Well, I didn't hate the fall finale of Glee, but I sure as hell didn't love it. With four months to go before we see another episode, I guess I was just expecting a little bit more. Sure, a few major plotlines were finally resolved, but the question remains–were their conclusions particularly satisfying? Meh, they could have been better. At least they finally let "other Asian" speak…
As usual, I've provided a few of my reflections on the episode's musical numbers, and they're obviously packed with spoilers. So who's getting excited for regionals? I'm trying my best to get pumped, but it's becoming difficult to "keep it up" for a show that's so overhyped yet so often mediocre. They better bring it hard for the second half of this season!
– Dewitt
To watch or read more about this episode, follow the JUMP:
- "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (Amber Riley): Oh, I get it. She's a large black girl! How could she not sing this song? And it's so obvious that she's going to sing it that the band doesn't even need to ask her what she's singing. ::sigh:: It's great that Mercedes is getting all these solos, but how about giving her a solid plotline or two? She's one of the more overexposed vocalists within the group, and yet we know very little about her. Meanwhile, the white kids frolicking about stabbing one another in the back and getting pregnant. Ugh! Now, I think Amber Riley did a decent job with this song, but can we please stop acting like she's ever done anything that's better than the original song. "Bust Your Windows" came close, but this was nothing compared to Jennifer Holliday's original version. Hell, it didn't even measure up to Jennifer Hudson's! It was what it was–a decent cover with zany camera angles that could easily induce a headache. I actually thought the small snippet of Jane Addams Academy's soloist sounded much better. Just sayin'.
- "Don't Rain On My Parade" (Lea Michele): To be quite frank, I don't know shit about Funny Girl or Barbra Streisand. Given Rachel's diva demeanor and the setback the glee club faced when they discovered that their set-list was leaked by Sue Sylvester, this song seemed appropriate on a contextual level. I'm sure this didn't measure up with Streisand, but let's be real–the majority of Glee's audience probably have never heard this song before. If they're going to continue to dip in the musical theater nerd pool, I really hope they find an excuse for Rachel to sing "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy. It'd be interesting to see Lea Michele trying to pretend she's Ethel Merman. The only thing better would be a guest spot from Patti LuPone. Don't act like it could never happen! They've already had Kristin Chenoweth, and rumor has it that Idina Menzel will be appearing in several upcoming episodes…
- "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Cory Monteith & Full Cast): This was another one of those numbers that I think I was supposed to love, but I honestly didn't get into it very much. With no disrespect to Mick Jagger, this song itself has lost a bit of magic from becoming overly commercialized. On the positive side, Cory Monteith once again reminded me why he's on this show. His voice just works for the classic rock numbers. As for the whole Puck/Finn/Quinn baby-daddy love triangle, it was extremely relieving to see that plotline put to rest. But would Puck really have had the audacity to ask if they were "cool" after getting his girlfriend pregnant and lying about it for months? I'm going to let that one slide. The writers clearly anticipated that we'd be skeptical of Finn's sudden turnaround and tried their best to keep the drama alive.
- "My Life Would Suck Without You" (Full Cast): Well, that was a pretty cheesy way to conclude the fall finale. I was willing to forgive it, but then they threw in that heinous male-female harmony. Can they please stop making Cory Monteith and Lea Michele sing together? Their voices don't blend well together. On an entirely unrelated note, it's nice to see that Santana is developing into her own character, even if she's just the slutty bisexual cheerleader. Some of the dance moves in this number made me legitimately uncomfortable. Were they seriously patting their vaginas at some point? They might as well have just given Mr. Schuester a lapdance. And while we're talking about him, let's address his romance with Emma. The moment they locked lips, it just felt kind of one-sided. I can believe that Emma's into Will, but I don't see any chemistry on his part. I was expecting some magical and tear-jerking moment–a la Rachel and Ross from Friends–but it wound up falling flat. I guess you can't always get what you want?
Well, frankly I loved it. I agree with some of your points but not all of them. Yeah they need to stop making Cory and Lea sing together. But Lea definitely lived up to Barbra. I do think that it was a little corny for Amber to be singing that song. But I think she did a great job, just as good as miss holiday but not quite as good as J-hud but thats just my opinion. That actually was the song they asked her to sing at her audition and it got her the role. But yeah, give her a story line. I mean like Kurt a got story line. Even Tina got a back story but not the sista? And personally I loved the final song I thought it summed things up quite nice. And if u payed attention they weren’t doing those dances randomly. They were looking back at their other performances. Like that vagina slapping thing was from push it, if u remember. Just look back at their other song performances and you’ll see how they tie in. Thats my slant on it.
Yeah, Justin got it exactly right. The choreography in the final number was callbacks to other numbers they had done before. The cowboy number with Kristin Chenoweth, “Single Ladies”, the number when the boys were hopped up on cold medicine, “hairography”, etc.
I just got around to watching the episode. It was okay. I don’t demand brilliance every single episode, that’s just not realistic. From reading my friends’ ecstatic Facebook updates, though I was expecting some awesome cliffhanger. The kiss? Was that the big cliffhanger?
On a side note, Funny Girl hasn’t had a Broadway revival since the original production 45 years ago. (There was a tour a while back starring Debbie Gibson– I know, I’m just sayin’– that was supposed to go to Broadway, though obviously that didn’t happen.) Wonder if Lea Michele would bring enough star power?
I loved it.
True, Glee doesnt have the best writers in the world, and often times the dialogue is forced, but come on…. that Don’t Rain On My Parade brought the flippin house down. The fact that they supposedly pulled that together in an hour made it a truly triumphant moment.
And REALLY…. that’s what Glee seems to be good at: providing us with those fantastic moments (dramatic or musical) that give you shivers – despite the fact that theyre cheesy or that we saw them coming. I think Glee owes it’s popularity to the fact that it simply gives us what we (secretly) want.
So, let’s not get down on Glee for not having the witty writing or intricate plotlines of The West Wing. Let’s celebrate it for giving us those pleasureful moments that are all too rare in our daily life.
Cheers.
I think Mercedes did a great job on “I’m not telling you.” You also have to keep in mind this is supposed to be in a school “classroom” Dewwit! She blew that other girl out of the water and I have always thought she could outsing Rachel.
Speaking of which, I loved her intro and dramatic act as well. She is also very talented.
You can’t always get what you want seemed sort of cheesy to me, and I agree that the “we cool?” thing was a little wierd, but it is supposed to be High School as well.
The last song was hillarious because of all the old dance moves especially the part with Artie jumping around in his wheelchair, LOVE IT!
I don’t demand excellence either but I am starting to see where it is Dew is coming from. The show does get a little cheesy, but as a college freshman, I remember high school, and it was pretty damn cheesy.
All of the singers are very talented and some of the story lines I would love to have go into deeper. I’m a Mercedes fan for life!
Now if only we could find a way for a masculine homosexual to get into the Glee club taht would be great. I’m tired of the stereotypical gay being on every popular show. I definately don’t act like that. I don’t even take 1/10000000th as good of care of myself as he does. Bleh, some day?
I have to agree with the majority on this. Glee does have cheesy moments but I think that is the point. I only wish that when I was in show choir we would have been able to do songs like those, and not ones that made you want to slit your wrists. These kids are amazing, and if our show choir would have went up against them we would have lost for sure.
Dewitt you are insane. It was perfect. Sue got what she deserved. Funny Girl was perfect. I totally believed that Rachel (Jew with two gay dads) had been working on it since she was 4. Rachel got to save the day instead of being the bad guy. “You can’t always get what you want” was a perfect end to baby drama. And sorry Dewitt, I teach high school and teachers eat up that shit. If my kids sang my life would suck without you while reminding me of all the things I had taught them I would be crying like a little girl.
You are right about the “sista issue” for Amber but that song was not about her it was a chance to let Rachel grow a little and the cut aways where you see how happy Rachel is for Amber is priceless. It makes her moment later where she has to be the star to save the team perfect.
You are right Lea and Cory must stop singing together. Actually Cory should just stop singing. Everything he does sounds so painfully annoyingly earnest. Just saying…
I thought the whole show was awesome! I have not been able to watch all season but, the episodes I did see was all great. I agree with you about Mercerdes though, let us see something about each of the members.
Dewitt,
You are being an ass about Glee. Do you expect it to change your life? It is after all, a Fox television show.
It is funny and entertaining, that is all it’s meant to be.
Why don’t you get a job producing instead of bitching on a blog?
I’ll ring the bell a little longer and resonate what everyone else has already said: Glee = Cheese, and that’s what it’s supposed to be. Of course it has it’s moments of seriousness, like when the baby bump was found and we all thought Will was going to hit Terri (did anyone else find that sprinting head first toward domestic violence?) But in any case, the finale was wonderful. The young audience HAS heard that song because the young audience is full of people who were in choirs/show choirs. And anyone who watched Mrs. Doubtfire at least got a taste of it from Robin Williams in one of his costumes, which was also hilarious.
Amber Riley is a superstar, plain and simple. She did an outstanding job with “And I Am Telling You,” she did a great job with “Bust Your Windows,” and she KILLED “Hate On Me.” I know I’ll anger a lot of Jill Scott fans, but I think she did much better with that song.
I do agree that Lea and Cory’s voices do not mesh well. But you know whose do? Lea and Chris. Their duet of “Defying Gravity” is outstanding. The harmonies and beautiful, and though Chris was forced to take a harmonizing role, it is excellent. They should do so much more together than they are.
As for what you said about the Emma/Will romance, you could see it. The song made him realize what he was losing with Emma leaving, and he had to catch her. How can you say that there isn’t anything on his side? Sure, hers may have been more visible throughout the first several episodes, but with that ending, I think it was very obvious what was going on. What sucks is that he just cheated on his wife. They’ve gone through no legal steps to end the marriage, so technically they’re still together. It’ll be interesting to see if the writers play off that in the coming episodes.
And finally, on a sour note, the group numbers sucked. I love Kelly Clarkson as though she were my sister. To me, she is the only American Idol (because she was the first, and to me, the best.) So it was painful to hear them do her song such an injustice. I was continually reminded of those horrible Kids Bop commercials. I nearly changed the channel it was so painful. And as for “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” I had cheated and listened to a sneak preview of it on iTunes, and I already knew it was going to suck.
Dude, you’ve been read by a bunch of people now bigtime…..this episode was fun, it was just enough drama to keep you guessing, and even if you knew what was going to happen, or didn’t, it was a great hour of music, dance and GLEE! For some of us, it brings back the pure joy of just being in HS and having a place to perform your best.
Sometimes you just have to step back and appreciate something for what it is, and not what you wanted it to be. Thanks for posting the links to hulu on here….makes it easier to see how wrong you are each week….
He probably would’ve rather kissed Finn or Puck. I know I would’ve! LOL!
For those very vocal people who love Glee, more power to you. I think it’s great when you find a TV show that speaks to you, whether it makes you laugh, cry, feel, or just entertains the hell out of you. It’s awesome when you find a series that you love.
I’ve watched every episode, and I doubt I’ll watch it again, however. I’m sorry, but this was a lackluster episode in my opinion. I’m tired of the wild inconsistencies, the ludicrous plotlines, and this time the idea of having two performances put together in 30 minutes (with the latter including perfect harmonies and choreography) just pushed me over the edge.
I don’t care about any of these characters, even the gay one, because they feel like characters. The whole show is like an animated series that hits the reset button at the end of every single episode. If that’s what you’re looking for, I’m glad you found it. But I want more.
From now on, I’m watching Modern Family and Cougartown, and I’ll leave Glee for the people who enjoy it. Personally, I think it sucks.
I was fortunate enough to see Ms. Holiday sing that song on broadway and have played both the broadway and film versions of Dont Rain on My Parade to death in my house and Rachel was dead on. While Amber didn’t quite have the power of Jennifer Holiday she was damn good and has been consistently throughout the show.
I don’t watch the show to see compelling drama. I watch it to see as close an approximation of acapella as is currently being offered. On that part the show exceeds my expectations. I am old enough to recognize a Funny Girl song after the first 2 notes and too old to know Bust Your Windows but they both did it for me. Hell I loved Bootylicious as well. No idea who sings it but the show is exposing me to new (to me) music as well as giving me showtunes I love. Not gonna bitch about it. Don’t love everything but for an hour a week I am happy.
I’m still sort of willing for Other Asian to come out of the closet so maybe he’ll get more speaking lines. (It’d be nice for the token gay of the show to even have the slightest chance of a real relationship and Mike Chang was the footballer that wasn’t part of the implied threesome in the showers when Kristen Chenoweth’s character was on.)
I’m with the majority on this one as well… even the part about Mike Chang coming out 😛
I definitely got all emotional during that last number. So freaking good!