Glee gets mono

Two episodes of Glee in one week? Is that too much Glee for the world to take? 27 million people watched the post-Super Bowl episode on Sunday, but did they tune in tonight? I thought the song selection in both episodes wasn’t nearly as strong as it should have been to take advantage of such a large audience. The stories, though, made up for it. Between football players in zombie make-up, the Cheerios “stars” quitting cheerleading, and continued multiple love triangle drama, both episodes were classic Glee.

Finn trying to act cool was so … not; but it was funny not-cool. He and Rachel both are so much more interesting characters apart than they are together. Plus, he’s got better chemistry with Quinn (and Rachel with Puck) than any other pairings on the show.

There was a lot of negativity about Puck’s song selection during the LiveClack tonight. I’m not sure I thought it was as big of a deal as everyone else, but I will say this: For someone who has spent a lot of time doing stories about bullied kids, he’s not afraid to include fat jokes (or Dina Lohan jokes for that matter). I had problem understanding which emotion was on Lauren’s face at any given moment during the song. Half the time it was uncomfortable, but the other half there was an odd smile creeping in. I’m not a fan.

The LiveClack didn’t have much positive to say about Quinn, either, and it is difficult to blame them. However, as someone who may have fallen prey to the “grass is greener on the other side” problem in High School myself, I’m not indifferent to her plight. Plus, despite every movie we’ve ever seen, real High School kids do not experience great personal change. She was a cheater before, so her doing it again shouldn’t be some big reach. A deeper reading would probably point to some insecurity/daddy-issues, so, you know, there’s that too.

Seconds after I talked about how these characters shouldn’t evolve that much, I turn to Kurt. The emotional maturity with which he handled Blaine’s crush on the Gap Guy (Will and Grace homage much?), and the conversation about Kurt’s feelings was a big surprise. He’s had a lot of opportunity to grow this season, but methinks this was a bit too much too quickly.

The friendship between Kurt, Mercedes, and Rachel has been a nice development. These three actually have so much in common with the whole diva thing. Plus, it gives Rachel a reason to be with other characters not named Finn.

If there’s one thing that has really surprised me about this season, it is how I’ve gotten over the loss of Artie and Tina as a couple; pretty much because Artie and Brittany drip awesomeness. The only other thing I need is another dream sequence where Artie and Brittany dance together. Make. It. Happen.

Notes & Quotes

• “We all know I’m not the smartest guy in the world. But there’s two lessons I learned the hard way. One, never punch a cop. The other one? You can’t choose love. Love chooses you.” – Puck
• “Also, these candies you got me? They sucked.” – Lauren
  “But you ate all of them.” – Puck
  “I had to be sure they all sucked.” – Lauren
• I might talk about the massive crushes I have on both Quinn and Brittany, but I have to be honest: They all pale in comparison to my crush on  Becky.
• “[Writes “Love” on the board] Alright guys, I have one word for you … [Brittany raises her hand] Brittany?” – Mr. Schue
  “Is it love? … [To Artie] Totally gonna graduate now!!” – Brittany
• “I’ve kissed Finn. And can I just say? Not worth a buck. I would, however, pay a hundred dollars to jiggle one of his man boobs.” – Santana
• “Five minutes ago you said Mr. Schue belongs in a twelve step program.” – Tina
  “Wait, what?!?!” – Mr. Schue
  “You’re addicted to vests.” – Santana
• I’m sorry, Lauren is not nearly as funny or interesting a character as the writers think she is.
• “When I was on New Directions, we performed in front of hostile crowds pretty much everywhere we went: Mattress stores, shopping malls … I had a cat thrown at me in a nursing home once.” – Kurt
• Love the recurring secondary characters: The librarian and the Breadsticks waitress.
• PYT is Michael Jackson’s most under appreciated and under rated song, and made for one heck of a great Artie/Mike performance.
• “You don’t want to push me.” – Lauren
  “Oh, but see I sorta do. I’m from a part of town called Lima Heights Adjacent. You know where that is, Pop-n-Fresh? It’s on the wrong side of the tracks.” – Santana
• They paid Dot-Marie Jones a lot of money to be in one scene, but the image of her throwing Santana over her shoulder was worth every penny.
• The only thing I’ll say about the Gap: Way uncomfortable, but a retail manager would never fire anyone for something that would bring in customers like that.
• “Please, I’ve had mono so many times it turned into stereo.” – Santana

Clacked by Ivey West
on Feb 08, 2011 @ 22:35 EST5EDT