GLEE Almost Done Being "Built"

Article originally published as TV Review: 'Glee' - "We Built This Glee Club" on Blogcritics.

FOX’s Glee takes the team to Sectionals in the penultimate episode of the series, “We Built This Glee Club.” Like in the previous week, it mainly ignores the alumni who have been featured prominently for six years and keeps the cast small. The exception to this is Rachel (Lea Michele), who gets a visit from an old friend and finally decides whether to return to school or Broadway.

If Sectionals were a culmination of Rachel’s journey, or Rachel, Kurt (Chris Colfer), and Blaine’s (Darren Criss) journey, or even Will’s (Matthew Morrison) triumphant return, “We Built This Glee Club” would be a great episode. Instead, it’s only a pretty good episode. That’s because this close to the end of the entire series, there are few stakes and little payoff, no matter how enjoyable the hour may be. Yes, technically the glee club might be disbanded if they don’t win, but that’s not a threat brought to the forefront here. It would be so easy to build this installment into something, given where the season starts, and yet Glee stops short of doing so.

My problem is not so much with the Sectionals themselves. The Falconers doing “Broken Wings” is ridiculously silly, as is the judging panel made up of Rod Remington (Bill A. Jones), Butch (stand up comedian Fortune Feimster) and her poodle, and a cranky comptroller (Patricia Forte), and the uneven number of songs that each group performers is stupid, if practical, but that’s par for Glee‘s Sectionals episodes, and it’s fun they bring back the comptroller from their very first competition. Given how over-the-top showy Vocal Adrenaline’s “We Built This City” / “Mickey” piece is, focusing on pizzazz over vocal quality, it’s no wonder that the New Directions win.

I am a little disappointed by the New Directions, not because of their song choices, but because of who is featured. Powerhouse Jane (Samantha Marie Ware) is the lone newbie that doesn’t get a solo, which seems a massive waste, and while I get that the Warblers provide the dance moves, some of them should have gotten to sing out front, too, no? But it’s hard to argue about the effectiveness of the “Take Me to Church” / “Chandelier” / “Come Sail Away” set, which is well executed and delightful. I don’t completely excuse the faults, but it’s a solid enough performance to make the trophy feel earned.

I have no problem with Glee showing a Sectionals win with no promise of following the group to Regionals and Nationals, either. Viewers aren’t emotionally invested enough in this cast yet, and so this basically just lets fans know that the tradition will continue, long after our television screens stop showing it. That’s a nice thought.

Afterwards, Sue (Jane Lynch) tells Will she ensures New Directions will win as payback for him defending her, and her exploits of poisoning the school and sending glitter bombs to the glee club are merely her having fun and motivating them. I sort of buy this. Sue has many times in the past exhibited a tough love strategy. However, it just doesn’t quite add up, given how she blows Will off last week, and her continued persistence in trying to kill the club this year. This is almost a pay-off for Sue, but like the Sectionals themselves, falls a little short of that.

The best plot in the hour finds Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) returning to McKinley to urge Rachel to say yes to the Broadway show. She would be starring opposite him. She chooses school, but doesn’t close the door on a romance with her ex, and their “Listen to Your Heart” duet is full of sparks. I never really bought into a Rachel / Sam (Chord Overstreet) pairing, and Jesse makes way more sense for her. The song makes up for not seeing them on stage together in New York, and if they can date despite their hectic schedules, they could make for a fitting Glee endgame.

“We Built This Glee Club” isn’t very focused on the conclusion, and that is definitely the reason it fails to meet expectations. As mentioned, it doesn’t concentrate on earned wins, nor does it satisfactorily tie up arcs, despite ample opportunity to do so. Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel’s impending return to the Big Apple without pay-off makes the entire final season feel like a bit of a waste, even if it teases tantalizingly for the spin-off that should have replaced the mother ship a couple of years ago, and that we’re not likely to get at this point. It also makes no use of the alumni contracted full-time this season, both those currently working in the school and those absent. Too bad, as a few tweaks would have made this a very worthy penultimate airing, especially in the touching throw-back involving the trophies and glimpses of deceased Cory Monteith as Finn.

Glee concludes its six-season run with a two-hour episode next Friday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

GLEE Sees "Sue"

Article first published as TV Review: 'Glee' - 'The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester' on Blogcritics.

FOX’s Glee spends a bit of time on its primary villain this week with “The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester.” Sue (Jane Lynch) is the loud-mouthed, abrasive, arts-hating, championship-winning cheerleading coach-turned-principal at McKinley High. But why is she this way? What makes her tick? Why is she so bent on destroying the glee club? This hour touches on those things, stopping short of really delving into the part the way it should.

There’s no denying Sue is a complex character, but she isn’t always written that way. In the best Glee episodes, we see that Sue’s harsh attitude comes from pushing the kids to do their best, their future and self in her mind. She rarely goes after anyone for something they can’t help, such as sexual preference, physical disability, or gender confusion. Instead, she attacks their interests and the way they spend their time.

However, like the rest of Glee, the portrait painted above isn’t always consistent. Sometimes, she has attacked for petty or no reason. Sometimes, she shows unexpected kindness where she shouldn’t. Sometimes, her actions just plain don’t make sense. That’s the way this show is written, and it with the end a mere two weeks away, that doesn’t change now.

“The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester” makes some attempts to correct those inconsistencies, though it doesn’t go far enough. It attempts to explain away her hatred of the arts, not just because she thinks they are a waste of valuable time, but because they are the passion of her unloving mother, Doris (Carol Burnett). Bringing Doris in, the two sing a healing and fun rendition of “The Trolley Song” from Meet Me in St. Louis, though Sue is not at all changed by this.

Following the number, she takes over coaching Vocal Adrenaline through the energetic “Far From Over,” determined to destroy Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) because of a personal vendetta. What has Will done to deserve this? I always assumed Sue’s annoyance with Will mainly stemmed from his pushing of a subject she detests, and that’s usually how it’s portrayed. They are often friends, especially in the later days of Glee, and Will, along with Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones), stands up for Sue when her character is attacked this week. Why is she going after him now? Other than providing a dramatic showdown for the story, it doesn’t make sense. Though, Sue and VA are a match made in heaven, er, hell.

The character assassination doesn’t make sense either. Becky Jackson (Lauren Potter), Sue’s best friend in the world and near clone of the coach, turns against her for no good reason. Becky exposes some of Sue’s lies to Geraldo Rivera (himself), and they are aired on television. This is a fun sequence with cameos by Carnie Wilson, Michael Bolton, and others, playing themselves, and it works to prove Sue is really insecure, making up things. Either that, or she believes what she says, and others attack her for no reason, like her mother did, also giving a credible explanation for her character. But this refusal to pick one direction ends up making the sequence messy and insincere, ruining it overall.

Lynch is an incredible actress and Glee gives her the break-out role she deserves. It’s fitting she should get such focus just before the series’ end. Too bad it’s done with such weak effort, stopping short of truly giving us an idea of who Sue Sylvester is.

Elsewhere in the episode, Dalton Academy burns down and the Warblers are forced to join with the New Directions because apparently there are no other legit private schools in the area. (This is not true, though it sort of depends on which area you’re talking about, as McKinley’s Lima and Dalton’s Westerville are hours apart in real life, but I’ll leave my complaints about how poorly Glee has always treated Ohio in my past reviews.) This should be a major plot, a coming together of two rivals, but since the meat of the hour is given over to Sue, it’s reduced to a couple small bits and a big, unearned healing number in “Rise.” Apparently we don’t get to see the adjustment arc; they are just now one big happy glee club with enough numbers for Sectionals. Oh, and it looks like maybe half the Warblers actually came, if that, even though the characters talk like the entire group has transferred, and barely a mention is made of how they screw over Jane (Samantha Marie Ware) earlier in the season. So, bad job all around.

The final subplot squeezed into “The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester” is that Rachel (Lea Michele) somehow convinces Carmen (sadly unseen this week) to let her back into NYADA, and Carmen relents just as Rachel is offered another Broadway role. Rachel is torn, understandably, with Kurt (Chris Colfer), Blaine (Darren Criss), and Mercedes (Amber Riley) supporting Broadway, and only a disappointed Sam championing school. This decision is actually handled pretty well by Glee, and while I think school has to be her decision, I’m not sure it will be. Thankfully, no answer is given, as this needs more mulling over.

My problem with this subplot is not how it’s done, but when it occurs. Rachel makes a promise to Kitty (Becca Tobin) and the New Directions that she will see them through to the end. Right before their all-important Sectionals, and during a transitional time as two groups come together, she disappears to New York. Then, when she returns, her focus is on her personal life, not them. She is making the same mistakes again and betraying more people. I hope this comes back to bite her in the butt, not because I don’t like Rachel, but because it should to deliver a solid story.

Song wise, there’s also a performance of “Rather Be” in the opening, which is fine, but pales in comparison to the other, better numbers in the episode, which are few, but memorable.

You might be surprised to hear that overall, I am satisfied with “The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester.” It is an enjoyable episode with some great moments, such as the Will / Sue fantasy battle in “The Final Countdown,” with the kids looking at them like they’re crazy. All of the complaints above are legitimate and important, but they’re not enough to completely spoil the hour. If you accept that Glee is always uneven, never living up to what it should be, then this episode is graded pretty well on a curve of past installments, partly because of the focus on the incredible Lynch. Or, maybe I’m just going to miss the show, for all its flaws, and I’m willing to look past the glaring mistakes it makes more than I used to.

Glee airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

GLEE Finds Another "Child Star"

Article first published as TV Review: 'Glee' - 'Child Star' on Blogcritics.

This week’s Glee, “Child Star,” finally focuses on the new kids of the New Directions, even as they joke that another alumnus may walk through the door at any second (none do). Instead, we see much of their personal dynamic as couples come together and friendships are worked out, all while the group prepares to perform at a horrible kid’s bar mitzvah. Which leads to a couple of fresh faces joining the group.

I feel slightly bad for the seven kids who join Glee in its final season because they’ll never get the development that beloved favorites have gotten. At the same time, while I enjoyed “Child Star” overall, I spent a lot of time missing all the other long-time characters absent from the hour, caring more about them this close to the end than I do about any new people in the cast. It’s really a tough position in which to put this crop of youngsters, especially when two of them don’t even appear until this episode.

Mason (whom many believe has an incestuous relationship with his sister, Madison), reveals that he is actually attracted to Jane (Samanatha Marie Ware). Jane is flattered, until Madison erupts in jealous rage (see? incest!), and Jane backs away from the drama. Luckily, Mason isn’t content to stay all Flowers in the Attic with his sibling, and makes a stand in the best musical performance of the night: Queen’s “I Want to Break Free.” This leads to Madison understanding and loosening her grip, a fairly predictable story move, but, one that gives Mason and Jane as happy an ending as they’re likely to get in the short time Glee has left.

Meanwhile, Spencer (Marshall Williams) has a crush on Alistair (Finneas O’Connell, Bad Teacher), which he expresses in a the enjoyable “Friday I’m in Love,” but has no game. Roderick (Noah Gurthrie) wants to climb a rope but has no athletic skills. Synergy is found when the two agree to help each other out, though this goes horribly, Spencer having no idea how to motivate someone like Roderick, and Roderick not even attempting to coach Spencer. Somehow, though, it all works out in the end because this is Glee, where emotion always trumps logic, and Spencer, Roderick, and Jane (why Jane?) celebrate together in the fantastic “Uptown Funk.”

I mentioned that I like “Child Star,” and I do, but neither of its stories play out all that intelligently. I guess I’m getting soft on the series as the end looms near, realizing I’m going to miss its whacky unevenness.It does “heart” so well, making me feel for the characters even when I shouldn’t care. This episode is a prime example, a way to blatantly illustrate what Glee does well and what it sucks at, so it strikes the nostalgia note alongside the others it is trying to hit.

All of this may be burying the lead because the titular “Child Star” introduced this week is Myron Muskovitz (J.J. Totah, Jessie). Myron is having his bar miztvah, and being a flaming, drama queen, 13-year-old, he wants everything to be perfect. His uncle, Superintendent Harris (Christopher Cousins), forces Sue (Jane Lynch) to cooperate, meaning the New Directions get involved in the party. Strangely, Myron also demands Sue and Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones) dance back up for him, which is fun, but completely goes against his drive for perfection. Anyway, everyone reluctantly agrees to meet the nightmare child’s demands, and in the end, his uncle strong-arms him out of middle school and into the glee club.

Myron is absolutely awful, so I’m glad there won’t be time to develop him. Don’t get me wrong; Totah clearly has talent. But his Disney Channel pedigree shows when Myron goes total spoiled brat, and is more annoying that he is likeable. His introductory performance, “Lose My Breath,” is more creepy than anything. When he eventually goes on at his bar mitzvah with “Break Free,” thankfully he blends into the background more than his character should, realistically speaking, since so many others are on stage with him. Still, that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to stay.

The silver lining is, with Myron and Alistair joining up, the New Directions now number eight, and twelve are needed for Sectionals in two weeks. Is anyone other than me thinking that now is a great time to bring back Marley, Jake, Ryder, and Unique? After all, while there is no way in the world these twelve should be able to have a credible set ready in time for judging, at least we know the four have chops and their presence has been missed. If they don’t return, the other spots are doomed to go to glorified extras, as has been done on Glee in the past.

The other thing worth noting in “Child Star” is that Will (Matthew Morrison) finally goes toe-to-toe with Sue on her level. Will has been through quite a journey, and coming back from Vocal Adrenaline, he’s found inner strength. He always stands up to Sue, but as he calls her Suzy Q and gets in her face, something seems different in their chemistry. Since Sue is likely to stay on as principal and Will will surely be back in charge of the New Directions at the end of all this, I’m thinking Glee is going to do a plot where Will finally turns into the man Sue has slyly been trying to make him into, even if her hilariously jumping on his back indicates otherwise.

I have a few last complaints about this episode. First, where is Kurt? His honeymoon is only said to be a weekend, meaning he should be back already. Why are Will and Rachel (Lea Michele) left to run the glee club alone? Also, why is Kitty (Becca Tobin), the lone glee clubber without plot this week, demoted to guest star this year when she is around more than Artie (Kevin McHale) and recently re-promoted Mercedes (Amber Riley)? She deserves better, and so does Mercedes for that matter, getting the credit but not the screen time. I’m not complaining about the lack of Artie. Lastly, the final number of “Child Star” is “Cool Kids,” which falls flat and serves very little purpose in the story. Bad ending choice.

Over all, “Child Star” is emotionally fulfilling enough, though not as much as some other recent hours, and despite plot holes, works OK. The end is in sight. Let’s get to it.

Glee airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.