Glee: Power Couples

The reason this was my favorite episode of “Glee” in a long time is because it reminded me of what helped make this show a phenomenon in the first place.

(And yeah — I just said that about an episode that featured zero Sue Sylvester!)

The musical performances were plentiful and exciting, the one-liners were flying (of course Brittany thought Artie was a robot), and, most importantly, the focus was on THE KIDS. (Feel free to stay on the fringes, Mr. Schue.)

I had to capitalize “THE KIDS” because it seems like sometimes the show’s writers forget that “Glee” should be about, oh I don’t know, the members of the glee club. Too frequently the show becomes about the often-pathetic misadventures of Mr. Schue or the amusing, but mind-numbingly repetitive tyranny of Sue.

Unfortunately, once the show became a bona fide cultural phenomenon, Fox let Ryan Murphy do whatever he wanted. (“A Britney Spears episode?! Sure we’ll pay for the rights to her music! What’s the storyline, Ryan? You don’t have one? We’re sure you’ll come up with something.”)

Note to Fox: it is NOT a good idea to give the creator of “Nip/Tuck” the freedom to do whatever he wants!

Anyway, this week’s episode had the kids competing in a duets competition with an all-expense-paid trip to Olive Garden, I mean, Breadstix on the line. I actually really liked that the stakes were comically low after last week’s Very Special “religion” episode.

“Duets” also officially welcomed Sam (Chord Overstreet) into the glee club, and so far I’m really enjoying the addition. His laid-back demeanor is, so far, an excellent counter point to all the glee club’s outside personalities. I also like that he’s kind of clueless (speaking Na’vi on any date is a major party foul), without being quite as dumb as the show sometimes makes Finn.

Then again maybe Finn is getting smarter, since he saw right through Rachel’s plan. Rachel wanted her and Finn to lose the duets competition on purpose so Sam would feel good about joining the glee club. Finn saw right through Rachel’s seemingly selfless gesture because it would ultimately help her look good (at nationals). Still, baby steps for selfish Rachel and suddenly smart(er) Finn.

Brittany was also hitting on all cylinders, first making out with Santana, then hooking up with Artie after being spurned by her fellow bisexual cheerleader. In fact, last night may have been the first time we saw Brittany’s serious side after she displayed guilt for taking Artie’s virginity. Any Brittany we get is always good, but do we really want the character to get (gulp!) deep?

I was most happy to see the show address Kurt’s stalker-ish behavior from last season. I had a big problem with the way Kurt manipulated his father and Finn’s family just because he had a crush on Finn, then Finn was made to look like a bad guy when he lashed out (it’s not Finn’s fault that he’s not gay!) while Kurt came off as a total victim. The show did MUCH better job of exploring Kurt’s loneliness last night and making the point that Kurt can’t force someone to fall in love with him because he’s lonely. The right person will come along when the time is right, and until then he can lean on his friends.

Ok, before this thing gets cornier than it already is, let’s break down and grade the musical performances:

“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”…B-: This cheesy duet is one of my guilty pleasures, and Finn and Rachel sounded pleasant enough together. However, this performance brought up the episode’s biggest flaw in my mind. I get that Rachel is the star of the club, but I’m not exactly sure why they were COMPLETELY sure that they would win on the strength of this. I mean, it was fine, but not a slam dunk so that they’d have to throw the competition to let someone else win. Especially not after…

“River Deep, Mountain High”…A: The best performance of the competition, the best performance of the night, and probably my favorite performance of the season. I loved the fierceness of the vocals, the force of the choreography and the attitude Mercedes and Santana (pictured, left) brought. If we were actually going on merit, they should’ve won. (I also enjoyed the increased screen time for Santana, who REALLY wanted to go to Breadstix.)

“Le Jazz Hot”…B+: Once again, Chris Colfer is the recipient of the week’s most lavish number, and once again he delivers. Besides it not being a duet, the performance ended up being a bit much, especially since everyone else ended up performing in the music room.

“Sing”…B: I thought it was a funny and clever way for Mike Chang (aka Other Asian) to make his singing debut, but I enjoyed his earlier interactions with Tina (who was completely fed up with Dim Sum and pork knuckles) much more amusing.

“With You I’m Born Again”…B: I know it was supposed to be bad on purpose, but for my money, Rachel and Finn sounded better here than they did on “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” Go figure.

“Lucky”…B+: Dianna Agron’s Quinn sounded better than I’ve ever heard her sound, and the performance WAS adorable. However, the Jason Mraz/Colby Caillat duet isn’t exactly the highest vocal bar a singer can clear, so a B+ is pretty much as high a grade as they can get.

“Happy Days are Here Again”/ “Get Happy”…B+ : The preceding scene with Rachel comforting Kurt was more effective, in my opinion. I think Chris Colfer and Lea Michele are the strongest singers on the show (and they sounded great here), but I find that by the time the episode-closing song comes around, I’m “Glee’d” out and tend to tune out. I realize that’s more of a “me” problem, than a “Glee” problem, but still…

So what’d you think of this episode? Will Puck — who apparently drove through a convenience store and stole an ATM— be back for the “Rocky Horror” episode? What duet did you want to hear from (tragically temporary couple) Artie and Brittany? Finally, did you miss Sue at all in this episode? (As I’ve said before, the character doesn’t really make sense, and the only reason she works is because of Jane Lynch, so I’m ok with Sue sitting a week out.)