What I’m Watching: Glee

Glee: Season 1, Episode 19 “Dream On” (B+)

An episode directed by Joss Whedon and featuring guest star Neil Patrick Harris is a dream for this show, and fortunately, it doesn’t disappoint. The reunion between the creative minds between “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along” makes for a lot of fun, and Harris’ role as Bryan Ryan proved to be very entertaining. His duet with Matthew Morrison singing “Dream On” was highly enjoyable. This episode also provided a show-stopping performance by Idina Menzel and Lea Michele singing a song together on stage. The theatricality of it all is fantastic, and Artie getting up out of his chair and dancing with the flash mob was great. I’m not sure what kind of impact Rachel finding her mother will have for the show since Jonathan Groff and Idina Menzel can’t stick around forever. What’s more shocking to me is the fact that, according to her birthday, Rachel is supposed to be fifteen years old. Michele is actually twenty-three, and she definitely doesn’t seem like she’s that young. It’s forgivable, however, since she and the entire cast are spectacular and put on enough of a show to make up for their misrepresented ages. It’s ironic that Bryan tells all of the members of the glee club that they’ll never appear on Broadway because most of these actors will very likely make it to Broadway and go on to do great things (some, like Michele, have already starred in Broadway shows). The excitement of seeing “Wicked” star Menzel and Michele perform together is also pretty grand.