I have no
idea how they’re going to manage it, but yes, Glee has two more guaranteed years thanks to FOX. Maybe after
another year of this shit, FOX and/or Ryan Murphy will be open to the idea of a
mercy killing, or maybe the actors will realize they probably can’t help themselves
with another 22 episodes. But like the final couple of seasons of Heroes, I just can’t imagine how the
writers can dig themselves out of their current hole.
In case you’re
like most of the world, and not hatewatching Glee like I am at this point, some notes for you to catch-up on:
x Brittany
is now a god damn genius. For some reason, she is an idiot savant at math and
will be going to MIT. (I wonder if the school consented to the show using its
name; I can’t imagine that they’re happy that the scientists from their school
are intently studying the crayon mathematical scribblings of Britt.) This didn’t
really add anything to existing storylines, except to take away from and make
light of the semi-serious issue of Brittany’s 0.0 grade average and complete
lack of scholastic aptitude. They might as well have just made Lord Tubbington into the heir of a
billionaire’s fortune, because that’s as believable and as much of a storyline
crutch as the idea of Brittany as a math savant.
x There was
a school shooting, but don’t worry, no one was hurt. Sue took the rap for
Becky, who was playing with Sue’s gun, causing it to fire and making everyone
panic for about half an episode. This episode pissed everyone off, since it was
basically song, song, holyshitwe’reallgoingtodie, song, song.
x Tina, for lack of a more politically correct term, was a fag hag to Blaine for about six episodes. The less said about this, the better.
x Shockingly,
there was more drama in the relationships with Will and Emma, and Rachel and
Finn. Will got ditched by Emma at the altar, but don’t worry, they got hitched
a couple episodes later – the writers just knew that you REALLY wanted to see
an extra six episodes of drama, that’s all. Meanwhile, Rachel was dating a male
prostitute for a bit, but then she found out and dumped him, but not before
Finn beat the crap out of him.
This is a high school sophomore. |
x All of the
new people are basically replacements of the departing / college-aged New
Directions members. The most egregious offenders would be Kitty, a blonde
cheerleader that’s basically a non-pregnant stand-in for Quinn, and Puck’s
half-brother, who’s so non-descript that you can only remember him as being
Puck’s half-brother. Rachel’s replacement is Marley, and while it’s
understandable that she doesn’t have the pipes of Broadway actress Lea Michele,
she also in no way looks like a high school sophomore. Melissa Benoist is only
two years younger than Lea Michele; it’s hard to believe they couldn’t find
some 18-year-old who could sing well and to look like an actual high schooler.
x Singling
out two of the new people for a tab, because it was so god damn stupid. There
was a multi-episode arc where New Finn was getting catfished by someone in the glee
club, with feints that it was New Rachel or New Quinn doing it. It turns out
the culprit was actually Unique, the show’s teenage version of RuPaul. It was
an awkward reveal that made New Finn pissed off, and didn’t really serve a
purpose from a narrative standpoint except to… question mark. Make the audience
feel awkward for all the parties involved?
x Santana is
still wonderful, and delightfully evil at times. As a result, the show has no
idea what to do with her. She was finally added to the apartment in New York,
to add some depth and testosterone to the Rachel and Kurt living arrangement.
That pair was so lame and sad by themselves that even Elliot Smith thought they
were overdoing it.
The biggest
overall problem with Glee at this
point though is the lack of any consequences. Quinn didn’t stay crippled after
her texting while driving accident, and her life hasn’t really been adversely
affected by her basically flipping between nice gal and supreme bitch mode for
two years. Kurt’s harasser didn’t manage to actually kill himself. No one was
hurt in the gun incident with Sue and Becky. Will has put up with all of Emma’s
various shit, which is nice of him, but also severely strains credibility at a
certain point. Rachel was sleeping with a male prostitute and nothing really
came of it. Brittany looked like she was headed for a difficult post-high
school life, but don’t worry, she’s actually a genius. New Finn found out he
was being catfished and got upset, but meh. New Directions lost an opening
round competition, but the team that beat them got disqualified for performance
enhancing drugs, in yet another ludicrous twist even by Glee standards.
Individually,
how the writers tackled each of this issues is OK. Collectively though, it
shows a complete lack of will to do anything new from a story perspective, or
to make a decision that would have permanent consequences. For a show like Glee, which is basically a dramedy, you
need to actually have consequences at some point. To make a blunt comparison –
Nobody dies on Glee, but people died
in 90210, and even in Joss Whedon
shows from time-to-time.
Let’s close
things out on a positive note though – Naya Rivera has taken the crown from
Heather Elizabeth Morris when it comes to gorgeousness. Here is a picture of
her. You’re welcome.
I didn’t link to either picture site for the
actresses because they were basically just link spam and what not. The cast
photo is a promotional one put out by FOX before the 2012-13 season, and it’s
on a bunch of different websites.
I gave up on this show years ago - I loved it for about five episodes and now I don't even recognise half of the character names you mentioned and am just relieved. Naya Rivera IS hot though...
ReplyDeleteYou probably made the right decision, but I usually do stick with shows well after their "expire" date. The only show I've ever tapped out on early was Heroes, and oddly for that show, it was a lesbian kiss that did it, because they were so obviously grasping for ratings.
DeleteI will say, based on a comment on Facebook - The music still ranges from okay to very good. However, most of those songs you can find on YouTube anyway, so that alone probably isn't a reason to watch the show.