Glee

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
I think the two-parter wasn't meant to be taken seriously in any way, shape, or form. Just like THLp1, this was awful in many ways, and hilarious in others. If you accept the premise of Sue to the Extreme + meta-iness, it was a very fun episode, and I cracked up several times.

The JigSue was totally creepy, and a couple moments of Klaine in the elevator were very sweet, though most of it was just uncomfortable, that's for sure.

The Warblers were much better than Vocal Adrenaline. After Sue made a point that all the choirs needed 12 members to "compete," ND performed with only 6. The songs were meh, but the performance was decent.

It did annoy me that Post-Modern Gay changed his tune about what being gay meant for him. He's been 100%, "I'm gay and everyone knows and nobody cares. That doesn't mean I need to join the glee club." Now he's "But if I join the glee club, they'll think I'm gay." Dude, you are gay and out! It was a nice callback to Sam being convinced to join, since Sam was giving him the pep talk, but seriously? It's only been 3 weeks, at most, since he was claiming it was no big deal to be gay and on the team.

I think this two-parter would have done better in a single night, as opposed to the first two eps of the season as one. Two weeks of Extreme Sue might have been a bit too much, and perhaps her emotions later in the episode would have meant more if we'd started the night with her anger from part 1.
 
Last edited:

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Okay, I'm going to write about this last episode before my head explodes. There will be spoilers because the West Coast airing is almost over.

First of all, Glee seems to be advertising that it's their 700th song, which seems like a weird milestone to me, but okay. I wonder if they're counting the non-songs like "My Headband" and Tina crying in the middle of "My Funny Valentine," or the extra songs that were released on iTunes but weren't part of episodes, like the Warbler's version of "I Want You Back."

We had yet another famous father in an unconditional parenting situation. I predicted the dad right away. I thought the scene was ridiculous and unnecessary.

Music was by Burt Bacharach, which means lots of oldies for me, yay, but also lots of ballads, sigh. We started off with a Samchel duet that was nice. And so my least favorite thing about THL eps was Sam's hypnotism because it put a weird spin on what would have been a cutely awkward journey towards dating between Rachel and Sam.

Mercedes, for whatever reason, has decided that she's the one who's going to get Rachel back on the stage. Which seems like a great goal for Rachel, except that is that the endgame for the show, or is it watching the rise of the New[SUP]3[/SUP] Directions? Because we've already seen Rachel rise to the top on Broadway once.

Anyway, they do a nice song for Rachel that showcases new and old ND male voices. I enjoyed it. Then Rachel does Promises Promises, which she nails. BTW, there's a ton of music in this episode.

But we're really here for Brittana, let's not lie. Lots of adorable and sweet moments between them, particularly coming from Santana's end. And then the Abuela stuff happened.

It would've been way too easy for Abuela to be tricked into accepting Santana and Brittany's relationship, so I'm glad Glee didn't do that whole "She sang a song and now everything is right with the world" thing. I'm hoping that she comes to the wedding anyway and that is the place where she accepts Santana for who she is. I thought the Glee kids being all "We're your family" was nice, though cliche, and I thought Buffy did it better, and why weren't these guys invited to the wedding anyway(?).

I thought some parts of Brittany with Abuela were very cute. I liked Queso for Dos and Brittany speaking Spanish to her, and them watching telenovelas (Was it Passions of Santos, since the actress is also the abuela on Jane the Virgin?), and also the line about looking like she could do Peter Pan in a nursing home and Brittany knows a guy (that'd be Kurt from last season). I didn't like that she tricked her way in in the first place and that she thought that when Abuela found out, she would be cool with it.

But all of that is Brittany being Brittany, and after all, the original ND kids tricked Brittany into thinking Santa visited her, so the tricking thing is easy to forgive.

Of course it is sad that Abuela is homophobic and tells Santana that she "hates her sin" and won't go to their wedding. But here is where the episode goes off the rails for me, and I actually am a little pissed about it, and it looks like I'm the only one.

Brittany(!) tells Santana's abuela that she's a "crazy uptight bitch" and that she's glad that her generation (and therefore Abuela) are dying soon so that everyone will be okay with gay marriage. And also because they're annoying.

To her face.

So first of all, this sounds like yet another piece of dialogue that was pulled off someone's ranty blog. Which was kinda funny when it was Sue harping on Glee, but feels really fake coming from Brittany.

Second of all, this doesn't sound like Brittany. Like I literally felt like Brittany stepped off the screen and Heather was playing some other person for a minute (possibly the owner of the ranty blog, but most likely just the writer).

Third of all, Santana is sad about her relationship with her abuela and she still loves her, so how great is it that her fiancée just told her she can't wait for her to die?

Fourth of all, I understand fans going, "Woohoo, you tell her Britt! Look at how much she loves Santana, standing up for her, standing up for QUILTBAG characters and real people everywhere." But is there anyone out there other than me who feels that this was just nasty? (And, yes, Britt says that she was nasty and feels bad about it, but I don't see a single person on Twitter who didn't mention the exchange without some sort of cheer.) When did spouting something hateful become a cheer-worthy response to hate?

The generational turnover? "You lost." All very empowering to those in the QUILTBAG community. A great topic for an article or a blog post or between two like-minded characters having a discussion about how great it will be in the future. But to say to your fiancée's grandmother's face that you can't wait for her generation to die? That's not empowering. It's just mean.

It was just this one paragraph of dialogue in what was an otherwise decent episode, IMO, and it totally ruined it for me.
 

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,618
Reaction score
4,031
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
I had the exact same reaction with the Brittany / Abuela stand-off.

Start with the fact that Brit tricked this woman into thinking she was a medical professional to gain access to her house and life. Then she turns on her when Abuela doesn't follow the script she's written in her head. Honestly, I think the better line would have been "Santana, I love you, but I can't go the wedding of someone who lies to me and tries to manipulate me." (meaning Brittany) The set-up would have been enough to make anyone defensive, especially an older woman who now realizes she's been tricked by a complete stranger.

And the Stephen Hawking moment was out of line.

It was like every scene that focused on Brittany was a total, raging wreck.

As far as the wedding goes, assuming they even make it that far (I'm envisioning a "special" episode with a double wedding for Britana and Klaine.) I can see Abuela coming to the venue and standing outside to watch through the door, maybe even a scene with Kurt's dad where he tries to get her to come inside.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Yeah, it was like Brittany did everything she possibly could to do keep Abuela and Santana estranged.

Even if it wasn't a struggle for Abuela to get past her homophobia, what is she going to say after finding out that Santana's fiancee tricked her, much less when her fiancee says "we're all just waiting for you to die"? How is that ever going to convince this person that Santana loves to get over her prejudice and accept her granddaughter, much less her granddaughter's marriage to this deceitful and rude person?
 

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,618
Reaction score
4,031
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
Nice to see Unique back! She's seriously the most talented McKinnley kiddo ever to grace the Glee stage. They should have kept her and dumped Kitty.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
The writers clearly love Kitty. That's why she got actual storylines and character development, and Unique was there as a supporting character for Marley's story, and for a second in Ryder's. I think they realized they screwed up Quinn, and so they made Kitty the new one and actually tried with her.

I wasn't in love with the music of this episode--three songs that I already have as covers that I love more than the originals and a couple more that I didn't recognize and a cover of "Same Love" that couldn't compete with the original, even with Unique there. But I did enjoy the episode. Party scenes with the original Glee kids are often cute--except the alcohol ep I hated--and it was fun to see them playing around. It finally clicked for me the whole "long goodbye" that Glee's doing.

That 200-member all transgendered chorus was a pretty amazing thing. And I was super happy to see Unique. I was afraid that the writers had forgotten her with the Bieste storyline, but they seem to be making a concentrated effort to not forget anything this season when they bring up new plotlines that are related, which is a refreshing change. However, my nitpick about the way the show is treating Bieste is that now he seems to be dressing like he's an accountant. I mean, Bieste is still the same person and still coaching football. Are we suggesting that Shannon was comfortable in athletic clothing but Sheldon is comfortable in office clothes?

We got to see Emma for real, which is good because her absence was glaring, considering how much we've seen of the baby.

Blaine continues his role as a cheater by kissing Kurt. I really didn't get what was so moving to him while the duet was going on, but I thought it was well placed in the conversation. I have no clue what Kurt's doing with Walter after that, though....

Interestingly, we had this huge episode about tolerance and Mercedes sings "All About that Bass" with Roderick, yet we had at least two incidents of fat-shaming in the episode. One was Sue, so, *shrugs* you know. The other was Dave...who isn't exactly skinny himself. Maybe we're supposed to excuse the insult because it turns out he wants to date the guy he's calling a "fatty" (Dave hasn't changed *that* much after all, I guess).
 

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,618
Reaction score
4,031
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
A season or so ago, I mentioned that I was dreading the inevitable brush with HIV storyline that seemed to be in line for Blaine (due to his one-night hook-ups), but now that he's still cheater, cheater, it seems like the show is doing a disservice by not bringing up the possibility that he's had a brush with disease and potentially exposed the two guys he's closest to. Even if it's not HIV, STD numbers for young gay men are exponentially higher than most groups. You'd think it would at least get a mention with Blaine's recent past. I could see him getting a phone call from a hook-up who's tracing his contact tree and then Blaine having to tell both Kurt and Karofsky (who looks 35 now...) that they're possibly in danger. (Don't go chasing waterfalls... - it's still the only song I can see them using.)

The one thing I liked about the storyline this week (not counting Unique's return) was Sue's moment at the end where she threatened to sic the dogs on Vocal Adrenaline. It was a return to "old" Sue, and I really liked the reminder that she's a staunch anti-bullying supporter unless she's the one being the bully.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
I loved that moment too.

They dealt with STDs last year, but Artie was the focus.

Oh, I forgot to mention my excitement about Gloria Estefan returning next week. She was my first musical love.
 

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,618
Reaction score
4,031
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
As far as the wedding goes, assuming they even make it that far (I'm envisioning a "special" episode with a double wedding for Britana and Klaine.) I can see Abuela coming to the venue and standing outside to watch through the door, maybe even a scene with Kurt's dad where he tries to get her to come inside.

I called the double wedding.

Yay for Abuela showing up, even if it took Sue to get her there. And Yay for Burt presiding.

I'm not sure I would have picked Mercedes to sing the song, considering what happened at the last wedding she sang for.

The matching fringe dresses kind of freaked me out, but at least they let Gloria Estefan sing this time.

Please tell me that Sue and Bieste aren't a thing now. Bieste deserves better.

But I do heartily approve of Tina and Artie; they are the cute of which cute is made.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
I don't think Sue and Bieste are a thing. I think the writers are using Bieste to show us the softer side of Sue, as they occasionally do with certain characters (usually Kurt and his family)

I thought Mercedes killed "At last." I pretty much ignore that the Will-Emma wedding happened and focus on Carol and Burt's, which is one of my top four episodes.

I never loved Tina or Artie, so putting them together works for me. I liked the My Best Friend's Wedding set-up, which we'll never see the payoff for. Mike's answer was the best that Tina could logically expect. I was cringing at the lead up to it.

Overall, I loved the episode, though I wish I was watching it on my TV and not this really old and small tube television with echo-y voices. I'll probably watch again on my computer in a week.

Brittany as bridezilla was hard to watch, like literally, I had a focus problem with it. It was probably the tv.

Abuela's answer was the right answer for the situation. And I loved Burt officiating. I love Burt. I wish we saw him and Carol more often.

And Gloria Estefan!

Interesting that we didn't get Finn in any of the photos last week but we got a mention of him here because of Carol. I was thinking that because they were using last week to finally get Sam and Rachel together, they avoided Finn in the photos because it would be weird for Rachel to not react to his photos and she'd have to feel too guilty to start a relationship with Sam at that moment. Though it was really weird that he wasn't on her wall. I also find it weird that neither of them has had a second thought about what Finn would have thought, that we had to get it at a distance from Carol.

Okay, those are my thoughts.
 

angeluscado

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
289
Reaction score
19
Location
British Columbia, Canada
When I realized Carol and Burt were at the wedding, I was kind of hoping for Carol and Rachel to talk, especially about how Rachel was worried about hurting her feelings by sitting with Sam. The nod of approval was a nice touch.

I'm really glad Mike said no to Tina. It'd overdo the cheese factor if he did.

Quinn's unexplained absence bothered me, especially because Puck was there.

Brittany's bridezilla being hard to watch wasn't just you and your TV, Sage. They did something weird with the camera work when she had those moments.
 

Ellesi

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
74
Reaction score
6
Location
Avonlea, Fraser's Ridge, Bon Temps, Westeros
I am probably in the minority here, but I am cherishing every last second of Glee before it's gone. Yeah, there's plenty of cheese and weirdness, but it's Glee. :D

And am I the only one really loving the new kids and wishing there would be at least one more season with them? They just clicked for me on this last episode.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Myron (seriously, we needed another M--on name to add to Mason and Madison?) was hella annoying, and I'm not happy we're going to keep him around, but I enjoyed other aspects of this episode. Mason's was the performance I enjoyed most, though "It's Friday I'm In Love" was the one I sang for the entire next day. I liked seeing Spencer have a crush. I liked Kitty totally calling out the ridiculousness of having Roderick climb the rope when there had to be a ladder around, I like Jane being all cute when Mason asked her out

Next week looks interesting. I suspect we'll fill the remaining slots in the New Directions with Warblers.
 

Ellesi

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
74
Reaction score
6
Location
Avonlea, Fraser's Ridge, Bon Temps, Westeros
Myron (seriously, we needed another M--on name to add to Mason and Madison?) was hella annoying, and I'm not happy we're going to keep him around, but I enjoyed other aspects of this episode. Mason's was the performance I enjoyed most, though "It's Friday I'm In Love" was the one I sang for the entire next day. I liked seeing Spencer have a crush. I liked Kitty totally calling out the ridiculousness of having Roderick climb the rope when there had to be a ladder around, I like Jane being all cute when Mason asked her out

Next week looks interesting. I suspect we'll fill the remaining slots in the New Directions with Warblers.

Yes, Yes and More Yes!
Looks like that with the Warblers. I was hoping they'd bring back Marley, Ryder and the gang.
 

Lady Esther

I can say the alphabet backwards!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
452
Reaction score
94
Location
Maryland
I am probably in the minority here, but I am cherishing every last second of Glee before it's gone. Yeah, there's plenty of cheese and weirdness, but it's Glee. :D

And am I the only one really loving the new kids and wishing there would be at least one more season with them? They just clicked for me on this last episode.

No, you're not the only one. I love the new kids. I like how they're not recycles of the old cast (like Jake being Puck, Kitty being Quinn, etc.). The news cast is fresh and unique.
 

Lady Esther

I can say the alphabet backwards!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
452
Reaction score
94
Location
Maryland
Myron (seriously, we needed another M--on name to add to Mason and Madison?) was hella annoying, and I'm not happy we're going to keep him around, but I enjoyed other aspects of this episode. Mason's was the performance I enjoyed most, though "It's Friday I'm In Love" was the one I sang for the entire next day. I liked seeing Spencer have a crush. I liked Kitty totally calling out the ridiculousness of having Roderick climb the rope when there had to be a ladder around, I like Jane being all cute when Mason asked her out

Next week looks interesting. I suspect we'll fill the remaining slots in the New Directions with Warblers.

Apparently they are desperate for Glee members. That's why they're keeping Myron around. Yes, I was very annoyed by him too.

So far, the Jane, Mason, Madison storyline is the best to me. I liked seeing a little more of Roderick and Spencer too.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
I like Jane. I wish they had done more than just let her look disgruntled about the Warbler merge.

Kitty is kind of adorable onstage. And I know the show is doing that having-fun/supporting-the-others thing on purpose to make us like her, but it's still cute.

Okay, I'll defend Glee to the end, but this episode was just really uneven. I got to the second half and felt like I'd been watching a two-episode night because the Sue stuff was sort of interjected in the middle of the New Directions/Warbler drama, took over for like 2/3 of the episode, and then we seemed to remember that the show was about the glee club members/teachers/mentors.

I loved the last time we saw Carol Burnett (Furt is in my top 4) and loved her and Sue singing "Ohio" but the Trolley song was just so weird. It wasn't even necessarily the lead up to it ("you want to sing about it, don't you?"), it was the giant smile Sue had as she led the song just a minute after complaining about how everyone knows the lyrics in musicals and how much she hates musicals (so she probably shouldn't know the lyrics), and the complete mood reversal the song presented compared to the scene it was in.

Sue taking over Vocal Adrenaline was the logical path for this season.

I'm not sold on the red blazers, but they're better than no blazers.

Two more episodes. The next one looks epic, but so did the commercials for this one.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
How could I forget about Jesus Joe?! One of my favorite parts of the ep.
 

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,618
Reaction score
4,031
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
Only 2 left?

I always thought the finale of Glee would be Sue selling a show called Glee to some network suits in LA, and the final shot would be the exact same as the first shot of the series, only with "fake" McKinley kids and Sue filling Mr. Shue's role.

I don't know why I thought that's how it would end, but it seemed like a good way for the show to go. Now, I'm thinking it should be something like that, but with Rachel doing Glee:the Musical on Broadway. :D
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
but with Rachel doing Glee:the Musical on Broadway. :D

That's So Rachel, but not offensive or bad ;)

This is actually my problem with ending the show focusing on Rachel. She's already succeeded once and thrown it all away once. Whether she goes back to NYADA or ends up on Broadway or does a show/musical about her journey through Glee, she's already done it, so what triumph is it to do it again? She got called out on risking her Broadway career for television, and she promised that from then on out she'd be dedicated to the show, and then she left for television anyway. Why should we believe that she won't throw away her next chance at Broadway as soon as she gets bored with it too? Especially when we see her do exactly the same thing on a smaller scale in this very episode? She was devoted to getting back into NYADA, until she got an offer for a musical and then suddenly that was the path to her dreams. So, for my personal preference to see her grow as a person, I'd like her to go to NYADA, but I very much doubt that that's the path the writers or viewers will see as the glorious triumph to end the show on.

Going with the Glee: the Musical, though, would give them plenty of reasons to flashback to Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat and the original Don't Stop Believin', as they so love to do.

ION, I guess Darren Criss (Blaine) wrote the last song of this episode.
 

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,618
Reaction score
4,031
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
It's actually pretty sad that Rachel hasn't grown up anymore than she has in six years. She's still self-centered and indecisive. It would have been better, IMO, for her to realize that broadway stardom, or stardom in general, was her fathers' big dream, rather than her own. Maybe that's where they're headed with her blowing off NYADA, but it's not being handled as smoothly as it could be.

Her dads are another sticking point with me. They supposedly put so much time, effort, etc into making her Streisand reborn, and then can't be bothered to attend more than one of her performances. You'd think there would at least be mentions of their presence in the audience - or, you know HER LIFE - even if they couldn't get the actors physically on screen. It would have made the divorce less of a shock if one dad had been there, and the other hadn't.