What I’m Watching: Glee (Winter Finale)

Glee: Season 1, Episode 13 “Sectionals” (B-)

The fact that Will got disqualified from accompanying the kids to sectionals still reeks of randomness to me, and that’s the basis for this episode, which makes it somewhat problematic. It’s a satisfying parting installment because the glee club overcomes obstacles and ultimately works together wonderfully to win the competition, but we already knew about all of the roadblocks in their way, which makes it all a little less exciting. It is marvelous, I’ll concede, that Emma was the one who volunteered to accompany the kids to sectionals, and it’s great to see her actually at work trying to mediate, even if she needs to grab Will for some support when things get physically violent. Her telling off the two rival glee club coaches was probably the best moment of whole episode, save for that long-in-the-works kiss planted on her by Will at the end. She’s a fantastic character, and her neuroses are actually the least interesting things about her. It’s so great to get to see so much of her, and probably best that we don’t really see Ken as their relationship hits the bricks. The absolution of Will’s marriage is also a welcome release, and all those Terri haters out there should be really glad that she’s out of his life. Quinn’s secret being out of the bag actually isn’t as big a deal as perhaps it might have seemed, though it’s good because it gives Quinn a moment to Dianna Agron to display her dramatic talents again, and allows Finn to actually do something smart and angrily tell Puck that they’re not cool. This show is taking a break until April (at least that’s the plan at this point), and hopefully its return will take things in new directions (pun intended). I’ve enjoyed this first half of the season, despite the fact that my reviews weren’t always entirely positive, and I’m looking to forward to seeing where they’ll go next.