Glee

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I just watched the first episode, and actually REALLY enjoyed it. Loved the ending even more, being as "Don't stop Believing" is one of my favourite songs. Though I do feel like know I should probably chop my dick off and have done with it.

[Rich]

I like Glee, in a world with so much crap going on its 40 mins a week which is more than alittle bit silly and quite fun I approve of Glee

[METALMAN]

I have bought my sister the DVDs of this for her birthday. Should I watch it too?

[Avenged Probably]

Do it.

I'm almost ashamed to say how much I'm enjoying this so far... only a few episodes in mind you, but it's wonderful. I usually hate anything in this vein... but it's just really fun I guess.

[TKz]

I have bought my sister the DVDs of this for her birthday. Should I watch it too?

You'll need to change your name to Metalwoman shortly afterwards.

[GoGo Yubari]

Glee works because it basically manages to blur the lines between making fun of the peppy high-school musical genre and actually being part of it. Pretty much the epitome of it is in the Rachel/Jesse St. James romance stuff from last week. On one hand, you had two attractive teenagers singing a sappy duet number and generally having Teen Romance, but it's prefaced with the guy all-too-earnestly talking about playing concerts for the homeless and delivering lines like "I've got a full ride to University of California Los Angeles. You might have heard of it; it's in Los Angeles."

[naiwf]

I really liked Glee for roughly the first 10 or 11 episodes, then it started venturing too far into sappy soap territory. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care if Will/Emma, Puck/Quinn, Finn/Quinn, Finn/Rachel, Artie/Tina end up together. Everyone on the show has had moments where I've wanted to punch them in the throat and I think the show is at its best when the focus is more on the actual glee club and not some relationship that'll be over in 3 or 4 episodes tops. I understand that Ryan Murphy runs through storylines like he's a crack addict looking for his next hit, but it seems like we've used up about 3 seasons worth of potential material already.

I haven't seen tonight's episode yet, but I hope they get back to the flow the earlier episodes had before the back nine is over.

[LittleDaniel]

I won't say anything spoilerific, but I will say that while this episode had its moments, I wasn't impressed. I felt like nothing was accomplished at the end of the day. If this means they've finally decided to take their time with storylines, great, but if the show continues at break-neck speed than this one definitely lags behind.

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, no, this episode wasn't that good. I mean, music number-wise it was one of the strongest episodes, and between Sue, Brittany, Jesse, and shockingly Will there are some strong lines, but the plot felt like a very forced way to work Madonna songs in instead of having any compelling reasons pertaining to the characters.

For one thing, the Artie in this episode only resembled the Artie in the entire series prior because it was Kevin McHale delivering the lines, and Artie and Tina getting together felt like a forced, throwaway moment between two characters whose issues were only addressed in a singular episode and then weren't even acknowledged beyond a throwaway line this week. Kurt and Mercedes joining the Cheerios is a good idea, but even with the Jesse thing it didn't really feel like they had strong enough motivation. And Sue was just all over the place; trying to fit her unreliable narrator backstories into a monologue designed to give her depth or a relatable character flaw or something is clumsy and unnecessary.

I like Jesse, though, just because I love the weird little musical theatre sphere he lives in where singing apparently solves any conflict.

[LittleDaniel]

I wouldn't even say it was a musically strong episode, but I've never been a fan of Madonna. Can't really think of a worse episode so far.

I like Jesse too, if only so we have someone on the show that we're not really sure where their allegiance lies.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm not a Madonna fan either, I just thought most of those songs aside from "Like a Prayer" and maybe the first one really worked well on the show. As far as actually using the song to further the plot, "Like a Virgin" ranks above the vast majority of the other musical numbers.

As for episodes that are worse, "Vitamin D" comes to mind immediately.

Also, episode summary spoiler for next week;

Kristin Chenoweth is back! I am immediately more excited for next week's than I was for this week's.

[Benji]

Watched the episode post-mid season break last night - what the shit? None of the magic from the cast was there except for Finn/Fynn/Whatever and the writing just became really lazy by introducing new love interests and all but ignoring the previous ones, hopefully it's a one-off.

[Katsuya]

I actually thought it was one of the best episodes yet. Express Yourself, 4 Minutes and Like a Prayer were all great performances in their own ways, and Vogue is always great. But then again, I'm a huge Madonna fan (go figure >_>). Plus, Chris Colfer looks good in a Cheerio uniform, and that is the last I shall say on that matter. Yes there was a bit of music overkill, like the mash-up that Finn/Rachel did and using Frozen completely out of place as backing music, but I don't think it harmed the episode particularly. It wasn't as bad as Mash-Up/Ballad were, for example.

Also, "When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist..." is one of Brit's best lines so far.

ETA:

I figured that Mercedes and Kurt joined the Cheerios because they were guaranteed the lead singing roles no matter what, since obviously that's what they've been hired for. Both characters have been overshadowed by Rachel in particular in the past over in the Glee club, and with Jesse on board now that was probably the tip of the iceberg.

And can Will stop trying to be the moral compass on everything? He flips out at them for not wanting Jesse on board this week, and last week it was because they did Gives You Hell which was arguably the best performance of the episode >_>

Edited April 21, 2010 by Katsuya

[stokeriño]

I watched one episode of this. Didn't enjoy it enough to remain interested - or, indeed, to overcome my dislike of the whole singing motif...

The redhead was cute though.

That is all.

[Downward Spiral]

I have to agree with Kats, this episode by far had some of the best music so far (with Kaurt and Mercedes version of "4 Minutes" being particularly strong). As far as writing goes, I'm glad they've realised that Britney and Santana are absolute comedy gold, for a start. The twist with Jesse is a brilliant touch (although can Idina Menzel please come back IMMEDIATELY?).

Sue was the only let down this episode as they made it just that little bit too pantomime. The point where she was throwing kids all over the hallway was just stretching a little for me, but it was recovered with that fantastic scene in her office with Kurt and Mercedes. I can take the point about the storylines being rushed and Artie and Tina getting together could have done with more build. Equally, however, I think they've been caught on the hop by just how big this show has become, and I get the sense that they really could have done with this not being the back 9 episodes of season 1, but actually a fully fledged season 2.

Meh, for my money it's still absolutely brilliant.

[Pesci]

I hated this week's episode. I don't understand why I still watch this, I never really have a positive thing to say about it. It's just addictive. I used to watch it because it made me feel good but now it doesn't, the storylines just annoy me. I want to see more of the minor characters, namely the kid in the wheelchair and Puck/Quinn.

[Rich]

I wanted to see Quinn do Poppa Don't Preach all the way through

Her mini cover was excellent in the first half of the season.

[GoGo Yubari]

I figured that Mercedes and Kurt joined the Cheerios because they were guaranteed the lead singing roles no matter what, since obviously that's what they've been hired for. Both characters have been overshadowed by Rachel in particular in the past over in the Glee club, and with Jesse on board now that was probably the tip of the iceberg.

They actually foreshadowed that earlier in the season, too, when

Kurt and Mercedes both tried out for the Cheerios in Wheels. That plot development is one I'm totally fine with; it's also interesting that it seems like Quinn is starting to veer back towards resenting the Glee club given the stuff she was drawing in her notebook and how excited she was by Kurt and Mercedes joining the Cheerios.

Also I did love "4 Minutes." I really love any time Chris Colfer and Amber Riley get spotlight songs; it was cool seeing Colfer's range this week in "4 Minutes" and "Like a Prayer." I also loved that Santana got a tiny bit of spotlight in "Like a Virgin" so I could actually hear what she even sounds like when she's singing. Hopefully Brittany gets an opportunity like that sooner rather than later.

[Katsuya]

I figured that Mercedes and Kurt joined the Cheerios because they were guaranteed the lead singing roles no matter what, since obviously that's what they've been hired for. Both characters have been overshadowed by Rachel in particular in the past over in the Glee club, and with Jesse on board now that was probably the tip of the iceberg.

They actually foreshadowed that earlier in the season, too, when

Kurt and Mercedes both tried out for the Cheerios in Wheels. That plot development is one I'm totally fine with; it's also interesting that it seems like Quinn is starting to veer back towards resenting the Glee club given the stuff she was drawing in her notebook and how excited she was by Kurt and Mercedes joining the Cheerios.

I don't think Quinn is leaning back towards the Cheerios, really. I think she hates Sue enough and likes Mr. Schu too much that she wouldn't go back. Personally, I think she's just glad to see Kurt and Mercedes get their chance to shine - even though they gave the impression in Ballad that her and Kurt never had spoken to each other, they always seem to be paired up in songs and the like and seem to get on well (I'm using Hello Goodbye and Keep Holding On as examples for that). Plus, Dianna Aggron and Chris Colfer are apparently ridiculously good friends. Oh, how I love gossip sites.

Also, an actual spoiler in terms of a guest star and the final epsiode of this season:

Josh Groban is returning and will be one of the judges at Regionals, alongside Olivia Newton John's character and...Sue Sylvester.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Katsuya

[thatblindgeye]

Even if the show has a bad episode, I can't but help enjoy it still. It's a good quirky, fun, and over the top show with good to great songs covered superbly by the cast.

The only thing I could say I hated about this weeks episode...

1) The Artie and Tina thing just coming out of nowhere, and Artie all of a sudden becoming 'typical demanding/controlling sexist guy' out of nowhere. I mean, I loved the episode where the two seemed to be getting together because it was with people that werent being pushed as THE stars of the show, but it never went anywhere and now it's all of a sudden back without any mention since. I would have liked if they spent just one minute for three episodes between the two to showcase them more. And Artie is the one guy in the group I would have thought to NOT be typical guy and be understanding, considering he's a crippie and all

2) The songs being sung High School Musical style, i.e. people dancing around and singing with people around them acting like nothing is going on. That's the one thing I like about this show, is that they don't go off and do some crazy/weird song numbers while the people in the background act oblivious. Not that it's something that COMPLETELY ruins a scene, but I prefer the group just singing naturally.

Outside of that I enjoyed the episode. Santana is fit and it's good whenever she gets a scene, but her and Brittany/just Brittany is always great. If Brittany ever gets a line during an episode, she automatically wins line of the week. The whole Rachel/Jessie thing is something I didn't expect, but I fully expect it to turn into him playing her, what with the look he gave his instructor in last weeks episode.