Glee: Bully for You

Wedding bells were ringing on “Glee” last night.

Not only did Burt Hummel marry, um, whatever Finn’s mom’s name is (fine, I’ll run to Google…her name’s Carol…you happy now?), but Sue tied the knot with the only person in the world who’s truly worthy of marring Sue Sylvester.

Don’t fret though. All the wedded bliss didn’t interfere with the show’s primary mission in season 2: eradicating teen bullying/gay bashing.

I hate to sound flip because I really do admire the fact that an incredibly popular primetime show is tackling such a serious issue that affects so many young people.

The problem I have is two-fold. 1.) The recent focus on Kurt’s conflict with closeted bully Karofsky can’t help but come off as a direct reaction to all the attention the bullying of gay teenagers has received in the media recently. That’s actually not the worst thing in the world – I mean, why shouldn’t a show try to be topical? My only question would be, where was this hard-hitting examination of bullying during the first season when EVERY member of glee club was being harassed? Why did it have to happen to a gay character to finally make everyone rally and stand together?

My second and more selfish/subjective complaint is that “Glee” is simply not a good enough show to competently tackle this subject. I watch the show and (believe it or not) enjoy significant portions of it, but it’s true! The show’s ostensibly about celebrating life by accepting and celebrating everyone’s differences, but I don’t think this heavy-handed approach works very well for what is, at its core, a(n erratic) musical comedy. The tonal shifts are too jarring, as is the irony that the show’s most popular character is probably the biggest bully in the world!

Oh well, I WAS glad to see Mr. Schue, most of the glee club members (Finn’s always a little slow) and Burt come to Kurt’s defense after no McKinley High student so much as lifted a finger when Kurt began being brutalized a few weeks ago.

The club put preparations for “Sectionals” on hold (they’re going to come up with a set list at the last minute anyway) to sing at the wedding of Kurt’s dad and Finn’s mom. A lot of Burt and Carol’s relationship has developed off-screen, but their wedding scene did a nice job of conveying their love for each other (even if they spent more time talking about their kids during their vows).

Finn, not wanting to jeopardize his status as the school’s top dog by defending Kurt, eventually manned up and delivered a wedding toast that was classic Finn (touching in how clumsy it was), even if it was actually directed at wedding planner Kurt instead of the married couple.

Cory Monteith also had a good moment when Finn fended off Santana’s advances by professing his love for Rachel. (Now please give Rachel a decent storyline, stat!) Speaking of getting a decent storyline, the show appeared to be on the verge of giving lonely Santana a chance to shine (she’s lonely now that Brittany is dating Artie, who just lies there, and desperately throwing herself at Finn), but we can’t have that when there are guest stars to incorporate into the mix!

This week’s guest star was the great Carol Burnett, who stopped by as Doris Sylvester, Sue’s Nazi-hunting mother. She was in town to attend Sue’s impending nuptials: Sue was marrying herself! (Don’t worry, it was as dumb as it sounds.) More disappointingly, I feel like the Sue/Doris storyline came off as a throwaway, since this episode had bigger, more bullying fish to fry. (I didn’t really buy the tenuous “Doris was a bully” connection.) Also, the overused joke that Doris is a famous Nazi hunter was twice as dumb as having Sue marry herself.

Either way, those two kick off our look at the evening’s musical performances:

“Ohio”…C+: The performance itself was good, even if the justification for it (beyond, “We HAVE to have Carol Burnett sing somehow!”) was very weak. I’m generally not a fan of having Sue sing. Although Jane Lynch probably has a better voice than a couple of the actors who are in the glee club, that club is supposed to be her sworn enemy. Having her sing feels to me like Elmer Fudd talking about how much he hates rabbits (or “wabbits”), only his best friend is a rabbit. Still, shoe-horning a musical number for Carol Burnett and Jane Lynch isn’t the worst crime in the world.

“Marry You”…A: The “Forever”-lite choreography was fun and lovely and gave pretty much all the kids a chance to shine. Hell, I would’ve given this thing an ‘A’ just for the little dance Mike O’Malley did when he walked down the aisle.

“Sway”…B+: Yes, this was pretty brief, but I think less Mr. Schue (even on this Buble cover of “Sway”) is more.

“Just The Way You Are”…B-: The performance followed Finn’s touching toast at the wedding, and when he started singing, I thought he was singing it to his mom. (Awww.) Instead, it turns out he was singing it to Kurt. (Huh?) Look, it was a sweet sentiment (that every one of his friends and family members accept Kurt just the way he is). The only problem is that this Bruno Mars tune is CLEARLY a love song. Having Finn sing it to Kurt was downright weird, in my opinion.

So what’d you think of this episode? Was I the only one who thought Sam and Quinn were already boyfriend and girlfriend? Which nickname would you pick for yourself: Gelfling, Porcelain or Tickle-Me Doughface? (That was pretty mean, but give Sue props for ultimately having Kurt’s back.) Finally, now that he’s transferred out of McKinley, how long will Kurt stay at the Dalton Academy? And who will he root for during Sectionals?