Round Two: Glee

Glee: Season 1, Episode 2 “Showmance” (B+)

After months of hype following the sneak peek series premiere back in May, the most musical show of the season has finally arrived for another effort. The good news is that this second installment is a huge improvement on the first, which I liked but didn’t love. At this point, I’m pretty impressed with the show, and I think I’ve been converted and become an official fan. Where the show seemed somewhat stifled in its pilot, it’s definitely found the courage to go the extra mile and imply inappropriate innuendos as often as possible. It’s also staggering in an incredible way the amount of material that was able to be covered in the short time span of one episode. I can now understand Jane Lynch’s reasons for leaving “Party Down” to star on this show, as she’s a fantastic character well suited to the sarcastic tone of this series, and her particular brand of sardonic humor is just the right fit for this show. Seeing Matthew Morrison sing and dance is also a plus since he’s not the most engaging actor, and knowing that he can actually get into something makes his character more dynamic and interesting. His wife’s lack of brains and hysterical pregnancy is a nice subplot, and that crazy girl makes for great comic relief. I’m sure she won’t be able to hold onto Will forever, especially as he and Emma continue flirting (which they will, despite her temporary freeze on their mingling). Will and Emma weren’t able to get much farther than some suggestive cleaning this episode, but another wannabe couple certainly was. The pre-made picnic-side kiss between Kurt and Rachel was a wonderful surprise, itself wholly outdone by his hilarious carstruck-mailman flashback. Rachel is a terrific female lead, and her ending desolation was well spruced up by her hilarious aside that her neighbors were filing a lawsuit against her for practicing her singing at home. I’m very excited that the cheerleaders are infiltrating the glee club, but more so that they’ll actually be spies for the conniving Sue Sylvester. The sexually risqué performance at the school assembly doesn’t interest me as much as the spunk and hilarity of the cast – this is going to be one fun show. This easily could be the "Freaks & Geeks" of this decade.