Glee (Season 2, so far)

This has spoilers so read it at your own risk.

From day one, Glee had me hooked. The way the show handles feeling like or actually being an outcast was something I related to. The show has handled tricky subjects very well while still maintaining its humor and fun and it uses music to push the stories forward. That's right, for those of you who haven't figured it out yet, Glee is musical theater on TV. Even when the writing hasn't been stellar, the actors have more than made up for it with their superior skills. It's my love of Glee that has prevented me from writing about it this season, but after this week's episode, I had to speak up.


I don't know if I like what has been going on with Glee's sophomore season. I found the premiere episode, Audition, forgettable. I remember the songs, mostly because they were so good, Charice & Lea Michele's version of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" is amazing, but also because a song like "Empire State of Mind" should never have been covered. Let's be honest here, the cast is not filled with rappers and to try and take on someone like Jay-Z is insane! When they tackled "U Can't Touch This,""Ice Ice Baby," and "Good Vibrations," it was fine because these songs were more campy so they could be played with more (I'm not even touching Shue's covers of the Thong Song & Gold Digger). If they had done the Alicia Keys version, it would've sounded good but I feel like the Jay-Z version just showcased their weaknesses.


I liked the introduction of the new characters. Coach Beiste, played by the wonderful Dot-Marie Jones, was  a welcomed surprise. She gets to be the new antagonist to Sue but instead of having her be just the badass, no nonsense, new coach (which she is), she also gets to cool. I'd much rather have a coach who makes me work my ass off but can also have some fun than someone like Sue Sylvester who believes fear is the best way to motivate people to do their best. I go back and forth on whether I liked showing her vulnerability at Sue & Shue's stupid childish pranks. I like that she's shown as being a person with feelings but I would've loved if they showed her as a woman who is certainly different but strong, confident and comfortable with herself. I hated them showing her putting on lipstick before coaching, not because she shouldn't want to feel attractive and feminine but because it doesn't fit with what she was about to do. You don't see her with noticeable makeup the whole time but because she was being picked on, she had to reach for the lipstick? That's not right. Her overreaction to Finn and Artie was far more appropriate.


On to Britney/Brittnay. Let me start by saying Heather Morris has been woefully underutilized. The character of Brittnay is one of the funniest characters on television today. Her randomness and dimwittedness bring a whole new level of humor to the show and Heather Morris plays her perfectly but Heather is also a phenomenal dancer and as seen in the episode, a decent singer. I wish they had let her sing earlier but this was a perfect introduction for her. I don't think anyone in the cast could've pulled off Britney like Heather did but I don't think they've featured her dancing as much as they could have. Harry Shum, Jr. is the dancer of the group but if you watch any of the previous episodes and look for Heather, you'll see how awesome she is. Why haven't they featured her more?


Storywise, unfortunately, Britney/Brittnay did very little to advance the overall plot. I was left wondering what the season was going to be about. It felt like it might be more of last season. Audition, at the very least, introduced us to new characters.  Oh sorry,  we were introduced to the hotness that is John Stamos, aka the anesthesia happy Dr. Carl. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Uncle Jesse and I like seeing Shue go stupid when he realizes that not only is Emma dating someone else but he's a good looking doctor who is bringing Emma out of her shell, but this was a weird way to introduce a character. He should not have given in to Santana's demands about going under, though it did bring about one of my favorite lines, "So get up in my grill, cause me and Britts wants to get our anesthesia on."


The music was amazing but other than Artie's version of "Stronger," none of the songs really did much other than pay homage to Britney Spears. I did not like Lea Michele's version of "Baby, One More Time." She raised the key in the song and I feel that not only was it unnecessary but it detracted from it. It also makes the song harder to sing along with. I liked the stripped down version of "Toxic" but singing a song like that for a school assembly with your teacher is not only strange but also wildly inappropriate. Why would someone sing a song that sexually charged to a group of teenage hormone bombs? As demonstrated by the characters, Laura Izizes and Jacob "Can he get any more disgusting and perverted?" Ben Israel, being exposed to that level of sexuality can cause craziness or as Sue Sylvester put it, "It's a Britney Spears sex riot!" If I were a parent and heard this had happened at my kid's school, I'd be concerned. I know Britney Spears has other songs that are a little less over the top and better suited for a school assembly. *Side note - I don't know if it was noticed but I loved seeing Mark Kanemura from "So You Think You Can Dance" as one of the dancers. He was one of my favorites from the show.*


From here out, I'll be tackling each episode as it airs. Comments and opinions welcomed!