Glee: Thrill Seekers

I’ve missed “Glee.”

Yes, even someone like me who is often tough (but never unfair, I think) on this show can admit that I’ve missed its particular brand of crazy.

Last night’s post-Super Bowl episode represented pretty much everything the show does right AND everything the show does wrong. The only difference is that — thanks to that prime time slot — it did those things on a much larger, go-for-broke scale. When you combine that with the fact that the show hadn’t been on in almost two months, it made for an enjoyably super-sized episode.

By that same token, I want to switch things up a bit and break down what was good and bad in last night’s episode before we get into the musical performances:

GOOD
By placing a strong emphasis on the conflict between the football team and the glee club (and all the incorrect, pre-conceived notions outsiders have about the latter), the show basically went back to its pilot. The first episode in the series found Finn struggling with the idea of sacrificing his popularity in the eyes of a bunch of people he doesn’t know in favor of doing what he loves to do. (It’s also a REALLY smart thing to do for the benefit of the millions of people who were watching the show for the first time.)

Will and Coach Beiste agreed to have the douchiest of the football team members join glee club for a week. We had the expected ups and downs, but I like that we didn’t get a “football team and glee club lived happily ever after” ending. (Especially when it comes to main bully Karofsky — Max Adler is doing strong work.) I AM interested to see if the dynamic between the football players and the glee club shifts at all. (Otherwise, it was a waste of time.)

REALLY GOOD
Not only did the episode de-emphasize Mr. Schuester — episodes focused on him mostly remind us what a creeper he can be — but the part Mr. Schuester DID play (along with Beiste) was to offer guidance and support to the kids in the glee club. It was also good to actually see him temporarily get the best of Sue in the end (with help from Katie Couric, aka not Diane Sawyer).

BAD
Ok, so maybe it’s not the best thing in the world that we’re still doing football vs. glee club dance after one and a half seasons.

Still, that’s not nearly as tired as the back and forth between the Cheerios and glee club. I’ve lost track of how many times Quinn has gotten in and out of Sue’s good graces. And now Brittany and Santana have joined Quinn as ex-Cheerios…at least until a few weeks from now when they get back on the team.

GOOD
Jane Lynch’s continued brilliance as the 31-year-old Sue Syvlester, I mean, SYLVESTER. Her epic meltdown/tantrum (and how it continued into the football locker room) was gloriously over the top.

REALLY GOOD
Sue commanding her Cheerios to smack themselves in the face with chicken cutlets.

BAD
Brittany has officially gone from “delightfully dim-witted” to mentally challenged. She believes in baby canons? Her cat crashed its SUV (during the Chevy commercial). Just stop.

REALLY BAD
The fact that Sue Sylvester’s character continues to make no sense whatsoever. I was encouraged at the start of the episode when we saw how bored Sue had become with her Cheerios. Do we think that was supposed to mirror all the glitz, and guest stars and tributes “Glee” keeps pulling out of its hat to top itself?

Unfortunately, the situation quickly devolved into the standard Sue hates glee club for no good reason rhetoric. After she was informed that she couldn’t fire Brittany out of canon because it would likely kill her, Sue decided to take it out on…Will (huh?!) by pulling her Cheerios for a national competition the same day they were scheduled to performed at McKinley Highs halftime show. Sue should really be mad at herself for not finding legitimate reasons for being mad at anybody.

GOOD
The list of losers Sue Sylvester beat out for “Loser of the Year”: the economy, Mel Gibson, the housing market, Dina Lohan, Wall Street, Tiger Woods, the Dallas Cowboys, Brett Favre's cell phone, nine percent unemployment, and Sparky, Dina's dog who is apparently also a loser

REALLY GOOD
The fact that the hockey team (led by a guy with a mullet) stepped up as the main bullies when the football players joined glee club. Funny stuff.

BAD
The glee girls joining the football tam was obviously a stretch, but I still say it’s MUCH less ridiculous than Artie being on there.

REALLY BAD
I realize “Glee” isn’t trying to be a sports show, but those football scenes are still a complete embarrassment.

So as you can see, there was more good than bad. Let’s quickly break down the musical numbers.

“California Gurls”…B-: As a way to immediately grab male eyeballs, I guess it worked. I’m also giving the overstuffed number featuring boobs, fire and BMX a slight pass for being disconnected and boring because it was SUPPOSED to be boring to Sue. My main problem was that the editing was so frenetic, these male eyeballs couldn’t fully appreciate what was happening.

- “Need You Now”…B+: Slightly random choice to show a bunch of skeptical football players that glee club is cool, but I love the song and Lea Michele and Mark Salling sang it exceptionally well.

- “She’s Not There”…A-: Unspectacular, but really fun number with the guys literally taking center stage on this song from The Zombies. Strong choreography.

- “Bills, Bills, Bills”…A: It’s going to be pretty unrealistic when the Dalton Warblers inevitably lose to New Directions at regionals. This was AMAZING! (And, gasp, the arrangement made it actually sound like they could’ve possibly been singing it live.) My only problem is that the number felt shoehorned in as a way to include Kurt (and Blaine) in the episode.

- “Thriller”/ “Heads Will Roll”…B+: The show’s mash-ups don’t usually work for me, but I like how this one was executed. As with “California Gurls” the editing was too frenetic for my taste, so I couldn’t appreciate everything that was happening (especially since I couldn’t always tell who was who with the cast in heavy makeup). Also, Finn’s Vincent Price voice? NO!

So what’d you think of this episode? Will “One Tree Hill” ever get canceled? Is Brittany too dumb? Finally, will Karofsky ever come around?