby's office and offers herself up as the star of the new group.
As far as I’m concerned, we got three really great episodes to kick off Season 3 of Glee. Asian F even gave us some very real plots and character development for the totally under-used Mike and Mercedes, and both of those things felt like they were really done right. I believed the pressure Mike was under, but also the fact that he simply can’t NOT dance. Mercedes may have been a bit whiny, but given the crap she’s put up with in Rachel’s shadow for the last two years, I believe that, too.
Rachel continues her path of self-centeredness. We see how she reacts when challenged, and it is not pretty. But I *like* that I dislike Rachel in this moment. It feels so right for a girl who is so ambitious and has always been so assured of her own brilliance, to let some really ugly stuff come out when her success is threatened. And even with the ridiculousness that was “ginger supremacy,” this might be as engaged as I have felt in Will and Emma since early Season 1. It was messy and they didn’t communicate well, and Jayma Mays gives Emma so much heart that she absolutely refuses to become a caricature.
Thumbs up, all around. Well done, Glee.
Back later this week with " Pot o' Gold."