Glee - Never Been Kissed

Is it bad that as important its message and as well acted as it was, this episode doesn't really do it for me?

Never Been Kissed's main plots focus on Kurt and Coach Beiste. Karofsky's harassment of Kurt has been steadily increasing and causing Kurt to start to crack under the pressure, while Coach Beiste finds out several of the boys and Tina have been imagining her in compromising positions in order to cool down when they're with their significant others. The minor plots revolve around Puck getting out of juvie and declaring Artie his "community service," and Mr. Shuester setting up another boys vs. girls mash-up competition.

There are many great moments in this episode such as Coach Beiste, as the unlusty star in the gang's fantasies, is hilarious. Seriously, Dot-Marie Jones should get an Emmy nom for this episode. She's just amazingly funny, but when Beiste discovers the truth, Jones is just heartbreaking. Her speech at the end of the show was so painful but honest. Granted, the lines felt a little cheesy and predictable, but Jones made them work.

Other highlights include the introduction of Blaine, Kurt's new crush, as the adorable, older student at rival school, Dalton Academy. Darren Criss is wonderful as he lightly flirts with Kurt (you know he was  when he was singing Teenage Dream) and then helping support Kurt as he confronts Karofsky. Darren Criss and Chris Colfer have great chemistry together, and I'm excited to see how their friendship develops and whether it develops into something more.

The big revelations of the episode were Coach Beiste and Kurt had never been kissed until this episode and who did the kissing. For Coach Beiste, it was Will Schuester coming to the rescue to help her get past this, so she can move on and go forward with her life. If that sounded a little over the top or sarcastic, it is, because while Dot-Marie Jones was lovely during this scene, as I said before, it felt cheesy.

For Kurt, however, his first kiss was more traumatizing than liberating. In an intense moment during a confrontation between him and Karofsky, Karofsky grabs Kurt and kisses him. It's brutal and filled with anger, and I think left most people surprised.

Overall, this is an episode that should have left me emotional in some way, but other than a few moments,  I was left mostly cold. The acting was great. Chris Colfer once again knocked it out of the park, as I said before, Dot-Marie Jones was wonderful, Darren Criss - loveable, and Karofsky -violently self loathing and angry, but the writing was just rough. I think they've been laying on the bullying too heavily. I know this is the reality for far too many kids, but in an ensemble comedic show, there needs to be a balance and they tried to do it with the Coach Beiste plot and the Puck gets out of juvie sub-plot, but it wasn't balanced, and I feel like it hurt the episode rather than enhance it.

That said, the music was awesome. It was another boys vs. girls mash-up competition with the twist of the boys doing girl songs and the girls doing boy songs. The girls got to rock out with a mash-up of Livin' on a Prayer and Start Me Up, though Quinn's bandana and Rachel's hamming it up with the mic made me laugh. The boys, as a form of apology to Coach Beiste, were a little more old school with Stop! In the Name of Love and Free Your Mind. It was an unexpected combination that worked perfectly and in my opinion, won the competition for the boys.

Puck and Artie sang One Love (People Get Ready), and while it was a nice performance, it was really random and made little sense. But it was a lot fun and made me wish I could have done something like that when I was in high school.

Standout performance, however, goes to the boys at Dalton Academy. Darren Criss and the Warblers singing Teenage Dream is one of my all-time favorite Glee performances. It was just perfect. Rather than explain what made it so perfect, I'm just going to show you. Enjoy!

I never wanted to be a part of an acapella group so badly. Looks like so much fun.

So once again Glee offers us an uneven episode, but it shows signs of improvement. I'd say this was good, not great, but definitely better than the Rocky Horror ep.

Glee: Duets

Contains Spoilers!

"Duets" felt like a return to the Glee of old. Puck gets thrown into juvie and the club needs a new member. Enter Sam Evans played by newcomer, Chord Overstreet, and yes, that is his real name. Sam had been introduced in the season premiere. He'd expressed interest in joining but chickened out at the last moment. I guess he finally found some courage. This week's lesson is duets and Mr. Shue decides to make things interesting by having a competition. Best duet gets dinner for two at....wait for it....Breadstix!!! Of course, everyone is excited and ready to get started. 

Here's where things get interesting. Rachel decides for the good of the team that Sam needs to win the competition and decides to throw it. Kurt's trying to determine if Sam is gay or not, makes Sam a little uncomfortable with his inquiries, yet manages to convince Sam to be his partner, while Finn tries to convince Sam and Kurt that it's a terrible idea. 

At this point, everything is still pretty light but Finn raises a very interesting point. He feels that if Sam sings with Kurt it will destroy his reputation. Finn appears to come off as homophobic but as he tries to explain to Sam, it's not about being homophobic; it's about surviving high school. I think that is what this season is going to be about: surviving high school while being your authentic self. 

Anyway, Sam is still willing to sing with Kurt because he gave his word (tres honorable) but Kurt, after having a chat with his dad, the amazing Mike O'Malley, about coming on too strong and having to walk alone for a while, lets Sam off the hook. Sam goes on to sing with Quinn and Kurt is left to sing alone.

The duets themselves are pretty entertaining. Rachel and Finn originally planned a really cute version of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" but in an effort to throw the competition, sang Billy Preston's "With You, I'm Born Again." You have to watch it to know why it was so perfectly awful. Quinn and Sam sing Jason Mraz and Colby Caillat's "Lucky." Those two have great chemistry and it's going to be fun to see how their relationship develops. Mercedes and Santana destroy Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High." Amazing doesn't come close to describing how well their voices go together and Kurt shows everyone how to do a duet with only one person with "Le Jazz Hot." But the most entertaining performance of the evening was Tina and Mike Chang singing "Sing!" It was the perfect song to introduce Mike's singing to the world... well, sort of.

The song that was the most appropriate for the show's theme was the final duet between Kurt and Rachel. They did a mash up of "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy." Rachel, dressed in an outfit reminiscent of Barbara Streisand and Kurt, in a gorgeous silver suit complete with bowtie, not only sound amazing but together encapsulate the episode's message: two voices, both unique and wonderful on their own, are made stronger and more beautiful together.

Memorable Moments -

Brittany saying Puck "might be the dumbest person on this planet and that's coming from me."

Santana and Mercedes, after their song, declaring "We's be going to Breadstix."

"Sweet lady kisses" between Santana and Brittany in Brittnay’s room.

Brittany finally getting to show emotion when Artie calls her out for so callously taking his V-card.

Rachel telling Kurt, “Look, I know you’re lonely, but you’re not alone.”

This is when Glee is at its best. It's light-hearted, fun, advances the storylines, has a deeper underlying message, and is filled with fantastically sung songs. If all episodes were like this, Glee would run on the air for years. Unfortunately, as we'll see with the next episode, that is not necessarily the case. Until next time...

Glee: Grilled Cheesus

As I said in my previous post, Glee's sophomore season has not been living up to its hype (if that's even possible). There's an unevenness that's become more apparent than last year's back nine. We're five episodes in and they have been all over the place.

MAJOR SPOILERS!!!! 

Seriously, don't say I didn't warn you. 

Read on at your own risk

There are three storylines of importance in Grilled Cheesus - 

1) Finn sees what he believes to be Jesus in the grill marks of his sandwich, hence “Grilled Cheesus.” He attempts to pray and when what he prays for comes true, he believes it was due to a high power, leaving him with the desire to share this with the rest of the glee club. Later on, when something unfortunate happens to a fellow teammate but gives Finn something he asked for, he starts to question whether Grilled Cheesus is good or bad and eventually, his beliefs, already tentative and not fully formed, are seriously shaken and he’s left asking more questions.

2) Kurt goes through a family crisis. His father ends up in the hospital, comatose. The glee club tries to rally around Kurt, offering support and prayers. Kurt pushes them away because he doesn’t believe as they do and because he’s carrying around so much guilt, because of  his behavior prior to his father’s heart attack, that he has a hard time seeing how everyone is trying to help in their own way. For Kurt, his lesson is not about believing in God but believing in something more than what the five senses tell us.

3) Lastly, Sue’s story with her older sister, Jeannie, is a smaller storyline but just as important. Jeannie has Down’s Syndrome but that has never mattered to Sue. To Sue, she’s everything. She’s Sue’s hero, but Sue noticed, when they were very young, that people would treat Jeannie differently and cruelly. Sue would pray for her sister to get better and when she didn’t, Sue stopped believing. A conversation with Jeannie about God shows how at ease she is with her disorder, while Sue is the one who continues to struggle.

Memorable moments include -

Puck, giving one of the most profound and humorous statements of the show, saying, "Oh, I got no problem with the guy. I'm a total Jew for Jesus. He's my number one Heb. What I don't like seeing is people using J-money to cramp everyone else's style, 'cause it seems to me that true spirituality or whatever you want to call it is about enjoying the life that you've been given. I mean, I see God every time I make out with a new chick."

Brittnay - “Whenever I pray, I fall asleep.”

Jeannie says she doesn't believe God makes mistakes and asks Sue if she wants to be prayed for. Sue's voice cracking a tiny bit as she says, "That'd be nice."

Kurt singing a beautiful stripped down version of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” with flashbacks documenting significant moments with his father, including a not to be missed tea party.

This was an interesting episode. It wanted to say a lot but aside from the stellar performances of Chris Colfer and Jane Lynch, I felt it missed the mark. Wanting to explore spirituality is one thing but to lay it on so thickly is off putting. Why was Rachel singing  "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" Was it because it had the word "papa" in it or was it one of the few "Jewish" songs they could find that wasn't overly religious? I don't know but as beautifully sung as it was, it didn't belong there. Giving Mercedes two spiritual songs, one of which took place in a church, was too much.  There were comments made that didn't feel authentic, as if they were just put there to continually convey the show's message. I strongly believe that the questions asked should be explored but it felt as if they were being crammed down our throats.


I'd also like to point out that I do not believe that Finn wouldn't have known earlier about Burt being in the hospital. Kurt might have forgotten to tell him but Finn's mother knew. Why wouldn't she tell him as soon as she found out? I just don't buy it. I'd also like to know how old was the grilled cheese sandwich before Finn finally ate it? I get the symbolism behind the gesture but eating a cold, several days old grilled cheese sandwich is not that appealing to me. It was moments like these that kept taking me out of the story. I had to keep re-watching in order to find the good moments and it turns out there are many of them.


Jane Lynch was stunning. You could see her pain and anger simmering beneath the surface. Her scene with her sister made me want to cry because it was Jeannie comforting Sue. Chris Colfer was beautiful. He can mesmerize a person with both his acting and singing. Not a small feat, especially for someone so young. Mike O'Malley's portrayal of Burt is unpretentious and wonderful and he didn't even do much in this episode. Even Cory Monteith at the end of the show had me interested. Seeing Finn's faith shaken added a new depth to the character that hadn't previously been there. It's nice to see him growing as an actor. I also want to acknowledge Robin Trocki, the actress who plays Jean Sylvester. It's not often that shows use actors with disabilities, especially older actors with disabilities, and I think it's fantastic Glee does this because not only does it helps color the world of Glee and make it more realistic, but she can act! It's about time. Other than Chris Burke, who played Corky on Life Goes On, when was the last time you saw someone with Down's Syndrome or any other disability playing a role that was meaningful and important? Life Goes On has been off the air since 1993! I don't know about you, but I want a world as diverse as possible when it comes to the shows I watch.


I don't get worked up about a show's message very often. I like asking questions, being forced to think and a good controversy. I might dislike the writing or acting, I might hate where a storyline is going or cheesy special effects (I look to you X-Men Origins: Wolverine) but "Grilled Cheesus" bothered me enough that for a moment, I seriously considered not watching Glee anymore. Then I stopped, thought about it, and decided I love the show too much to just give up on it like that. I'll keep watching and hoping the show pulls itself together and in the meantime, keep you informed on how it's progressing.

* Sorry for the delay.  The other ep. reviews will be out this week and then done as each new ep. comes in.