Let's Talk About Glee, Baby
So, season premier of GLEE was last night, and we watched it live! I'll put my thoughts behind a cut so as not to spoil anyone who missed it.
Rachel has regressed to early season 1 behavior, and this is very disappointing. It's sloppy writing and bad character development. I don't have any nicer way of putting it. Sending Sunshine off to a CRACK HOUSE is not really something Rachel would have done in Season 1 at all even at her wors, so now we're supposed to believe she would be as mean to someone as Santana would be? Yes, Rachel can be vindictive (Hello Sandy Ryerson) but she's never been cruel like that. It's nice seeing her and Finn still together, though.
Quinn's return to the Cheerios was awesome. She knows how to play Sue, and has shown that many many times, so it wasn't a big surprise she got back on the squad. Her throwdown with Santana was awesome (boob job? really Santana?). I think we're going to see a bit of a return to the mean Quinn from season 1, but I'm hoping not. Let someone keep their character development from last season for cryin' out loud. Speaking of Santana, I'm surprised they made the "boob job" seen look as bad as it did. I know it was on purpose, for the humor, but the scene wasn't actually that funny. She mentioned she wanted people to notice her, and if it had been Schue on the other side of the desk we would have had a bit of a heart to heart about it. It being Sue, of course, means that it was a heart to grindstone moment instead.
The other characters are pretty much where we left them. The only ones who really had any screen time to speak of (in terms of story lines) were TIna and Artie. Tina is still becoming more assertive, what with her breaking up with Artie because he ignored her all summer and going out with Mike Chang. And can I just say that Harry Shum Jr. has a scaryhot body because holy shit wow! Artie pining over Tina is a nice inversion of the normal girl pining over the boy routine. Brittany is still brainless and will do anything Sue tells her, but she'll also fess up when confronted. Her boob line about Bieste cracked me up!
Jewfro was pretty funny in the opening of the episode. That entire montage (a complete TAKE THAT at whiners on the internet) was hillarious. I would say it was the best part of the episode.
Let's get back to Finn for a moment. Specifically Finn and Artie. What the serious fuck, writers? Is Figgins scared of Beiste or something? He should have flat out made her reinstate Finn on the team. What he did, while clearly not going to work, was not something you kick someone off the team for. I don't care how much Sue and Schue were treating her like assholes, that shit doesn't fly. It didn't make any sense to me at all. Okay, correction, Beiste's reaction made sense. Figgins letting it stand didn't. It's like he lost all the backbone he grew last year. It's not like Beiste has anything over him, other than 8 inches or so.
So, new characters. Sunshine (played by Charice) was pretty cool, although her storyline isn't making any sense at the moment. The guy who I forgot his name (the actor is Chord Overstreet) was... kinda bland. Finn 2.0. The complete callback to the pilot with the locker room scene with him and Finn was awesome, but that doesn't really make up for him being pretty much the same character, just with blonde hair and a slightly higher singing voice. If they wind up making him Kurt's boyfriend like everyone has rumored I may warm up to him, but I really don't much care at this point. Beiste was awesome! As much as I am annoyed by the Finn storyline, her storyline (and her actress) are amazing.
Missing characters. I'll miss Shaft (aka Matt Rutherford, played by Dijon Talton). I get that he was really the only one of the "warm bodies needed to have 12 members" that didn't get any character development or featured moments in Season 1, but still. His absence actually drives home even more strongly Rachel's completely out of character behavior. Glee is her life, and if they can't compete at Sectionals/Regionals, then the club is over and she knows it. Anyrate, I'll miss him. I'm going to miss Ken Tanaka, too, although I know his actor is now on Men of a Certain Age. There wasn't much else to do with Ken, though, so I can see why they would move on without him.
Now for the elephant in the room (Santana: Your sexuality?): THE MUSIC! I... Okay, I kinda was like "SNOOOOOOOOOORE" for all of it with the exception of the Outdoor Cafeteria Song (New York). Outdoor cafeteria? In a High School in Ohio? Are you people even trying anymore? The other one I liked was Telephone. The rest I could care less. Sunshine's solo was amazing, but the song doesn't interest me, and the other new kid's song was good, but he's Finn 2.0, so again, who cares.
Next Week: BRITNEY SPEARS! Now, I personally don't care for the girl, because I've seen her perform live before, but her music is catchy (factory fresh and all) and it's going to feature Brittany, everyone's favorite airhead. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Don't answer that, internet, I do read Tv Tropes.
Rachel has regressed to early season 1 behavior, and this is very disappointing. It's sloppy writing and bad character development. I don't have any nicer way of putting it. Sending Sunshine off to a CRACK HOUSE is not really something Rachel would have done in Season 1 at all even at her wors, so now we're supposed to believe she would be as mean to someone as Santana would be? Yes, Rachel can be vindictive (Hello Sandy Ryerson) but she's never been cruel like that. It's nice seeing her and Finn still together, though.
Quinn's return to the Cheerios was awesome. She knows how to play Sue, and has shown that many many times, so it wasn't a big surprise she got back on the squad. Her throwdown with Santana was awesome (boob job? really Santana?). I think we're going to see a bit of a return to the mean Quinn from season 1, but I'm hoping not. Let someone keep their character development from last season for cryin' out loud. Speaking of Santana, I'm surprised they made the "boob job" seen look as bad as it did. I know it was on purpose, for the humor, but the scene wasn't actually that funny. She mentioned she wanted people to notice her, and if it had been Schue on the other side of the desk we would have had a bit of a heart to heart about it. It being Sue, of course, means that it was a heart to grindstone moment instead.
The other characters are pretty much where we left them. The only ones who really had any screen time to speak of (in terms of story lines) were TIna and Artie. Tina is still becoming more assertive, what with her breaking up with Artie because he ignored her all summer and going out with Mike Chang. And can I just say that Harry Shum Jr. has a scaryhot body because holy shit wow! Artie pining over Tina is a nice inversion of the normal girl pining over the boy routine. Brittany is still brainless and will do anything Sue tells her, but she'll also fess up when confronted. Her boob line about Bieste cracked me up!
Jewfro was pretty funny in the opening of the episode. That entire montage (a complete TAKE THAT at whiners on the internet) was hillarious. I would say it was the best part of the episode.
Let's get back to Finn for a moment. Specifically Finn and Artie. What the serious fuck, writers? Is Figgins scared of Beiste or something? He should have flat out made her reinstate Finn on the team. What he did, while clearly not going to work, was not something you kick someone off the team for. I don't care how much Sue and Schue were treating her like assholes, that shit doesn't fly. It didn't make any sense to me at all. Okay, correction, Beiste's reaction made sense. Figgins letting it stand didn't. It's like he lost all the backbone he grew last year. It's not like Beiste has anything over him, other than 8 inches or so.
So, new characters. Sunshine (played by Charice) was pretty cool, although her storyline isn't making any sense at the moment. The guy who I forgot his name (the actor is Chord Overstreet) was... kinda bland. Finn 2.0. The complete callback to the pilot with the locker room scene with him and Finn was awesome, but that doesn't really make up for him being pretty much the same character, just with blonde hair and a slightly higher singing voice. If they wind up making him Kurt's boyfriend like everyone has rumored I may warm up to him, but I really don't much care at this point. Beiste was awesome! As much as I am annoyed by the Finn storyline, her storyline (and her actress) are amazing.
Missing characters. I'll miss Shaft (aka Matt Rutherford, played by Dijon Talton). I get that he was really the only one of the "warm bodies needed to have 12 members" that didn't get any character development or featured moments in Season 1, but still. His absence actually drives home even more strongly Rachel's completely out of character behavior. Glee is her life, and if they can't compete at Sectionals/Regionals, then the club is over and she knows it. Anyrate, I'll miss him. I'm going to miss Ken Tanaka, too, although I know his actor is now on Men of a Certain Age. There wasn't much else to do with Ken, though, so I can see why they would move on without him.
Now for the elephant in the room (Santana: Your sexuality?): THE MUSIC! I... Okay, I kinda was like "SNOOOOOOOOOORE" for all of it with the exception of the Outdoor Cafeteria Song (New York). Outdoor cafeteria? In a High School in Ohio? Are you people even trying anymore? The other one I liked was Telephone. The rest I could care less. Sunshine's solo was amazing, but the song doesn't interest me, and the other new kid's song was good, but he's Finn 2.0, so again, who cares.
Next Week: BRITNEY SPEARS! Now, I personally don't care for the girl, because I've seen her perform live before, but her music is catchy (factory fresh and all) and it's going to feature Brittany, everyone's favorite airhead. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Don't answer that, internet, I do read Tv Tropes.