Thursday, September 24, 2009

Put a Ring On It!


Glee may have just moved into the category of amazing.

The show still has some character problems and speedy plot writing which sort of takes away from the fun, but last night's episode really hooked me.

Why? Two words: "Single Ladies"

Every episode thus far has had a few musical numbers which really either add a bit of fun to the episode or wonderfully fit into the plot (like last weeks "Bust Your Windows" sung by Mercedes...so good). Well this week did something a little different and focused on one song primarily and that song was of course Beyonce's dance phenomenon.

The episode begins with Kurt doing a rendition of the famous dance dressed in a leotard. His performance is cut short by the entrance of his father (Mike O'Malley in a guest starring role). What ensues is Kurt's cover-up of his homosexuality and his ultimate "casting" into the role of the footballer kicker (is that what you call them sports fans?). Kurt clearly is no skilled player without a little music so "Single Ladies" becomes his warm-up routine. In the most over-the-top-ridiculous moment Kurt and Finn convince the football team to break out in the "Single Ladies" dance to distract the opposing team and win the game. It worked.

There were other high points to this episode such as Quinn's pregnancy and Terri's evil plan to help her out by taking the baby. But aside from the aforementioned singing and dancing the next best thing was the ridiculous quips and dialogue. Everything seemed over dramatized. Everything seemed somewhat cliched. Everything seemed way too comic even during serious subjects. Everything seemed just like....Popular! Now I know that Ryan Murphy being behind this show is obviously going to make me think of his short-lived genius WB series, but the comparisons are uncanny. This show is Popular reimagined with less craziness and more singing...and if I can't have the real ring then I'll gladly settle for the knock-off.

3 comments:

Kelly said...

I still kind of hate this show. Ok, I don't hate it, but I still do wish I loved it more. I thought the single ladies stuff was a little too much (though I did prefer it to the random bursting into song they've been doing for the past 2 weeks: decide, are you a musical or a story about music?).

i thought the best thing about this episode (aside from the fact that the popular characters are FINALLY being turned into actual sympathetic people) was Kurt's father's reaction to his coming out. I was sitting on my couch, screaming at the tv "say 'i know'!" and that's exactly what he did. he's a man with prejudices and to expect him not to have them is to take away all his complexity but the fact that he loves his son anyway and is proud of him (and knows him well enough to understand his sexuality without having to have it explained to him) showed me that he's a good guy. Finally, a character who seems real.

In other news, thank God for the dethroning of Rachel. I cant stand the girl. I couldnt care less if she's got the best voice. theatre is a team sport- you show up to play, whether you're the lead or not.

Unknown said...

I actually loved this episode too. I was totally underwhelmed, and actually openly mocked the last episode, but this episode really struck a nice note with me.

Not only did I like Kurt's storyline, although I'm with Kelly with the screaming at the TV that obviously the father knew, I liked that the whole football team rallied around him when he showed them how talented he was. One of the major problems with this show was, as I know kelly has talked about, that it treated its characters as though popular=evil and nonpopular=deserving, but as the characters get some more depth I'm really enjoying watching the show more.

I also might have an innappropriate, upsetting crush on the mohawked dude. Which might just be proof that my bad boy obsession is getting out of hand.

Kelly said...

no, Im loving Puck too. I find him so much more sympathetic than golden boy Finn (who's best feature is that he's like 6'3).