Glee 2x20: My Thoughts
I’m sorry to say, I’m sort of underwhelmed.
I had... real big expectations for this episode. It didn’t deliver, except for a few scenes:
- Kurt asking Blaine to the prom, and Blaine’s OMG GASP!Bad Prom Experience - so duh. That was just begging to be Blaine’s backstory. After all, he could easily pass for straight if he so wished it - he may be out and proud, but I bet that he never ‘advertises’ it the way Kurt does. Just sayin’. Still, I admit that I enjoyed the ride on the Klaine Train. They are cute together, and as much as I want to see Kurtofsky happen, I accept that it probably won’t, and at least Kurt is happy with Blaine. I ship Kurt/Happiness ♥
I liked the scene with Kurt and the girls choosing dresses - that is SO what I would do if I had Kurt as a friend. I wish I had a gay best friend XD And Santana’s proposal got me thinking... is she trying to get Kurt and Dave together? :)
- Mercedes admitting that while she’s not exactly man-crazy, she still really wants the prom experience, and to be told she’s pretty and be asked to dance. Every girl wants to be Cinderella once. I liked the Sam-Rachel-Mercedes Prom On A Budget idea, it was cute. And I’m glad it didn’t turn out to really be Samcedes, because I would just not get that.
- Rachel and Jesse’s Rolling in the Deep, while nowhere near the original version, was at least much better than Gwenyth Paltrow’s Turning Tables. At least Lea Michele has the power and depth of voice for an Adele number. I don’t care much for Jesse’s voice, though, I never liked it much. Or him, for that matter. And I hate how smitten Rachel was with him during the Breadstix date. I mean, WTF, Rachel? Grow a sense of self-esteem. I really thought she was standing up for herself when she told Finn off, but in the end it kinda looked like she still had feelings for Jesse. Which I don’t get - isn’t Finnchel endgame? I want it to be endgame :(
- Artie crashing Brittany’s Home Ec class and singing Isn't She Lovely was so so sweet. I ship Bartie (and I refuse to call it ‘Artittany’, even though it’s canon >< )
- The Kilt. Oh my god, The Kilt. Go Kurt. YOU SHOW ‘EM, BOY! And Blaine, shame on you XD I mean, I understand where he’s coming from, and Burt too - Burt did the responsible fatherly thing by telling Kurt that he wants him to be himself and enjoy prom, but also that this could cause trouble for him. And I love that at least Finn liked The Kilt XD “Dude, that’s awesome, it’s like gay Braveheart!” Ohh, Finn. Never change, bb.
- Kurt and Dave walking down the hallway. I started squeeing (yes, out loud) when their backs were still towards the camera. Ohh my god, I could go on and on about this scene, but I’ll keep it brief. Dave. Oh my god. Max. Get ready for that Golden Globe and Emmy and all the other awards. Dave’s guarded expressions, slowly melting... his walls slowly coming down before Kurt’s gentle, coaxing words. Kudos to Chris too on this scene - his voice got steadily lower and almost broke on the sentence “I could hate you when you were bullying me ... but now all I see is your pain.” But honestly this was like 99% Max. The way he started sniffing. When the bell rang and he took off his beret and slumped against the wall - god, I wanted to hug the screen. The way his voice was just barely above a whisper, and all broken. The way he stuttered. The way he actually cried through the apology.
And Kurt, bless his heart, just says, “I know. I know.” and lets Dave (and the viewers) collect himself. And then he says “Remember. Wait for me here, all right?” which made me flash to Patricia C. Wrede’s Stronger Than Time, a version of Sleeping Beauty that she wrote for her book of short stories Book of Enchantments. In this version, the prince perished in the briars around the sleeping princess’s castle and returned as a ghost to try again, with someone’s help. When they reached the princess, she was still asleep but slowly dying. They woke her up, and the ghost-prince, having accomplished his task, began to fade away. The princess explained that she too would soon follow, and asked him to wait for her. The story gave me chills, and now whenever someone tells someone important to them to “wait for me” I equate it to this.
... yeesh, okay, enough mushy stuff. On to Prom! :D
- Friday. So, I'd never heard the original song, but I'd heard of it, and that it was kind of stupid. I admit that the lyrics are pretty dumb, but damn if Glee's cover didn't make it FUN. It's just a fun, teenagery song. I listened to the original version afterwards and it really is stupid, but the Glee cover was all right :)
- Jar of Hearts was just, ohhhh. This tells me one thing: Finnchel is endgame ♥
- I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You - yeah, okay. Good song choice for Blaine. NOW BYE. You're cute and all, but I don't wanna see you again until season 3.
- The Faberry slap had me WTFing at Rachel. First of all, Quinn, sweetie, if you're gonna slap someone, mean it and don't apologize for it. And Rachel - "Most girls would be upset about being slapped in the face, but I can appreciate the drama of it" ??? I mean, seriously. Grow some self-love, girl.
- Brittany and Santana - good of Santana to finally let it all out. Brittany deserves to be shown how much she's loved. And way to go Brittany for saying Santana needs to get herself together and be there for Kurt.
So, now for the scene that left me unimpressed: Kurt as Prom Queen. Here's the thing - it's been done before. Aside from it being spoilered a long time ago, it's just not something new that we haven't seen. And we all knew how Kurt would react - he'd be upset and humiliated at first, but he'd rise to the occasion and show us how strong he is and go back in there and accept the crown, and say "In your face" and "you can't break me." It's just... I'm sorry, but it bored me.
As for the tiny little scene with Dave before the first dance, though - that, I thought, was brilliant. Kurt softly encouraging Dave to take this opportunity - turn yet another case of very extreme and hurtful bullying, into a positive statement - it was meant well, but after witnessing how hurt Kurt was by the vote, there was no way Dave could come out right that moment. And so he gave Kurt shis broken expression and said "I can't," and ran away. I liked that. It was believable.
Dave's already had one breakthrough in this episode. It would have been too much if he'd taken the next leap so quickly as well. So at least they toned it down this time, and hopefully they'll save Dave's further development for the next episodes, or possibly season 3.
Dancing Queen was lovely as the finale :) Mercedes and Santana are really good together. And everyone celebrating together, Brittany forgiving Artie, all the photo snapshots - I just feel sad for Finn missing it XD
So... yeah. Nice episode, fun overall, but the supposedly 'shocking' moment wasn't so shocking at all. And not because it had been spoilered - even if it hadn't been, it still wouldn't have surprised anyone. What did surprise me was that the PC only crashed about 5 times in the 24 hours it took me to watch, re-watch, and write this :)
So! Next up will be 2x21, which is "Funeral" - I have NO IDEA who dies and please don't tell me. I'm also curious about 2x22 and if New Directions will be doing original songs again for Nationals - if you know that, I'd love a simple YES or NO answer, but no other spoilers please! I'm saving myself now :)
I had... real big expectations for this episode. It didn’t deliver, except for a few scenes:
- Kurt asking Blaine to the prom, and Blaine’s OMG GASP!Bad Prom Experience - so duh. That was just begging to be Blaine’s backstory. After all, he could easily pass for straight if he so wished it - he may be out and proud, but I bet that he never ‘advertises’ it the way Kurt does. Just sayin’. Still, I admit that I enjoyed the ride on the Klaine Train. They are cute together, and as much as I want to see Kurtofsky happen, I accept that it probably won’t, and at least Kurt is happy with Blaine. I ship Kurt/Happiness ♥
I liked the scene with Kurt and the girls choosing dresses - that is SO what I would do if I had Kurt as a friend. I wish I had a gay best friend XD And Santana’s proposal got me thinking... is she trying to get Kurt and Dave together? :)
- Mercedes admitting that while she’s not exactly man-crazy, she still really wants the prom experience, and to be told she’s pretty and be asked to dance. Every girl wants to be Cinderella once. I liked the Sam-Rachel-Mercedes Prom On A Budget idea, it was cute. And I’m glad it didn’t turn out to really be Samcedes, because I would just not get that.
- Rachel and Jesse’s Rolling in the Deep, while nowhere near the original version, was at least much better than Gwenyth Paltrow’s Turning Tables. At least Lea Michele has the power and depth of voice for an Adele number. I don’t care much for Jesse’s voice, though, I never liked it much. Or him, for that matter. And I hate how smitten Rachel was with him during the Breadstix date. I mean, WTF, Rachel? Grow a sense of self-esteem. I really thought she was standing up for herself when she told Finn off, but in the end it kinda looked like she still had feelings for Jesse. Which I don’t get - isn’t Finnchel endgame? I want it to be endgame :(
- Artie crashing Brittany’s Home Ec class and singing Isn't She Lovely was so so sweet. I ship Bartie (and I refuse to call it ‘Artittany’, even though it’s canon >< )
- The Kilt. Oh my god, The Kilt. Go Kurt. YOU SHOW ‘EM, BOY! And Blaine, shame on you XD I mean, I understand where he’s coming from, and Burt too - Burt did the responsible fatherly thing by telling Kurt that he wants him to be himself and enjoy prom, but also that this could cause trouble for him. And I love that at least Finn liked The Kilt XD “Dude, that’s awesome, it’s like gay Braveheart!” Ohh, Finn. Never change, bb.
- Kurt and Dave walking down the hallway. I started squeeing (yes, out loud) when their backs were still towards the camera. Ohh my god, I could go on and on about this scene, but I’ll keep it brief. Dave. Oh my god. Max. Get ready for that Golden Globe and Emmy and all the other awards. Dave’s guarded expressions, slowly melting... his walls slowly coming down before Kurt’s gentle, coaxing words. Kudos to Chris too on this scene - his voice got steadily lower and almost broke on the sentence “I could hate you when you were bullying me ... but now all I see is your pain.” But honestly this was like 99% Max. The way he started sniffing. When the bell rang and he took off his beret and slumped against the wall - god, I wanted to hug the screen. The way his voice was just barely above a whisper, and all broken. The way he stuttered. The way he actually cried through the apology.
And Kurt, bless his heart, just says, “I know. I know.” and lets Dave (and the viewers) collect himself. And then he says “Remember. Wait for me here, all right?” which made me flash to Patricia C. Wrede’s Stronger Than Time, a version of Sleeping Beauty that she wrote for her book of short stories Book of Enchantments. In this version, the prince perished in the briars around the sleeping princess’s castle and returned as a ghost to try again, with someone’s help. When they reached the princess, she was still asleep but slowly dying. They woke her up, and the ghost-prince, having accomplished his task, began to fade away. The princess explained that she too would soon follow, and asked him to wait for her. The story gave me chills, and now whenever someone tells someone important to them to “wait for me” I equate it to this.
... yeesh, okay, enough mushy stuff. On to Prom! :D
- Friday. So, I'd never heard the original song, but I'd heard of it, and that it was kind of stupid. I admit that the lyrics are pretty dumb, but damn if Glee's cover didn't make it FUN. It's just a fun, teenagery song. I listened to the original version afterwards and it really is stupid, but the Glee cover was all right :)
- Jar of Hearts was just, ohhhh. This tells me one thing: Finnchel is endgame ♥
- I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You - yeah, okay. Good song choice for Blaine. NOW BYE. You're cute and all, but I don't wanna see you again until season 3.
- The Faberry slap had me WTFing at Rachel. First of all, Quinn, sweetie, if you're gonna slap someone, mean it and don't apologize for it. And Rachel - "Most girls would be upset about being slapped in the face, but I can appreciate the drama of it" ??? I mean, seriously. Grow some self-love, girl.
- Brittany and Santana - good of Santana to finally let it all out. Brittany deserves to be shown how much she's loved. And way to go Brittany for saying Santana needs to get herself together and be there for Kurt.
So, now for the scene that left me unimpressed: Kurt as Prom Queen. Here's the thing - it's been done before. Aside from it being spoilered a long time ago, it's just not something new that we haven't seen. And we all knew how Kurt would react - he'd be upset and humiliated at first, but he'd rise to the occasion and show us how strong he is and go back in there and accept the crown, and say "In your face" and "you can't break me." It's just... I'm sorry, but it bored me.
As for the tiny little scene with Dave before the first dance, though - that, I thought, was brilliant. Kurt softly encouraging Dave to take this opportunity - turn yet another case of very extreme and hurtful bullying, into a positive statement - it was meant well, but after witnessing how hurt Kurt was by the vote, there was no way Dave could come out right that moment. And so he gave Kurt shis broken expression and said "I can't," and ran away. I liked that. It was believable.
Dave's already had one breakthrough in this episode. It would have been too much if he'd taken the next leap so quickly as well. So at least they toned it down this time, and hopefully they'll save Dave's further development for the next episodes, or possibly season 3.
Dancing Queen was lovely as the finale :) Mercedes and Santana are really good together. And everyone celebrating together, Brittany forgiving Artie, all the photo snapshots - I just feel sad for Finn missing it XD
So... yeah. Nice episode, fun overall, but the supposedly 'shocking' moment wasn't so shocking at all. And not because it had been spoilered - even if it hadn't been, it still wouldn't have surprised anyone. What did surprise me was that the PC only crashed about 5 times in the 24 hours it took me to watch, re-watch, and write this :)
So! Next up will be 2x21, which is "Funeral" - I have NO IDEA who dies and please don't tell me. I'm also curious about 2x22 and if New Directions will be doing original songs again for Nationals - if you know that, I'd love a simple YES or NO answer, but no other spoilers please! I'm saving myself now :)