"Santana Told Me Never to Speak Alone With You Because You Would Try to Steal All My Gold"
Or the one in which RIB finally successfully cram Sam down my throat.
So, last night's episode felt a little bit like getting hit by a train. Between the pacing and the jarring cuts between rapidly developing stories, I'm left with an overall impression of having liked it despite some major problems, but I'm not exactly sure why.
The issues:
1) Coming in at the top of my shit list, as always, is Will Schuester, the actualfax WORST TEACHER IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION. When Holly Holiday and April Rhodes are your source for inspirational lesson planning, you know you are fucked.
But seriously, you see your students tearing each other apart based on gossip and rumors, what do you do? A) Take them aside individually to talk to them and make sure they are alright? or B) TURN IT INTO AN ASSIGNMENT TO IGNORE THE DRAMA WITHOUT RESOLVING IT AND IMPROVE THEIR COMPETITION CHANCES? Also, when all the kids were ganging up on Sam, Will not only lets it happen, he fucking encourages it by prying into Sam's motivations IN FRONT OF THE GROUP.
Seriously, GTAFO, Will. Go with April. Bring on Jesse. (You know that Will goes to Shelby for help and that she sends Jesse. This is so what is happening). But DO NOT FUCKING COME BACK.
2) Finn/Quinn/Rachel: There is a lot I hate about this triangle. I could fill a post about it. But the absolute worst thing, that was on blindingly painful display last night, is how Finn continually gets a fucking pass for everything he does and doesn't do that he should and all the blame is thrown on Rachel and Quinn, by the show and by each other.
Quinn trusts Finn, but not Rachel? WTAF. Finn is perfectly capable of saying no to Rachel. Any success Rachel has in "winning him away" is on Finn. Rachel is certainly being manipulative here, but at the end of the day, it is Finn who is in the relationship with Quinn.
That said, Rachel, my darling, STOP IT. LOOK AT YOUR LIFE. LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES. You are better than this. Why won't you remember that? :(
3) This episode pretty much brought to a head the issues I have with Brittany as a character. I have to admit from the start that everything I see is filtered through my Santana-loving glasses, so I'm not going to claim any objectivity here. But, as much as I sympathized for Brittany last night (and I did- when Artie called her stupid and when Santana bailed on her/talked about her and Karofsky in front of her, it fucking broke my heart), I'm actually a little frustrated with the way she is approaching Santana.
I wholeheartedly agree that Brittany is perfectly justified in not wanting to hide her relationship with Santana if they are going to have one. But the fact that we are so constantly bombarded with how out of touch with reality she is makes me wonder what if any thought she has actually put into these expectations and the objections to coming out that Santana has repeatedly voiced to her. We don't actually see the two of them discussing it- we see Santana opening herself up emotionally and Brittany accepting her on the condition that they come out together. Neither of them are wrong, but I feel like we have lots of reasons to understand where Santana is coming from, but very few for Brittany to take such a hard stance.
If it is just that Brittany has a naive, childlike view of the world and thinks everything will be okay as long as they are together, well, that's really sweet and I wish the world worked that way, but it doesn't. I would just like them to have an actual conversation, that shows that Brittany understands the consequences, but doesn't care about them. At this point, I just don't see that in her and making Santana look like the bad guy for being scared is frustrating. (She is the "bad guy" for other reasons- i.e., taking advantage of Brittany's naivety- but those don't seem to particularly matter to Brittany.)
4) Artie: I really thought this arc would make me sympathetic with him. Apparently not. So, yes, he is very certainly the wronged party and I understand his frustration with Brittany for not questioning Santana's motives. And I even understand why he said what he did- it was awful, given how he has been so surprisingly sensitive and accepting of her childlike outlook in the past- but understandable.
What rubbed me the wrong way was his reasoning. His whole speech about being the only person to provide Brittany with things reeked of the same creepy, paternalistic overtones that have bothered me about the pairing ever since the magic comb incident. Be pissed that she cheated. Be pissed that she refused to question Santana's motives. But why is it necessary to drape all that in this narrative of providing for Brittany? It was problematic on it's own and 1000x worse in light of Artie's history of blatant sexism. IDK if this is intentional on the writer's part or not, but it's fucking creepy.
5) Sue: this is more indifference than dislike. I appreciate that they seem to be ramping up the crazy intentionally and showing her as a little unhinged, but IDK, I'm bored with it. She lacks all motivation now and is just being a villain for the sake of being a villain. Maybe this is build up to "Funeral" where she will have a change of heart or something, IDEK. I'm just.... bored with it. (Even though she had some good lines.)
That said, I loved the Muckraker conceit. It is sort of annoying how all the kids believed every rumor without any proof (especially Mercedes believing the Kurt was cheating- that was irritating- why did they give HER OF ALL PEOPLE that line), but it was plot necessary, so I'm willing to accept it in order to get them to the love fest that was "Don't Stop."
NOW, on to the good stuff. Changdar report (kind of happy he stayed out of the fray this time).
6) FIRST AND FOREMOST:
:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
7) Get it, Tina. You go and talk about your boy's dick on Brittany's webcast. I'm sure he doesn't mind. LOLOLOLOL.
8) Mike just wants everybody to get along:
9) Mike and Tina being adorable:
10) Air guitar during "Go Your Own Way."
11) Everything about "Don't Stop." The suspenders. His happy feet. Lifting up Sam. Too much cute.
And, the rest that I liked:
12) Songbird: SMASH MY HEART IN A THOUSAND PIECES, WHY DON'T YOU? ;_______________:
13) Little Sammy Evans: As I'm sure I've mentioned a thousand times, I've been on the fence about Sam. Apparently, all I needed was to see him with two adorable little clones to fall firmly into his camp. I'm genuinely surprised how sensitively they handled his family's situation (although I wonder if it will ever be mentioned again after this). His speech about losing his house was more thoughtful and poignant than I thought the Glee writers capable of.
The plot twist was obvious, but no less moving for it. I loved how happy he was during "Don't Stop" and I'm hoping that the popularity hunger that made me wary of the character before was actually more a yearning for acceptance, which he is totally getting from Glee Club now.
14) Kurt Mother Fucking Hummel: Boy is perfection. Look at how he has grown up. <3 LOL at his clothes fitting Sam, tho.
15) Terri Schuester: As bland as I found the storyline, Jessalyn shines. I can't not love her.
16) Don't Stop: That whole number deserves mentioning again because it was so wonderful to see them all happy and together. I hate the cover of the song, but the performance was adorable enough to make me forget that. I will watch it over and over forever.
17) As much as I hate portmanteaus, I find it fucking hilarious to think that these idiots sit around coming up with them. IDK. I loved that Lima Bean scene, not least of which just seeing them all hanging out together. I also love how they are such Kurt/Blaine shippers. All of them.
18) Fondue for Two: Lord Tubbington FTW (although, seriously, that girl should not be a pet owner).
19) Quinn and Sam: For all her bad behavior re: Finn and Rachel, Quinn gets a gold star along with Kurt for being an awesome friend to Sam. Why did RM get bored with them again? They are fucking adorable. :(
20) The F/Q/R fail was ALMOST worth it for the epicness that was "I Don't Want to Know." The fucking sarcasm and disdain the two of them have during that number will make me lol forever. Also, I want ALL THE HATESEX IN THE WORLD. It is actually the closest I've come to legit shipping them.
I'm sure there is more I liked and disliked, but I'm gonna move on to the promo:
21) KILT KILT KILT KILT. Kurt having a fashion show for Finn and Blaine! LOLOLOL. I love these idiots so much.
22) Kurt and Blaine happy bopping together at Prom!
23) Blaine/Tina/Brittany FTW!
24) Kurt's face, tho. ;______________;
25) THAT FUCKING SLAP >:( No, Glee. Fucking stop it. Not cool.
Thoughts?
So, last night's episode felt a little bit like getting hit by a train. Between the pacing and the jarring cuts between rapidly developing stories, I'm left with an overall impression of having liked it despite some major problems, but I'm not exactly sure why.
The issues:
1) Coming in at the top of my shit list, as always, is Will Schuester, the actualfax WORST TEACHER IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION. When Holly Holiday and April Rhodes are your source for inspirational lesson planning, you know you are fucked.
But seriously, you see your students tearing each other apart based on gossip and rumors, what do you do? A) Take them aside individually to talk to them and make sure they are alright? or B) TURN IT INTO AN ASSIGNMENT TO IGNORE THE DRAMA WITHOUT RESOLVING IT AND IMPROVE THEIR COMPETITION CHANCES? Also, when all the kids were ganging up on Sam, Will not only lets it happen, he fucking encourages it by prying into Sam's motivations IN FRONT OF THE GROUP.
Seriously, GTAFO, Will. Go with April. Bring on Jesse. (You know that Will goes to Shelby for help and that she sends Jesse. This is so what is happening). But DO NOT FUCKING COME BACK.
2) Finn/Quinn/Rachel: There is a lot I hate about this triangle. I could fill a post about it. But the absolute worst thing, that was on blindingly painful display last night, is how Finn continually gets a fucking pass for everything he does and doesn't do that he should and all the blame is thrown on Rachel and Quinn, by the show and by each other.
Quinn trusts Finn, but not Rachel? WTAF. Finn is perfectly capable of saying no to Rachel. Any success Rachel has in "winning him away" is on Finn. Rachel is certainly being manipulative here, but at the end of the day, it is Finn who is in the relationship with Quinn.
That said, Rachel, my darling, STOP IT. LOOK AT YOUR LIFE. LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES. You are better than this. Why won't you remember that? :(
3) This episode pretty much brought to a head the issues I have with Brittany as a character. I have to admit from the start that everything I see is filtered through my Santana-loving glasses, so I'm not going to claim any objectivity here. But, as much as I sympathized for Brittany last night (and I did- when Artie called her stupid and when Santana bailed on her/talked about her and Karofsky in front of her, it fucking broke my heart), I'm actually a little frustrated with the way she is approaching Santana.
I wholeheartedly agree that Brittany is perfectly justified in not wanting to hide her relationship with Santana if they are going to have one. But the fact that we are so constantly bombarded with how out of touch with reality she is makes me wonder what if any thought she has actually put into these expectations and the objections to coming out that Santana has repeatedly voiced to her. We don't actually see the two of them discussing it- we see Santana opening herself up emotionally and Brittany accepting her on the condition that they come out together. Neither of them are wrong, but I feel like we have lots of reasons to understand where Santana is coming from, but very few for Brittany to take such a hard stance.
If it is just that Brittany has a naive, childlike view of the world and thinks everything will be okay as long as they are together, well, that's really sweet and I wish the world worked that way, but it doesn't. I would just like them to have an actual conversation, that shows that Brittany understands the consequences, but doesn't care about them. At this point, I just don't see that in her and making Santana look like the bad guy for being scared is frustrating. (She is the "bad guy" for other reasons- i.e., taking advantage of Brittany's naivety- but those don't seem to particularly matter to Brittany.)
4) Artie: I really thought this arc would make me sympathetic with him. Apparently not. So, yes, he is very certainly the wronged party and I understand his frustration with Brittany for not questioning Santana's motives. And I even understand why he said what he did- it was awful, given how he has been so surprisingly sensitive and accepting of her childlike outlook in the past- but understandable.
What rubbed me the wrong way was his reasoning. His whole speech about being the only person to provide Brittany with things reeked of the same creepy, paternalistic overtones that have bothered me about the pairing ever since the magic comb incident. Be pissed that she cheated. Be pissed that she refused to question Santana's motives. But why is it necessary to drape all that in this narrative of providing for Brittany? It was problematic on it's own and 1000x worse in light of Artie's history of blatant sexism. IDK if this is intentional on the writer's part or not, but it's fucking creepy.
5) Sue: this is more indifference than dislike. I appreciate that they seem to be ramping up the crazy intentionally and showing her as a little unhinged, but IDK, I'm bored with it. She lacks all motivation now and is just being a villain for the sake of being a villain. Maybe this is build up to "Funeral" where she will have a change of heart or something, IDEK. I'm just.... bored with it. (Even though she had some good lines.)
That said, I loved the Muckraker conceit. It is sort of annoying how all the kids believed every rumor without any proof (especially Mercedes believing the Kurt was cheating- that was irritating- why did they give HER OF ALL PEOPLE that line), but it was plot necessary, so I'm willing to accept it in order to get them to the love fest that was "Don't Stop."
NOW, on to the good stuff. Changdar report (kind of happy he stayed out of the fray this time).
6) FIRST AND FOREMOST:
:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
7) Get it, Tina. You go and talk about your boy's dick on Brittany's webcast. I'm sure he doesn't mind. LOLOLOLOL.
8) Mike just wants everybody to get along:
9) Mike and Tina being adorable:
10) Air guitar during "Go Your Own Way."
11) Everything about "Don't Stop." The suspenders. His happy feet. Lifting up Sam. Too much cute.
And, the rest that I liked:
12) Songbird: SMASH MY HEART IN A THOUSAND PIECES, WHY DON'T YOU? ;_______________:
13) Little Sammy Evans: As I'm sure I've mentioned a thousand times, I've been on the fence about Sam. Apparently, all I needed was to see him with two adorable little clones to fall firmly into his camp. I'm genuinely surprised how sensitively they handled his family's situation (although I wonder if it will ever be mentioned again after this). His speech about losing his house was more thoughtful and poignant than I thought the Glee writers capable of.
The plot twist was obvious, but no less moving for it. I loved how happy he was during "Don't Stop" and I'm hoping that the popularity hunger that made me wary of the character before was actually more a yearning for acceptance, which he is totally getting from Glee Club now.
14) Kurt Mother Fucking Hummel: Boy is perfection. Look at how he has grown up. <3 LOL at his clothes fitting Sam, tho.
15) Terri Schuester: As bland as I found the storyline, Jessalyn shines. I can't not love her.
16) Don't Stop: That whole number deserves mentioning again because it was so wonderful to see them all happy and together. I hate the cover of the song, but the performance was adorable enough to make me forget that. I will watch it over and over forever.
17) As much as I hate portmanteaus, I find it fucking hilarious to think that these idiots sit around coming up with them. IDK. I loved that Lima Bean scene, not least of which just seeing them all hanging out together. I also love how they are such Kurt/Blaine shippers. All of them.
18) Fondue for Two: Lord Tubbington FTW (although, seriously, that girl should not be a pet owner).
19) Quinn and Sam: For all her bad behavior re: Finn and Rachel, Quinn gets a gold star along with Kurt for being an awesome friend to Sam. Why did RM get bored with them again? They are fucking adorable. :(
20) The F/Q/R fail was ALMOST worth it for the epicness that was "I Don't Want to Know." The fucking sarcasm and disdain the two of them have during that number will make me lol forever. Also, I want ALL THE HATESEX IN THE WORLD. It is actually the closest I've come to legit shipping them.
I'm sure there is more I liked and disliked, but I'm gonna move on to the promo:
21) KILT KILT KILT KILT. Kurt having a fashion show for Finn and Blaine! LOLOLOL. I love these idiots so much.
22) Kurt and Blaine happy bopping together at Prom!
23) Blaine/Tina/Brittany FTW!
24) Kurt's face, tho. ;______________;
25) THAT FUCKING SLAP >:( No, Glee. Fucking stop it. Not cool.
Thoughts?