Glee

All excellent points, Dionneshea.

But they'll get a Season 5 because they need it for syndication.

And yeah, this kid is a Puckerman, and he's Puck's "half-brother," so they've got to have different moms; but they've also said that he's been around in Lima this whole time so who knows if they'll do the smart thing and have it be that he and Puck have never had anything to do with each other. It's Glee. How often do they do the smart thing?

The new season starting this week is seeing Gleeonfox posting some of the full length performance videos for this week.

Kate Hudson was a little better than I expected her to be, for some reason.

The Glee kids, however, felt way off.

I would put forth the argument that the kids being off was the point-- it seemed to be highlighting a lack of unity between the four of them.

And, hey,

Spoiler:

Color me not shocked.

I'm a little annoyed that

Spoiler:

Ugh Director!Artie annoys me like nothing else. I don't find it cute or endearing at all.

I'm assuming the clip with the Glee kids cut off before the song ended because they're all going to get (rightfully) chewed out.

At least Kate Hudson's working with better material than that crap song they gave her in Nine.

I thought Kate Hudson was basically laughably awful, considering she's supposed to this super intimidating dance instructor at the most prestigious school in the country. Heather Morris has more talent in the tip of her pinkie, so I don't see what Rachel's so impressed by. The quick cuts to cover up the fact that the choreography was so basic and unimpressive were very obvious, and her voice is...strange. They hype for her has been a total puzzler for me. Has she been relevant since Almost Famous?

Yeah, I also thought the Glee kids were supposed to be bad. I'm getting a "it's my senior year and I have to be the STAR" vibe from all four of the performers. So we're going to have them all try to be Rachel, I guess, and not have them do it as well. *groan*

I don't know why anyone thought an Artie/Blaine/Brittany/Tina combo in the choir room would be a good idea. The latter three have only ever been interesting when paired with their significant others.

I didn't mind Kate Hudson actually. I thought she brought a nice bitchiness to the role. It wasn't anywhere near as good as this show was in season one but I have to say I didn't mind this episode? I think the idea of using a lot of the graduated cast only sometimes is a smart one as it leaves behind a lot of baggage and while I found the show saccharine a lot of the time, I thought it was closer to the spirit of season one then it has been in a while. My expectations are probably extremely low though, so who knows.

I agree with the star thing though, especially since Artie was just directing and I will be quite honest he has a better voice then Blaine, Brittany and Tina.

That was definitely much better than almost everything in the past year. The after-school-special elements tamed down with some actually funny lines. Loved Sue's comments about Quinn. The songs were only okay and the lunch lady bit felt a little close to the Bieste storyline but the separate elements generally worked and it was entertaining. The Glee Club even rehearsed! Much better. Much much better.

I only caught the first few minutes before I had to run an errand, but I'm super annoyed that the show broke up Mike and Tina. It's realistic for them to try the long-distance thing only to have it not work out, but dammit, they don't bother trying to be realistic about anything else, so why not let those two be happy? Ugh, they're probably going to pair her back up with Artie for this year. Blech.

That was definitely much better than almost everything in the past year. The after-school-special elements tamed down with some actually funny lines.

I was pleasantly surprised, after last season I was expecting it to be awful.

Well, Mike Chang is on the poster and most likely will be in other episodes so I don't know if I see them being broken up in the long run, especially since none of her other interaction with Artie hinted they were at all interested in each other.

I enjoyed it, but I have to ask - why Kate Hudson? Don't get me wrong, I like her a lot as an actress and enjoyed her bitchiness, but if she was going to be cast, WHY was she cast as a dance instructor? When she said "I can dance rings around any of you", I thought "Huh - I never knew she could dance." Then, when I saw the quick cuts with an obvious double, I was sorely disappointed.

Probably just because she's Kate Hudson and this let them have both her and Whoopi Goldberg in the same episode. Say what you like about Glee, but when it comes to guest stars they don't mess around.

So while they even admitted they were scraping the bottom of the Britney barrel, last night was way better than the first time around, as the songs all worked with the plot (and there was a real plot--not just a series of fantasy sequences).

I hope Rachel 2.0 gets more personality soon. I don't think "likes singing" and "pining for the cute guy" count. (I mean, it's great that she sticks up for her mom, but I feel like that storyline's already pretty much run its course.) Original Rachel was/is annoying but at least there's always been aspects of her that weren't defined by other characters.

Also, maybe at some point we'll see Rachel Berry go to a college class other than dance.

Yeah, I liked it a lot more. I agree about new girl, although I do think she has a really lovely chemistry with the kid that plays Jake. I was surprised. Hes also a surprisingly good actor.

My only real issue with Rachel's plotline is that Cassie July ain't wrong.

I mean, I was not very impressed with Kate Hudson's dancing in the first episode, but she still did more dancing in that sequence than Lea did in the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" number in S1 where J. Groff basically did all the work and tossed her around. And I still cringe to watch the "tap" number she did with Gwyneth. Lea is really not a good dancer.

Like Will being a good Spanish teacher or not, I really don't care too much about Rachel's dancing. It was never a draw for the show or character so I don't know why it's a plot point now.

I'm over the retreads of previous character. Look at new Puck, he has a guitar too and he's dating the bitchy new Quinn (who seriously, I just want to punch in the face repeatedly)! Aw new Rachel is drawn to him but here comes new Mercedes to give her some sassy black diva advice! BTW, fuck you Ryan Murphy. There's more to black women then just the big sassy diva. Could I get a broader representation?

Also I'm bored by new Rachel. She has no drive, no spark. Her only storyline is mooning over new Puck and defending her mom.

I will agree that this was a better Brittany episode than the first. There was a plot and the Gimme More performance totally cracked me up.

Kurt and Rachel getting a loft in Bushwick cracked me up also and yes, parts of Bushwick is still pretty rough but boo to the cute new boy for not even knowing about the J train. That's my train! But he's hot and that forgives a lot.

Well, if I pretend for a moment that I'm invested in this show beyond Kurt/Blaine's relationship, I think it's a worthwhile storyline to show Rachel transition from big-fish-in-little-pond to dealing with real competition, and focusing on her lack of dancing skill makes sense since it's also Lea's weakest point.

Personally, I'd prefer to see Rachel struggle with her acting. For instance, if she was up for a role in a NYADA performance, and her biggest competition was someone who was a slightly weaker singer but much better actress. That could be fun and different.

Kiran wrote:My only real issue with Rachel's plotline is that Cassie July ain't wrong.

This is very true. And I'm surprised that someone THAT into performing hasn't encountered a teacher or director that tough before. I think I've had meaner dance teachers, and I quit ballet in fifth grade.

And yeah, acting would be a much, much better plot point than dance for Rachel.

I forgot to mention how much I love Lord Tubbington* and how pleased I am that the spoiler that he joined a gang turned out to be true.

*fine, 90% of this is because he looks so much like my cat.

Also, Lea is really good at acting badly. Her cross-eyes as Janet in Rocky Horror was the most amusing part of that episode, and of course there was her cheesy acting in "Run Joey Run." Lea-as-bad-actor-Rachel would be funny, and we'd have less of poor sad Rachel who can't dance.

Agreed.

Although Glee is actually watchable this season, so baby steps? I don't even know. That being said one other thing weirded me out this episode. When Kurt said he hadn't heard from Finn in three months either. Kurt is Finn's brother. Why isn't he concerned that he nor his parents haven't heard from him since he is in the military? Like if someone in the military isn't heard from in three months that is a cause of concern.

New Rachel may not have much of a personality, but I realized I am more interested in her and Puck's brother than anyone else let on Glee club. Seriously, I don't care about any of them.

I thought it was funny that Rachel's big dance performance mainly consisted of her being carried around on a table.

Kiran wrote:Well, Mike Chang is on the poster and most likely will be in other episodes so I don't know if I see them being broken up in the long run, especially since none of her other interaction with Artie hinted they were at all interested in each other.

Mark was featured on three posters (more than anyone), and his only appearance was a one-minute, awful cameo with dizzying camera work to prop up his pale shadow of a replacement (who's way too much of a cute puppy dog to play a "bad boy.") Because anyone who finds out they have a brother they didn't know about would react by blowing a bunch of money on round trip airfare from LA just to spend 30 seconds telling them to join glee club and then breezing back out, all nonchalant like. He couldn't even stay to take the kid out for some pizza?

I don't think the promos are an indication of anything. Nor the credits, apparently.

All of the newbies are terribly lame. The people playing Marley and Jake are cute as buttons, but the characters are boring as hell and lacking the edge needed for a show like this. The attempt at Puckleberry 2.0 is pathetic. Meanwhile, Brody is wooden and has even less chemistry with Rachel than Finn, which I wouldn't have thought possible.