So what happened on last night’s episode of Glee? Well, I don’t want to spoil it for any of you (yet), but here’s the general gist of things. Principal Figgins demands that Tina change her goth style, after an unfortunate Twilight-related incident. For some reason, this leads to everyone singing Lady Gaga and Kiss songs. It also leads to one of the most awesome Tina moments of the entire season, but that’s a whole other story…
My feelings on this episode are a bit conflicted. Between all the laughing, crying and cringing in displeasure, it was certainly a roller coaster of emotions. In the end, it all comes down to one thing–Burt Hummel is an awesome father. And that scene with Finn and Kurt was enough to make tuning in worthwhile.
– Dewitt
To watch the episode, read more and hear the songs, follow the JUMP:
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FULL EPISODE:
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NEXT WEEK:
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Funny Girl (Idina Menzel): With a bit of detective work–also known as spying–the group discovers that Vocal Adrenaline is rehearsing a Lady Gaga number for regionals. Rachel and a few other girls decide to further investigate this matter. In the process, she realizes that Shelby Corcoran is actually her mother.
Shelby performs this number to show her troupe the meaning of “theatricality”. It’s not really clear why she busts out a Barbra Streisand song in the context of a Lady Gaga rehearsal, but this scene was more about Idina Menzel‘s incredible vocals than anything else. Unfortunately, it went on a bit too long. Normally, I’d let this slide, but this isn’t exactly the most exciting song from Babs’ catalogue. (3 Points)
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Bad Romance (Female Cast & Chris Colfer): For reasons I’m not going to question, Schuester concludes that Lady Gaga is the best solution to Tina‘s not-quite identity crisis. The girls (and Kurt) are extremely excited about this, and they pay homage to Gaga with their crazy costumes and this little ol’ ditty you’ve probably heard once or twice.
Let’s focus on the positive things first. The outfits were hilarious. Naya Rivera (Santana) sounded utterly fantastic on the bridge. And this was undoubtedly the most entertaining musical number in the entire episode.
Now let’s move on to my nit-picky issues. It’s confusing that the show had the balls to write “faggy” into the script, but they hesitated to use the phrase “free bitch”. Also, it’s hard to believe that Kurt would wear the same Lady Gaga costume several days in a row. His character is ambitious and fashion-savvy enough to have developed several looks. I mean, isn’t there a quip in the upcoming episode’s promo about him being so depressed that he wore the same outfit twice in one week? Half-point deducted. (4.5 Points)
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Shout It Out Loud (Male Cast): The boys in the group aren’t thrilled about the whole Gaga thing, so Finn suggests that they showcase their own version of theatricality. And what better way to do that than with the help of Kiss?
This would have been a lot more fun if I legitimately enjoyed listening to Kiss. The song went on a bit too long, but bonus points for effort. Also, am I crazy or did Mike Chang open his mouth and sing? I couldn’t tell with all that makeup in the mix. (2.5 Points)
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Beth (Mark Salling, Cory Monteith & Male Cast): Puck tells Quinn that he’d like to name their baby “Jackie Daniels”. She isn’t too keen on this idea, so he offers up another suggestion via song. The rest of the boys help him out.
While I’m normally a fan of anything that involves Mark Salling, this whole “baby names” moment seemed unnecessary next to the rest of the episode’s plotlines. Tear me apart all you want, but this one just didn’t do it for me! Plus, I read somewhere that they don’t even name the baby Beth. And that makes this entire scene kind of pointless. (2 Points)
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Poker Face (Lea Michele & Idina Menzel): Rachel and Shelby can’t seem to work out the whole mother-daughter dynamic. Before they part ways with one another, Rachel insists that they sing together. Luckily, an accompanist is lurking in the shadows, and he’s ready to play the piano at any moment.
Since no one else is going to say it, I need to get this off my chest. It’s wildly out of character for Rachel to have chosen a Lady Gaga song for their duet. This seemed more about including enough songs to call this a “Lady Gaga episode” than staying true to both character’s musical theater roots. I would have preferred another round of “I Dreamed A Dream”, and that’s all I’m saying on this matter… (3.5 Points)
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BREAKDOWN OF POINTS SYSTEM:
- 5 Points = Excellent or exceeding expectations in regards to vocal performance, choreography and arrangement. Fits well within the context of the episode, and potentially better than the original version.
- 4 Points = Not too shabby! May not be entirely on par with the original, but a fantastic effort by the actors and vocalists.
- 3 Points = Tolerable. Did not induce eye rolls or kept them to a minimum.
- 2 Points = Could be a variety of factors, including poor song choice or lackluster performance. Boring or uninspired. May be an insult to the original artist.
- 1 Point = Absolutely painful. Couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Can the girl that plays Santana have her own solos NOW!
am i the only one who misses season one? the show got renewed and along came a bigger budget and all the trappings. there is no way they would have had pyrotechnics on season one. season one was simple, authentic and believable. now the show seems more interested in selling downloads than relating to all of us geeks. the guys in full kiss garb? puhleeeeez!
Hey Bradpitt… it’s still season one.
Poker face isn’t one of those songs that can played slow. Although the duet was bareable, it wasn’t the best way to showcase it.
“And we have a jumper”–hilarious!
it is a campy musical sitcom – you are worried about authenticity? i think within that genre it is right on the mark. this show is too damn fun. although i think finn got a raw deal. if i were in high school and i had to move into the same room with a gay guy who was overly pushy with his crush on me i would have been pretty pissed off too and i am gay.
I HATED Poker Face. It ruined the moment. This is the first time I get to sing with the woman I have always dreamed of singing with, so I’m going to choose a hokey version of a pop song. If they wanted to do Gaga, they could have at least done something with feeling, like “Speechless.” At least it would have fit more. My vote would have been for “For Good,” an homage to Idina’s Wicked days, and the song definitely fit perfectly with the moment. I was very saddened by that ending.
I thought the episode was ok, nothing really special.
When “Bad Romance” started, I was like “this is going to be horrible,” but midway in I was really into it, so 5 stars.
One thing that bugged me was how fast Rachel & Shelby went from complete strangers to lovey-dovey ness, and then back to like strangers again…WTF?!
“Poker Face” was horrible! Seemed very out of place for the moment, and definitely not a song Rachel really would have sung!
P.S. Finn was right…that room was soo “faggy”, haha!
I agree with what you said about Poker Face. It didn’t make sense that she would pick that song. And hearing a mother and daughter singing that song made me feel awkward.
The fact that Kurt didn’t get more than one outfit has nothing to do with the song or performance. The half point off should have been for the fact that the song sounded exactly the same except they changed some lyrics. It wasn’t really all that excited. I wouldn’t listen to it over GaGa’s version.
Damn I wasn’t done. I actually thought this was probably the best episode since after the break, storyline-wise. Kurt’s dad was great, even though the room was super “faggy.” And honestly who would make them share a room? That was stupid, but the interaction between the three of them was great.
Yeah, what house has 2.5 bathrooms but has less than three bedrooms?
Burt Hummel almost gave me a hard on when he told Finn off. Very moving and powerful.
Poker Face was chosen for its lyrical content. “She’s got to love nobody.” She = Rachel’s mom
Plus, Rachel pretended to be ok with it – Poker Face
Out of character? Absolutely. Chosen for no apparent reason? Not quite.
It was a good episode, spite of the Caca (I meant, Gaga) thing. In my reasoning, I don’t think that gaga should be a model for new singers: plastic voices, famboyee costumes and crappy lyrics… if I wanted to lead them about theatrical, I would defenitly choose Bjotk, who’s an actual artist in all the plenitude of the word.
But since I think the curse of the episode was on Kurt, who is this sparkling broadway gay stereotype, it has sense they choose Gaga. Let’s face it, most of the people who like it (gay or straight, boys or girls) are practicaly like Kurt: with low selfsteam, non own deffense type, superficial and not that bright kids, who can only fight for them selves when wearing another one’s clothes.
And adding gaga forme was really fun, since I saw it with captions and I was laughing on her lyrics. And precisly that Kurt compares Gaga’s with Kiss saying they wasn’t good (not a kiss fan, but c’mon!!) just maed the point above valid. So it was a very funny episode when to songs mean.
Dramatically, the episode was great. We saw at least five turns of action, so i even believe that it was one of the most complex in terms of plot-script, so bravo!
So you see, you don’t need a full episode of a crappy dumbblond icon (going back to the Britney episode thing). This was a really good episode with just 2 Gaga songs, no need for more!!
To me, Glee is one of those shows that HAS to remain in the realm of the ridiculous, because the second the writers try to include any sort of actual drama or serious moment, you (the viewer) are forced to realize how nonsensical it all is. It’s almost like breaking the fourth wall.
Not to mention, and lets just keep it real, the writing and plot direction for this show is abysmal. Not to mention that it seems some of these song choices are more to promote certain artists and less about what makes sense for the character and the moment. And this is coming from a fan.
That’s what this season (Well, half of first) has been. When Glee was a new show with a lot to prove, it stayed in its lane. Off-the-wall, zany comedy that was well-aware of its own ridiculousness and worked because of that.
Now the show has acclaim, a dedicated viewership and, as someone pointed out earlier, a bigger budget, its really fallen off the wagon. It’s like the writers feel like they have a “responsibility” now, and it’s really wearing down the integrity of the show. Too many dramatic, preachy moments. They might as well just have the cast stand in front of the camera and yell “Message!”
…oh wait, they *kinda* already did that with the Mercedes “Have any of you ever felt fat? Well, I have” episode.
Still a faithful viewer, but Glee needs to return to the days when it didn’t take itself too serious.
wow gotta love how everyone feels they are a critic. Some of you seriously need to do your research, for starters everyone referring to this as season 2, its still season 1 which i thank wvudude for pointing out. Next potblessed, did you really sit there and criticize lady gaga but praise Bjork? Gaga does everyone of her performances live and ya maybe some of her lyrics are weird, but she writes all of her own stuff, not to mention she is a piano prodigy, clearly you have never heard any of her acoustic performances without your so called “plastic voices”. Bjork is just as over the top as gaga let us not forget the swan dress fiasco. As for the show itself, does no one just watch a show to be entertained and forget about life for a while? I am so sick of people saying what this show “has” to be. Its a musical show, the musical world is just like ours, only difference is people sing how they feel and it progresses the story. The show tries to be real thats what ryan murphy wants. Thats why the musical numbers are either fantasy sequences or performances it allows those who cant comprehend musical theatre for what it is to see. This show is meant to make you happy and make you feel good about yourself that even if you are the underdog, you can still achieve your dream! Are you all so jaded you don’t realize that?
Yea, I can’t believe you said Bjork was a great artist.
“Are you Icelandic or retarted?”–Will Farrell as Alex Trebek on SNL
I don’t think either Bjork OR Gaga are great artists. Maybe, since she’s a piano prodigy, she should stick to that. Not that it matters. She just stated in an interview she’ll die young because she can’t handle the pressure of fame. I find that sad. If that’s the case, get out of it. Have the balls… er courage to get yourself out of a bad situation and make your life better. I’m sure I’m off topic, but just following where the thread is headed.
Pshaw! Bjork and Gaga are quite talented, as anyone who has heard Lady B play the classical flute and sing jazz standards, or Lady G cover ‘Imagine’ can know for themselves. That being said, i think that ‘Poker Face’ was a good choice because it showed the flexibility and quality of the song (and also its arranger).
There was a subtext to the song when applied to the situation they were in that made the song quite relevant.