Glee - Season Four

[mswood]

I decided to watch the first episode of this season of Glee (primarily due to it being before the start of the season and there wasn't anything else I was watching), and I was shocked at how strong this episode was.

Glee is extremely inconsistent show (quality all over the map), going from strong to episodes to crap like a punch drunk fighter. But they typically have fairly weak opening episodes, and to that I really expected them to suck at telling two stories one at Lima and one in New York with any skill at all.

I admit based solely off of this episode, I planning on watching weekly again (something I had decided to stop doing at the end of season three).

Anyone else have opinions about this episode?

 

[Starbreaker]

I didn't realize it premiered tonight. I was looking to drop a few shows, and this was one on the ones that was on the chopping block. After a very strong first season with lots of focus on the adults that I happened to enjoy, I agree that the last couple of years have been at far ends of the spectrum quality wise. I'll check it out on demand tomorrow.

One of my favorite parts of the series has been the Emma/Will relationship, and after he treated her like garbage last year, and she's having her screen time reduced even more this year, they're going to have to make up for it somehow.

At the first sign of Kurt being bullied, crying, or singing a 25 minute solo, I'm done for good.

 

[mswood]

I don't get the Kurt hate. He has both faults and strengths and the show has highlighted both (character wise),pretty much like all the other major characters. And his longest son is actually probably my favorite of the ones he has sung (the one from Sunset Boulevard). But while Kurt does have a a couple scenes, he doesn't sing in this episode. And hell without Kurt we wouldn't have gotten Mike O'Malley my favorite adult character on the show.

Now when the show started the three primary characters were Rachel, Finn and Shue. With each getting major story lines with side characters.

Kurt was the first minor character to connect with fans (student wise) and that really ended up killing most of the adult story lines (those connected solely through Shue).

That really happened about mid way through first season, and continues to this day For whatever reason the fans just didn't respond as well to the adults as to the various students.

 

[FPAlpha]

Because Glee is about High School kids and their problems and kids relate better to kids?

Which 14 year old is primarily interested int he affairs of a mid 30s teacher?

As to Kurt:
He started to get grating after Ryan Murphy started to make him his gay centerpiece, his loudspeaker so to say. In general it's not bad to have homosexuality as a theme because many young teenagers who are seem to struggle with it but as the seasons went on sometimes i got the feeling it was all about homosexuality.. they even "turned" the hottest cheerleader into a lesbian!

It just got a bit much for me.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

That was a good episode. I was unsure about continuing with Glee after last season, but they had a good run of episodes. I'll stick with it for a while yet.

I liked Kate Hudson

One thing though...so they lose like 7 members and they only add 1

 

[Greg Cox]

A good ep. The high point was probably the "New York State of Mind" duet, which did a nice job of unifying the ep while also suggesting who "the new Rachel" really is.

Not sure what I think of Sue with a baby . . . .

 

[gblews]

I did enoy the storyline about the young newcomer and her overweight mom. I kind of wish it had been strung out over a few more episodes.

What Glee does best, IMO, and what got me into a vigourous debate last season over in the "Smash" thread, is present music to tell their stories.

The song that young Marci(?) did after the Glee kids apologized for ragging on her mother (don't know the name of the song), where she kind of stalks them from behind the scenes while they rehearse, then at the appropriate point in the song, Blaine sees her, grabs her and pulls her into the group, is a prime example of how well Glee handles music. The music is presented with thought, imagination, and care.

Missed Mercedes and Santana. Ecstatic about not having to see or hear Phinn. Whoopi, good -- Kate Hudson, bad. Britt still cute. "Unique", with a totally masculine real name (Wade), is too funny.

 

[Briquettes]

I thought the episode was really good, and frankly better than I was expecting. The casting left me very disappointed, though. I wasn't expecting M*A*S*H*-level recasting, but damn they could have made some effort to change the character dynamic. Instead we get a diva to replace Mercedes, a season one Quinn kock-off, Puck 2.0 (literally), and New Rachel. I wouldn't be surprised if the New Directions suddenly add a feisty Hispanic girl, a bumbling oaf, and an Asian dance prodigy in the next few episodes.

 

[propita]

Overall, disappointed. I think this will be Glee's last season unless it improves. Still too much focus on guest stars (Kate Hudson) over main cast.

On The Glee Project, Ryan Murphy is all about "who he can write for." So while we have the cast split (not a problem), he can write a lot for Kate Hudson and leave off the main characters for (almost) filler? Who cares about Kate Hudson having a number?

And I noticed the Irish kid was missing...or did I miss him? Pretty easy, since he rarely said anything anyway.

Loved: Brittney. ALWAYS good. Burt Hummel. ALWAYS great.

Didn't love: If Kurt's going to NYC means no more Burt.

Liked: Rachel and Kurt's friendship. Performing was always more to them than the rest, they wanted it to be their lives, and the only person each can turn to for understanding is the other. Lunch-lady Mom. The actress put some heart into that small role.

 

[mswood]

I thought the episode was really good, and frankly better than I was expecting. The casting left me very disappointed, though. I wasn't expecting M*A*S*H*-level recasting, but damn they could have made some effort to change the character dynamic. Instead we get a diva to replace Mercedes, a season one Quinn kock-off, Puck 2.0 (literally), and New Rachel. I wouldn't be surprised if the New Directions suddenly add a feisty Hispanic girl, a bumbling oaf, and an Asian dance prodigy in the next few episodes.

Well their is some similarity, each o their characters are different, in some cases dramatically then who you say they are replacing.

Rachel and Marley have no character aspects that are similar. Just being able to sing doesn't make them the same. Marley is down to earth, in every thing we have seen so far, and not driven like Rachel was at all.

Puck and Jake. Puck was a bad ass, who with Glee learned to be a nicer guy. Jake is trying to be a bad ass, trying to be something (that he probably isn't), again not the same, in some ways quite opposite.

Wade, and Mercedes, Big Voices yes, but Wade will have completely different issues (though I don't really like the character, to over the top in my mind, but will give them a chance).

 

[mswood]

One thing though...so they lose like 7 members and they only add 1

Try 2. Wade (Unique) and Marley are currently new members of Glee. I would assume Jake is going to join shortly, and I assume the person who one the Glee Project will also sign up.

But it still leaves a number far below the 12 they are supposed to have to compete (will see if they ever mention that again). But I was wrong about that in season 3.

Also I loved Whoopi and Kate Hudson (I have no idea who she is). They reminded me of two of my freshmen professors, my vocal professor, and my piano professor. The only difference was Kate used Rum, my piano teacher favored Brandy (and lots of it).

 

[Starbreaker]

I enjoyed the premiere. There was a good balance of NYADA/McKinley and there wasn't a character I wanted to punch in the face.

 

[rac76]

Well, I missed it on Thursday, and since I don't have HULU plus, I have to wait until next week to watch it. I am looking forward to it. Have heard the "New York State of Mind" performance in which I thought was good(maybe a little too calm for Rachel's voice, but overall it was nice).

 

[ialfan]

I had low expectations going in and was shocked to find it was really, really good. I am by far no fan of Wade/Unique. I feel like either Harmony or Sebastian from last season would have been a much better addition to the Glee club if they wanted to bring in someone from a rival club. And Harmony truly would have been a "new Rachel".

But I enjoyed all of the songs, the new characters have good voices and are likable enough, and I loved the New York aspect of it. The show feels revitalized. I only really missed Santana and I know she will be back in a couple episodes (at least to visit) so I'm okay with that.

I'm mostly excited for next week.

 

[propita]

Kate Hudson is Goldie Hawn's kid. She's been acting for years now.

 

[Briquettes]

I watched the Brittany 2.0 episode last light and thought it was okay. That's high praise from me since I generally loathe the theme episodes.

The good: I love Marley so far. I take back dismissing her as simply the new Rachel. I hope they keep her character down to earth as well. As farcical as Glee can get at times, it would be great to have someone play the perpetual straight man. Also, it's good to see Brittany finally realize that flunking senior year will have some major negative consequences.

The bad: Brittany's downfall being an act seriously undercut the emotional weight of the story. Wade/Unique. I'm not sold on the character and would have liked it if her part in this episode had been given to one of the established glee club girls like Tina or Sugar.

The Meh: Something big needs to happen in New York because I'm having a real hard time giving a crap.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

It was okay. Some theme episodes work, some don't. I think they probably should have left it to the one Britney episode. It was nice to see Puck and Santana briefly.

Not really sold on the Jake character at all.

Rachel looked REALLY sexy when she was doing her tango.

I'm wondering what the thrust of the New York storyline will be. In Glee club there have always been the milestones of sectionals, regionals and nationals. But in New York it's just basically a day in the life of Rachel. I hope they introduce some of her classmates, maybe contrast the togetherness of Glee club with the competitiveness of NYADA.

 

[propita]

The stuff I've heard about the whole Kurt storyline sounds a bit like "Jane by Design," which was really pretty good. Of course, it got cancelled.

 

[tomalak301]

Well, last night there was nothing better on, and I got curious and watched the Season premiere of Glee. I actually liked the Season Premiere and watched the Britney episode tonight so I guess I'm back in the fold. I'll probably be watching the show On Demand for the most part (Even though with the NHL Lockout, I guess I don't have to worry about the Sharks always playing Thursday Night) but some thoughts on both episodes.

The New Rachael

If there is one thing Glee knows how to do it's starting and ending seasons. I really liked this episode, kind of reintroducing the cast and the new storylines and characters. I wasn't bothered by the flipping back and forth between McKinley and New York and I do think this might be a good way to keep the season moving. I hope Marley, Jake, and the new characters are interesting this season, but I have some concerns in that they are almost duplicating storylines from before. Brody is the new Finn, Marley is the new Rachael, Jake is Puck from Season 1 and the cycle is starting all over again. Still, I think the reason I liked it was because things were moving and there is potential there.

Britney 2.0

Well, all the good will from the previous episode almost disappeared with this one because I can understand why Britney Spears was upset over this one. It isn't cool that Britney Spears was used to show her downfall and rise and remind people of that again. Actually I thought this episode was terrible in every ways, and hopefully they don't use Britney Spears again.

Despite that, some overall thoughts on the show.

-I don't want to sound like a hypocrite by saying I'm not watching season 4 and then getting curious and watching the first two episodes. I'm probably going to continue it mainly because the first episode got me curious again. Is this the same Glee we've gotten the last two seasons, or are we breathing some fresh life into it. Based on the first episode, the latter seems to be true. Based on the second, it's more of the same, but I'm willing to stay with it and see if it's the first episode quality we're getting or "more of the same".

-One thing I do not like already is the new characters are already starting to pair off and I wish that wasn't the case. I want to see Jake be Jake and let the character develop organically without a love interest. I like that Marley is this girl who is protective of her mother and I don't want to see Marley be Rachael. I want to see these characters develop.

-As for the older characters, I'm a little glad Tina got more than just a few lines in both episodes, but I'm worried that promise we got in last season's "Props" (I think that's the episode) won't come to fruition. I hope the writers actually develop everyone but I doubt it going forward. That's unfortunate.

-As for the songs, I think the two best songs so far have been "New York State of Mind" and "Oops...I did it again". Call me Maybe, or the inevitable "yes this is the summer song and Glee has to get it out of the way", wasn't bad and was kind of fun.

Overall, I don't know if I'm making a mistake watching season 4. Maybe I want to hope the show gets good or this is what we're going to get. Maybe this is the final season and I just want to know I've watched the entire series and got through it. Hopefully at the end of the season I can look back and say it was worth sticking around.

 

[OmahaStar]

Others may already know about this, but we now know why Jean Sylvester was written out of the series.

Robin Trocki, who played Jean, has advanced Alzheimer's. Sue's baby is named Robin in her honor.

They did a sort-of family reunion, where Robin met the baby (who also has Downs), who plays her neice on the show. She can barely remember being on the show at this point.