About a week ago, last night's episode of Glee was sent out to critics. Or at least, the TV news guys like TV Line, EW, and E! Online. And all of them pretty much had the same opinion: one of the best episodes in a long time (E! went as far as to call it possibly the best episode ever). So throughout this past week, I kept hearing things about this episode and it got hyped up for me. So going into this week I had high expectations for this episode. So did it meet them? Mostly. I wouldn't say it was the best episode of Glee ever, but it probably would be on a Top 10 list for me. And it definitely threw my hope for Glee back in full swing.
One of the reasons (probably the biggest reason) I enjoyed this episode so much was because of it's focus on one of my favorite characters, recently promoted series regular Mike Chang. Back in season 1, he barely said a word (though he said more than other male background character Matt.), but during season 2 he began getting more and more lines, plus a duet of sorts and a couple dance numbers. This episode saw him finally take the spotlight (for part of the episode at least) and it was glorious. We get a look into his home life, where we see all the pressure he's under from his parents, primarily from his father. We get a glimpse into why he likes dancing so much. And we see him get his first solo as he auditions for West Side Story, showing off how much he's practiced his singing since last we saw him. Man, he has a sweet voice now. His story of struggling to follow his dreams, while meeting his parents extremely high expectations was a nice one, and the scene where his mother encourages him to follow his dreams and he teaches her some dance was genuinely sweet. And with him getting the role of Riff, we're sure to see him get more focus in the future. And I could not be happer about that.
Of course, the big focus of the episode was on a character who also hasn't been getting enough attention as of late: Mercedes. Despite being one of the original members of New Directions, Mercedes hasn't gotten that many stories of significance since season 1. The show's even aware of this and has commented on it in their typical self-aware fashion. But now they actually seem to be trying to put her back in focus and that's a good thing. This episode continues the auditions for West Side Story that started last episode. We see more of Marcus (Mercedes boyfriend who was very briefly introduced in the season premiere) and we see him encourage her to want more and to take the spotlight back. Suddenly, Mercedes Diva-ness which was her major trait in season 1, and made a brief resurgence in season 2 is back in full swing. She feels she deserves the role of Maria and more respect from a group that always seems to favour Rachel (and we see that she is getting pushed harder in booty camp.). She gives her all in the audition and the directors are unable to decide between Mercedes and Rachel so they give them a call-back.
Meanwhile Mercedes diva-ness continues until she refuses to continue at booty camp, calls Will out for his favourtism of Rachel and very nearly gets kicked out of New Directions (Or maybe she did get kicked out. Not sure because after her Dreamgirls fantasy sequence everyone has left the auditorium.). She and Rachel both kick butt at the callback, but Rachel is confident that Mercedes beat her. Based on promos I was sure Rachel had won but suprise, suprise, they both won. Artie, Beiste and Emma decide to doublecast the role and double the number of shows so they can both be Maria. Everyone's happy, right? Not Mercedes who convinced that this is just their way to appease Rachel refuses the part, and goes to join Shelby's new Glee Club. I liked this plot, because it fell in line with her character and even though Rachel and Mercedes have clashed before (and everyone quits the club at some point), the show was still able to make this feel like this was different. Like everything's going to change... for a while at least. Plus, even though Mercedes decisions were kind of unlikeable, at least I was able to figure out the process by which she made those decisions and her motivation. That's something that didn't happen much in season 2.
Meanwhile, Kurt has come to terms with the fact that Blaine is meant to be Tony (though we can see he's still disappointed when the cast list is posted in a great wordless scene) and is confident about his chances in the upcoming school election, as the only candidates so far are him and Brittany and he's 11% ahead of Brittany. Then, Brittany, who's running on a platform of female empowerment, gets the attention of the female population of McKinley, through a flash mob number of Run the World (Girls) that seems to elevate her chances. And to make matters worse, Rachel (who at this point is sure she lost the part to Mercedes) decides out of desperation that she's going to enter the race to ensure her chances of getting into that New York school. This is a decision that, like Mercedes decision to join the other Glee Club is actually understandable, because we know why she's doing it. It becomes less understandable though, when she chooses to stay in the race even after getting the part (her justification at this point is a lot weaker), and now Finn is in an unenviable position: does he vote for his girlfriend or his brother? More on this to come, surely.
And in a last story, Will is confused as to why Emma won't let him meet her parents . Thinking she's embarrassed by him, he takes action to invite them himself. Turns out her dad is Ralph Malph (well, played by Don Most, who was Ralph Malph on Happy Days) and both her parents are ginger supremacists (in another absurd plot point that only Glee could pull off). They're also pretty unintentionally cruel to their daughter and suddenly, we see where Emma's OCD may have come from. This also retriggers Emma's OCD and suddenly all the progress Will's made has pretty much disappeared. Will still wants to help Emma though and the episode ends with a great rendition of Coldplay's "Fix You".
Again, this wasn't the best episode Glee has ever done (That honour probably goes to Wheels. Or maybe Sectionals or Journey). I still have some quibbles about the episode, like Rachel's decision to stay in the race and another thing I'll mention below, but it was still an extremely solid episode. As good as the best episodes in Season 2, and many great ones from Season 1. Glee has yet to miss a step this season, and while things could still go wrong when the show returns November 1st (We'll see how they handle the first Glee Project winner to get an extended role on the show, irish Damien and how they handle Nov. 8's Rachel and Kurt lose their virginity episode), my confidence in this show has been utterly restored.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Abruptly Resolved Subplot Alert: Santana is suddenly back in New Directions after getting kicked out, having secretly reaffirmed her allegiance. Please tell me that this isn't a sign that the writers are going back to season 2 habits and that there's more to this story.
-Random Plot Point Re-emergence/Reference Alert: Tina still pretends to be a vampire to intimidate Figgins. Huh. Also Mike brings up the time she faked a stutter for 9 episodes back when the show started.
-Best Musical Performance: Cool impressed me but the best number was probably either Fix You or Rachel and Mercedes Callback song Out Here On My Own.
-Worst Musical Performance: Was not that big a fan of It's All Over. It was still good, but not as good as the other numbers.
-No Sugar Motta this week, but she's bound to pop again soon now that Mercedes has joined her Glee Club.
-No Sue this week either, outside of a brief non-speaking cameo during Run the World, but it looks like she'll be back in full force November 1st.
-Emma's description of double-casting Maria: "It's like the special Olympics. Everyone wins!"
-I briefly mentioned it above but the whole scene with people reacting to the cast list was terrific. Especially Mike's joyous reaction and Rachel's solemn one, knowing what getting the part cost her.
And in a last story, Will is confused as to why Emma won't let him meet her parents . Thinking she's embarrassed by him, he takes action to invite them himself. Turns out her dad is Ralph Malph (well, played by Don Most, who was Ralph Malph on Happy Days) and both her parents are ginger supremacists (in another absurd plot point that only Glee could pull off). They're also pretty unintentionally cruel to their daughter and suddenly, we see where Emma's OCD may have come from. This also retriggers Emma's OCD and suddenly all the progress Will's made has pretty much disappeared. Will still wants to help Emma though and the episode ends with a great rendition of Coldplay's "Fix You".
Again, this wasn't the best episode Glee has ever done (That honour probably goes to Wheels. Or maybe Sectionals or Journey). I still have some quibbles about the episode, like Rachel's decision to stay in the race and another thing I'll mention below, but it was still an extremely solid episode. As good as the best episodes in Season 2, and many great ones from Season 1. Glee has yet to miss a step this season, and while things could still go wrong when the show returns November 1st (We'll see how they handle the first Glee Project winner to get an extended role on the show, irish Damien and how they handle Nov. 8's Rachel and Kurt lose their virginity episode), my confidence in this show has been utterly restored.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Abruptly Resolved Subplot Alert: Santana is suddenly back in New Directions after getting kicked out, having secretly reaffirmed her allegiance. Please tell me that this isn't a sign that the writers are going back to season 2 habits and that there's more to this story.
-Random Plot Point Re-emergence/Reference Alert: Tina still pretends to be a vampire to intimidate Figgins. Huh. Also Mike brings up the time she faked a stutter for 9 episodes back when the show started.
-Best Musical Performance: Cool impressed me but the best number was probably either Fix You or Rachel and Mercedes Callback song Out Here On My Own.
-Worst Musical Performance: Was not that big a fan of It's All Over. It was still good, but not as good as the other numbers.
-No Sugar Motta this week, but she's bound to pop again soon now that Mercedes has joined her Glee Club.
-No Sue this week either, outside of a brief non-speaking cameo during Run the World, but it looks like she'll be back in full force November 1st.
-Emma's description of double-casting Maria: "It's like the special Olympics. Everyone wins!"
-I briefly mentioned it above but the whole scene with people reacting to the cast list was terrific. Especially Mike's joyous reaction and Rachel's solemn one, knowing what getting the part cost her.
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