Glee is back tonight, with the first of a two-part Beatles tribute.
Switched over to Two & a Half Men halfway through (& that’s only because I want to see Charlie’s daughter).
Forgot to record it- will catch it on the net. Did they deal with Finn’s death tonight?
No, it was announced a couple of weeks ago that the two-part Beatles tribute is what they had planned before Monteith’s death and that Finn’s death won’t be addressed until the third episode.
I don’t think there was any mention of Finn tonight; if there was it was so brief I missed it.
As for the episode itself, I just kept thinking “Why did this not happen last season?” I feel like I can’t even judge it fairly because I kept going back to how much time this show wasted treading water in late season four only to come back and suddenly wrap up or at least significantly advance a number of the season four storylines.
Sue is back at McKinley (as acting principal…again), Kurt’s New York boyfriend is dismissed in a line or two, he and Blaine are back together, and everyone finally realizes Tina is on the verge of boiling someone’s bunny and throws Sam at her because his primary role on this show is to serve as a floating love interest for whoever currently needs one. If all this had happened months ago I would have been happy enough. But after not just the summer hiatus but a three episode arc about Rachel’s non-existent pregnancy, the school shooting that wasn’t, those interminable scenes of that one dude typing, etc.,…well, it would take a lot to make up for all that, and although this episode was clearly trying to give the people what they want it seemed like too little too late.
Best: Bitchyface Cheergirl saying “This school year already feels like it’s taken forever.” 
Most likely to strain my optic nerves: class stopping for annoucements of who’s dating who. :rolleyes:
Logically I know it’s no sillier than 90% of what happens on the show, but it just rubbed me wrong. I’m glad you explained they’re waiting until episode three, I expected it on the first one and was all confuzzled. Rachel singing Yesterday didn’t exactly clear it up, either.
I thought the most over-the-top crazy part was the montage of rival show choirs coming together. I mean, just think about the logistics of it! Aren’t those schools long drives away from each other? I guess that’s Glee, for better or for worse. The proposal scene was pretty sweet though…
(Oh, and glad to have Sue Sylvester back in form.)
It’s funny because it’s true.
I guess my big problem with this episode was that it just made it obvious that there was no good reason for dragging things out like this. This didn’t feel like the beginning of a new season, it felt like a season four episode that was delayed for nearly five months. IIRC there wasn’t even a “Here’s what you missed” segment at the beginning to catch people up. Since the season four finale felt like a regular midseason episode rather than a finale, and since late season four was so often just boring, this game they’re playing with the timeline seems less like an innovative storytelling technique than an excuse for laziness and poor planning.
Blaine’s decision to invite every show choir that had ever assaulted a New Directions member to his proposal but not Kurt’s stepmother or stepbrother seemed pretty odd unless one takes real world events into consideration. Simply not mentioning Finn was probably the best option available to the writers at this point – Monteith died just before this episode was scheduled to begin shooting, and had production been delayed much longer the show wouldn’t have been able to premier until after the baseball season ended – but it was still weird.
I also thought it was weird that both McKinley and the broader Gleeverse are now so tolerant that no one bats an eye at Kurt and Blaine serenading each other and then kissing in public during lunch and three rival choirs join forces with New Directions to help with Blaine’s proposal…BUT it would still be, like, totally shocking if word got out that the dorky kid in a wheelchair was dating a hot cheerleader. Even though he already dated a hot cheerleader. For like a year. (Her name was Brittany. He loved her very much.) Artie/Kitty makes as much sense as anything on Glee and I’d prefer to have the newer characters mixing with the older characters like this rather than existing in boring separate storylines of their own as they did for much of last season…but in-universe Brittany has been gone for at most a few days. It seemed odd that she’s been so quickly forgotten. No one even seemed concerned that they were short at least one member if they want to compete at Nationals. I assume Sugar and Dreadlocks will simply materialize when needed, as they did last season, but that’s still just 11 people.
I do think the idea of Rachel and Santana working in a diner together has a lot of promise. They didn’t really do much with it this week, but it already seems to have more potential to be entertaining than pretty much anything involving Rachel from season four.
Glee is back tonight with the second Beatles tribute episode.
I felt briefly confused a moment ago when I heard Burt Hummel’s voice immediately after Parks and Recreation, but it turns out actor Mike O’Malley is starring in a new NBC sitcom called Welcome to the Family.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this episode. There are certainly things I could (and probably will) criticize, but it felt like a “normal” Glee episode to me with both the good and bad parts that suggests.
But for now, some of my favorite bits:
Santana’s yeast infection commercial
A whole Santana storyline that’s actually a Santana storyline
Stoner Brett wins Prom King
Tina’s “assistant” Dottie is back, and plays a role in the plot
Neckbrace Cheerio is back, and has a name now (Jordan)
And while I didn’t need a whole scene where Sue explained why the show needs a fresh new villain, I do agree that the show needs a fresh new villain and Cheerio Bree seems as good a choice as any. She’ll probably turn nice and join New Directions for a big musical number before the end of the year, but that’s Glee.
It didn’t hurt that late-period Beatles is such damn good music.
Yeah, I am not really a Beatles fan but there’s a reason they’re the most popular band of all time. And while I tend not to like it when Glee does tribute episodes, I think it’s a good sign that at this point last season the show was on its second Brittany Spears tribute while this season we’re on a second Beatles tribute.
I did think it was a little odd that the show introduced a new character named Penny in an episode devoted to late-period Beatles but didn’t include a performance of “Penny Lane”. I’m not complaining though, as that Sam/Nurse Penny storyline was weird and creepy and didn’t need to be extended by another song.
Bumping this thread for some minor Glee related news. (Discussion of the third episode of season five, “The Quarterback”, is in this thread.)
First, Mike O’Malley’s (Burt Hummel) other show, Welcome to the Family on NBC, has been canceled after two episodes. Which is too bad for him as he had a starring role, but he’s always been one of the best things on Glee so it may be good for the last two seasons of the show that he not be busy elsewhere. And honestly, I saw Welcome to the Family just because it was on right after Parks and Rec, and thought it was so bad that it made me appreciate Glee more. Oddly enough, on both shows O’Malley played the father of a teenager who planned to get married soon after graduating from high school.
Second, Chris Colfer’s (Kurt Hummel) has signed a deal to write two more novels and a picture book for his Land of Stories children’s series. (Press release here.) I haven’t read either of the first two books in the series, but they were well-reviewed and my friend who’s a youth services librarian told me she thought they were pretty good. Colfer has made a point of saying that he really has written these books himself without the help of ghostwriters, so good for him. I’ve sometimes wondered what will happen to him after Glee – I think he’s a talented actor but I suspect that post-Glee he’ll be offered a lot of minor “sassy gay friend” roles and not much else – so it’s nice to hear he’s already building a successful second career for himself.