GLEE DOES MADONNA
Seriously, LOVE. It was very Feminism 101, but considering how much trouble even the most basic tenets of feminism have gaining traction in our culture, I am not going to complain about clunkiness. I swear, this show, even with its problems, makes me feel so much happier and less squirmy than SPN has for a long time.
This ep felt very meta: they actually ADDRESS several critiques of the series, and allow some fallout from Will's history of bad decision-making. Seeing Kurt and Mercedes call him out on the way solos are distributed was VERY satisfying.
I *loved* Will in this episode: the best aspects of his character were out in full force, but he was still getting called on his bullshit. I love that he respects the hell out of Sue's abilities, even though he loathes her. I loved his dorky little dance when he made fun of her hair. I loved how painfully sweet -- and painfully cute, in his little pink shirt -- he was with Emma in the end; he's actually behaving like an adult, and recognizing that her OCD is a real illness that requires professional help, and he's going to support her. But most of all, I love that he was actually behaving the way a decent male ally should: listening to the women, and then using his privilege -- and professional authority -- to make the other guys aware of their sexism; and then! he owns up to his own failures in that regard. Seriously, I love him, even though he is a royal fuck-up most of the time. THIS IS THE WAY TO USE HIM, WRITERS.
I liked that while Finn and Artie really absorbed the lesson, and vowed to do better, I like that Puck didn't: it kept it from being too After-School Special (well, more than it already was). Glee often does a pretty good job of deconstructing normative masculinity, and it's significant that the guys who have really been *forced* to negotiate that -- Kurt (gay and effeminate), Artie (made sexually invisible), Finn (non-gender-normative hobby), and Will (emotional abuse/sexual harassment victim) -- really got the point. But Puck, the most traditionally masculine of the male characters, isn't just going to drop all of the toxic social conditioning that's served him so well.
Other notes: SANTANA, ILU. I want to be her when I grow up. Jesse continues to be hilarious. AND OMG, QUINN DISCOVERS HER FEMINIST CONSCIOUSNESS I LOVE HER SO MUCH. And Tina! YES.
Also, Kurt and Mercedes are insanely hot. "Four Minutes," JESUS.