What I’m Watching: Glee

Glee: Season 2, Episode 5 “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” (B-)

I’m not sure how to take this into account, but this is one of those episodes where not being familiar with and not having a connection to material being used really makes the experience infinitely less enjoyable. As someone who’s never seen “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” I didn’t really get into the songs in this episode, with one or two exceptions. And because there’s no supporting plot aside from Will’s duel with Carl, it’s hard to enjoy and appreciate the episode as a whole. My main point of contention is similar to that of the glee club members – there’s no reason the adults should be taking on roles that should be played by students. In that same vein, Will and Carl don’t need to play the roles when the glee club is designed for high schoolers. That doesn’t mean I don’t love seeing Jayma Mays start singing and dancing; it just means that I’d prefer it didn’t come about in such a contrived way. I’ve never been a fan of Sue’s talk show, and relegating her to one fantastic glare accompanied by furious finger-snapping in Will’s direction is hardly a reward for her well-deserved season one Emmy win. Unfortunately, she’s barely had any material with which to follow it up, and the way the show is going, I’m not sure she will. That’s what really worries me – it’s not the stunt episodes that are the problem, but rather what the show is left with when those are stripped away.