GLEE Recap: ‘Sexy’
March 9, 2011 by Samantha Simorangkir
Watching GLEE lately has felt like going to high school, in a really bad way. The alcohol awareness assembly of two weeks ago was followed up by an awkward and unnecessary sex-ed lesson. And all I can do is stare at the clock and count down the minutes.
Even the one-two punch of guest stars Gwyneth Paltrow and John Stamos wasn’t enough to salvage this train wreck.
I liked Holly Holiday in “The Substitute.” She was a breath of fresh air amidst a parade of immature adult characters: Emma is too naive, Sue too petty, Will too…moronic. Holly was at least in tune with reality. Not to mention better at pronouncing Spanish than Schuester.
But in this episode, she crossed the line into cringeland. Her classless romp around the classroom to “Do You Want To Touch Me” as the Glee clubbers followed suit was a bit much. Will thought so too, holding up a sign mid-performance asking “too much?” But, being the Mr. Mixed-messages man that he is, he continued to groove and gawk at the performance half a second later. Hard to believe this is the same Mr. Schuester who reprimanded them after the “Push It” performance for being too provocative.
I might have dug their duet of “Kiss” had the Schuester + guyliner + falsetto combo not freaked me out as much as it did. Great song, but I would have preferred it for some other character’s storyline, instead of perpetuating Will’s mission to hook up with every single of-age female to grace his presence.
I was excited to see Carl. I was even more excited to hear the first few bars of “Afternoon Delight” coming out of his beautiful mouth. This was by far the best number and possibly scene in the entire episode. The joke of mistaking AD for a wholesome song is an old one, but having Emma be confused about it, and having the joke of a celibacy club perform it was just pure gold. And their FACES. Emma’s. Carl’s. Puck’s. RACHEL’S. I. Can’t. Another golden moment was during the otherwise bore-fest of Carl & Emma’s counseling session with Holly, where he demonstrated what she does when he touches her, and she giggled uncontrollably. Jayma Mays (Emma) continues to own comedic timing on that show.
What else happened? The Warblers sang, which is always good. But they sang a song that is so contemporary it makes ME feel old. It made me long for the days when songs that were used on Glee became popular again, and not the other way around (songs used on the show because they’re popular now).
In keeping with the crossing-the-line theme, Blaine approaches Burt and tells him he oughta talk to his son about sex. Thank goodness Burt is an understanding, open-minded guy and didn’t tell the kid (who he found one morning, in his son’s bed) to shove off and mind his own business. Yes, Blaine’s intentions were only in Kurt’s best interest, and how could you say “no” to those puppy dog Darren Criss (Blaine) eyes? But in real life, I just don’t see that conversation happening and going well.
The Puck and Zises storyline continues to bore me. I don’t WANT to hate it, but I do. I think there is a lot of potential for a couple consisting of a school badboy/heartthrob and a girl who is not in the “in-crowd” and not conventionally beautiful. But they’re both one-dimensional caricatures at this point, and all he talks about is how much he wants to get with that, and all she talks about is how he ain’t gonna get any. YAWN. And there has to be a better way of portraying a strong, confident girl than just being violent and, frankly, mean.
The Santana/Brittany storyline took a very interesting turn this week. I have to hand it to Naya Rivera (Santana), who continues to slowly impress me with her acting chops. And unlike Quinn, Puck, and even Sue, who are all former villains who have gone a little too soft for my taste, Santana maintains her superb bitchiness even in her most vulnerable hour. The Dixie Chicks number was pretty good too.
So while the previous episode’s message was pretty clear (that drinking obscure alcoholic beverages before engaging in elaborate choreography on a stage in front of your entire school will cause you to puke something nasty) this episode’s message is less so. Is sex good? Is it bad? Should they wait until they’re 30 like Kurt’s dad said? Is it okay to sleep around if you’re a teacher with really nice pecs and the ability to “dip” a woman spontaneously and without notice? I suppose I should be thankful for small blessings, and be glad that for once they didn’t shove some sort of preachy message down my throat. But, for the love of Grilled Cheesus, I wish they would bring the writing back to character development rather than squeezing in a bunch of mini-stories into their after school special-esque themes.
My final verdict: a couple of hits, mostly misses. Lack of Rachel and Finn and Beiste was felt immensely this week. Like seriously, if Rachel just had one solo song, it would’ve made a huge difference on my final outlook on the episode. And life. Haters, you may hate, but I can’t get enough of my Berry.
What did you think of tonight’s episode? Sexy? Not so sexy?
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Sorry to be nitpicky, but “Landslide” was originally a Fleetwood Mac song from 1975 that the Dixie Chicks re-did in 2002. 🙂
And I agree, how could anyone say no to Darren Criss’ puppy dog eyes?!
Not nitpicky, that is a very valid correction, I am embarassed to have made the oversight. Thanks for pointing it out.
YES. I agree with so much of what you said! It’s also really nice to read a review where the reviewer doesn’t hate Rachel, she is the show for me, and this episode was way too Berry-light.
Will is the most inappropriate teacher ever. It wasn’t just Gwyneth he was sleazing all over during that opening number, he really creeps me out, two weeks ago when he told the club to call him when drunk all I could think was
“NO NO NO!!! DON’T DO IT! HE WILL TRY AND TOUCH YOU!!”,
Also, the Brittany/Santana song was too much GP, Santana was a back-up singer and Brittany didn’t get to do anything.
How is it that’s the first time Kurt has actually gotten to sing with the Warblers?!? I seriously do not want Blaine to join New Directions if he’s going to be such an Ann-hog with the songs!
Also, sometimes there are too many jokes centred around the stupidity of the Glee club, fine Finn and Brittany are dumb, but cucumber aids Mercedes?! Really? And Brittany was right there for everything Quinn went through with the pregnancy last year, they all went to the hospital, she can’t be that stupid! And Sam, now maybe that was a slight dig, and Sam is going to turn out to be gay (although some times I think Ryan Murphy secretly has plans for all over them to be at least bi,pretty much everyone has been gayed up at some point or another, even if it’s just background noise like the Puck and Mike cuddling in BIOTA) but jeez, is Rachel the only one with any brains around here?
I don’t know what to make of the Quinn stuff. I really thought although she was HBIC she wasn’t ever really meant to be a bitch, she’s mean to Rachel, yet she’s helped her plenty of times, and I thought we were going to get the storyline where she realised being on top isn’t everything, although maybe that’s where it’s still headed. What is she doing with Finn? I can’t work out if she actually likes him or she just really wants to fullfill her 8 year old dreams of being prom royalty with him. I never bought that she liked Sam, that seemed very popularity-driven from the get go, but I thought she might have actually liked Finn, in the first 13 anyway, but I don’t think she’s really into him at all this time round. It could be this great destructive slide, she’s sleeping with him because she’s a big emotional mess, she has no friends, no cheerios, but I don’t think they’re bothered going there. Then again, I can’t believe how sad and honest that Santana stuff was. I really thought that whole thing was a joke, seeing Santana being that raw and emotional was unexpected but a nice character development.
Blaine’s chat with Burt was a nice idea in theory, but jeez, apparently some one has been attending the Will Shuester school of overstepping and inappropriateness! The entire thing was super cringey/is-he-actually-saying-this-stuff??!
Can’t wait for Regionals next week, but what’s the bets that somehow, despite the fact original songs were Rachel’s idea, and she’ll be the one who writes them, she still wont get any credit for them.
Yes, but … Brittana became true !
(and that’s all I’m going to say about this episode, because that’s everything I can think of right now :D)
I love Rachel with her talent, drive, and vulnerability, but I also like how hugely talented supporting cast members are getting more screen time. First with Kurt, then with Brittany, and now with Santana. Naya Rivera really showed off her range and I’m loving how easily she can switch from hilarious bitch to heartbroken girl in love with her best friend. A lot of people are saying it came out of nowhere, but we definitely know they were hooking up before (“If sex were dating, Santana and I would be dating”…. “Oh, sweet lady kisses”). Also, and I admit I may be biased, I think Heather Morris and Naya Rivera have way more chemistry than Heather Morris and Kevin McHale (Artie). They’ve mentioned that they’re besties in real life, so that could help. But so few relationships in Glee have true emotional resonance, especially in this second season that’s been overwraught with themes, gimmicks, and plots driven by songs rather than the other way around. So it’s nice to see a relationship where realistic emotion and feelings are involved. Unlike Quinn and Finn’s connection being mostly for social status because WHO IN THE HELL WOULD FORGIVE SOMEONE WHO LIED TO THEM ABOUT BEING PREGNANT? And Tina and Mike’s constant “we’re Asian” jokes. And Artie’s “look how adorably dimwitted Brittany is. Let’s create Santa Clause for her!” It’s hard to become emotionally invested in most Glee relationships when it doesn’t seem like anyone’s heart is really at stake.
And I love Gwyneth Paltrow as a guest star. Yes, she’s no Kristin Chenowith in the voice department, but she’s fun and has great comedic delivery. Although despite Landslide being the song highlight of the episode (I still tear up a little just listening to it on repeat on Grooveshark), definitely wish we’d heard more of Santana given that the whole song revolved around her and Brittany.
In other news, how great is Mike O’Malley as Burt Hummel? So supportive without being saccharine or superficial in any way. Overall, Glee just needs to find a way to balance the entertainment and comedy with plots and relationships you can actually get invested in.
This episode seemed to be written solely for the purpose of getting Gwenyth Paltrow more musical numbers, and to me, the only one which worked was “Landslide.” Sam correctly identified that as a Dixie Chicks song, even though the original was by Fleetwood Mac, because the arrangement down to the strings and backup vocals was an exact copy of the Dixie Chicks cover. I didn’t get “Animal” at all, and “Kiss,” well that was just uncomfortable (vocals.)Mike O’Malley is superbly written as Burt Hummel, and superbly acted. He deserves an Emmy nomination for Season 2. I agree that the sparkle and fun of Substitute was lacking in this go-round for Gwenyth, and all I can say is she sings OK for an actor….
Nice review, especially your point about “the days when songs that were used on Glee became popular again, and not the other way around (songs used on the show because they’re popular now).” I hadn’t even thought about that, really, but it’s very true. Everything about Glee is just trying to be too “in” and popular, and it’s getting the show away from what made it popular in the first place.
If you’re interested, I have a full review at my blog, too!
The ONLY part that ticked me off was them implying “intimacy until marriage” is not realistic and is “uncool, lame,” etc. Granted, I know abstance is not the social norm anymore but why make fun of people who practice this? Plus, doesn’t this go against their “don’t judge others because they are different” message?
So are they now saying that same gender relationships should not be judged but those who follow abstance are still ok to make fun of and bully? Because it seemed to me that Rachel and Quinn were bullied by the sub that they wanted to wait until marriage (Granted Quinn did loose her V-card but now vows to not do it again).
I don’t know about you but I don’t think anyone should be bullied or judged period. No one should be made fun of because they practice abstance, don’t practice it, are in a same gender relationship, or a different gender relationship. Sorry for the rant.
P.S. Brittany/Santana relationship…totally saw it coming and I really hope it works out. New favorite couple!!!!! 😀