What I’m Watching: Glee

Glee: Season 2, Episode 4 “Duets” (B+)

Something that I’m all for, both in principle and in practice, is pairing characters up with unexpected partners and watching how that plays out (see this week’s “Modern Family” for a similar, less musical situation). The introduction of Chord Overstreet as Sam was smooth, and he should be a useful character to create plenty of drama involving Kurt, Quinn, Finn, and the whole glee club. Finn was actually good for something intelligent in this episode, trying to explain to Kurt that he has no problem with him being gay but rather with the fact that he can’t take no for an answer. Kurt and Burt also had a meaningful conversation that helps in the long run to define Kurt as a character. Kurt’s “Victor/Victoria” number was clever, but what really moved me was his final duet with the similarly selfish and equally talented Rachel. That’s one pairing I definitely wouldn’t have expected, so kudos to this show for surprising me. In terms of wonderful surprises, my favorite song and dance number (because both aspects were equally important) in this episode was the duet performed by Tina and Mike, where the latter got to show off his abilities and even got the chance to say a few lines for one of the first times ever. It’s a pity we didn’t get to see Artie and Brittany before something, because Santana and Mercedes did a great job. Overall, this episode was extremely entertaining, and I like the idea of something like this far more than I’ve enjoyed some of the show’s previous gimmicks. Also, a piece of random trivia: this episode was directed by Eric Stoltz, currently the star and also director of last’s week episode of “Caprica.”