Hello there! I'm Joe, or Purpletoonlink depending where you know me from. I'm basically a guy who likes to write reviews of his favourite TV shows, and I'm trying to get a bit of experience working on a popular site. Things will be quiet for the time being but once the TV season starts up again I'll be reviewing most of the shows I watch, and some new ones too. My introductory post is HERE, so feel free to have a read up on what I'm all about.
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Anyway, thoughts coming up on the penultimate episode of Glee season one (and my first SpoilerTV review ever!) coming up after the jump.
If you go back to my old blog which is now sort of defunct, I talked about Glee a lot, and one of the things I talked about most was that while it's a show with a serious identity crisis, it succeeds episode to episode as long as each one took a particular identity - be it more comedic or dramatic. This is largely why episodes such as 'Hairography' and 'Hell-O' failed - and why 'Funk' succeeded despite some naggling issues.
This back nine set of episodes has used a very simple structure - take a theme and have everyone sing songs around that theme. Initially, this frustrated me a bit, mainly because it seemed like a lazy style of writing. But I've sort of come round to it now - after all, this is a show taking place in a school, where these sorts of things would actually happen. More importantly though is that 'Glee' needs structure in order to work properly. It's sort of like a very exciteable child - it needs boundaries and guidance otherwise it gets a bit manic. Giving the show a structure that makes sense within the world of McKinley High, and I'd probably be alright with the trend continuing into season 2.
Interestingly, 'Funk' was supposed to air last week, and 'Theactricality' was supposed to be this week. I can sort of see why FOX changed it though - it's a better set-up episode for the finale, and I can't see the Glee kids being allowed near Carmel High (to watch Shelby Corcoran sing 'Funny Girl' etc) once Puck and Finn had slashed all the Vocal Adrenaline tyres. I also think that bringing Terri back into the mix 2 episodes before the finale and then leaving it would have been a mistake (and I'll talk more about that later).
So the theme then, if you hadn't figured it out in the first minute, was 'Funk'; Funk being used in two ways. First, the Americanism that when someone is feeling bummed out they're in a 'funk', and that they can beat Vocal Adrenaline by being 'funky', i.e. soulful, passionate. The latter, of course, is no problem for New Directions, mostly because they're a very passionate group who make up for lack of pizazz with plenty of heart.
We also sort of had a third type of 'Funk', in Will getting funky with Sue (okay, I'm stretching it now). While I really do not buy in the slightest that Sue was upset by Will standing her up, seeing Sue's idea of dressing up - regular tracksuit attire but with pearls - will never not be funny, and it was interesting to see Will try and give her a taste of her own medicine. On a sidenote, Sue's abandonment of the cheerios causing Santana to burst into tears and Brittany to both wear her Cheerios uniform back-to-front and chase that dweeb Jacob.
Seeing Sandy back, played by the brilliantly OTT Stephen Toblowsky, was great. I like that they know to keep his roles slightly limited - such as his fantastic cameo in 'Run, Joey, Run'. The character is hilarious but I think the joke would wear thin if he was in it too often.
Elsewhere, Dianna Agron got a terrific showcase as Quinn the frustrated expectant mother. Her song choice, accompanied by the crazy backing dancers was weird but sort of funny - incorporating the labour breathing into the dance routine was inspired. I'm a big fan of the transformation Quinn has gone through, and Agron plays her so well, that I'm happy any time we get an inside into the world of Miss Fabray. I also enjoyed the scene where Mercedes accepted Quinn into her house; the relationship that these two have been slowly building is something I look forward to exploring more in season 2.
But while I enjoyed seeing Puck and Finn get jobs at Sheets N' Things (not to mention the glorious return of Howard Bamboo!), I'm just so filled with rage every time I see Terri that I find it difficult to laugh at gags like her mirage of Will in a Sn'T uniform, or be pleased to see her give Finn some help with his Glee assignment. I don't know that that's a relationship between me and her that can ever be repaid, but again, it's another set up for season 2 that I'm willing to give a go.
So really, my only real criticism of 'Funk', in terms of storytelling, and not just my personal hatreds, was the writers' clear lack of consistency with Jesse. It's never been made exactly clear to us the extent of Jesse's feelings for Rachel - half of the time he's a spy for Shelby, the other half of the time he's besotted with her. It's just a shame that this inconsistency with his character has slightly ruined a character that with a bit more effort could have been very strong. Still, Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele always play well off each other, and the egging scene was sad, even though I was really only feeling sorry for Rachel at that point.
In terms of songs, I'm just going to do a hail of bullets:
- I liked 'Another One Bites The Dust'. I'm a big fan of Queen, and I've liked both Queen covers they've done so far. Vocal Adrenaline do another one next week - I won't tell you what it is - but I reckon it's going to be awesome.
- 'Tell Me Something Good' was so-so, but largely made up for by Sue's apparent nausea by the whole thing. I gotta say I never expected to see Matthew Morrison gyrating against Jane Lynch, but they play so well off of each other that it was appropriately hilarious, as opposed to sexy.
- Wasn't a big fan of 'Loser', but then I'm not a big fan of that style of music in general. Got a kick out of Mark Salling playing his guitar, then Cory Monteith playing a broom, presumably because he doesn't play guitar.
- 'It's A Man's Man's Man's World' was, as I've said before, was weird but oddly great. Dianna Agron doesn't have the strongest voice out of the cast, but her she gave it her all, and it really showed.
- 'Good Vibrations' by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was hilariously bad - though I appreciate it was meant to be so. Loved Puck referring to himself as 'Pucky-Puck'. (And as a side note - if you don't know about this song, go onto youtube and search it. You'll be SO suprised to see who 'Marky Mark' is).
- I heard 'Give Up The Funk' when I bought Glee's third album, and in context I like it even more. Loved that Quinn got to be in the foreground for the dance routine, she's so often cast to the side. It wasn't anything incredibly special, but it was one of those really good feel good songs that give you that warm 'Glee' feeling.
So, the finale has been set up really nicely by a very strong episode. I'll have a post next week after the finale has aired, as well as some thoughts on the season as a whole.
Finally, I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog and/or feel like contributing in the comments section - I know SpoilerTV has got quite a few gleeks out there!
So, with that, what did everyone else think?
