Glee Review - Dream On (For Real This Time!)

Alright, you caught me. The review last night was not a review of the actual episode. It was more a review of the episode I desperately wanted to be made.

No, in truth, this was not an actual Dr. Horrible/Glee crossover event, which for the record I still maintain would be the single greatest hour of television ever to air. No, it was just another episode. Although it did guest star Neil Patrick Harris, and was directed by Joss Whedon. Everything I wrote about Joss Whedon, from Buffy to Toy Story was true. The man is a legend.

But, sadly, Neil Patrick Harris was not revising his role as Billy. They're still saving that for the sequel I'm afraid. No, instead he played the awesomely named "Bryan Ryan". A rival of Will's during his High School days. Bryan was a star in the Glee club, and once he graduated, made it big. Unfortunately, it was not to last, and his career as a star came crashing down. Today he's a cold, bitter person who just happens to be in charge of the budget for the school's clubs.

Now, while it wasn't anywhere near what I claimed it to be like in my previous review, Joss Whedon's darker style was clearly felt during this episode. Bryan spends most of the episode trying to crush the dreams of the kids in Glee, and succeeding. But I really loved the storyline featuring Artie and Tina. Artie's dream is to be a dancer. A problem since he's stuck in a wheelchair.

Meanwhile Rachael and Jesse try to uncover who Rachael's mom is, since it's always been a dream of hers to meet her mom. I do find it kind of funny that Joss Whedon still managed to put in a MAJOR plot twist (that my mom actually called several weeks ago.) in his episode. I'm not saying what it is, but it's a good one.

Now, while it wasn't the turning point in history for all of humanity, it was a really good episode. Probably the best episode Glee has had so far. I really like Artie, and I've thought he was one of the only likable characters on the show every time he's been given screen time over Rachael, Puck, or Finn, but unfortunately those moments have been few and far between. I liked that this focused on one of the more minor characters, even if the end was a bit sad.

All in all, what I took away from the episode was simple:
They should really hire Joss Whedon to direct this show full time.

(P.S. I loved the cover of Safety Dance, but only because I think of that as the Heigan Song.)

Glee Review - Dream On

Now this is the one I've been waiting for. This episode was directed by the legendary Joss Whedon, creator of such classic series as Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse. More than that though, he created the completely awesome Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, so the guy isn't new to musicals.

Joss Whedon is a legend. Those who aren't quite as geeky as me should still know that name. He co-wrote the screenplay for Toy Story. The guy is amazing.

It may seem odd, to some people, to attempt to pull off what Whedon did with this episode. I mean, to take the main character of your beloved internet musical, and to feature him violently taking over the school? It seems like an odd direction to go. I'll admit, before the episode aired, I found myself doubting if it would work well. I was so wrong. The episode is brilliant, and he makes connections that, although I won't spoil them here, make me wonder how I didn't make the connection to realize that Doctor Horrible and Glee have been set in the same universe THE ENTIRE TIME. It's amazing how something can be staring you right in the face, and yet completely go over your head.

I'll tell you what though, Mr. Whedon clearly isn't afraid to pull a plot twist. I mean, he's always been known for (spoilers past the links) killing off fan favorite characters. But to pull off such a bold move as offing a character that's not even from your own show? That takes nerve. But Joss did in fact do it, in a tragic scene that left me stunned, and I'll admit it, crying, in which Artie, the character in a wheelchair, meets his grisly fate to a flight of stairs.

But without a doubt, what shocked me most was the way he connected ALL OF HIS SERIES within this one hour long episode. I mean, it would have been enough to simply connect Glee and Doctor Horrible together, but he didn't stop there. No, he manages to connect every one of his series, in a scene where a scorned Sue goes to the Dollhouse, to rent out a Doll that's imprinted with the personality of Buffy, in order to assist Captain Hammer defeat Doctor Horrible. I thought it would be completely impossible to connect the space western Firefly in with the other series, I mean, Firefly is set in the year 2517! But he even manages to hint at connections with that in a scene where Captain Hammer (Played by Nathan Fillion) reveals his true identity, and his last name is Reynolds, suggesting that he is an ancestor of Mal Reynolds (Played by Nathan Fillion), the captain of Serenity.

This episode really grabbed me in a way Glee never has. I found that, in that brief hour, I went from being completely indifferent about all of the characters, to melting in a pool of tears during the scene in which Tina cries over Artie's dead body. I went from wishing the love triangle (rectangle?) between Rachael, Finn, Puck, and Jessie would end, to being on the edge of my seat to see who Rachael would choose to save from the death trap Dr. Horrible had them all caught in.

My personal favorite part though had to be Felicia Day playing a zombified version of Penny, risen from the grave by Doctor Horrible. She managed to give a performance worthy of an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, and every other award they make, without ever uttering a word that wasn't "Brains..." I hope she won't be overlooked from the award she actually deserved.

Glee is nothing without musical numbers of course though, and this episode was not without those. The numbers were all covers of the music from the phenomenal Dr. Horrible musical. Dr. Horrible himself had taken over the school, and it appears he had been in Glee club himself as a child. He took special interest in the Glee club, and in a very vain move, had them perform songs he had "written himself" which were actually scenes from the musical itself. These amazing performances were knocked out of the park by the kids covering them, unfortunately it seems Fox has been guarding the music for this episode very closely, and as such I am unable to post any of it simply because it appears to have disappeared from youtube.

If I had to criticize the episode for anything, the way the worked in the cover of "The Hero of Canton" from the Firefly episode "Jaynestown" seemed to be a bit contrived to me. The song won't actually be written for 507 years, according to the timeline Whedon has established. Although I'm willing to forgive that, considering the sheer quality of the cover Kurt did. Phenomenal.

All in all, this episode of Glee stands head and shoulders above all the others. It went beyond heartwarming. It went beyond touching. It was truly life changing. In fact, this episode may be- No, it IS, the greatest thing ever to be aired on television. I'm not even kidding here when I say that I think in a hundred years, this episode will be looked back upon as the turning point for our worlds society that led to not only universal health care, and the destruction of all the worlds weapons, not just nuclear, but ALL of them, but in fact it will be viewed as the turning point for improved public education, the cure for cancer, world peace and unification, an improved space program, and ultimately true enlightenment.

Thank you Joss Whedon. Thank you for such a wonderful contribution to humanity. You've truly touched my life with this hour of television sir. You've truly changed the course of human history. Thank you.

Glee Review - Laryngitis

More like this please.

This episode was really good. Basically it was the anti-"home".

For one thing, the music was excellent this time. Apart from "Kurt's Turn" which I just linked, there were also great covers of "Jessie's Girl", "Lady is a Tramp", among a few others.

The plot didn't really go anywhere this week, other than in circles. Which was fine actually, I didn't mind.

The plot revolved mostly around 3 sub-plots.
1. Rachel gets laryngitis.
2. Puck loses his popularity, and uses Mercedes to get it back.
3. Kurt pretends not to be gay so his dad will be proud of him.

The first plot once again felt like it was falling into the category of forced touching moment. I'd just like to point out, the only storyline that has actually had any touching moments has been the one with Sue and her sister, which just melts my heart. I still maintain my opinion that Sue is the most likable character on the show.

I really don't care about Puck and Mercedes, because we know exactly NOTHING about either character. That's a problem I have with Glee, they expect us to care about these characters, but other than Kurt, Finn and Rachel, we don't really know anything about the other characters. Meh.

Meanwhile, Kurt's storyline included the single most awkward scene I've ever seen in a TV show ever. He pretends to not be gay so his dad will be proud of him or whatever, so he brings Brittany home, and starts making out with her. Then the awkwardness is brought up a few THOUSAND notches, when he asks her what (wait for it) boys lips taste like. At this point I tried to decide if finishing watching the scene, or killing myself would make the awkwardness end sooner. By the time I had decided, the scene was over though.

So yeah, the plot was meh this episode, and didn't really go anywhere, but I didn't really care, and the music was fantastic.

Next week is the Dr. Horrible crossover episode of course, so I can't wait for that.

Glee Review - Home

Wow. What a terrible episode of Glee. I thought I was starting to understand this show. I thought it was a stupid soap opera about teen drama. I can appreciate why people watch stupid soap opera's about teen drama. I enjoy the show. I laugh at the plot lines, and enjoy the music. Then this abomination is aired.

Seriously, instead of continuing any kind of coherent plot, like the one between Rachael and Jesse, or between Finn and Rachael and Quinn and Puck, or between Will and his wife and Emma and that one lady from the rival glee club, they decided to put that all on the back burner and air an after school special. Or, should I say, EVERY after school special. Every single one, ever made, ever.

Was I watching Glee, or Boy Meets World (a comedy well known for having one depressing episode about alcoholism or something like that every season.)? Let's recap:

Mercedes is feeling uncomfortable about her body. Yep, that's an after school special right there.
So she goes on one of those all shake diets. Ooh, there's another one there. I think I saw that on Doug once. Let me see if I can find that episode... *Time passes* Yep, I looked it up. "Doug's Chubby Buddy".

Meanwhile, since two after school specials aren't enough per episode...
Kurt hooks up his father with Finn's dad. Finn has trouble letting go of his dead father, and they both have to learn it's ok for your parents to date, and that it's ok to let go, and that it's ok if your parents pay attention to other people they still love you too, and that they'll always love your other parent... Holy crap, that's like six more after school specials right there.


MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH, The drunk chick (Note: I'm referring to her character not the actress.) from Pushing Daisies is back, making me miss that show even more. Ugh, why can't THAT show still be on air, instead of rubbish like FlashForward? Sorry, bad tangent. Anyways, like I was saying, she's back and she's slightly less inappropriate this time (Which is relative to last time of course.). Will and her have like 3 duets, and I spend the entire episode wondering where Emma went.



Sue says a few funny things, even though she's offscreen for most of the episode... More drama... Oh and then the most unintentionally funny scene in the show so far. So, Finn has put his Dad's ashes into his old chair for some reason that is never adequately explained. I think his family is crazy. Anyways, Kurt's dad comes over to have "A man to man" with him... Quaint. Anyways, they talk, and work things out, it's all very sappy and stupid, and then it happens. They go to sit down and Finn MOVES THE ASHES OUT OF THE CHAIR, SETS THEM ON THE ENDTABLE AND TELLS KURT'S DAD TO SIT THERE. Kurt's dad does it, and then stares at the ashes for a moment. At that moment, I busted out laughing. I couldn't help myself. Screw emotional scenes, you can only go so far before it becomes hilarious. My parents both looked at me like I was crazy when I burst out laughing, I muttered "I'm a horrible person for laughing at that." and then we finished watching.

In any case, I was disappointed by this Glee. It was truly awful, and while it won't turn me off from the show completely, I'm hoping the next episode is better.

Glee Review - Hell-O

IT'S ABOUT TIME. SERIOUSLY. WHY DID THIS TAKE SO LONG TO COME BACK?

So, I rather like Glee. The music is good, the jokes are hit or miss, but the funny ones are very funny, and I enjoy watching the plot and laughing at how much of a soap opera it really is.

Seriously, the emotional roller coaster that is Glee has more ups and downs than [insert thing with a lot of ups and downs here]. Take this episode for example.

At the end of last season Will had finally found out that his wife had lied to him about having a baby and left her, and gotten together with Emma. Finn had finally found out Puck was the father of Quinn's baby, and left HER, and gotten together with Rachel. So let's show what the relationships relevant to this episode are so far.

Rachel and Finn.
Will and Emma.


Then, Finn leaves Rachel to go on a date with 2 cheerleaders. At once. Ok then. So Rachel meets a guy from the rival Glee club, and starts dating him! So the score is now:

Rachel and Jessie.
Finn and Two Cheerleaders.
Will and Emma.



Will goes to give a talking to with the leader of Vocal Adrenaline (The rival glee club.), and after about 30 seconds they're hooking up. What? After A WHOLE SEASON OF GETTING TOGETHER WITH EMMA? Jerk.

Rachel and Jessie.
Finn and Two Cheerleaders.
Will and Shelby. (The actor for Shelby was cast because she looked so much like Rachel. Creepy.)
Emma and ___.


He realizes what a GIANT JERK HE'S BEING and tells her he can't be with her.

Rachel and Jessie.
Finn and Two Cheerleaders.
Will and Emma. Ish.


Finn goes on a date with the two cheerleaders. He realizes they don't really like him. Dumps them.

Rachel and Jessie.
Finn
Will and Emma?

Terri convinces Emma that Will still isn't over her yet, and Emma tells Will they need to take time before being a couple.

Rachel and Jessie
Finn
Emma
Will

Finally the Glee club tells Rachel that Jessie is playing her, and she fake breaks up with him. So now it's

Rachel and Jessie. (But it's a secret.)
Finn
Emma
Will

So yeah. What is this I don't even

However, I really do like this show, both because the music covers they do are AMAZING, and because the show is actually funny. Take Sue for example. Sue is the "Villain" of the show. She's also one of the more likable characters, and one of the least evil if you ask me.

It's hysterical just how freaking insane she is, and how much she wants the glee club destroyed for no apparent reason.



I think she might be my favorite character. Ok, Emma is my favorite character. Then her.

But the just plain evilness of the other characters, namely Terri, Quinn, and this Jessie kid, is just ridiculous. Ah well, two episodes from now who knows what the relationship status will be with these people. I sure don't.