On My Way
Season 3, Episode 14 No, I'm not going to say that this was the worst episode of the series EVER, but this was possibly one of the weirdest. I liked parts of it, but there was just WAY too much stuff going on - it felt like I watched three different episodes put together. Heck, I even had to re-watch it again to assess how I really feel about the whole thing.
My main issue with
On My Way episode was mainly the fact that it's still supposed to be Glee and I watch this show to be entertained - mostly for it's humor. It's supposed to be a guilty pleasure, something I look forward to after a stressful day and just laugh and enjoy the music. I admit, everything was done decently and fairly inoffensive, but to use an overused phrase, 'I did not sign up for this!". Glee shouldn't just smack us with being this heavy. Sigh.
Two years ago, Glee established itself as a series that satirized high school life in a snarky and smart way complete with show tunes. The portrayals were indeed over-the-top, but the characters were human enough that it didn't make the series just about stereotypes. But as soon as the fans ate it up and confessed to have identified themselves with the characters, the show became self-conscious and turned it into a life long mission to be a one hour PSA.
Sure, there's nothing wrong with that, but that little snarky, satirical show with a heart of gold that had the power to inspire people, WITHOUT EVEN TRYING, was gone. I loved Glee for the fluff, and not this!
Ok. That introduction went a little too long than usual, but whatever.
THE GOOD:
- To be fair, the whole Karofsky subplot was handled surprisingly well. I was worried that it would be too smarmy or flippant for my liking, but I appreciated what they've done with his character no matter how somber and heartbreaking it was.
- Despite the depressing and humorless episode, this was one of the most well acted episodes EVER thanks mostly to Karofsky and Kurt's performances.
- Shocked at the further progression of Quinn's character to a decent human being. Who knew? As for what the writers did to her, of course that's another story. Haha.
- I like the new and loving Sue, but this show needs a villain. Agree?
- Tina just wants a song. HAHAHA. Burn!
- Will Schuester notwithstanding - Sorry! I can't stand the guy - the auditorium scene with New Directions was actually quite lovely. Even watching Rory eat peanut butter for the first time reminded me that even mundane experiences can provide joy.
- I know that I'll be discussing this below, but how they used Karofsky's storyline and Blaine's solo of
Cough Syrup was brilliant. I normally don't care for Dave, but I felt for him.
THE BAD:
- I honestly thought the whole "Finn photoshop" was pointless and lame, moreso Sebastian's blackmail threat to Rachel.Oh, and Finn's reaction when Rachel didn't want to negotiate with the "terrorists" was plain selfish. Get a grip, you know it's completely edited. The body is too sexy to be you, Finn. HAHA.
- It came off so heavy handed that I had a hard time believing Sebastian had a sudden change of heart. He didn't even budge when he physically assault Blaine causing injury that needed surgery. But now, one minute of remorse and Sebastian's not a villain anymore? Seriously?
- I mentioned that I was impressed at how Glee handled Karofsky's suicide attempt, but this was in the wrong episode. Really? A suicide attempt in a Winter Finale of a show called Glee?
- Still, the Berry dads are not working for me. Sorry.
- The whole Finn-Rachel wedding left me annoyingly cold. Ugh! Do they should just do whatever they want, get it over with, I don’t care!
- I also hated St. Kurt Hummel preaching Quinn how her problems are nothing compared to what gay men go through. Look Porcelain, you have NO idea what Quinn really felt that time so shut up!
- Quinn's accident made me furious. At one point, I felt like it was a cheap effect only to create a cliffhanger, and it felt very insensitive after the incredibly sensitive story of a gay teen's suicide attempt. Yes, the scene made my heart jump, but was it necessary?
- Warblers being the "hero" because they are the one doing something for Karosky when the only "connection" David had with them was when Sebastian dissed him in a club or whatever. Unbelievable! If anything, it should be the New Directions right?
- REGIONALS WAS A HOT MESS! Where was the EPIC feel that I had when they competed against Vocal Adrenaline in Season 1 with the Journey setlist? Heck, I didn't even feel like it was New Directions on stage. A lot of random dancing, rapping and songs that lacked power and coherence. I was even furious at how they made everyone leave the stage for Troubletones instead of just having the New Directions girls back them up. It just didn't make sense.
THE MUSIC:COUGH SYRUP somehow saved this episode from being a total train wreck. I did love the way they intercut the song with Karofsky' humiliation and suicide attempt. Possibly one of the more powerful performances editing in Glee's history - next to Bohemian Rhapsody with Quinn's labor, which to me was brilliant. Blaine's vocals were lovely and Karofsky's acting was outstanding that I wanted to cry with him.
STAND. Sebastian's vocals sounded a little less auto-tuned, but I was really bored watching it for some weird reason.
GLAD YOU CAME. Musically, this was better than Stand - mostly because this is a stronger song than that - but I didn't like Sebastian's voice here. Good thing the choreography was pretty solid and Sebastian was quite the dancer.
FLY/I BELIEVE I CAN FLY was interesting. It was a decent
copy version to
The Sing-Off's Afro Blue rendition. Rachel and Artie were good and somehow I enjoyed Santana's rapping. I love Blaine, but he should just let someone else do the rapping. Just saying.
WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU (STRONGER) made me furious. Why did the New Directions had to give way for the Troubletones? The girls should've just joined them since they were actually the Sectionals winner right? On it's own merit, the vocals were good and the choreography was stunning, but I can't even!
HERE'S TO US. Another odd performance. Yes, Rachel sounded amazing, but aren't the solos supposed to be at the beginning. It sort of ruined the upbeat momentum, totally anticlimactic and made the whole New Direction set list a bit of a mess.
12 comments:
My biggest gripe is do Americans really think that nobody else in the world has tasted peanut butter? Like seriously? Just because we don't all worship the ground it plonks itself on. Peanut butter does exist in other parts of the world. Wow...a guy from Ireland. They must all live amongst four leaf clovers with no supermarkets.
I used to like reading your reviews on Idol, Glee & those other shows, but now I get irritated by your comments.
Your approach focuses too much on the negative side...to a point wherein I wonder why you still watch the shows you review. Just saying.
SEBASTIAN SMYTHE <3
Haha. With all due respect, I still like the series that's why I'm watching still. Have you really been reading my reviews? Because if yes, you'd know that I don't FOCUS on the negative side only. Is it my fault that Glee suddenly gave three consecutive underwhelming episodes?
I just tell it as how I PERSONALLY view the episode. So are you telling me to write a more "positive" review of the episode just because it irritates you when I focus on the negative? Sue me for giving my opinion and sorry if it's not in line with your views. Just saying as well. :)
I agree that this episode was a bit of a mess but that seems to be true of this season (so far) too. With so many plot – lite episode recently it felt like the plots of recent episodes were thrown together into this episode and that spoilt things. We need consistency, not all or nothing.
What bugged me was how this episode played, we were thrown into the teen suicide story with no real set up, heck Karofsky had only had 2 brief appearances this season.
Although, I like how the story was done, having it as the first part of the episode left everything on a downer and made the other stories fade into insignificance particularly the regionals competition. We needed this story to build throughout the episode, seeing Sebastian reject Dave and then Kurt ignoring the texts, with his humiliation at school and on facebook being cut into the final new directions performance at regionals. Then the actual suicide attempt at the end leaving us on a cliff hanger as to whether he lives or dies.
I think The Warberlers should have won regionals after a very close fought contest but then it be discovered that Sebastian had tried to blackmail New Directions and so The Warberlers are disqualified.
The wedding story is ridiculous and for Rachel to have supplied all the female students with identical pink wedding dresses at short notices not even knowing if they were going to attend is crazy.
As for Quinn’s cliff hanger that seemed totally thrown in for shock value. It was so obvious that as soon as we saw her driving and texting we knew something was going to happen. The story with Quinn and the wedding didn’t flow at all. In the episode promo there is a scene where Quinn confronts Rachel saying she can’t stand by and let her marry Finn, where was this scene in the episode? We had a tearful “I’ve decided to come to the wedding after all” but without the argument to set it up, this scene felt strange. Why was it so important to Rachel for Quinn to be there anyway?
Another thing that bugged me was Rachel’s Dad’s (Jeff Goldblum) reaction to Rachel singing the final song. It seemed like he’d never heard her sing before. I know we’ve not seen the Dads at the competitions before but we’ve had to assume that they were there in the audience because why would they just start going now; this is the 3rd year of competition! I was thinking that perhaps it was one of his favourite songs or something but we had no explanation.
I totally agree with marilyns_mole’s comment about peanut butter, they do have it in Ireland too so there is no reason why Rory would have never tried it, so that scene felt weird.
All that said the acting, particularly of Max Adler was amazing.
Personally...I love your reviews. It's just a shame the show is spiralling downwards in an extremely fast manner. It seems to be the fate of Ryan Murphy though. His shows are amazing and insightful at first but never last more than a handful of seasons.
- Popular (2 seasons)
- Nip/Tuck (6 seasons)
Lets hope American Horror Story can last the distance, because it's premise has been set-up to showcase what Ryan Murphy does best and that is two many storylines. He doesn't explore or develop his brilliant ideas and skims over them in half an episode.
Keep up the fantastic reviews. I really do agree with everything...to a certain point. :P
Thank you! I appreciate that! :) I understand that people may not agree most of the time with me, but that's what the comment section is for.
If you disagree, tell it here to have a peaceful discussion and whatnot. But just to say that my reviews are irritating without an actual justification is kind of confusing.
Totally agree with you!!! I used to love glee, but now is like a soap opera with songs, i hate it now ughh...
I think you missed the connecting theme of the episode. They key was in the talk they had in the auditorium; the episode was about the future, and the challenges we all face to get there. It started with the suicide attempt to bring everyone back down to earth and realize how serious things could be, and ended with Quinn - a girl who seemed to have everything going right. As different as they seemed, the events were very much on the same plane because they both spoke to the theme of life-changing challenges that even the Ivy League cheerleader was not immune to.
And in that perspective, I think the music was perfect. It was actually one of my favorite setlists. The rest of ND left for the Troubletones because that was the deal - if they rejoined, they would get their own song in competition.
I think Kurt was in the right when he talked back to Quinn. She was being horrifically insensitive and holier-than-thou about Dave's suicide attempt. Everyone handles things differently, and she had no right to judge him and his suffering.
The only parts that bothered me were - as you mentioned - Sebastian's sudden and uncharacteristic change of heart and this Sue pregnancy plot. I'm STILL wondering if it's really a joke because I can't see what sense it makes.
No good comedy is all funny, all the time forever. Sometimes things have to get real. I'll agree that sometimes Glee gets too preachy, but this wasn't one of those times for me. I thought this was a powerful, poignant, and incredibly important episode, and one of my favorite Glee episodes ever.
I completely disagree with the Quinn vs Kurt comment. I hate people who only think of suicide as some childish selfish act. Lets be honest here, kurt was 100% right, being bullied and having people calling you a freak of natures is a million times worse than being a hot pregnant teenage girl that had support from everyone but her parents day one. Hell she gave up the baby anyway.
First time reading your review and you put into words exactly what I was thinking. Glee is in dire need of a new set of writers who don't just rely on chiched storylines and forced humour. The Sue baby thing is plain ridiculous. The Rachel Finn wedding trainwreck I am so over with and the Quin accident. Really? A 5 year old would have told you that's just lame.
First time for your review, you give me a LITTLE hope for the "Blaine Show" (Glee). Way too many plots and twists, WAY WAY WAY to much Blaine. Frankly, didn't used to care about the story lines, only the music. Now the over production is just pissing me off. Beginning to miss Kurt. HELP me hang in there. When's the talented blond on the Warblers going to get a chance?
Post a Comment