His father was in it for about 10 seconds, just the clip that was posted on here a few days ago. It was basically motivating him to pass his exams and graduate so the boy's helped him revise but he didn't pass
Puck needed to pass Geography to graduate from High School. He didn't really care about it until he ran into his dad who was a high school drop out. He didn't want to end up like him so all the guys pulled an all night study session to help him out. He got an F for the test anyway.
A really good episode again I thought. It made me want to hug a lot of people. Poor Bieste, that was a really heartbreaking storyline. The fact that she went back to him was horribly realistic, but I so wanted her to get out of the situation. I loved how Sue and Roz were supporting her. Those characters were still snarky, but sympathetic and worked really well.
Yay for Kurt that his audition went well! I think he made the right choice of song although he sounded really good on Music of The Night. "Oh god, no more candles"
Poor Rachel though. I wonder what's going to happen now? I wonder if NYADA Whoopi will give her another audition? Again there was a sense of realism there that you can plan and plan for something, but it might not work out the way you thought it would.
Other things: I loved Finn's whitboard plan, Blaine's hair talk with Mike and Tina as Christine! They all made me laugh
Thanks for the info. I thought we'd see a different side to Puck...
Oh Rachel my heart broke for her, I could barely watch it. Have no idea how they can logically still send her to New York next year now. Cry was amazing as well.
The general consensus of opinion appears to be that Carmen Tibideaux will be at Nationals to hear Rachel give a stellar performance and then offer her a place at NYADA based on that. Whether they're going to have someone else originally supposed to be singing the song and they freeze and Rachel steps in or not I don't know but it wouldn't surprise me.
Unbelievably difficult to see that happen to Rachel. Had a pillow over my face the whole time! Nightmare! It's weird, I know its like "super continuity" but you'd think she would have learnt from Shelby telling her she needs to audition for WSS with "Somewhere" instead of the safe choice of "I Feel Pretty"...
It was an okay episode, not a favourite by any stretch of the imagination and some of the issues seemed kind of shoehorned in and came from nowhere...Idunno. I think Dot acted very well (apparently they're going for the Emmy with this episode for her) but the involvement of the ND girls seemed a little odd to me...
What is the context of Don't Rain On My Parade? Is it a full performance?
Read on for major spoilers to answer your question...
It's only a few lines...Rachel gets a few bars in and then messes up the lyrics by repeating them. She then tries again and completely fluffs it one or two lines inby forgetting the words/going to repeat herself again...so no, not a full performance AT ALL
Puck needed to pass Geography to graduate from High School. He didn't really care about it until he ran into his dad who was a high school drop out. He didn't want to end up like him so all the guys pulled an all night study session to help him out. He got an F for the test anyway.
A really good episode again I thought. It made me want to hug a lot of people. Poor Bieste, that was a really heartbreaking storyline. The fact that she went back to him was horribly realistic, but I so wanted her to get out of the situation. I loved how Sue and Roz were supporting her. Those characters were still snarky, but sympathetic and worked really well.
Yay for Kurt that his audition went well! I think he made the right choice of song although he sounded really good on Music of The Night. "Oh god, no more candles"
Poor Rachel though. I wonder what's going to happen now? I wonder if NYADA Whoopi will give her another audition? Again there was a sense of realism there that you can plan and plan for something, but it might not work out the way you thought it would.
Other things: I loved Finn's whitboard plan, Blaine's hair talk with Mike and Tina as Christine! They all made me laugh
I was half expecting NYADA Whoopi to be standing in the wings when she was singing at the end, I'm glad they didn't go that route.
I would put money on that being utterly out of context, as is usually the case with Glee promos
What I think is most likely is
He will see her walking a few steps by herself at some point when she's alone (practicing her physical therapy) and come to the conclusion that she's faking needing the chair to be prom queen
I must say that the episode was pretty good. IMO much better than most of this season. I never was a fan of Rachel because she always annoyed me as a character that always overthinks and overexpresses herself (like Kurt) but my heart was torn into pieces when she choked at the audtion. I know how bad it is when you have a total blackout during oral examination so I feel for her - actually I do it for the first time ever.
So it makes me even more not liking Kurt who made it but he did something what Wade did with Boogie Shoes - he didn't let constraints stop him and made it despite being adviced to stay cliched.
Next issue introduced to Glee was home violance which was okay and Shannon tore my heart with her story. I like the actress a lot and once she said during Glee project that tears she shed were tears she had shed in real so I can see her being abused in her real life (Ryan likes interviewing actors and taking their biggest drama down to the show).
I think that Puck's story was kinda believable because I can easily imagine people who don't wanna graduade cause they think they'll do without it but then they find out that they actually lost the track.
I hate that they once again skipped Quinn;s story but I can see that they'll do more of it next week.
And in the ent Damian McGinty - Jesus what's he doing there? He says 2 sentences and that's it. Like in Harry Jr case. Let him sing something!!!!!!
When it comes to music, only 3 songs I liked. Cell Black Tango - I'd never heard of it before so I lkinda liked it Cry was VERY emotional and so suiting her Rachel. I did enjoy their rendition of Shake It Out despite they didn't contribute emotions as Florence does.
I liked Whoopie arc - we're gonna see more of her soon as well!
Woah. Ive just finished watching the episode, it was so sad. My heart broke for both Rachel and Beiste, you just knew when you saw Rachels face after Kurt was congratulated for taking a risk that it shook her and I knew Beiste was going to end up going back to Cooter. Also, what happened with Rachel was a really realistic thing to happen, its probably happened to nearly everyone at least once in their life.
I liked all of the songs this week but Shake It Out and Cry had me crying. They were brilliant. Was on the verge from when you saw what happened to Beiste but they sent me over the edge.
Kurts performance was good, also did anyone recognise the dresses Mercedes, Tina and Brittany were wearing? They were from Regionals in season 1.
I wish Puck had passed his test, even if he got a D. I do agree though, they will probably find a way for him to graduate, considering he is in the promo pics wearing a cap and gown and Brittany is the only senior who isnt.
I did love Finns little whiteboard plan, the drawings were very funny and Blaines little talk with Mike. Oh also loved Tina in Cell Block Tango.
He will see her walking a few steps by herself at some point when she's alone (practicing her physical therapy) and come to the conclusion that she's faking needing the chair to be prom queen
Yup, that seems to be the consensus on other fan sites as well.
not directly related to Shannon and Cooter but could be having an effect on their relationship - ie in her past or in his. However, as far as I am aware, Shannon has been nominated for an Emmy with this storyline so it could simply just be a case of shoehorning some drama into her character for the nomination
.
Having known friends who have experienced Domestic Violence and have had the courage to walk away, I can tell you it can most definitely come out the blue. For both of them, right up until they got married, everything was great. After the wedding, the man they married changed all of sudden. I think Glee has (despite no seeing the episode but having read about it) have handle as realistically as they could, through the sudden appearance of it, to the surprise of the friends. It certainly reflects the experience I have of it.
Having known friends who have experienced Domestic Violence and have had the courage to walk away, I can tell you it can most definitely come out the blue. For both of them, right up until they got married, everything was great. After the wedding, the man they married changed all of sudden. I think Glee has (despite no seeing the episode but having read about it) have handle as realistically as they could, through the sudden appearance of it, to the surprise of the friends. It certainly reflects the experience I have of it.
I'm not sure why you're quoting my post? I have no problem with how they handled the domestic violence story line in Glee and had no opinion on its introduction.
The quote you've quoted here was when we were speculating about how it would take place and whether they would use Shannon as the victim or as her relating to something happening in her childhood.
Some posters were saying it had come out of the blue, I didn't make any comment about that at all other than to say it's Glee, it is most likely being done for Shannon's Emmy nomination.
More positive news relating to Lea staying around for many years to come as it would seem. It's quite odd, if you believe some of the early press about her being a diva and all that crap, you'd imagine she wouldn't want to stick around and would use the fame afforded to her to go onto bigger things. I love that she loves it there and am glad shes sticking around. I really, really can't imagine RM is going to want to lose her or Chris Colfer...in many respects, they have been made the stars of the show (Chris' emmy noms/golden globes etc) and the same is true of Jane Lynch...Thats why those rumours at the start of S3 about "NO MORE CORY, LEA OR CHRIS!" were so bizarre...
I'm not sure what to make of Choke because my initial reaction was that it was brilliant but when I think about it, it does have some real imperfections. Either way it was undoubtedly one of my favourite episodes of the season.
I've complained a bit about the second and third season not living up to the first and that characters aren't quite as good etc but the one thing I do love about them is the friendship between Kurt and Rachel. Their audition subplot was fantastic, every scene between them was pure gold and pretty much everything I still watch this show for - Rachel's opening voiceover, Music of the Night, the talk before the auditions backstage and at the lockers, they were all brilliant. As soon as the spoilers hinted that one of them would choke I just knew it'd be whichever of them seemed more confident and self assured, whilst the visibly nervous one would actually give a great audition. Even though I knew it was coming thanks to that promo, still found it heart wrenching when Rachel repeated the lyrics and realised she'd completely screwed up her chance. I know some people refuse to believe she would ever really do that, but I thought it was completely believable.
I enjoyed Puck's storyline as I like it when they show that he isn't a complete idiot and is capable of taking some responsibility and initiative. It was one of his better stories too as I didn't really like the student/teacher one earlier this season, and his relationship with Lauren, though sweet and funny initially, ultimately ruined the character somewhat.
My main problem was the domestic violence plot, which is a shame because the acting involved was superb but the issue itself wasn't dealt with so well. I usually find the complaints about preachiness and 'very special episodes' to be exaggerated but for the first time ever with this show I thought it was extremely obvious that we were being told domestic abuse is a serious issue and not something to joke about or accept - I don't think the meta references to this really negated that fact either. The plot was also seemed very out of the blue, with no build up and Beiste even being absent for several episodes. I can't imagine it's a issue they're going to revisit much either. I think this may have been a better issue to deal with last season or earlier this season rather than when there are so few episodes until graduation - it should have had a proper build up and can't have an effective conclusion within an episode or two. Here it seemed out of place and brought an otherwise superb episode down somewhat.
It's not a major complaint but I also thought it was a bit odd that none of the stories really linked at all - we had separate, respective stories for the ND boys, the ND girls and the, in my opinion, stars of the show. There wasn't even a proper choir room scene (Schools Out seemed a bit out of sequence so I assume was a fantasy, although that could just be poor continuity).
I did think the music this week was very strong, definitely one of the best this season. Shake It Out was gorgeous and I loved the arrangement. Cell Block Tango was good too but I'm not sure this show could ever truly do it justice due to them having to edit it - I just felt it loses a bit of its impact when it's cut down to only 2 verses. I was relieved when they referenced how inappropriate it was as I was concerned when I heard that the song was being used for the domestic abuse plot. The highlight had to be Not The Boy Next Door though - the song and performance was just completely amazing. I'd been hoping for something that lived up to the awesomeness that was Rose's Turn and this definitely did - loved every second of it.
I'll admit it, I did like Blaine in this episode - he was pretty funny, especially with the 'no more candles' line.
I haven't seen Glee in a while but saw Choke last night and actually thought it was really great. What happened to Rachel was absolutely heartbreaking, we've seen her try to follow her dreams all the way since Season 1 and really we just all want her to succeed because we see how much it means to her, so to see them just get snatched away from her like that is horrible, I'm not sure what will happen now but surely it's gotta be a happy ending for Rachel? I would be disappointed otherwise. Lea Michele and Dot Marie Jones both gave absolutely fantastic performances aswell.
I do like it but it's too similar to original version - nothing was improved because how can you improve what's already perfect:P
Which is an interesting theory...
Do you change it so much that it is unique (girls singing it/acoustic version) that you risk all the fans screaming and hating how you've "ruined the song"...they then don't watch the episode and don't buy the track
or
Do you leave it pretty much as it was, know that the fans won't slag it off because they can't (in theory) but then don't buy the track because they already have "that" version?
Either way I don't see how it sells singles.
I have a secret shame of enjoying this song. I never got the original version or anything but I had a youtube listen or two. The Boyce Avenue cover is great because its a different pitch/acoustic version. I can justify getting the Glee version though because "well....its glee..." in the same way that I got the Glee version of "Friday" by Rebecca Black this time last year...
I enjoyed Choke on the whole. Dot and Lea were outstanding.
I didn't care too much for Cell Block Tango, though it was really lovely to see Tina get a bit of a part in the episode.
I knew as soon as I saw the episode was called "Choke" that it would be Rachel. Kurt would have been far too predictable and they needed to throw in a curveball considering it seemed a sure thing that Rachel would be going to NYADA. I'm sure she'll get in, or get another opportunity to go to New York anyhow.
I absolutely love Kurt and Rachel's relationship. I'm really liking Sue and Beiste's relationship too. The little clip of Finn comforting Rachel in her bedroom was very sad, and Rachel's performance of Cry was amazing. True Rachel.
Nice to see a bit more of Puck too. Though did I forget her or was Quinn just not there this episode? I suppose high school kids have days off occasionally though
Overall, definitely one of the better episodes of Glee this series. I loved seeing Whoopi too.
I'm putting this one right up there with the best. I loved it.
Kicking off with a very season one like opening, with Rachel walking down the corridor, and her thoughts being aired, it was funny the whole way through. Sure, the episode did deal with some tough issues, but that what I found so great about it. They mixed the comedy with good drama, and an excellent soundtrack this week to go with it. It was slightly unusal in that it had three main stories which never interlocked, but for me this was what Glee is all about.
Beiste's story. A lot of people are saying this came out of the blue, but as the actual incident came out of nowhere too, why is that a problem? The way they did it was excellent, first with the mickey-taking (leading to some excellent name-calling from Sue (referring to Roz as Black Sue, and best of all, Beiste as John Goodman), then with us finding out what had actually happened (expertly cut together with the performance from Chicago -PS. Santana should wear that outfit constantly), then to Beiste telling the kids about it (Brittany "Did he break his hand?"), then to them singing Florence to her (another great performance), before finding out she has gone back to Cooter.
Rachel and Kurt. Heartbreaking. Ok, maybe it was a little obvious in context that she was going to blow it, but it was still horrible to watch. As I said earlier, it was all very Season One, and this is what she has been building towards right from when we first met her - her first major step to being a star. And it's a song she knows so well too. I was so pleased for Kurt, he did the right thing by changing his song and gave his best performance on the show for a long time. Rachel's final performance of Cry was spectacular, and even though let's face it she is probbaly still going to make it to NYADA, it was still a hard watch for a Rachel fan. Her friendship with Kurt was as great as ever throughout here, if they are together next season they will always be watchable. Loved her reaction to his Michael Crawford question.
Puck. A true classic storyline. Everything about it was nuts. From Schools Out, to The Rain In Spain, "Hey, that wasn't in the song?!" was hilarious. Finns white board probably being the highlight.
There were also so many great little Glee touches that I loved too (Damien's one line, Blaine and Mike talking about Hair Gel, Puck lucking out with the first two questions, Sue and Roz's partnership), it was just a fantastic watch this week.
Beiste's story. A lot of people are saying this came out of the blue, but as the actual incident came out of nowhere too, why is that a problem?
I've been thinking about this a little bit over the week and I think paraphrasing a quote from Futurama describes it best...
Fry is talking about what makes a good TV show and what audiences want and he says that "clever things make the audience feel stupid and unexpected things make them feel scared"...
The Beiste story came from literally nowhere. There was no foreshadowing, no build up, nothing noticable which I assume is an artistic choice based on the fact that just "one day" Cooter was abusive and Shannon showed up with a black eye (it could happen to anyone of us in our day to day lives or the lives of someone we encounter). It is supposed to be shocking, it is supposed to make you think "wait...hang on a minute?! what?!"
I think the fact that we hadn't seen Beiste for some episodes made it slightly more "out of the blue" than as if it had happened to a character we'd been seeing a lot more.
I'm no theatre student but one of my flatmates was in my first year of Uni and is "Stanislavsky" a thing? The whole "make your audience feel weird"/"alienate the audience" theory. What is important is that Glee follows up on it, even if it becomes a bigger story next year then that is fine! There are only a few episodes left and taking away time from leaving characters for a new story arch is unwise but they should at least reference it once whether its verbally or say Will walks into the sports department and Shannon is at her desk maybe pressing her rib and wincing a little bit and looks really shocked/flustered when Will walks in (as if to imply shes been injured there...) or something similar where we can see a bruise or a bruise is pointed out to us via framing...Otherwise the story comes off as a one episode throw away and to maintain the integrity of the storytelling, just take 5 seconds to reference it again...
Comments
Thanks for the info. I thought we'd see a different side to Puck...
The general consensus of opinion appears to be that Carmen Tibideaux will be at Nationals to hear Rachel give a stellar performance and then offer her a place at NYADA based on that. Whether they're going to have someone else originally supposed to be singing the song and they freeze and Rachel steps in or not I don't know but it wouldn't surprise me.
It was an okay episode, not a favourite by any stretch of the imagination and some of the issues seemed kind of shoehorned in and came from nowhere...Idunno. I think Dot acted very well (apparently they're going for the Emmy with this episode for her) but the involvement of the ND girls seemed a little odd to me...
Read on for major spoilers to answer your question...
I was half expecting NYADA Whoopi to be standing in the wings when she was singing at the end, I'm glad they didn't go that route.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nI8WwnMC98
I would put money on that being utterly out of context, as is usually the case with Glee promos
What I think is most likely is
So it makes me even more not liking Kurt who made it but he did something what Wade did with Boogie Shoes - he didn't let constraints stop him and made it despite being adviced to stay cliched.
Next issue introduced to Glee was home violance which was okay and Shannon tore my heart with her story. I like the actress a lot and once she said during Glee project that tears she shed were tears she had shed in real so I can see her being abused in her real life (Ryan likes interviewing actors and taking their biggest drama down to the show).
I think that Puck's story was kinda believable because I can easily imagine people who don't wanna graduade cause they think they'll do without it but then they find out that they actually lost the track.
I hate that they once again skipped Quinn;s story but I can see that they'll do more of it next week.
And in the ent Damian McGinty - Jesus what's he doing there? He says 2 sentences and that's it. Like in Harry Jr case. Let him sing something!!!!!!
When it comes to music, only 3 songs I liked. Cell Black Tango - I'd never heard of it before so I lkinda liked it Cry was VERY emotional and so suiting her Rachel. I did enjoy their rendition of Shake It Out despite they didn't contribute emotions as Florence does.
I liked Whoopie arc - we're gonna see more of her soon as well!
I liked all of the songs this week but Shake It Out and Cry had me crying. They were brilliant. Was on the verge from when you saw what happened to Beiste but they sent me over the edge.
Kurts performance was good, also did anyone recognise the dresses Mercedes, Tina and Brittany were wearing? They were from Regionals in season 1.
I wish Puck had passed his test, even if he got a D. I do agree though, they will probably find a way for him to graduate, considering he is in the promo pics wearing a cap and gown and Brittany is the only senior who isnt.
I did love Finns little whiteboard plan, the drawings were very funny and Blaines little talk with Mike.
Yup, that seems to be the consensus on other fan sites as well.
Having known friends who have experienced Domestic Violence and have had the courage to walk away, I can tell you it can most definitely come out the blue. For both of them, right up until they got married, everything was great. After the wedding, the man they married changed all of sudden. I think Glee has (despite no seeing the episode but having read about it) have handle as realistically as they could, through the sudden appearance of it, to the surprise of the friends. It certainly reflects the experience I have of it.
I really enjoyed Cell Block Tango, but i would really have like to have seen Sugar do her verse on the show, as it was really good on the full track.
Looking forward to seeing what the next few episodes have in store for us!
I'm not sure why you're quoting my post? I have no problem with how they handled the domestic violence story line in Glee and had no opinion on its introduction.
The quote you've quoted here was when we were speculating about how it would take place and whether they would use Shannon as the victim or as her relating to something happening in her childhood.
Some posters were saying it had come out of the blue, I didn't make any comment about that at all other than to say it's Glee, it is most likely being done for Shannon's Emmy nomination.
I've complained a bit about the second and third season not living up to the first and that characters aren't quite as good etc but the one thing I do love about them is the friendship between Kurt and Rachel. Their audition subplot was fantastic, every scene between them was pure gold and pretty much everything I still watch this show for - Rachel's opening voiceover, Music of the Night, the talk before the auditions backstage and at the lockers, they were all brilliant. As soon as the spoilers hinted that one of them would choke I just knew it'd be whichever of them seemed more confident and self assured, whilst the visibly nervous one would actually give a great audition. Even though I knew it was coming thanks to that promo, still found it heart wrenching when Rachel repeated the lyrics and realised she'd completely screwed up her chance. I know some people refuse to believe she would ever really do that, but I thought it was completely believable.
I enjoyed Puck's storyline as I like it when they show that he isn't a complete idiot and is capable of taking some responsibility and initiative. It was one of his better stories too as I didn't really like the student/teacher one earlier this season, and his relationship with Lauren, though sweet and funny initially, ultimately ruined the character somewhat.
My main problem was the domestic violence plot, which is a shame because the acting involved was superb but the issue itself wasn't dealt with so well. I usually find the complaints about preachiness and 'very special episodes' to be exaggerated but for the first time ever with this show I thought it was extremely obvious that we were being told domestic abuse is a serious issue and not something to joke about or accept - I don't think the meta references to this really negated that fact either. The plot was also seemed very out of the blue, with no build up and Beiste even being absent for several episodes. I can't imagine it's a issue they're going to revisit much either. I think this may have been a better issue to deal with last season or earlier this season rather than when there are so few episodes until graduation - it should have had a proper build up and can't have an effective conclusion within an episode or two. Here it seemed out of place and brought an otherwise superb episode down somewhat.
It's not a major complaint but I also thought it was a bit odd that none of the stories really linked at all - we had separate, respective stories for the ND boys, the ND girls and the, in my opinion, stars of the show. There wasn't even a proper choir room scene (Schools Out seemed a bit out of sequence so I assume was a fantasy, although that could just be poor continuity).
I did think the music this week was very strong, definitely one of the best this season. Shake It Out was gorgeous and I loved the arrangement. Cell Block Tango was good too but I'm not sure this show could ever truly do it justice due to them having to edit it - I just felt it loses a bit of its impact when it's cut down to only 2 verses. I was relieved when they referenced how inappropriate it was as I was concerned when I heard that the song was being used for the domestic abuse plot. The highlight had to be Not The Boy Next Door though - the song and performance was just completely amazing. I'd been hoping for something that lived up to the awesomeness that was Rose's Turn and this definitely did - loved every second of it.
I'll admit it, I did like Blaine in this episode - he was pretty funny, especially with the 'no more candles' line.
http://www.onedirectionmusic.com/us/news/entry/glee_first_listen_friday_what_makes_you_beautiful_premiere/
I do like it but it's too similar to original version - nothing was improved because how can you improve what's already perfect:P
Which is an interesting theory...
Do you change it so much that it is unique (girls singing it/acoustic version) that you risk all the fans screaming and hating how you've "ruined the song"...they then don't watch the episode and don't buy the track
or
Do you leave it pretty much as it was, know that the fans won't slag it off because they can't (in theory) but then don't buy the track because they already have "that" version?
Either way I don't see how it sells singles.
I have a secret shame of enjoying this song. I never got the original version or anything but I had a youtube listen or two. The Boyce Avenue cover is great because its a different pitch/acoustic version. I can justify getting the Glee version though because "well....its glee..." in the same way that I got the Glee version of "Friday" by Rebecca Black this time last year...
:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YuDju3XLes
Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xC-ISkT9tA&feature=relmfu
Selena Gomez - Love U like a Luv Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCribzXi2Fc&feature=relmfu
1D - WHat Makes ye Beautiful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ARUBM9UICI&feature=relmfu
Berlin - Take My Breath Away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t26j1VCFlzM&feature=relmfu
I didn't care too much for Cell Block Tango, though it was really lovely to see Tina get a bit of a part in the episode.
I knew as soon as I saw the episode was called "Choke" that it would be Rachel. Kurt would have been far too predictable and they needed to throw in a curveball considering it seemed a sure thing that Rachel would be going to NYADA. I'm sure she'll get in, or get another opportunity to go to New York anyhow.
I absolutely love Kurt and Rachel's relationship. I'm really liking Sue and Beiste's relationship too. The little clip of Finn comforting Rachel in her bedroom was very sad, and Rachel's performance of Cry was amazing. True Rachel.
Nice to see a bit more of Puck too. Though did I forget her or was Quinn just not there this episode? I suppose high school kids have days off occasionally though
Overall, definitely one of the better episodes of Glee this series. I loved seeing Whoopi too.
I don't know when I am not going to be able to get my weekly Darren Criss fix
I'm putting this one right up there with the best. I loved it.
Kicking off with a very season one like opening, with Rachel walking down the corridor, and her thoughts being aired, it was funny the whole way through. Sure, the episode did deal with some tough issues, but that what I found so great about it. They mixed the comedy with good drama, and an excellent soundtrack this week to go with it. It was slightly unusal in that it had three main stories which never interlocked, but for me this was what Glee is all about.
Beiste's story. A lot of people are saying this came out of the blue, but as the actual incident came out of nowhere too, why is that a problem? The way they did it was excellent, first with the mickey-taking (leading to some excellent name-calling from Sue (referring to Roz as Black Sue, and best of all, Beiste as John Goodman), then with us finding out what had actually happened (expertly cut together with the performance from Chicago -PS. Santana should wear that outfit constantly), then to Beiste telling the kids about it (Brittany "Did he break his hand?"), then to them singing Florence to her (another great performance), before finding out she has gone back to Cooter.
Rachel and Kurt. Heartbreaking. Ok, maybe it was a little obvious in context that she was going to blow it, but it was still horrible to watch. As I said earlier, it was all very Season One, and this is what she has been building towards right from when we first met her - her first major step to being a star. And it's a song she knows so well too. I was so pleased for Kurt, he did the right thing by changing his song and gave his best performance on the show for a long time. Rachel's final performance of Cry was spectacular, and even though let's face it she is probbaly still going to make it to NYADA, it was still a hard watch for a Rachel fan. Her friendship with Kurt was as great as ever throughout here, if they are together next season they will always be watchable. Loved her reaction to his Michael Crawford question.
Puck. A true classic storyline. Everything about it was nuts. From Schools Out, to The Rain In Spain, "Hey, that wasn't in the song?!" was hilarious. Finns white board probably being the highlight.
There were also so many great little Glee touches that I loved too (Damien's one line, Blaine and Mike talking about Hair Gel, Puck lucking out with the first two questions, Sue and Roz's partnership), it was just a fantastic watch this week.
I've been thinking about this a little bit over the week and I think paraphrasing a quote from Futurama describes it best...
Fry is talking about what makes a good TV show and what audiences want and he says that "clever things make the audience feel stupid and unexpected things make them feel scared"...
The Beiste story came from literally nowhere. There was no foreshadowing, no build up, nothing noticable which I assume is an artistic choice based on the fact that just "one day" Cooter was abusive and Shannon showed up with a black eye (it could happen to anyone of us in our day to day lives or the lives of someone we encounter). It is supposed to be shocking, it is supposed to make you think "wait...hang on a minute?! what?!"
I think the fact that we hadn't seen Beiste for some episodes made it slightly more "out of the blue" than as if it had happened to a character we'd been seeing a lot more.
I'm no theatre student but one of my flatmates was in my first year of Uni and is "Stanislavsky" a thing? The whole "make your audience feel weird"/"alienate the audience" theory. What is important is that Glee follows up on it, even if it becomes a bigger story next year then that is fine! There are only a few episodes left and taking away time from leaving characters for a new story arch is unwise but they should at least reference it once whether its verbally or say Will walks into the sports department and Shannon is at her desk maybe pressing her rib and wincing a little bit and looks really shocked/flustered when Will walks in (as if to imply shes been injured there...) or something similar where we can see a bruise or a bruise is pointed out to us via framing...Otherwise the story comes off as a one episode throw away and to maintain the integrity of the storytelling, just take 5 seconds to reference it again...