'Glee': Defying gravity and handicaps...and bad cupcakes
At long last, "Glee" is back in our lives! Jane Lynch, I've missed you so... And though the pregnancy plot is still full steam ahead, it didn't bother me nearly as much without Terri's psychotic fake pregnancy making an appearance. And an additional thumbs up for using the awesome Nouvelle Vague version of "Dancing With Myself" for Artie's song. Nice work, "Glee."
Baby Mama drama: Quinn's medical bills are adding up, and she demands that Finn join the workforce and prove to her that she chose the right guy to have a baby with. "Chose" being the operative word here. Puck makes a serious effort to help provide for his baby mama (without sacrificing his dip and nunchucks, of course), but Quinn doesn't care "if the baby comes out with a mohawk" (ADORABLE), she'll go to her grave swearing it's Finn's. Cue a flirty fight between Puck and Quinn, and a real fight between Puck and Finn.
And I gotta say...Team Puck! And not because I'm hoping he'll shave their baby's head into a mohawk, either. Well, not just because of that. And I'm going to take this opportunity to link to what may be simultaneously the most frightening and most pointless video on YouTube. This is what happens when you google "baby mohawk," people. Though I'm not sure what I expected to find... At any rate, Quinn is moved by Puck's efforts, but sticks with Finn, who is risking eternal damnation - or at the very least, terrible karma - by pretending to be handicapped in order to get a job.
Sue gets a little backstory, and a soul: Word on the street is that the Cheerios don't have a shot at Nationals without Quinn, but Sue claims she's merely being practical: "In order to win, my Cheerios need to appeal to that panel of judges. So if I have a pregnant girl doing a handspring into a double layout, the judges aren't going to be admiring her impeccable form, they're going to be wondering if the centrifugal force is going to make the baby's head start crowning." Fair enough, I suppose.
The principal insists she hold open auditions to fill Quinn's spot, with Will supervising. One hopeful, Becky, is developmentally disabled and largely incapable of jumping rope (which figures heavily in their Nationals routine), but Sue chooses her to join the squad. Will guesses evil plan or brain tumor, especially when she also pays for three new handicap ramps. But in fact, her older sister is also developmentally disabled. Are you getting this? Sue's an Actual. Human. Being. Wow. And the scene when she visits her sister in the hospital is incredibly sweet.
Wheels: The school can't afford a handi-capable bus to take Artie to Sectionals, but Will is determined to find a way to pay for it himself so that Artie can travel with the team, even though the team is more than ready to shove Artie into a car with his dad. They hold a bake sale to pay for the bus, which is eventually a success thanks to Puck's pot-laced cupcakes. To give the team a bit more empathy for Artie's situation, Will has them use wheelchairs for three hours a day, and stages a wheelchair number: "Proud Mary." It's good, but a little odd. I get the intent, but all those able-bodied kids in wheelchairs singing "rolling, rolling" just struck me as off somehow.
I'm happy to see the various Glee Club-ers getting backstories, but this episode had a tinge of preachy after school special that wasn't completely avoided by Artie's emphasis on the functionality of his penis. Duly noted, Artie. Duly noted. His burgeoning romance with Tina, however, is interrupted when Tina confesses to faking her stutter in order to push people away. Artie, who thought they had something in common, is upset that she gets to be normal - if painfully shy - and he's still stuck in the chair. Aww.
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly...": Will has done a little research, and the judges at Sectionals have a history of preferring songs that are more accessible than Glee's pop repertoire, so he's adding in some Broadway. Specifically, "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked." Yaaaay! Kurt deeply, deeply wants the solo, but Will won't budge from Rachel until Kurt's dad runs to the principal claiming sex discrimination. Kurt's dad rocks, you guys. Will agrees to let him audition, with the Glee Club voting for the winner.
And you guys, this just killed me. After Kurt's dad receives an anonymous call calling Kurt a fag, Kurt throws the solo, allowing his voice to crack on the final high F after an otherwise beautiful (and much more emotionally poignant) performance. Chris Colfer can SING, y'all. In a truly touching speech, Kurt confesses to his dad that he blew the audition to protect him from harassment like that phone call: "I'm just saying that I love you more than I love being a star." And that's saying something.
Quotes:
- Finn: "Kids are busier than when you went here. We've got homework and football, teen pregnancy, lunch..."
- Puck: "The doctor said the shark fractured my spinal cord." Sandy: "This is why I don't go to the aquarium."
- Sue: "You think this is hard? Try auditioning for "Baywatch" and being told that they're going in another direction. That was hard."
Songs:
- "Dancing With Myself" by Nouvelle Vague (originally by Billy Idol), sung by Artie
- "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked," sung by Kurt and Rachel
- "Proud Mary" by Ike & Tina Turner, sung by Glee Club
How did you feel about Kurt's decision to protect his dad rather than get the solo? Are we all on the same page as far as Team Puck goes? What did you think about the wheelchair number?
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'Glee' recaps
Well I'll certainly agree that this episode was high school specially, sadly it was done badly. The main offender was Will oddly enough. After telling the kids they need to raise 650 dollars to rent the bus of Artie can go with them, He tells them there going to raise the money by having a bake sale. The kids are underwhelmed, and all assure him that they can't bake. Will instead of asking the kids for suggestions as to how to raise the money, immediatly tells them they've disappointed him and implys their terrible people. When did he become Sue? And the kids are proven right, as when they sell nondrugged goods they make $1. That dollar provided by a Glee club member.
Artie almost skates by when asked if he minds not going witrh the rest of the club he says no. O.k. like what else is he gonna say? But dude you did say it. Then Tina compares faking a stutter to push people away to being in a wheelchair, and it looks like he's going out with the moral high ground. Then he tells her he dosen't like her cause shes normal. I'm gonna do him a favor and assume he mispoke cause he was angry.
Sue eh. I was with Will all the way, and wating for the evil plot. Then she said you don't know anything about me, and I knew what we'd find about the sister. Cute scene anyway.
Kurt was the winner of the afterschool special off, I stioll think Racheal won the diva off, but Kurt was impressive.
A low point in the series cause of this, but eh a low point on Mt. Everest is still pretty high.
Now cmon . . . Kurt's rendition was fine, but Lea Michele gives Idina Menzel a run for her money. They almost need to consider how to tone her down somehow, cause she's soooo much better than everyone else in the cast.
okay, seriously, when are they going to have Idina Menzel on the show as Rachel's biomom?!?
@my.02 - I don't know why I never thought of that before; Idina Menzel as Rachel's birth mother would be awesome.
I have to say, I loved Kurt's rendition!
And because Lea Michele is fantastic, I thought Rachel's performance was great too, but even with the blown note, I'd have picked Kurt because his version *was* more emotionally poignant and hell, it's kinda novel to hear a boy sing that song in the original key AND octave.
One of my few complaints with the show is that I'm starting to really want the Finn/Quinn/Puck thing to end (and frankly both pregnancies). But I'm afraid this "dance" is going to last until the baby is born though... It's clear now who belongs with whom, so the show should start spending time getting them there and crafting interesting stories around that instead of too many soap opera antics to keep them apart.
The stuff with Kurt and his dad got me misty - possibly because I never had moments like that with mine...
And Artie and Tina was touching too... I can see where he was coming from, but she could have a beef with him too. Given what he said and the fact that he left, it sort of implied that he only liked her because he thought she had a problem.
How is it possible that every week I actually love Kurt more? Chris Colfer is such a breakout star on this show---AMAZING acting, great comic timing while also showing such believable emotion depth and he can SING! Wow, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE HIM!! The scenes with his Dad just kill me and I really hope that we continue to get more storylines focused on him because he is just too much of a find to not use as much as possible (and I want to see him sing more!!!). I also really enjoyed seeing some of the other characters get storylines and finally backstory finally like Artie, Tina and Sue to make them more real and/or less three dimensional. Also, I am TOTALLY team Puck/Quinn. Not only because they are more interesting, but they have better chemistry! The sooner Finn finally finds out the better I say!! And when are we finally going to meet Rachel's two Dad's?! I'm dying for that! All in all, really solid ep overall because it was so grounded in reality and the songs were too.
(make them MORE 3 dimensional I meant to say!)
This ep was really hyped with reviews in many newspapers but I didn't think it was that great. Still love the show though.
They can afford 11 expensive wheelchairs, lots of baking supplies, and they can afford drugs, but can't come up with $650 for a bus? Let's see: 12 people + 1 teacher = 13; $650/13=$50 each. They can't just get each person to put up $50 for the trip? Couldn't one of the parents donate a little? It's not a fortune really. Puck's nunchucks probably cost at least $50, and Kurt's Alexander McQueen sweater was probably $650 by itself.
I love this show, but I mean come ON.
Ooh, I like the idea of Idina Menzel coming on the show as Rachel's biological mom. That would be AWESOME. Producers? Anyone? Please?
I think Mike OMalley deserves a shout out after his two amazingly acted performances thus far. Who knew the guy from Guts actually had that in him?!?