Monday, May 10, 2010

Glee: "Home" & "Bad Reputation"

I finally got a chance to catch up on the last two episodes of Glee yesterday....and I have some concerns over the future of the show.  Both of these episodes were wildly uneven, though I found they balanced each other well: in "Home," I mostly liked the story but hated the music, in "Bad Reputation," I hated the story but liked the music. I wish I could squish the two of them together like one of the ubiquitous Glee mashups.



"Home" had a plot I'd been looking forward to - Mr. Hummel hooking up with Mrs. Hudson. I thought it would be hilarious to see Kurt trying to use it to get closer to his crush Finn. However, I think the showed played this storyline for too much sap and not enough humor. I did like what they did with Finn not wanting his dad to be replaced and with Kurt feeling like his dad was getting the son he really wanted, but they missed opportunity to do some really funny stuff with Finn and Kurt.

I also liked the 'Mercedes has to lose weight to please Sue' storyline, but more in the abstract than in execution. It was another storyline that was shoehorned in and then resolved, all in one episode. Usually, I give Glee a pass on those cause they can be so entertaining (Puckleberry, for example), but this one just felt like an after school special.

My biggest problem with this episode was the music though. I nearly had to prop my eyes open with sticks. Maybe I've got adult ADD or something, but I fastforwarded through every musical number but "Fire" and "Beautiful." And that's saying something, because Kristen Chenoweth has a FANTASTIC voice, as does Chris Colfer, but I didn't know any of the three 'Home'-themed songs and the tempo of them lost me. I actually tried to watch this episode live but got so bored (and sympathetically uncomfortable with the looks Kurt was giving Finn) that I had to stop and was just able to pick it back up this weekend. Boring!



"Bad Reputation" had a mediocre story but I enjoyed the music better. I still have no idea what the hell the "glist" was (ranking Glee club members on how promiscuous they are?) or why it was causing such an uproar among the faculty, but at least I've got "Total Eclipse of the Heart" to listen to in the car. Artie, Tina, Kurt, Mercedes, and Britney doing "Can't Touch This" was funny as hell, and I can't be mad at anything that gives Heather Morrison a chance to show off what a dance goddess she is.

I actually liked the "Will has a bad rep" storyline, if only to see Sue call him a manwhore so many times. I liked that Emma stood up for herself, but I wish she'd actually have meant it. It seemed like she was just going through the motions because she thought that's how she should react.

I'd never heard the "Run, Joey, Run" song, but I thought it was hilarious, and a nice way to pull in all of Rachel's guy troubles. Though I'm not a Rachel/Puck shipper, I think Lea and Mark have great chemistry and it was great to see them interact again. I'm still not sure what Jesse St. James is up to, but his voice is amazing, so I'm looking forward to finding out!

Next week: Rachel gets laryngitis! Oh noes!

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