I thought the music-packed “Original Song” — the last new episode of “Glee” before Tuesday night — was one of the show’s strongest outings this season.
So, of course, Fox promptly put the show on a month-long mini hiatus and squashed whatever momentum the show might’ve been gathering.
That’s why it was no surprise that last night’s “A Night of Neglect” was a disappointment. The episode managed to simultaneously feel overstuffed — Gwyneth Paltrow! The return of Sunshine Corazon! The League of Doom/Legion of Evil! — and feel like filler before the really interesting stuff starts happening as season 2 wraps up.
Even the weekly theme — which is already a shaky device to tie each episode’s storylines together — was a head-scratcher. This week, Mr. Schue assigned to glee club members to perform a song by a “neglected” artist…whatever the f--- that means!
New Directions needed to raise money for their trip to New York City for Nationals, so Mr. Schue’s brilliant idea was to sell salt water taffy because that’s what he did when he was in school. (I continue to be astounded by what an idiot Mr. Schue can often be. Also, does he actually know that "5000 x 0.25 = 20,000" is completely wrong or was that a joke?) It was during this brainstorming session that the existence of an even more neglected club was revealed.
The Brainiacs consisted of Tina, Mike, Artie and emergency fill-in/cat-disease expert Brittany. And, yes…I would’ve assumed that they were in the club because two of them were Asian and the other guy wore glasses. Glee club decided to host a fundraising concert in the auditorium called “A Night of Neglect” to raise money for themselves and for the Brainiacs.
(Re-)Enter Sunshine Corazon, who came in peace (even though Rachel had sent her to a crack house) and bearing the gift of Twitter followers to attend the concert. I realize she’s only been in two episodes, but I still can’t get a read on Sunshine. She’s obviously mega-talented, and she has also spent the last few months under the direction of Vocal Adrenaline’s douche-y Dustin Goolsby. That makes me think her good-girl personality is at least partly a put-on. I’m not saying she’s a spy (that would be Jesse St. James redux), but I think there’s more to her, and I’m actually interested in finding out what it is. (Even if Charice’s acting was borderline atrocious last night.)
Unfortunately, Dustin pulled Sunshine out of “A Night of Neglect”, resulting in a truly pathetic turnout.
It was all part of Sue’s plan (OF COURSE it was), since Dustin (aka Sgt. Handsome) had been recruited to join her League of Doom along with Terri Schuester (aka Honey Badger) and Sandy Ryerson (aka the Pink Dagger). Their mission: to destroy the glee club.
I’ve you’ve read any of my recaps before, you know that I’m COMPLETELY done with Sue’s antics to destroy the glee club. That being said, I was happy to glad to see Sue take more of a backseat to some new, villainous blood. Ok, so maybe I’m not thrilled to see Terri back, and Cheyenne Jackson’s character (who we’d only seen in a brief cameo) predictably turned out to be a cocky douche, but at least Predatory Gay Sandy Ryerson turned out to be hilarious. Also, I kind of wish my school had a Hecklers Club. (Although football player Azimio already seemed like a seasoned heckler.)
Meanwhile, the glee club storyline was dominated by — stop me if you’ve heard this before — Rachel acting like a self-involved twit, and Mercedes feeling underappreciated. (At least it wasn’t another storyline focused around her weight.) Sure, Mercedes had Lauren as backup this time (instead of Kurt), but it feels like we’ve seen Mercedes and Rachel clash before making up by the end of the episode more than enough times. Also, does Rachel do anything else on this show besides talk about how great she is and complain about not getting every major solo? (That said, I thought it was fitting that there was no Rachel performance in “A Night of Neglect.”)
I liked the scene towards the end with Rachel telling Mercedes to go out and grab superstardom instead of pouting about not getting respect, but it would’ve been more effective if I didn’t believe that we’re going to see this conflict in a few weeks.
I haven’t even mentioned Gwyneth Paltrow, who appeared in what was likely her swan song this season. Like her previous appearances, I thought she delivered a game and funny performance. Unlike her last two appearances, her character didn’t hijack the episode, which was good. Indeed, Holly was only around long enough to formally break up with Will after she saw them together in the kitchen. Will was comforting Emma after learning that her marriage to Dr. Carl had been annulled. To be honest, I’ve never been super-invested in the Will and Emma romance, but I thought their grape scene together last night was among the pair’s best.
Holly also got to set the members of the Hecklers Club straight with a mini-speech that somehow veered off into an indictment of anonymous critics/message board posters on the Internet. Maybe it’s just me, but that felt like an indulgent touch from a “Glee” writer who was tired about reading how much worse the show is in season 2. Which it is.
Let’s get on to the musical performances, shall we?
“All By Myself”…A-: Sure the song is a little cheesy, but it actually kind of fit in with the night’s terrible theme. Mostly though, Charice killed it. How can you not be impressed by such a big voice coming out of an incredibly tiny package?
“Follow Rivers”…C-: I’m not giving it a bad grade because Jenna Ushkowitz sounded bad singing this Lykke Li song. (She actually sounded great) I’m giving this a bad grade because the show once again hijacked one of poor Tina’s performance. Let this girl have a moment.
“Bubble Toes”…B: Yes, Harry Shum Jr. is a sensational dancer, but seriously…what does that have to do with anything here?
“Turning Tables”…B: Obviously, Gwyneth can’t touch Adele (but who can?), but I actually thought this was the strongest and most assured that her voice has ever sounded.
“Ain’t No Way"…A: I absolutely loved how (relatively) restrained it was, especially for a Mercedes performance. I actually thought Amber Riley looked and sounded as good as she ever has on this show. I’m just not sure where the gospel choir came from.
So what’d you think of this episode? Don’t any of the glee club members have parents that could have attended “A Night of Neglect”? How do you think the show will continue to work Kurt and Blaine into storylines now that the Warblers are out of the running for Nationals? (I’m guessing nasty, closeted bully Karofsky will factor in heavily.) Finally, how DOES Sandy manage to walk into a building without setting off all the fire alarms?
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