Glee: Season 1, Episode 3 “Acafellas” (B+)
I accidentally misread the title for last week’s episode, which was actually called “Showmance.” There should be no mistaking this episode, however, since it’s quite obviously the short-lived story of the Acafellas. Clearly someone involved in the production realized that fans wanted to see Matthew Morrison sing and dance, and now he’s doing it all the time. It’s fun to see all of the teachers get together and sing, despite their rather meteoric rise and fall. It’s always a treat to see Victor Garber in any capacity, and the genuine kindness he exudes is really terrific, especially on a show where almost everyone finds themselves extremely unsupported by their friends or family. It’s amusing to see Will’s wife try desperately to get pregnant for real, and I’m really not sure whether she’ll end up reporting a miscarriage, actually getting pregnant, or if Will is going to discover her little fib first. The glee club’s hiring of a tyrannical choreographer obviously wasn’t going to stick, but it produced a nice surprise: the cheerleaders’ seeming change of heart following Rachel’s spirited stand and Sue’s chastising. Finn’s continued unintelligence is absolutely hilarious, and his uncertain understanding of the term “cliché” was a highlight of the episode. The spotlight in this hour on two of the less prominently-featured glee club members was fun, and the mixing of rehearsal numbers and imagined performances is very effective. This is a fine third episode, and I’m looking forward to more.
Friday, September 18, 2009
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I loved the first two episodes, but this one didn't work for me. The whole "Acafellas" plot was hokey and contrived (one minute they're singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", then, bang, they're rehearsing). And the football coach and woodshop teacher miraculously both turn out to have great voices? It's too much to ask us to suspend disbelief like that. Meanwhile, the actual glee club stuff was a little better. I like the fact that the show is focusing on other characters, but the way Mercedes and Kurt's relationship was handled was terrible. Amber Riley's perfomance of "Bust Your Windows" was excellent, but I thought this show was supposed to not do things like that. I seem to remember some of the cast and crew saying things like "people don't just burst into song". What happened to that? The scene with the choreographer was fairly amusing, as was the Josh Groban cameo. And there were some nifty one liners. But overall, I thought this episode was lousy. Grade C+
And where was Jane Lynch? She was on screen for only a few minutes this week. Message to Fox: when you have an actress as talented as Lynch, use her.
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