Having been, during my school years, in choir and drama club and on the academic and speech teams, Glee fires a bunch of memory cells. Growing up in small town Indiana (the show takes place in Lima, Ohio in a high school that shares its name with the school from Freaks and Geeks...I don't believe accidently), we also needed the football players and cheerleaders to make the numbers for productions. And, amazingly, you did find out that there were many more similarities between "cliques" than differences. And, like on the show, I think part of the education of high school is realizing, through observation of your teachers and coaches, how screwed up adult life continues to be...hurt feelings and confusion continues...doesn't end at graduation.
With the end of the first half of the first season last night...what did you think?
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I was surprised at how neatly they wrapped up a lot of the conflicts, given this is only the midpoint of the season.
Until the last bit, though, I was wondering if they were writing out Jayma Mays as a main cast member so she could reprise the role of Charlie on Heroes (given her significance there to this season's plotline).
The last-minute song choices seemed a little contrived (if bearable) — it seems to me that, even excluding all the songs characters sang as insights into their states of mind, the New Directions had practiced enough other songs in-story that they wouldn't have to panic that much last-minute. I mean, what happened to the big "Defying Gravity" number that was such a point of conflict just a few episodes ago?
But this show is primarily about new feel-good song and dance numbers, and its storytelling is much more satire than straight narrative, so I'm letting it slide. :)
Unfortunately, I'm about three weeks behind -- I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but I understand that the two worst storylines have been resolved ...
But I love Glee. More than the rest of my family, I regret to say, but I just love it. I love how it conveys characters -- especially Rachel and Finn -- with that awkward mix of confidence and fear of failing. I love Mr. Schuester's earnestness; for him, his high school days in Glee were the best time of his life and he wants to give back, and I love that, even if he doesn't quite get that it's not the '80s any more.
And most of my family just loves the music; they are consistently good about choosing the right song to move the plot along. And this is where Glee succeeds where the late, lamented Cop Rock failed.
At least by having a glee club as the central aspect of the show, singing just makes more sense than it did on Cop Rock. The bad thing about CR, too, was that they had GREAT songs in the first episode, all written by Randy Newman, but had lesser song writers during the rest of the season. The quality of the songs plummeted quickly on CR.
Not being a Kelly Clarkson fan, I had never heard "My Life Would Suck Without You" (I had to google the title...I thought it sounded like, perhaps, a Green Day song)...but I couldn't stop smiling while it was being performed.
Okay, I'm all caught up, and liked what I saw. The worst problem stories are tied up, but there are still enough messes dangling to keep things going.
I still love Will Schuester's earnestness, but his cluelessness can be kind of daunting to comprehend. He couldn't really have thought Emma blew off her wedding to take the kids to sectionals in his absence just because she's a dedicated teacher, could he?
I like Emma; she's sweet, she's kind -- okay, she's germ-phobic and a little mousy, but that's cool, too. But I like how, though she's totally head over heels in love with Will, she was never out to break up his marriage. Maybe it's gutlessness or maybe it's the knowledge that it would be wrong, but I like that she just wasn't willing to go that far.
Speaking of Will's marriage, all season, his wife Terri has been painted as a cartoon villain, the better to make Emma look good, but I didn't have the slightest shred on sympathy for her until their blowout argument when he discovered the truth about the fake pregnancy. Speaking of cluelessness ... he's her husband and he lives with her and he wasn't going to touch her or feel the baby kick or anything like that for six months? Ai yi yi yi yi ... glad that nonsense is done with.
But I digress; it wasn't until that argument -- for some reason, when she said, "This marriage works because you don't feel good about yourself" -- that I could really feel for Terri, that she was desperate to hang on to him. And more so when she encountered him at home as he was getting dressed for the wedding and he didn't expect her to be there. I still don't like her any better, but I can appreciate her a bit more.
That is awesome...Chris and I have (I am rewatching) watched 6 episodes so far (we started on monday)...Chris is completely sucked in. I am thrilled that it really bear up to rewatching. What it is odd to me is to see how quickly they did some stuff ...it felt so much longer when I had to wait for the episodes to air. I am sure Chris will check in here once he is all caught up.
Yeah, it's a revival - but I''ve loved Glee since they started showing ti over here, and now we're only a week behind you - which means we saw the Madonna episode on Monday. Doreen and I spent the entire episode pointing out the visual references to our (very confused) boys - but the best bit had to be Sue Sylvester helping Kurt and Mercedes out with their AV project.
I thought the Madonna episode was the weakest one so far, but I really enjoyed the last episode, especially the scenes with Mercedes and Quinn in the nurse's office and Mike O'Malley as Burt. Who knew he could act?!
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Until the last bit, though, I was wondering if they were writing out Jayma Mays as a main cast member so she could reprise the role of Charlie on Heroes (given her significance there to this season's plotline).
The last-minute song choices seemed a little contrived (if bearable) — it seems to me that, even excluding all the songs characters sang as insights into their states of mind, the New Directions had practiced enough other songs in-story that they wouldn't have to panic that much last-minute. I mean, what happened to the big "Defying Gravity" number that was such a point of conflict just a few episodes ago?
But this show is primarily about new feel-good song and dance numbers, and its storytelling is much more satire than straight narrative, so I'm letting it slide. :)
But I love Glee. More than the rest of my family, I regret to say, but I just love it. I love how it conveys characters -- especially Rachel and Finn -- with that awkward mix of confidence and fear of failing. I love Mr. Schuester's earnestness; for him, his high school days in Glee were the best time of his life and he wants to give back, and I love that, even if he doesn't quite get that it's not the '80s any more.
And most of my family just loves the music; they are consistently good about choosing the right song to move the plot along. And this is where Glee succeeds where the late, lamented Cop Rock failed.
I still love Will Schuester's earnestness, but his cluelessness can be kind of daunting to comprehend. He couldn't really have thought Emma blew off her wedding to take the kids to sectionals in his absence just because she's a dedicated teacher, could he?
I like Emma; she's sweet, she's kind -- okay, she's germ-phobic and a little mousy, but that's cool, too. But I like how, though she's totally head over heels in love with Will, she was never out to break up his marriage. Maybe it's gutlessness or maybe it's the knowledge that it would be wrong, but I like that she just wasn't willing to go that far.
Speaking of Will's marriage, all season, his wife Terri has been painted as a cartoon villain, the better to make Emma look good, but I didn't have the slightest shred on sympathy for her until their blowout argument when he discovered the truth about the fake pregnancy. Speaking of cluelessness ... he's her husband and he lives with her and he wasn't going to touch her or feel the baby kick or anything like that for six months? Ai yi yi yi yi ... glad that nonsense is done with.
But I digress; it wasn't until that argument -- for some reason, when she said, "This marriage works because you don't feel good about yourself" -- that I could really feel for Terri, that she was desperate to hang on to him. And more so when she encountered him at home as he was getting dressed for the wedding and he didn't expect her to be there. I still don't like her any better, but I can appreciate her a bit more.
Batmatt Beyond said:
Have I mentioned how much I love Jane Lynch?
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