Glee as of Late

I’m catching up on Glee episodes and it hasn’t been as fun as it used to be. I’m staying with the show out of loyalty. While the stars are just as talented, the story lines aren’t grabbing me. I mentioned earlier my skepticism over Burt Hummel as a senator. Now we’re to believe Sue‘s desperately wants to be a mother. I just don’t buy it. I feel Sue’s pregnancy is mainly a gag, just as Finn and Rachel’s engagement seems like a contrivance that grew out of boredom in the writers’ room. I really don’t buy Finn’s depression or ennui or that a kid his age would find marriage as a means of fulfillment. It doesn’t ring true.

Then I was disappointed with Rachel’s dads. They should have introduced those characters earlier. Now after all these years, they are on camera, having never come to her performances or intervened when she was suspended, which showed them to be lax at best, when clearly they’d be helicopter parents of the first degree. I also wished one of them was Black as I found that line in the pilot so funny, the one about how they didn’t know who the real father was. Jeff Goldblum was fine, but after three years whomever they got had to be great. The writing was decent, but not great.

A major disappointment for me as a Glee Project viewer has been how Sam, Damien and Lindsay have been given overly stereotyped minor roles. They’re the sideshow in the sideshow of McKinley High and haven’t been accorded the role of say new characters like Sam or even Blaine. I get that all the characters are over the top and stereotyped, but it’s a fine line and in this case has disappointed.

I’m not a big fan of Michael Jackson and could do without a second show emphasizing his music. Early on in that episode Rachel voices my indifference and I thought the show would serve to blow us away and win the non-Michael fans over. It really didn’t.

I really didn’t like the storyline with Will as an incompetent Spanish teacher. He’s too conscientious for that. He’s the kind of guy who would have gotten up to speed early on if he wasn’t up to a teaching task. It was clearly an excuse to bring on Ricky Martin. I liked the idea of a show with Latin music, but take the time to come up with a good storyline. It’s not hard. Make Martin a new teacher in the department. Also, the writers need to know about their arena. In K-12 most everyone has tenure. If you don’t get it by year three, you’re stupid not to leave. It’s a sign they don’t want you.

As for the plot line with Kurowski (I think that’s the spelling) attempting suicide was worth covering, however, was lost amidst all the other plot lines. It’s alright if that kind of event is a show stopper. It’s a major deal in any setting and it leaves people numb. Here it came off as a PSA and in fact, I find Glee’s gotten too overtly didactic. Let the drama teach. Embed facts more naturally as they did in Boston Legal, or leave them out.

I haven’t stopped believin’ in Glee, but could. I hope things don’t come to that.

Related articles

• Glee: Yes/No (meetcute3.wordpress.com)
• Real or Fiction – do people know what that is anymore? (raodum.wordpress.com)
• Glee Spoiler Pics! Ricky Martin, Rachel’s Two Dads, Mercedes’ Choice (seattlepi.com)
• Sneak Peek: Brian Stokes and Jeff Goldblum on Glee’s Heart Episode (shoppingblog.com)
• TV Review: Glee – “Heart” (blogcritics.org)
• Glee: Rachel Has Two Daddies (tv.com)