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Glee 5.04 "A Katy or A Gaga" Review: Out With a Roar

Nov 8, 2013

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    This week’s episode of Glee, “A Katy or a Gaga,” was written by Russel Friend and directed by Ian Brennan. It featured guest star Adam Lambert’s first appearance as Elliot “Starchild” Gilbert in addition to Demi Lovato’s continuing storyline as Dani. The final number to Katy Perry’s mega-hit “Roar” was fantastic, but the rest of the episode still had me wondering where the music has gone with the show.

    Lambert is fantastic as “Starchild” and delivers the flamboyant number we’d expect with “Marry the Night.” He poses an interesting dilemma for Kurt (Chris Colfer) who is obviously both jealous of and attracted to him. It’s unlikely that Lambert will become a regular, however, so I’m finding it hard to really worry about what this will mean for Kurt and Blaine (Darren Criss). I’m more worried about what it means for Pamela Landsbury – which is about the best name for a band ever! That said the scene between Kurt and Elliot in the diner was excellent and I hope we get to see a lot more of Lambert before he goes the way of Kate Hudson and Sara Jessica Parker and simply disappears into the ether of New York.

    I’m increasingly less and less interested in the Lima storyline, and I think Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk share my lack of interest. Certainly, how many times can we see horny male teenager (in this case Jacob Artist as Jake) pressure his girlfriend (Melissa Benoist as Marley) to have sex and then cheat on her with a Cheerio (Erin Westbrook as Bree) when she doesn’t cave in to his demands. Once again, the message that’s coming through here is if you don’t sleep with your boyfriend when he’s ready, you will lose him and that every teenage boy simply wants sex.

    The storyline is actually underscored by Marley not wanting to embrace her inner Gaga – that part of her that is wild and outrageous. Is that the part of her that should be ready for sex? I doubt Lady Gaga would embrace this storyline as she herself is about remaining true to your inner self. She would laud anyone willing to stand out and be outrageous and different but I doubt she would ever condemn someone who didn’t embrace that philosophy. Will (Matthew Morrison) suspending Marley for not embracing her wild side and Jake punishing her for not sleeping with him both condemn Marley simply being true to her own inner self.

    In general, I found that the big Gaga number, “Applause,” pretty much completely missed the point of Lady Gaga. Yes, it was outrageous – what was Darren Criss wearing!!! – but only for the shock value. I would love to see Lady Gaga herself turn up and explain to them the symbolism behind what she actually does. And before you simply assume that I am a Gaga not a Katy, I love both singers. I think they both have valuable messages to send about being true to yourself and therefore make a really good pairing for this episode. I just wish that they’d seen how similar these two performers really are. As annoying as the Penny/Sam (Phoebe Strole/Chord Overstreet) storyline is, I thought in this episode it came closer to providing a valuable message that both singers could get behind. Don’t change yourself to be someone that you’re not. Penny and Sam both try to be something they aren’t to impress the other when in reality what they really are (Katys) is the same.
     I hope we get to see a lot more of Adam Lambert in the coming weeks. He and Lovato are both proving to be great additions to the show who can act and sing. I really miss the episodes that have me singing along all the way through. I realize that the song catalogue for this episode would have been very expensive, but four numbers in an hour just aren’t enough. I was so happy to see the return of Brad Ellis (Brad the Piano Player) in this episode. My favorite comment and costume? Jake saying he looked like a gay Thundercat and then licking his hand to clean his mane. Now let’s get back to what Glee does best – more songs and better choreography please! What did you think of the episode? Are Kurt and Blaine in jeopardy? Did you like Lambert? Are you a Katy or a Gaga? Let me know in the comments below!

10 comments:

  1. Agreed that this episode did nothing to put the show back on track--and I think it's been off the tracks for a long time. Good point about the deeply problematic notion of enforced individuality. It's like they totally miss the point about the difference(s) between the superficial and the essential. Being true to your inner self doesn't mean being outrageous or spectacular, and forcing someone to hosebag it up in order to conform to an artificial model of outrageousness is just as appalling as the way, back when the show started, the Glee club were themselves victimized for not being like everyone else. you can't be an outcast unless you're the kind of outcast we say you should be. Sheesh! Kurt's desire to be a big sellout hit was an amusingly telling commentary on the reality lurking beneath this show's supposed endorsement of being yourself and a true artist. I think it's pretty funny that their idea of artists to present as examples of "being true to yourself" also happen to be two of the most massively pupular current music artists, so, you know, so much for being true to yourself vs. being . . . whatever the alternative was supposed to be in this episode, being presented as having any real meaning or significance. How about picking someone with a minimal or small cult following (PJ Harvey, say), rather than two monster stars? Oops, then we couldn't have covers of massive hit songs on the soundtrack to pump up album sales!

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  2. I'm not an avid Glee fan but do enjoy the show, and have probably watched about half the episodes. I do quite like some of the newer characters but the story lines are definitely getting a bit same old, same old. And Sue and Will need to go, I was over their shtick a long time ago....
    Adam Lambert was amazing on this episode, I just can't stop watching it.....he absolutely killed MTN, but he also showed he can act. He came across great in the diner scene, and singing Roar....thought Demi looked beautiful too.
    We need more NY story time and less Lima....and lots ore Adam.

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  3. afwul episode, skipt almost every scene without lea michelle in it..

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  4. I'm sure they gave her as much time off as they could. My heart breaks for her every time I see her on screen. Meanwhile, I can't wait for the Funny Girl storyline to kick off...

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  5. The scuttlebut is that we will be getting much more NY and much less Lima - so Yeah! I can't wait for more of Lambert! Please, I know people love Blaine and Kurt together, but I want Kurt and Elliott!!! Lambert's acting chops came as a bit of a surprise to me - a very pleasant one - so I'm totally down with more of him! Surely, if the show is only doing one more season after this they could keep him?

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  6. I'm a gleek and I found the lima scenes hard to watch .
    I still love New york

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  7. Will has to be the worst teacher ever. Lets just move Glee to NYC and be done with it

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  8. I'm a Gleek from day 1 and Glambert since Idol so I was thrilled with the NY parts of the show, and keep watching them over and over. However it has become painful to watch the Lima parts of the show. I mean really, the costumes for those kids in both Applause and Roar were so inappropriate (and I'm miles away from prudish) and the message sent was entirely wrong. I enjoyed the message of the NY storylilne better because much of the "commercial" vs "art" (and why must it be a "vs" anyways) strugggle touches a chord in those of us who have followed all aspects of Adam's career. I love him and Demi on the show, and they have chemistry with Santana, Kurt and Rachel. I hope they do away with Lima sooner rather than later and give us an all NY show with as much of Adam and Demi in it as the two of them are willing to commit.

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  9. Certainly begins to look like he is! I initially hated the move to NYC, but they've hit a brick wall with the Lima storylines (they did last season!), so let's all go!

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  10. AGREE! They completely misinterpreted those songs in the Lima storyline - and I'm never sure what their message is supposed to be in Lima any more! I loved Lambert in this, so I'm completely on board for more NYC. I'm also a HUGE Ioan Gruffudd fan, so I want him to have a HUGE part too! Ditch Lima and bring Arte, Tina, Blaine, and Sam - and maybe Jake (cuz he can dance and sing) - to NYC! Although, I want Kurt with Elliott! Did you notice they have the same hair in the diner scene???

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