Glee: An Eye for an Eye

Though "Glee" remains as nonsensical and uneven as it's always been (Quinn got into Yale despite spending the first part of this season as a class-cutting burnout, and spending the second part of this season trying to get her baby back by destroying Idina Menzel's life? What the what?!?!) I've noticed an encouraging trend the last few episodes: a return to covering/re-imagining/butchering pop music.

As the McKinley High glee club geared up for the school production of "West Side Story", I feel the show became way too reliant on lovingly recreating numbers from Broadway musicals (this from a guy who loves "West Side Story" and has a framed poster from the "Chicago" movie hanging in his living room). I know it may be hard to remember now because it feels like the show has been on for seven years, but a big reason "Glee" became a certified phenomenon when it premiered was because of the way it re-interpreted/mangled pop music...and not because it catered to mostly theater geeks. (Sorry, drama queens and kings...it's true.)

Yes, I realize last week's episode opened with a loving recreation of "Summer Nights" from "Grease", but it also featured current hits like "Moves Like Jagger", "Without You" and "We Found Love." So what better way to keep the pop music momentum going than with a tribute episode to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Now, tribute episodes on "Glee" (like everything else) have so far been a dicey proposition. The "best" ones have been harmless diversions ("The Power of Madonna", "Theatricality"/Lady Gaga), while the worst ones ("Rocky Horror", "Britney/Brittany") make your eyes roll to the back of your head. (Really, writers? The best way you could think to get into musical numbers is to have cast members visit the dentist and hallucinate while under anesthesia?!)

Last night's episode also got off to a shaky start on that front (the Troubletones were bitching about New Directions winning their face off because ND performed MJ...ok, whatever), but mostly incorporated the whopping NINE musical numbers in (relatively) believable ways. (Especially "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "Scream" and "Never Can Say Goodbye.") Blaine inadvertently told Sebastian that New Directions planned on doing Michael Jackson songs for Regionals, so Sebastian stole the idea. Unless he KNOWS, the Warblers are performing before New Directions at Regionals (and ND look like a bunch of also-rans), why would he WANT to cover the same artist as another glee club? (Again, whatever.)

I've previously made the point that "Glee" doesn't need Sue Sylvester (and can do with much less of Will Schuester's creepy love life) and last night's episode proved my point: especially when you have a nasty villain like lead Warbler Sebastian around. I imagine a lot of people hate the him (especially after the Mega Slushie he gave Blaine), but I'd rather direct that hate to Sebastian (someone who is SUPPOSED to be an antagonist) than spend time hating angry Santana, increasingly useless Sue or skeevy Schuester.

I should probably add wretched Rachel to that list.

I thought last week was embarrassing for poor Finn (he went from wanting to join the army to learning a painful family secret to proposing to Rachel), but this week was even worse for Rachel. Not only did she rain on Kurt's NYADA finalist parade by whining about not getting her own letter (maybe it was at home, but her gay dads didn't go above and beyond to deliver it to school like Burt did), but she appears to have only accepted Finn's proposal (despite Quinn's sensible advice to the contrary) when it looked like she wouldn't get into her dream school.

While I ponder why this show seems hell bent on making us hate all of its characters, let's break down the musical performances.

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin"...A-: What does this song title have against "G"s? Anyway, I thought this was a really strong way to, well, start the episode and Darren Criss is at his best when he's in upbeat/ebullient mode. Bonus points for the glee club dressing up in all of MJ's iconic outfits...except for Finn's tragic bedazzled football jersey.

"Bad"...B: Where the hell did they even find a multi-level parking lot in Lima? Anyway, I enjoyed the choreography, the acapella flavor of the arrangement (mostly courtesy of the Warblers) and even the rampant cheesiness, but Blaine diving in front of Kurt at the end like he was a Secret Service agent taking a bullet for the president was a step too far. Sorry.

"Scream"...A: You've probably noticed I make fun of this show a lot, but credit must be given where it's due: "Scream" (an underrated song, in my opinion) was one of the most expensive music videos of its time and this was a great recreation. (On a TV budget, no less!) Solid vocals/great dancing from Kevin McHale and Harry Shum Jr., and impressive effects. Also, androgynous Mike Chang = Janet Jackson...who knew?

"Never Can Say Goodbye"...B+: Let's be honest: the ceiling for any Quinn solo performance (with Dianna Agron's thin, flavorless voice) is a B+. So what I'm saying is that this sweetly ironic number (Quinn coming to terms with herself and waving goodbye to Lima and her various guys) is as good as it gets.

"Human Nature"...A- Can someone explain to me why Chord Overstreet was fired after the end of last season only to be brought back and (apparently) made a full-fledged cast member a few months later? Whatever...he's back and the show is better for it. Anyway, this was a sweet duet that made me truly buy the Sam/Mercedes romance for the first time. (Also, I'm all for anything that keeps Mercedes from bitching about losing solos to Rachel.)

"Ben"...C+: Too sentimental by half. From the way Kurt, Rachel and Finn lovingly serenaded an eye-patched Blaine, you would think the guy was on his deathbed. The + is for heroically resisting the urge to change each "Ben" to "Blaine" in the song.

"Smooth Criminal"...A: Santana and Sebastian may not agree on who won their fantastic, intense face off, but I think we can all agree the real winners were 2Cellos.

"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"...D: Maybe it's because I hate everything about what's happening with Finn and Rachel right now, but I thought this blah number was completely disposable. It's almost like the writers realized, "Crap! We gotta get a Rachel/Finn duet in here somewhere."

"Black and White"...B+: This was a fun way to close out the show, but let's get one thing straight: Kurt DEFINITELY should've let Santana go to the cops with the incriminating tape where Sebastian admits to almost blinding someone instead of just singing him a song about unity. What's the best case scenario anyway? Sebastian joins New Directions to do a happy dance on stage while Blaine undergoes a painful procedure? (At least we got to hear Santana say "underboob" a dozen times.) The + is for the face-morphing at the end. I remember that effect blowing my mind when I first saw it.

So what'd you think of this episode? Can someone remind me why Damian McGinty/Rory Flanagan is on this show? Who the hell carries rock salt on their person? (Wouldn't it have been much easier to mix in pebbles or something else from the parking garage?) Finally, my big takeaway from this episode...it's REALLY easy to get into Yale...just make sure you write a kickass essay!