Is this true? I could have sworn that most of the first season had plots. It seems like this season the plots are flimsy and, as you said, are there to facilitate the musical numbers.
Maybe I’m just misremembering the first season…
plot splot, I love every episode, there’s SINGING!
No, there was definitely plot last season, and the songs were chosen to forward the plot – as opposed to last night, when they picked the songs first and then tried to come up with a plot to tie them together.
Oh wait, no they didn’t.
Really loved the dancing with Brittany. They probably used different dancers in her fantasy so that her amazing dancing skills could be showcased. In the fantasy with Santana I recognized another dancer from SYTYCD (Mark?), She is quite good.
Some Brittanyisms. “Don’t pull out all my teeth. Then I’ll look like a baby with boobs.”
After dentist explained the effects of anesthesia, “It’s like roofies then.”
Also loved the diatribe Sue went off on regarding the results of Humphrey’s speech at l968 Dem Convention. It was so hilarious.
Sue, “It’s a Brittany Spears sex riot!”
Next week looks very…plot. But there have been a bunch of things introduced on the show (i.e. Mercedes & Santana fighting over Puck?) that seemed to exist for a single episode only to give characters a reason to sing a particular number. They need to either stop that or get better at it
When she said that she rinsed her mouth out with soda after lunch, she said something like “I pretend Dr. Pepper is a dentist”.
Whether that was a callback to the Mercedes-body-issues episode of last season, or not, that was my favorite line of the night except for when Sue said something about coming after Will’s “extensive collection of vests.”
The dancing was great, Artie’s “Stronger” was tolerable, “Toxic” wasn’t completely wretched, but overall, this was a terrible episode. Although I am not a huge Britney Spears fan to begin with, anyway, so maybe I am biased.
Also: I would like to make the same pact with the devil that John Stamos has made; he looks PHENOMENAL. And it’s perfect that he’s playing a dentist because he always did have that soap-opera smile.
It’s been a while since I cared much about the plot. I record the show and ff between songs.
I meant to mention noticing the strength of Heather Morris’ dancing in the New York number in the season opener. I’m glad she was showcased in the episode.
I was a little squicked out when she was writhing on John Stamos 'cause she’s in high school - then I remembered it’s not real, but still oogy.
Rachel’s unvarnished neediness is tiresome. I wasn’t happy to see Terri back, but that might be because I watched all six seasons of Nip/Tuck since we last saw her, and Jessalyn Gilsig played a nasty character in that.
“You wear more vests than the cast of Blossom.” 
Not a great episode because, well, like everyone says … no plot at all and Will was acting really stupid. Fun episode because … it’s Britney, bitch! And Brittney was sizzlin’ hot.
Speaking of abs … did you see the six-pack on that brunette gal dancing behind Rachel during the “…Hit Me Baby One More Time” number? Ye-owch!! I could literally wash out my damp socks on those abs. Yes, I know what I said.
Not much of Coach Beiste, but how about “Stop staring at me like a donkey with a wooden leg and get those pads on!”
Yeah it was very noticeable! It didn’t look as bad as I thought a 6 pack on a girl would look. I was impressed.
Worst episode EVER
Nice to see Brittany get to do her thang, tho. Too bad they couldn’t figure out a way to do that in an real episode with a real plot and with the characters not all acting weird.
And as much as I love her one liners, they really overdid it. They’re funny when they come one or two per episode, not so much when they come three or four per segment.
Another vote for “Easily my least favorite episode so far”. I’ll admit I’m not in the least a Spears fan (and in fact I’m enough of a geek and old enough that I thought “Ooh, cool, they’re gonna do Christopher Cross!”), but even going beyond that the writing was “Make it up as you go along” and Puck didn’t get undressed.
And I’m for handicapped people being given equal chances whenever possible as much as the next person, but c’mon now: a football player in a wheelchair? IF the coach was soft hearted adn soft headed enough to allow it then Artie’s parents and the school would probably scream “NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo!!!” for hours. “Let’s see- kid with severe spinal cord injuries who can’t dress himself without assistance getting pushed fast by an idiot— what could go wrong? Let’s do it!” I don’t even think a kid of Artie’s intelligence would even consider the possibility.
I liked “The Only Exception” but other than that I thought this episode was throughly meh. I enjoyed the dancing as well, and Brit’s lines, but that’s about it. I felt embarrassed for Will.
Does Quinn still have feelings for Finn? Did she really want the relationship to begin? If he went back to her that’d be a great sin (ok, I’ll stop).
Santana: Really though, you can drill me anyti…
Emma: Santana! (or whatever her first name is)
This is the first episode of the show I just didn’t like.
I’m a huge cheerleader for this show, I frequently overlook it’s flaws because I totally dig the premise and the spirit, but most of the complaints in this thread are right on. Ultimately though I’m fine with a dud every season or so, let’s just hope they are back on their game next week.
I do know the redeeming qualities will grow on me in repeated viewings…but eesh…
The more I think about it the more chilling Terri’s little outburst over the car is. “You’ll come to your senses sooner or later and realize you love me and I don’t want you to spend all our savings in the meantime” is a really crazy thing to say. Watching Terri crack and fall into her own little fantasy world might actually allow her to appear onscreen and be entertaining. I could see her stalking Will and/or his dates, pretending she’s still married, etc. AFAWK her next-of-kin is her idiot sister, and I don’t see her doing anything to discourage Terri let alone getting her commited. And of course Sue would try to use this to her advantage. Only to have Terri sink further into delusion and think Sue want’s Will and go after her.
You didn’t know ‘…Baby One More Time’? Wow. I’m genuinely surprised.
(That looks sarcastic for some reason but it isn’t meant to be - I really am surprised)
I only watch Glee when they showcase an artist I love (so that’s the Madonna and Britney episodes, and I’ve also seen the pilot, and half of the one where they did Lady Gaga songs) and god the show is just awful from what I’ve seen. I’m interested to see how they incorporate the songs and I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss an appearance by Britney Spears on anything, but I dislike many of the characters (especially the main girl, the main guy, the Glee club teacher and the gay one), and am indifferent to the rest, except Sue, who I like.
I’ll watch the upcoming Rocky Horror episode and if they showcase any more of my favourite artists I’ll watch too, and admittedly there were some funny lines here and there (“I don’t know if you heard but my spinal column was ruptured in a sex riot”), but I could never imagine caring about any of the characters or wanting to hear them do karaoke on a regular basis.
I love pop music and musical theatre and Glee seems like it should be right up my alley but I don’t know how they got it so wrong. I don’t usually complain about TV shows I don’t like, I just ignore them, but I feel like Glee could have been so amazing but it just isn’t.
In my opinion, those episodes you’ve listed (with the exception of the pilot) are among the show’s worst. If you judge it on those entries, you’re don’t really have a very good idea of what makes the show great. A lot of people liked the Madonna episode, but it had some of the same faults as this Britney ep. You really need to watch the first half of season 1 (episodes 1 thru 13) to see *Glee *at its best.
Yeah, I’ve probably heard it a few times, but if you came up to me and asked me to sing it (or even just sing a line from it), I would be utterly unable to.
ETA: I’m 55 years old and don’t listen to pop music. It’s not that surprising.
I agree that the show has morphed into something entirely different than it was the first half of season 1. It had charm then, and an actual plot. Now it’s more like a string of cover videos that are completely overproduced.
Second of all, there’s not a high school student alive today who would admit to liking, let alone worshiping, Britney Spears. She’s so last decade.
I’m okay with tongue-in-cheek sexual references and teen pregnancy and all that because it’s appropriate for a high school setting. But the guy with the Jewish hair wanking off in the stands? Sorry, that was just gross.
I agree that John Stamos has aged well. He’s lost the baby fat in his face and is looking fine. Also agree that it was squicky to have the teacher singing and dancing with the kids.
A teacher damn near grinding on a bunch of his high school students on stage? That really skeeved me out.
I love me some Britney, but in just the brief flashes she was on screen, she really displayed how horribly she’s fallen. It wasn’t a wise idea to put the aging pop star with all kinds of problems next to pretty, young, thin girls who can out dance, out sing, and. . . out. . . hair her. Really, why the fuck did Britney’s hair STILL look bad? For God’s sake!