Glee: Season 3 Discussion/Premiere preview clip

[tomalak301]

I really really liked that episode last night. It really does feel like this show is getting back to some of that something that made it memorable in Season 1, and it's very nice to see. Granted, we got another round of Mercades vs. Racheal, but what I really liked about it this time and now it feels permanent. Mercades needed to do something to step out of Rachael's shadow and I really liked this new assertive side to her. Amber Reily owned the episode last night, and her songs were really well done, especially "It's not Over" despite the changing of the words.

I also liked how unlike last week, we only got like 3 plots this week but they made the episode flow. The stuff with Mike was great, even though I have to wonder why it took the parents 3 years to figure out what their son was doing (He never told them?) but it was great character development to someone who really needed it. As for Will and Emma, it was probably the weakest plot point of the evening, but the scene with the parents were a bit amusing.

Also, thank you for finally having songs not related to broadway in this episode. Last night was the first episode this season where I can say I enjoyed the music. It sucks the show is gone until November (After building up this momentum) but that's what happens when you're on a network that plays Baseball Postseason. Still, if this is the direction Glee is going in this year, I'm excited because after last season I was getting really cynical. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

 

[AliciaD496]

The music in last nights episode was pretty great (oddly enough I think it was Matthew Morrison's Coldplay cover that was the weakest). I'm not so sure I like this new assertive Mercedes myself. Yes she definitely deserves the lead, but so does Rachel and she was the one the rejected a reasonable compromise, she deserved a bit of scorn.

On the topic of Mercedes...am I the only one who got the impression she might be pregnant? The mood shift, the boyfriend, the whole imagining herself as Effy thing. What with the previews and a big hiatus coming I expected something bigger than Mercedes breaking off from New Directions (possibly a suicide attempt by Mike or even Mercedes, both spoke about being overwhelmed) maybe I was expecting too much.

 

[Starbreaker]

Great episode last night. I'm still over everybody acting like a diva, though. The ratings are slipping and the show isn't going to last too many more years if they don't make the characters more likeable.

 

[C_Miller]

I have no problem with an assertive Mercedes, but every time she asserts herself, it always feels more like entitlement. Rachel isn't handed anything. She's just straight talented and has a ton of drive.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I liked Mike's story (however stereotypical) and performance (however outstanding) in the episode. Asian F? Racist, yes. But also true, at least from THIS asian's perspective. His song was not very challenging but it worked for him and his story, so it was quite good for what it did.

And I agree - they're obviously trying, but I hope there will be more payoff in terms of making the main cast more likeable. There're so many of them, and so many of the kids are just unbearable. I'm glad lots of them are due to be written out. As it stands, after all of the to-do to bring Quinn back to ND last week, it's not even mentioned here; likewise, Santana is simply back with barely one line of explanation and no development on her part. I didn't like that at all. Oh, and Finn NOT being in the dance number, excused in much the same way.

Next time (month) we're apparently to be treated to the first of the two main Glee Project winners. Here's hoping he won't be as despised as some of the others within a few weeks...

Mark

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I have such a difficult relationship with this show. At times, it is one of the funniest things on TV; almost Wonderfalls-ian in its wit. I'm also always up for a good musical number. But I just have such a hard time liking any of the characters. Brittany & Quinn & that neurotic guidance counselor but that's about it. Oh, and the cheerleader with down syndrome can be a lot of fun.

Sue is always funny but she's too cartoonish for me to buy her as a character. Every week she has another petty, evil scheme even though all the evidence indicates that she should know better by now.

Shue reminds me of many of the worst teachers I had in high school who were more interested in sucking up to their students than they were in teaching. Rachel is an obnoxious, self-centered diva. Finn is routinely out-acted by the various inanimate objects in the room. Kurt seems less like a character and more like a collection of gay stereotypes and didactic "tolerence" cliches. And when Kurt does manage to muster an actual personality, it's that of a smug diva that I despise only slightly less than Rachel.

On the bright side, "The Purple Piano Project" featured one of the funniest lines in the history of TV: "Like toast. I don't get it. I mean, bread is already baked. Why do you have to cook it again?"

 

[the G-man]

Future of 'Glee' not so cheery?

• Not only did its season premiere drop 32% from 2010's opener, but ratings have continued to fall among the series' 18-49 demographic.
  
  Meanwhile, its performance on other media fronts is similarly diminished, from being a once-mighty iTunes force with which to be reckoned to its lackluster assault on the megaplexes over the summer.

Can't say I'm surprised. High concept shows that appeal primarily to teenagers tend to fade out fast.

 

[HotRod]

I think we should start calling this the "Heroes Trend". Great 1st season followed by pure and utter crap.

 

[FPAlpha]

It happens to many shows that have such an impact in their first season and most of the time it is due to writing.

In the case of Glee the characters don't evolve.. at all. While adults rarely change character significantly teenagers do because they are still growing up and trying to find out what they want to do and what they learn alongside changes them.

With Glee we don't have that much.. Kurt is still flamingly gay, Mercedes and Rachel are still divas and Finn is still this clueless guy. The characters never or very rarely break out of their characters and that's a problem for any show that's going past the first season or two because it wears thin.

While Kurt was the emotional center for the group in the first season and had some wonderful storylines and songs he's become unbearable lately with his more than girlish style and this is just an example because for most characters there's critique like that.

It will be hard to turn around the ship with your core audience being fickle teenager (i'm the odd one out being mid30s and male ) and i hope they make it. Glee was one of the best shows in the past years i discovered and not only for the songs but lately i didn't have the drive to watch Glee as soon as it is released and that's a bad sign for shows.

As to the current episode.. best one of the (still early) season.. that was Glee was i liked it. Awesome selection of songs, awesome performances, fun and a bit of drama. The episode forever cemented the "fact" that Brittany/Heather Morris is the best dancer of the show and Mike a distant second (i just don't like his dance style.. he reminds me more of a rubber puppet with his contortions) and damn can that girl move (not too shabby of a singer too).
I also liked that Mercedes called everyone out on favoring Rachel and tiptoeing around her because i see it like that too but Shue is also right that Mercedes isn't always ready to put in the star effort to become a real star too.

Anyway.. best episode this season yet and one of the better episodes of the show.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I just watched it and thought it was great. The scene with Mike in the dance room was really well done. I wonder if in real life he worked on his singing or whether last season the character couldn't sing but the actor could.

As for Mercedes and Rachel...to be honest I would have given Rachel the part. I mean it's been a while since I've seen West Side Story, and I know Maria doesn't dance as much as the boys but I'm sure she does take part in some dance numbers. And as shown in booty camp, Mercedes doesn't have the fitness/technique.

I really hope Brittany wins school president, that dance number was amazing. However, given how Kurt seems to be the darling of the creator I wouldn't be surprised if he wins.

The ginger supremacist stuff was funny, and the bits with Emma were really touching.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

A black Maria? It reminds me of when my community college did West Side Story. A white girl got the lead and one of the Mexican girls that lost out went to MEChA and got them to make a big stink in the school paper.

 

[gblews]

Asian F was an excellent episode. 'Excellent episode', haven't been able to say that about Glee in a long.

I like that the episode covered a lot of storylines. It keeps things moving.

Amber Riley sang the hell out of "Spotlight'. She actually sang it better than Jennifer Hudson. Looks like she's lost some weight this season. She was looking pretty good in that black dress. She's only about 20 lbs or so, away from full hottie-dom.

I just don't get "Kurt". First he wants to be accepted as he is, a flaming queen. Now he is also asking to be accepted in the role of a hetero guy and gets mad/depressed/frustrated, when no one buys his straight guy acting. It seems the producers may be trying to tell us something about the gay experience through Kurt, but in doing so in the way they're doing it, it's really a disservice to the character.

The Dreamgirls sequence was perfectly set up and perfectly executed. Everyone in the scene was great -- except Kurt. He sounded like a cartoon character when he started singing. Hysterical.

Emma's parents were a hoot. I'm glad we didn't get the usual cliche, where we find out that "oh, Emma's parents really aren't as bad as she thought they were, and in fact are quite lovable". They were low life douche bags -- great.

Hmm, Mike Chang wasn't all that much worse a singer than Finn and Puck, which doesn't say much for Finn and Puck as singers.

Although I believe Amber is a better singer overall than Lea Michelle, I thought Rachel sang "Out here" a smidge better than Mercedes. I think the song and arrangement were better suited for Rachel's voice.

All in all, great episode, though.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I just don't get "Kurt". First he wants to be accepted as he is, a flaming queen. Now he is also asking to be accepted in the role of a hetero guy and gets mad/depressed/frustrated, when no one buys his straight guy acting. It seems the producers may be trying to tell us something about the gay experience through Kurt, but in doing so in the way they're doing it, it's really a disservice to the character.

He wants to make it as an actor,so playing straight roles is a must to achive success. Leads not best friends.

 

[gblews]

I just don't get "Kurt". First he wants to be accepted as he is, a flaming queen. Now he is also asking to be accepted in the role of a hetero guy and gets mad/depressed/frustrated, when no one buys his straight guy acting. It seems the producers may be trying to tell us something about the gay experience through Kurt, but in doing so in the way they're doing it, it's really a disservice to the character.

He wants to make it as an actor,so playing straight roles is a must to achive success. Leads not best friends.

Yes, I know. This is not what I meant. I was referring to Kurt's reaction to his being turned down by the "committee" for the male lead.

Kurt knows he is "different". He has gone to great lengths to let everyone know that he knows he is different, yet wants to be accepted even with those differences. But we saw him get upset because the people who have come to accept him and his differences now won't ignore those differences and see him as something he is not.

Rather than show the character upset about this, seems to me it would have been better to show him become determined -- driven even -- to become a better actor or something. Anything would have been better than watching him once again go into "oh, whoa is me" mode. At some point, the character needs to be shown dealing with people's natural reactions to the differences he has insisted they accept. I thought the same thing after he was named prom queen. I thought he should have just rolled with it.

 

[the G-man]

Kurt is the stand-in on the series for creator Ryan Murphy. Murphy is a petty and overly sensitive drama queen who assumes any criticism is homophobia. Does it surprise anyone that this would spill over, intentionally or not, into how he writes Kurt?

 

[FPAlpha]

Quite possible since he didn't really come off well in the flame war a few months back against some bands.

While everybody else is a bit unrealistic Kurt is just over the top that he just wore out the funny in it and became just annoying. I've yet to meet such a flaming gay man and most homosexuals are more like Blaine.. understated, not making a big deal out of it and just living their lives.

I applaud Murphy for bring the issue of gay teenagers and their problems to the front and from what i read it has given some closeted gays the strength to come out and fight for their right but it has gone too far and Kurt has become a shrill caricature.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I've never known anyone quite as extreme as Kurt. I've known a few gay men that are in that direction but never quite so uniformly so.

But I definately agree that Kurt has lost perspective on this. With luck, this is intentional and the ultimate moral of his storyline will be: No matter whether you are accepted by others or not, true happiness comes from within. No one gets exactly what they want in this world. Yet one of the most commonly held fallacies by most minorities is that their dissatisfaction is a direct result of their minority status, and not the general hostility of the universe towards everyone.

 

[mswood]

I know plenty of gay men who make Kurt look restrained. Plenty. Now they aren't the majority of the thousands of gay people I have known in my life, but they absolutely are out there.

 

[mswood]

AS for Kurt's reaction. Felt pretty real to me.

It's one thing to know you are feminine in your day to day life. But its another thing altogether to discover (as an artist) that you are perceived as not be able to act in most roles.

I mean imagine a stand up comic who's talented. And Sure he knows he's the funny man, but believes he has the chops for serious material. Then imagine hearing people who have been around you a lot, saying that they don't feel you can.

While you can say that a more rational or adult being would take that as a sign to really strive to broaden their skill set, we are supposed to be seeing a teen ager. While there are some teenagers who are very rational, most aren't. Most lean with their feelings and not with their mind.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Was there even a new episode this week? My DVR didn't seem to record anything.