Glee 1x16 Review
Jul. 1st, 2010 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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This was actually the most enjoyable episode for me since I started catching up on the show. An issue I’ve found myself having since starting to watch the show again is that I often find myself wondering why a character is acting a sudden way. But in this episode everything that happened had good internal character motivations behind it and it made the episode so much more enjoyable. It made the various character interactions have weight and for this episode it become more than just a silly soap dramedy. I really liked that and I hope they continue it. We got a bunch of excellent, and emotionally interesting and relevant, character interactions.
• Basically everything having to do with Kurt’s set up of Carol and Burt and them falling in love worked wonderfully. It had feeling and resonance. Finn’s talks with his mother and with Burt were lovely and moving. His growth from not wanting to let go of his built up memory of the father he never knew to accepting Burt into his mother’s life was really well done. It even made me emotional which is not something this show does often. Even Kurt’s reactions this episode made perfect character sense, even though a good part of it was illogical, because sometimes that’s how feelings are. I would say especially for a teenager but I think it’s like that for everyone.
He was manipulative in his passive-aggressive sly trying for Finn but then found himself in the unwanted and unexpected position of having Finn hit on Kurt’s weak point – his relationship with his father. This has actually been wonderfully dealt with over the previous episodes. We know how difficult a time Kurt and his dad have had in building their relationship around how different they are, and they have done so wonderfully and have reach a point of acceptance and honesty in their relationship to each other. But that doesn’t mean that Kurt’s insecurities about it are gone so of course having Finn come into his father’s life, the kind of guy Kurt can never be and doesn’t want to be, is going to make Kurt hurt and want to lash out. I loved it. I also really liked that Finn realised that it had hurt Kurt. Burt remains pretty awesome.
• Then we have Mercedes storyline about her weight. Mercedes has always been so confident about herself but because she is a big girl of course the show had to address it at some point. Considering how society is I think she has to have some insecurity about how she looks despite her self-confidence. I loved that they dealt with this situation by making it all about Sue and Mercedes wanting to stay on the Cheerio’s. It wasn’t about her suddenly being insecure about her weight but something that was shoved at her and showing how she tries to deal with it.
The Mercedes/Quinn talk was one of my favourites of the episode, chalk full of believable and moving character interaction and well supported by past episodes, and it might even be one of my favourite scenes of the show. The pair up is very unexpected – as Mercedes said Quinn rarely says anything to her and I can’t actually think of a scene between them before this episode – and that kind of makes it work all the better. Quinn’s sympathising about what it takes to be one of Sue’s Cheerio’s makes sense because she has been there and had a reasonable cause to having gotten out of that mindset (not just being off the Cheerio’s but also being pregnant as she states in the episode).
I liked that it was Quinn who had this talk with Mercedes, and I feel it had more import, because Quinn is the visual and character opposite of Mercedes in many ways. I loved what it did for Quinn’s characterisation – someone who is usually so self-absorbed and selfish but who I buy approaching Mercedes like this. I love so much the accord between the girls now and the implication that they’re now open to a friendship and I really hope the show doesn’t drop this. This is exactly what I want out of the show – the Glee kids coming together and slowly becoming friends.
• Sue was basically Sue but I found her expression when we last see her really interesting. Tracy praising her so much for something that she actually isn’t seemed to really get to her. It hints at perhaps a change coming in how she interacts/reacts, though I doubt immediately, and I am very interested in seeing where it goes.
• The Will storyline was non-offensive and I liked his interactions with April (whom I keep wanting to call Olive, who was a far more awesome character) but they were mainly just there and the least interesting part of the episode for me.
• Another important point in this episode’s favour was how well it juggled and dealt with the characters. The focus of this episode was split between a Finn/Kurt storyline with their parents, Mercedes/Sue storyline with a side of Quinn, Will with April and the various other Glee kids in the background being supporting players. I think this would actually be an excellent format if every week took four or five characters and focused on them. So next week could be Rachel/Jesse with a side of Finn, Santana/Brittney with a side of Quinn, and Tina with her own side story. The usual format gives Rachel, Finn and Will more screen time than any of the other characters, with them becoming the focus of pretty much every episode, and even though Finn and Will had major roles in this episode it worked much better than usual. Perhaps because Kurt and Mercedes also had storylines that were given just as much focus and time? Of all the characters I really think Will could be pushed into the background a lot more than he is and while Rachel is one of my favourites I really don’t think she needs to be the lead in every episode.
• For me the songs really are the highlight of this show but with this episode I actually liked pretty much the episode for itself. ‘Beautiful’ was the best song for me and I loved a) the return of Mercedes self-confidence, and b) all the Glee kids joining her on the floor with Quinn being the first up there and the rest of the students standing and singing along. It was an uplifting and heart-warming moment if slightly preposterous. Will and April’s duet of ‘Fire’ at the roller-rink was great but I thought their later duet went on too long. For the most part the songs of the episode were background for the episode itself, something I can’t actually remember happening on this show.
Kurt’s song was good I suppose but I’m not a good judge because that scene hit my embarrassment squick. Kurt was just so emotionally open with the song, in front of all his fellow glee kids, that it made it hard for me to watch in a way that Mercedes song later in the episode didn’t for all that she was being very emotionally open as well. I think it’s because her openness was about something that most people can understand and have felt themselves and she welcomed them in joining her so that it became a group song of empowerment whereas Kurt’s song was simply him letting his emotions for someone out in front of everyone in a very obvious way.
• I really, really want a Brittany and Santana focused episode. I loved the small moment between them during Kurt’s song where they once again linked pinkies and Santana happily laid her head on Brittany’s shoulder. They’re so adorable. In fact they’ve the most adorable pair on the show. I also love how Brittany is so dumb in so many ways and yet we don’t ever see Santana looking down on her for it or teasing her about it. It’s just Brittney and Santana accepts her for who she is. Aww. (I have this vision of the McKinley 10 year reunion where Santana and Brittney show up as this happy couple, the only two of the group still together, and it makes me all happy.) Santana sleeps around with guys and loves sex, or so it’s implied, and it’s not looked down upon on the show any more than Puck’s sleeping around is (or so it seems to me, I haven’t heard her called a slut or whore in show, or that I remember, or even implied so which is nice) and it’s something I do love about the show. But I really love that apparently all of Santana’s emotional connection is with Brittney. I really hope the show makes them an actual couple but I suppose I will take them remaining exactly how they are in the background of every episode as well.
• It seems apparent that Quinn is no longer living with the Hudsons, and after the revelation in 1x13 this isn’t that surprising, but what is surprising is that we haven’t even had a line of dialogue explaining it. Did she choose to move out on her own or was she kicked out? More importantly where is she living now? Considering that the theme of the episode is ‘home’ it’s even more glaring that we don’t actually know where Quinn is living now. Especially since Finn and his mother were one part of the focus of the episode and we didn’t get anything from her on her now lack of a grandchild. This is not a piece a dialogue that should be missing. Yes, the story was about Carol moving on and finding love but it felt very off not to get a comment from her on Quinn and the truth about her pregnancy. (Both in this episode and the episodes since the revelation.) This isn’t the first bit of information/plot that the show has skipped telling us about, or perhaps I keep missing them, but it’s very irritating.
• At first I was annoyed at the sports thing that had Kurt being all jealous because it really does feel sometimes like they forget that Kurt was a star on the football team. But then I actually thought about it and I realised that it actually works perfectly. Kurt only joined football for his father, and then because he liked the adulation he got, but he actually has absolutely no interest in football itself, and probably doesn’t even know much more than I do.
This was actually the most enjoyable episode for me since I started catching up on the show. An issue I’ve found myself having since starting to watch the show again is that I often find myself wondering why a character is acting a sudden way. But in this episode everything that happened had good internal character motivations behind it and it made the episode so much more enjoyable. It made the various character interactions have weight and for this episode it become more than just a silly soap dramedy. I really liked that and I hope they continue it. We got a bunch of excellent, and emotionally interesting and relevant, character interactions.
• Basically everything having to do with Kurt’s set up of Carol and Burt and them falling in love worked wonderfully. It had feeling and resonance. Finn’s talks with his mother and with Burt were lovely and moving. His growth from not wanting to let go of his built up memory of the father he never knew to accepting Burt into his mother’s life was really well done. It even made me emotional which is not something this show does often. Even Kurt’s reactions this episode made perfect character sense, even though a good part of it was illogical, because sometimes that’s how feelings are. I would say especially for a teenager but I think it’s like that for everyone.
He was manipulative in his passive-aggressive sly trying for Finn but then found himself in the unwanted and unexpected position of having Finn hit on Kurt’s weak point – his relationship with his father. This has actually been wonderfully dealt with over the previous episodes. We know how difficult a time Kurt and his dad have had in building their relationship around how different they are, and they have done so wonderfully and have reach a point of acceptance and honesty in their relationship to each other. But that doesn’t mean that Kurt’s insecurities about it are gone so of course having Finn come into his father’s life, the kind of guy Kurt can never be and doesn’t want to be, is going to make Kurt hurt and want to lash out. I loved it. I also really liked that Finn realised that it had hurt Kurt. Burt remains pretty awesome.
• Then we have Mercedes storyline about her weight. Mercedes has always been so confident about herself but because she is a big girl of course the show had to address it at some point. Considering how society is I think she has to have some insecurity about how she looks despite her self-confidence. I loved that they dealt with this situation by making it all about Sue and Mercedes wanting to stay on the Cheerio’s. It wasn’t about her suddenly being insecure about her weight but something that was shoved at her and showing how she tries to deal with it.
The Mercedes/Quinn talk was one of my favourites of the episode, chalk full of believable and moving character interaction and well supported by past episodes, and it might even be one of my favourite scenes of the show. The pair up is very unexpected – as Mercedes said Quinn rarely says anything to her and I can’t actually think of a scene between them before this episode – and that kind of makes it work all the better. Quinn’s sympathising about what it takes to be one of Sue’s Cheerio’s makes sense because she has been there and had a reasonable cause to having gotten out of that mindset (not just being off the Cheerio’s but also being pregnant as she states in the episode).
I liked that it was Quinn who had this talk with Mercedes, and I feel it had more import, because Quinn is the visual and character opposite of Mercedes in many ways. I loved what it did for Quinn’s characterisation – someone who is usually so self-absorbed and selfish but who I buy approaching Mercedes like this. I love so much the accord between the girls now and the implication that they’re now open to a friendship and I really hope the show doesn’t drop this. This is exactly what I want out of the show – the Glee kids coming together and slowly becoming friends.
• Sue was basically Sue but I found her expression when we last see her really interesting. Tracy praising her so much for something that she actually isn’t seemed to really get to her. It hints at perhaps a change coming in how she interacts/reacts, though I doubt immediately, and I am very interested in seeing where it goes.
• The Will storyline was non-offensive and I liked his interactions with April (whom I keep wanting to call Olive, who was a far more awesome character) but they were mainly just there and the least interesting part of the episode for me.
• Another important point in this episode’s favour was how well it juggled and dealt with the characters. The focus of this episode was split between a Finn/Kurt storyline with their parents, Mercedes/Sue storyline with a side of Quinn, Will with April and the various other Glee kids in the background being supporting players. I think this would actually be an excellent format if every week took four or five characters and focused on them. So next week could be Rachel/Jesse with a side of Finn, Santana/Brittney with a side of Quinn, and Tina with her own side story. The usual format gives Rachel, Finn and Will more screen time than any of the other characters, with them becoming the focus of pretty much every episode, and even though Finn and Will had major roles in this episode it worked much better than usual. Perhaps because Kurt and Mercedes also had storylines that were given just as much focus and time? Of all the characters I really think Will could be pushed into the background a lot more than he is and while Rachel is one of my favourites I really don’t think she needs to be the lead in every episode.
• For me the songs really are the highlight of this show but with this episode I actually liked pretty much the episode for itself. ‘Beautiful’ was the best song for me and I loved a) the return of Mercedes self-confidence, and b) all the Glee kids joining her on the floor with Quinn being the first up there and the rest of the students standing and singing along. It was an uplifting and heart-warming moment if slightly preposterous. Will and April’s duet of ‘Fire’ at the roller-rink was great but I thought their later duet went on too long. For the most part the songs of the episode were background for the episode itself, something I can’t actually remember happening on this show.
Kurt’s song was good I suppose but I’m not a good judge because that scene hit my embarrassment squick. Kurt was just so emotionally open with the song, in front of all his fellow glee kids, that it made it hard for me to watch in a way that Mercedes song later in the episode didn’t for all that she was being very emotionally open as well. I think it’s because her openness was about something that most people can understand and have felt themselves and she welcomed them in joining her so that it became a group song of empowerment whereas Kurt’s song was simply him letting his emotions for someone out in front of everyone in a very obvious way.
• I really, really want a Brittany and Santana focused episode. I loved the small moment between them during Kurt’s song where they once again linked pinkies and Santana happily laid her head on Brittany’s shoulder. They’re so adorable. In fact they’ve the most adorable pair on the show. I also love how Brittany is so dumb in so many ways and yet we don’t ever see Santana looking down on her for it or teasing her about it. It’s just Brittney and Santana accepts her for who she is. Aww. (I have this vision of the McKinley 10 year reunion where Santana and Brittney show up as this happy couple, the only two of the group still together, and it makes me all happy.) Santana sleeps around with guys and loves sex, or so it’s implied, and it’s not looked down upon on the show any more than Puck’s sleeping around is (or so it seems to me, I haven’t heard her called a slut or whore in show, or that I remember, or even implied so which is nice) and it’s something I do love about the show. But I really love that apparently all of Santana’s emotional connection is with Brittney. I really hope the show makes them an actual couple but I suppose I will take them remaining exactly how they are in the background of every episode as well.
• It seems apparent that Quinn is no longer living with the Hudsons, and after the revelation in 1x13 this isn’t that surprising, but what is surprising is that we haven’t even had a line of dialogue explaining it. Did she choose to move out on her own or was she kicked out? More importantly where is she living now? Considering that the theme of the episode is ‘home’ it’s even more glaring that we don’t actually know where Quinn is living now. Especially since Finn and his mother were one part of the focus of the episode and we didn’t get anything from her on her now lack of a grandchild. This is not a piece a dialogue that should be missing. Yes, the story was about Carol moving on and finding love but it felt very off not to get a comment from her on Quinn and the truth about her pregnancy. (Both in this episode and the episodes since the revelation.) This isn’t the first bit of information/plot that the show has skipped telling us about, or perhaps I keep missing them, but it’s very irritating.
• At first I was annoyed at the sports thing that had Kurt being all jealous because it really does feel sometimes like they forget that Kurt was a star on the football team. But then I actually thought about it and I realised that it actually works perfectly. Kurt only joined football for his father, and then because he liked the adulation he got, but he actually has absolutely no interest in football itself, and probably doesn’t even know much more than I do.
