I was… underwhelmed, especially with all the hype this episode got in the press. The songs were better than usual, although they were all choppy, which I’m assuming is due to time considerations. The storyline just didn’t really work for me. It just felt too contrived, and for Glee, that’s saying something! Sue’s sudden love for Madonna felt like it came out of nowhere as did Artie’s jerkish streak.
I did like both of the Cheerio numbers and I appreciate that they’re going easier on the auto-tune as well. Also, I love Jesse’s character. He’s Man-Rachel and whenever the two of them are together the dialogue just goes into camp overdrive.
“Come out so we can talk. And sing about it.”
“When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist.”
The show has a deep respect for pop music and it shows with this episode. They did a nice job linking the theme of female self-esteem with Madonna’s music. If Madonna was about anything she was about female empowerment. Mostly just sexual empowerment, sure, but (as mentioned on the show) she was one of the few female role models of her time who inspired confidence. It makes perfect sense for someone like Sue to admire her, since Sue is both shallow and confident.
I love Madonna, so I’m going to go ahead and admit I cried during the ‘‘Express Yourself’’ number.* The way they had the girls in those little corsets a la the Blond Ambition Tour made me all emotional. Every teenage girl needs Madonna. So cool that they are giving her props and maybe inspiring another generation of fans.
It also made me realize I need to get in touch with my own inner Madonna. It’s been too long since I’ve listened to her music (I own every album.) I think I’ll fire her up for my morning commute today.
*I am easily moved to tears watching TV/movies, so this is not so unusual.
AI apparently went long and my DVR cut off the last 5 minutes (including the big Like a Prayer finale). I’m sure I can find the last song online anywhere, but did anything else happen?
I thought it was a wonderful episode, but of course it helps that I’m a big Madonna fan. I loved all the Madonna video references with the girls dressed up in the hallways. And Sue had some hilarious lines.
“Express Yourself” was AMAZING. Wasn’t a big fan of the “Like a Virgin” sequence, but that song has always bugged me anyway.
The next time you subject me to 5 minutes of blubbering American Idol contestants at the expense of the last 5 minutes of Glee, there will be great suffering throughout the land. We’re talking blood and fire here. Do NOT do that again.
Seriously,
DianaG
I liked but didn’t love this episode. The Vogue thing would have been a lot more fun if they hadn’t shown it last week. The Like a Virgin number made me uncomfortable, and not just in the way it was meant to. But the Express Yourself number was good, and both the Cheerios numbers were fantastic.
I haven’t been following this show, but I heard about the Madonna episode and decided to watch. (love Madonna).
So glad I watched. Funny, fun and great performances. I knew just enough about the show to appreciate the cheer coach’s performance to the fullest. Big props to her for taking that Vogue video completely seriously and giving 100 percent. Those dance moves aren’t as easy as it looks. (and voguing is much harder than it looks, in general.)
I notice some similarities between the cheer coach’s character and the character of the mean doctor in Scrubs (can’t think of his name either, but he’s my favorite character nonetheless. Watched Scrubs for years and don’t know a single character name. WTF. (I have a lot of parantheses in this post))
Hey, do they use a lot of auto tune in that show, or am I just paranoid about auto tune?
ETA: SaharaTea, I’m going to be honest…that shot in the hallway of all the Madonna look alikes almost got me a touch emotional. Dang, I loves me some Madonna!
Maybe because I was never a big Madonna fan (at least not past 1988 or so). I thought the “women empowerment” theme was weak and tacked on – if anything, the women characters in this show are a lot stronger than the men already, and having the men behave otherwise was pretty out of character.
The parallel losing-their-virginity stories bugged me too. First of all, why is something “wrong” with a 16 yr old being a virgin? Finn and Rachel were treated like some kind of shameful anomaly. And okay, Emma’s being a nervous virgin at her age is not as common, but it’s a cause for therapy? For fuck’s sake! (no pun intended).
Finally, of the three of them, only Finn goes through with it. Way to have a double standard, Glee. I guess we all want our virginal heroines intact but boys will be boys.
I’m a big Glee fan but I’m going to pretend this episode never happened (except for Sue’s Vogue video, which was excellent).
I entirely agree that the “the girls need empowering” thing came way out of nowhere, and while I’ve never watched Glee for it’s intricate plots and subtle character development, I feel as though the past few episodes, the “plot”, such as it is, exists only for the purpose of the songs, which is fine for a two hour movie or show, but doesn’t so much work for a television series.
That said… being a 30 year old virgin who would like to have sex, or a relationship, and can’t because you’re a twitchy OCD mess IS cause for therapy.
Mine too! So annoying. Ryan Seacrest has two jobs (don’t be a jerk and keep AI running on time) and he can’t do either of them.
Agreed. But it was nice to see it again; made me appreciate Kurt and Mercedes even more – they do need more screen time! I am getting a bit tired of the Rachel/Finn show. And having Jesse on there made me fantasize about what the show would have been like if they’d hired a Finn who could sing…
It seemed to me like every time the showed the school hallways, there were more people dressed like some version of Madonna - I loved that!
I enjoyed this episode; don’t ask me why, cause I can’t tell you (well, that’s pretty much my stance on the whole show - I hate musicals, but I like this show. Go figure.) Part of it is just Sue - I cannot express how brilliant Jane Lynch is in every role I’ve ever seen her in.
I didn’t like it. The productions were nice, but there were too many of them. Two minutes of story, then burst into another song. It was like a Bollywood movie. It didn’t help that the songs were mostly mediocre. Madonna has occasional sparks, but is basically generic pop crap.
Wait, Finn was a virgin and yet still somehow believed he was the father of Quinn’s baby? How did that work? I came in late last season.
