Disgruntled Gleek
Oh Glee, I love you because you are fun to watch and you have the ability to make cheesy pop songs sublime. But I hate you because you sometimes make some pretty decent songs cringe-worthy (see: anything even remotely hip-hop unless Mercedes sings it) and you don't seem to understand that your beat sheet is NOT a script.
I was totally looking forward to this week's Madonna-themed episode, but you disappointed me greatly. I've forgiven you some sloppy writing in the past, but this was just terrible! The song choices were terrific, and I love that Kurt and Mercedes are coming into their own with this new Cheerios angle. But so many of the scenes were unnecessary and cut into the time you could have spent developing a tight storyline with great character development. Here are just a few of the things that annoyed the crap out of me in this episode:
- Quinn's sudden relegation to near-nobody and lack of a baby bump, especially while she's dancing it up during "Express Yourself."
- Rachel picking the songs for the mash-up right after Finn has declared his intentions. It sort of makes sense that she'd pick a song that says, "You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline" until you remember that she's head over heels for Jesse now. That's not where she is anymore. And knowing how Finn feels about her, having him sing "Open Your Heart" back to her is almost cruel because she's toying with his feelings. That they sing the songs happily just makes no sense because they share this moment and then get kind of flustered and walk away from each other. If Finn's really thinking "Don't try to run, I can keep up with you. Nothing can stop me from trying. You've got to open your heart to me," as he did in the last episode, he would use this to get closer to her; he wouldn't walk away and then do what he does next!
- Don't get me wrong, though; I loved the mash-up. But given what you had in the plot, the use of the songs was wrong. I don't mean to give your suggestions on how this could have been better, but it was pretty easy to see what you could've done. The most minimal change would be for Rachel to remind Finn to stop pursuing her and then to be conflicted at the end and run off, leaving Finn hurt and confused. To make the song more dynamic and play into the love triangle more, it would've been good to include Jesse in the mash-up. If both guys sang "Open Your Heart" to her and she chose Jesse at the end, then Finn's next move would make sense and be so much more soul-crushing. Plus, if she were thinking of both guys during "Borderline," her conflict would be much more sophisticated.
- That scene with Will and Emma on the staircase, where everyone can hear them? Really? Would they really be talking about that in front of a bunch of students?
- Sue confessing her past to Mercedes and Kurt? Yeah, not buying that. Too much exposition. Just let her be vulnerable, like in that episode with the achorman.
- Can someone decide exactly how stupid Finn actually is and figure out his intellectual character arc? Because Brittany does the stupid act well enough for the both of them, and Finn's dumb act is wearing thinner the more we see of his potential.
- You ignored the Artie/Tina conflict for SIX long episodes and pretended like nothing happened, and you expect viewers to go with it when you bring it up again? That's just lazy.
- Oh yeah, and when do the two dancer guys get to have some semblance of personality, huh?
I could go on, but I need to finish reading a boring book for class. I will end on a few positive notes, just to show that I'm not just being a jerk.
- The little looks that the characters give each other that reveal so much without dialogue? Fantastic. Keep that up.
- The lies between Rachel and Finn at the end were perfect. Great set-up for later. Don't disappoint me there, k?
- Will and Emma are great together. Their part of "Like a Virgin" was hot.
- Looooooooove Jonathan Groff as Jesse. More Jesse St. James, please. Thanks.
I was totally looking forward to this week's Madonna-themed episode, but you disappointed me greatly. I've forgiven you some sloppy writing in the past, but this was just terrible! The song choices were terrific, and I love that Kurt and Mercedes are coming into their own with this new Cheerios angle. But so many of the scenes were unnecessary and cut into the time you could have spent developing a tight storyline with great character development. Here are just a few of the things that annoyed the crap out of me in this episode:
- Quinn's sudden relegation to near-nobody and lack of a baby bump, especially while she's dancing it up during "Express Yourself."
- Rachel picking the songs for the mash-up right after Finn has declared his intentions. It sort of makes sense that she'd pick a song that says, "You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline" until you remember that she's head over heels for Jesse now. That's not where she is anymore. And knowing how Finn feels about her, having him sing "Open Your Heart" back to her is almost cruel because she's toying with his feelings. That they sing the songs happily just makes no sense because they share this moment and then get kind of flustered and walk away from each other. If Finn's really thinking "Don't try to run, I can keep up with you. Nothing can stop me from trying. You've got to open your heart to me," as he did in the last episode, he would use this to get closer to her; he wouldn't walk away and then do what he does next!
- Don't get me wrong, though; I loved the mash-up. But given what you had in the plot, the use of the songs was wrong. I don't mean to give your suggestions on how this could have been better, but it was pretty easy to see what you could've done. The most minimal change would be for Rachel to remind Finn to stop pursuing her and then to be conflicted at the end and run off, leaving Finn hurt and confused. To make the song more dynamic and play into the love triangle more, it would've been good to include Jesse in the mash-up. If both guys sang "Open Your Heart" to her and she chose Jesse at the end, then Finn's next move would make sense and be so much more soul-crushing. Plus, if she were thinking of both guys during "Borderline," her conflict would be much more sophisticated.
- That scene with Will and Emma on the staircase, where everyone can hear them? Really? Would they really be talking about that in front of a bunch of students?
- Sue confessing her past to Mercedes and Kurt? Yeah, not buying that. Too much exposition. Just let her be vulnerable, like in that episode with the achorman.
- Can someone decide exactly how stupid Finn actually is and figure out his intellectual character arc? Because Brittany does the stupid act well enough for the both of them, and Finn's dumb act is wearing thinner the more we see of his potential.
- You ignored the Artie/Tina conflict for SIX long episodes and pretended like nothing happened, and you expect viewers to go with it when you bring it up again? That's just lazy.
- Oh yeah, and when do the two dancer guys get to have some semblance of personality, huh?
I could go on, but I need to finish reading a boring book for class. I will end on a few positive notes, just to show that I'm not just being a jerk.
- The little looks that the characters give each other that reveal so much without dialogue? Fantastic. Keep that up.
- The lies between Rachel and Finn at the end were perfect. Great set-up for later. Don't disappoint me there, k?
- Will and Emma are great together. Their part of "Like a Virgin" was hot.
- Looooooooove Jonathan Groff as Jesse. More Jesse St. James, please. Thanks.