About Last Night…GLEE, SCANDAL, PARKS AND RECREATION, and More

Last night was a fairly difficult night of television, with some things absolutely brutal to watch. Let’s talk about what went down…

THE BIG BANG THEORY: Oh my God, I had so much sympathy for the guys for having their INDIANA JONES dreams crushed when Amy pointed out that Indy had basically no real impact on the events of RAIDERS and if he hadn’t been there, things would have turned out the same. I haven’t seen that movie, but it feels like that would be so alarming to realize about a beloved movie. It’s like going back to rewatch or reread something you loved as a kid and realizing how utterly ridiculous it was.

PARKS AND RECREATION: Uggggggh, my heart. When actors leave a show, it’s almost always a little sad, but it’s hard for me to picture Leslie Knope without her Ann Perkins. That being said, next time I get bad news, I hope someone shoves a waffle in my mouth as they’re telling me it.

GLEE: I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like last night’s episode and I truly hope I never have to again. I’ve been dreading the show’s farewell to Finn since they officially announced they’d be killing him off (following Cory Monteith’s real-life death) and almost 12 hours after watching the episode, I still feel gutted by the hour. Since Monteith was cast on GLEE, I had encountered him probably close to two dozen times over the years at various network/show events, and it struck me time and time again how extraordinarily kind he always was, even after the show blew up. I don’t know how the cast and crew — people who were actually his friends — got through filming the episode. I barely got through it, partially because the grief on his former castmates faces was so raw and present. It felt invasive, it felt like a group grieving sessions, but most importantly, it also felt like it was celebrating the impact someone can have on your life, no matter how short of a period they were there for.

The music was beautiful, and it broke my heart to see “Seasons of Love” (a song I always wanted them to sing) have to be used in this manner. I am so appreciative the focus was on the original glee club for the most part, because yes, the newer kids are good, but I didn’t need a Marley solo song for this. I didn’t need a Blaine song. It goes without saying Lea Michele was just absolutely gut-wrenching as Rachel. Romy Rosemont reprising her role as Finn’s mother just completely broke my heart, and Mike O’Malley is always amazing as Burt.

Overall, it was a beautiful hour of television. Gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and unbelievably painful, but it was needed. The show handled it the best way it could have, and I’m thankful I didn’t come out of the hour feeling emotionally manipulated. Finn Hudson will be missed. Cory Monteith will be missed. It’s the end of a GLEE era, for sure.

SCANDAL: A couple things stood out to me as I was watching last night’s episode: one was that it’s fascinating how the show can spend such a huge chunk in flashbacks and still have every scene be utterly compelling. We knew Olivia’s father wasn’t as innocent as he pretended to be, we knew Huck wasn’t crazy, we knew Olivia and her father would have a rift — and still, I was captivated.

The current stuff once again reiterated that aside from, maybe, David Rosen, all of these characters are just terrible people. Terrible. They’re awesome to watch, they’re messed up, and I love getting sucked into their drama, but they time and time again prove that they’re willing to do whatever they want — and ruin anyone’s life — to do what they feel is needed. Yes, Olivia tried to talk the intern out of accepting blame as Fitz’s mistress, but at the same time, unless another person was named, no one would believe her. The Gladiators/Fitz/Fitz’s team end up causing so much destruction in the name of doing what they think is right, whether it’s the right way to go or not. It doesn’t make the show less enjoyable. It’s just jarring to be so reminded of it at times.

(That being said, Guillermo Diaz (Huck) is so, so, so good.)

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Let’s hear it — what did you watch last night?

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