Friday, September 25, 2009

What I’m Watching: Glee

Glee: Season 1, Episode 4 “Preggers” (B-)

I’m getting a little worried about the sustainability of this show. Last week’s episode wasn’t quite as wonderfully superb as the terrific second installment, and this one makes a lot of missteps. Imagining that everyone was so into the sing-and-dance thing was always a bit of a stretch, and having the whole football team break out in choreographed dance in the middle of a play is too much. Kurt’s dainty prelude to his surprisingly effective kick is funny, but the fact that the entire team actually stands for a dancing lesson to try to help them motivate their game-playing? This show is supposed to be about glee club, not glee school. Sue Sylvester is also being promoted a bit too much, and her segment about caning is pretty stupid. She’s hilarious in her element, but giving her too much actual power (her TV spot and the leverage over the principal) diminishes her effectiveness. Quinn’s pregnancy, spoiled for me by Entertainment Weekly’s Fall TV Preview feature, seems like it isn’t necessarily real, and while having the absolutely insane Terri show up in her car with a hair-brained scheme hatched is amusing, it’s also a tad more than unbelievable. This show isn’t supposed to be down-to-earth, and part of its musical showiness necessitates a degree of suspension of disbelief, but this episode isn’t indicative of a positive future for this show. Keep the singing to the rehearsals, and ct the music during the rest of the show. It’s fun, but it’s gone too far. It needs a serious reality check, and Rachel needs to get herself back to glee club stat.

2 comments:

JB said...

I thought this episode was rather enjoyable. Even if the whole musical thing doesn't work out, they seem to be trying to work in a feasibly engaging plot with Quinn's "pregnancy."

G1000 said...

I agree totally with your comments on this episode. While it was certainly better than last week's (which I hated). I realize you have to suspend disbelief a little bit to enjoy this show, but the whole football team dancing to Beyonce? Please. The whole Terri pregnancy plot is threatening to turn into a soap opera. And while I love Jane Lynch's performance as Sue Sylvester, she just wasn't that funny this week. I'm watching a rerun of the pilot episode of "Modern Family" tonight, and if it's good (and I've heard it is), I may have to stop watching "Glee" (since the two shows are on the same night). Give it a week or two to get back on track, though. B-