GLEE: Preggers
September 24, 2009 by Kath Skerry
All the single ladies (all the single ladies), now put your hands up! Yes, please put that hand up, high in the air if you loved last night’s episode of GLEE as much as I did. Despite the overplay of Beyonce’s hit summer song, it took on new life when performed by Kurt Hummel and the McKinley High School football team.
I’m starting to think everything takes on a new life when performed by the fantastic Chris Colfer. Having only a relatively minor role in the first two episodes of the series, Colfer has stood out among a cast made up of those who stand out. His pitch perfect portrayal of the oh so chic, Kurt, had us laughing, but it’s the raw vulnerability he has displayed both in “Acafellas” and especially in last night’s “Preggers” that has made stand up and take notice of him…for more than his fierce fashion choices. Despite his struggles to declare his sexuality to the world, Kurt Hummel knows who he is. I’m glad that the writers didn’t spend too much time using Kurt’s sexual identity as a punchline. We’ve often seen teen sexuality play out in prime time television like an after school special. The writers of GLEE, along with Colfer, handled the story beautifully and with dignity. While I imagine that coming out to your family and friends is a struggle for most gay and lesbian teens (and adults), it’s been my experience that one’s sexuality does not define them. For Kurt being gay is just part of what he is, it’s not who he is.
That being said, if a boy is going to come out of that closet, at least he did it in style!
Kudos to Mike O’Malley who guested as Kurt’s alpha male father. Mike is well known for playing blue collar, rough around the edges type of characters, so his declaration that he knew his son was gay since the age of three was surprisingly sweet and touching. Rumor has it that Mike will be back later this season so here’s to hoping that’s true.
There were a lot of overlapping storylines in this episode. Sue’s new segment on the news. Her new alliance with Sandy to take down the Glee Club. The big reveal of Quinn’s pregnancy and the fact that the baby is actually Puck’s. The set-up of Teri’s creep obsession with Quinn’s uterus. And of course Rachel’s struggle to see that spotlight pointed at anyone else but her. But unlike the past two episodes, the creative team seems to have found the balance in the storytelling. There were nice levels that really let each story breathe a bit.
And that’s what I loved about this episode. The writers really seem to have found the much tone of the show. The humor was broad (the dancing football team), smart (Sue’s Corner), dark (Terri…oh Terri) and the drama was very much grounded. The scene where Finn breaks down on Will’s shoulder was really beautiful. It seemed like everything really clicked with this episode and I hope that the writers used it as a blueprint for the rest of the season.
Other than “Single Ladies”, Tina’s brief stint as Maria, and Lea Michelle’s take on Celine Dion’s “Taking Chances” (which was downloaded to my iPod before the episode was over) this episode was light on musical moments. I was ok with it, as it felt more organic. If I’m being honest, I’d rather see Glee build in the musical performances in a natural way rather than going high School Musical on us and having the character’s break out into song randomly to express every emotion they’re feeling.
As for the storyarcs they established last night, I’m a little skeptical as to how the pregnancy storyline is going to play out. Ms. Quinn Fabray, well that girl has a lot of explaining to do. I asked Ask Jeeves and he said that chastity cheerleaders really shouldn’t sleep with the best friend of their boyfriend. It’s just not right. And has 7th Heaven taught you nothing? Pre-marital teen sex always leads to pregnancy tsk tsk tsk. But where is this story going? Are the writers really going to take it to the point where Teri tries to pass of Quinn’s baby as her own? Are we supposed to believe that Will is delusional enough to buy this? Then again, are we supposed to believe that Terry has hid her fake bump from the man she lives with for all these months?
Oh, but why get caught up in all that when this episode was just so much fun?
A few highlights from an episode that was quotable from beginning to end!…
Sue’s Corner because that’s how Sue sees it
- “Caning works. And I think it’s about time we did a little more of it right here.”
- “Yes, we cane”
- “If I was out to get you I’d have you pickling in a mason jar on my shelf by now.”
- “Isn’t think just lovely and normal.”
- “You know I’m tired of hearing people complain, I’m riddled with this disease. Or I was in that tsunami.”
- “I’ll often yell at homeless people, ‘hey how’s that homelessness working out for you? Give not being homeless a try.”
And people who weren’t Sue had some great lines last night too…
- Kurt: “Finn, I need to ask you something.”
Finn: “Thanks but I already have a date to the prom. But I’m flattered. I know how important dances are to teen gays.”
- Artie: “The more times she storms out of rehearsal, the less impact it has.”
- Quinn: “Think of the mail….think of the mail…THINK OF THE MAIL”
- Sandy: “I’m living in a cocoon of horror!”
- Kurt to football team: “Hand, hand point to the finger, hip head. Oh…sneak attack back to the ring. Comb through the hair. Slap the butt.”
- Quinn: “I had sex with you because you got me drunk on wine coolers, and I felt fat that day
- Terri: “Take these three times a day or your baby will be ugly.”
- Ken: “You make this and you die a legend.”
“Kurt: Can I pee first?”
- Kurt: “I’m gay”
Mr. Hummel: “I know.”
Kurt: “Really.”
Mr. Hummel: “I’ve known since you were three. All you wanted for your birthday was a pair of sensible heels.”
Talk to me. Did you enjoy last night’s episode of GLEE? What worked for you and what didn’t? For those of you who were on the fence, did last night’s episode sway you in one way or another?
Ring on it on three!
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Another great episode for Glee. The only thing I don’t like is this pregnancy storyline with Will’s wife. I hope the writers make sense of it, but I really wish they would just lose it.
Kath, I am going to try to take your and Dan’s advice and not watch the clips posted on twitter and FB prior to the episodes. Let’s hope I have will power to keep some surprises. 🙂
I love GLEE! I agree they over-did Single Ladies, but other than that it was excellent! I can’t wait to see how the stories all unfold.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I also feel like they’ve finally found their tone for the show. The musical numbers were wonderfully worked into the show. The characters are getting flushed out. Can’t get enough.
I still love Glee (it’s the only new show I watch live), but I think it has serious flaws. I love the 6 main Glee kids, with Finn and Rachel being my favorites. I liked Kurt and his dancing, but the football team dancing seemed completely inorganic to me. It was really funny to watch, but not believable. Also, I know nothing about football, but even I knew that the problem must only be with the offense, since the defense was able to hold the other team to 2 field goals. I thought the dancing was supposed to give the team better body control OR make them learn to move together (ie play as a team, which didn’t happen because Finn kept getting sacked). Instead it seemed more like everyone laughed at them, which enabled them to score…
Also don’t like the Rachel and Will conflicts. They both have their faults, but it seems like the show wants us to side with Will, which I don’t.
I can see this show having the same problems as Ugly Betty. Everyone keeps quitting Glee (Mode), but you know that it won’t last for long, so it loses some of its effect. Also, I can see them having problems with fleshing out some of the more caricature-like characters, then not knowing what to do with them and having them regress back when they need one-liners.
Loved every single minute of it. I still want to know how Terri got into Quinn’s car. Your quote list is great. I’ve used pretty much all of them at least a half dozen times apiece since last night.
The Finn/Will moment was amazing. My mom yelled at the tv for making her cry then yelled at me for making her a Gleek.
Everyone was spot on in this ep. I also enjoyed that there wasn’t a whole lot of music. Last week felt a little HSM-ish with Mercedes breaking into song in the parking lot.
Did Quinn’s bikini look like the ones the dancing cheerleaders wore last week at the car wash?
As many quibbles as I have with characters/storylines, GLEE is just plain fun to watch! As absurd as the football team dancing was, I adored every minute of it. Plus Tina can belt it out!
Poor Finn. Poor, poor Finn. At first I thought Quinn was making up a pregnancy as some scheme with Sue to get Finn to quit Glee. When it came out that she slept with Puck, even though the reason was funny (“I had sex with you because you got me drunk on wine coolers and I felt fat that day”), I was SO shocked that she would lie to Finn about being the father of her baby. That’s not fair to Finn, to Puck, or to the baby. She just doesn’t want to own up to her mistake.
If Finn does find out the truth (and he has to eventually!), that opens the door for a hook-up with Rachel, although girl has got to learn some major life lessons first. She came off as so extremely unlikable this episode, and I hope she redeems herself soon!
One last thing– how did I not notice how hot Puck was before tonight? I think I focused so much on his awful hair that I never even looked at how attractive his face is. The boy is fine! And I totally googled his birth year to make sure I’m not a total creeper, and the guy is 27! Paging Luke Perry! Although Mark Salling is actually older than Luke Perry was when he started 90210, so maybe it has to be– Paging Andrea Zuckerman!
This was a good episode! I liked it, but … I don’t know that I really loved it. Kind of disappointing, since I heard so many wonderful things. Definitely, the storyline was darker and the music was sparser. I would never say I didn’t “like” the episode, but I guess I kind of found myself much more pleased with Acafellas, which i’ve heard is the opposite of everyone else!
What I did like: Sue’s Corner! God, that woman has the greatest lines ever. And the way Jane Lynch delivers them? Priceless! Yes we CANE! And the quip about yelling at homeless people made me laugh until I was almost rolling off of my couch.
The Will-Terri-Quinn-Finn-Puck storyline is intriguing, and my mind is already racing to guess where they’re going to go with it. So now we don’t only have Terri getting deeper and deeper into a lie about her own pregnancy, but she wants to adopt/steal Quinn’s baby? I spent the first few minutes after Quinn’s admission to Finn thinking, “what a liar. This must be some part of Sue’s plan. She cannot be preggers!” But then when it moved onto Puck being Daddy? Oh my. So much turmoil!
I’m a bit at odds with Rachel. I love Lea, and I love Rachel, and YES, she has a gorgeous voice. But really? She’s acting like a spoiled brat. I understand this is what the writers are going for, but at this point it’s almost making me NOT like Rachel, and that’s disturbing! Also, I hate Celine Dion, so although her performance of “Taking Chances” was fantastic, I haven’t yet let myself download it.
I LOVE Glee, and last night was no exception. My only hesitation is the ‘mean’ factor. It’s cruel for Quinn to lie to Finn about such a thing as her pregnancy, as much as it’s cruel for Terri to lie to Will about her ‘pregnancy’. But all that won’t keep me from watching if I can count on at least 2 breakout songs in each episode. Kurt, you rock!
You forgot Kurt’s quote about being a rum chocolate soufflee – it gave me the giggles! Best episode so far…
i think “or” is supposed to be “on” in “The scene where Finn breaks down or Will’s shoulder ” =]
I loved it, even though I do think that the pregnancy thing is getting a bit ridiculous. But then, I just remember who the creator of this show is…Ryan Murphy also gave us Popular, which was always hysterical and also somewhat unreal. I have to admit, I am curious to see what the eff they have in store for this arc, and whether the Terri character will be somehow redeemed (can’t see how it could possibly happen) or if she and Will will be totally done after he eventually finds out. One thing I LOVED about Terri’s story was the reappearance of Jennifer Aspen playing Terri’s sister! I’ve been a huge fan of hers since she was Charlie’s girlfriend on Party of Five, so I’m always happy to see her.
Kelly, you had me cracking up with your last point about Mark Salling – he is SO hot. And you totally saved me from having to do the Perv Search to check his age; glad to hear he’s not a teenager (although he really doesn’t look too young, so I wasn’t that worried).
I was really, really touched at the scene between Kurt and his dad at the end. The reaction was so unexpected and sweet; I was welling up. Kath, I agree that Mike O’Malley was spot on – he did a great job. The only thing that I thought was odd was that in the previous episode, Kurt made several comments about being punished for his flamboyant ways. One episode later we see his father so compassionate and loving (despite the fact that he’s “not in love with the idea”) – is this really the same man who took Kurt’s car away because he found his tiaras? That didn’t really gel for me. I have to mention another hilarious line that I haven’t seen posted yet – when Kurt’s dad tells his son how proud he was at the football game, and that he wishes Kurt’s mother could have been there…y’know…alive. I loved that line delivery!
Okay, I liked this on so much I was couch dancing with the boys to the Beyonce tune. There are some out there saying this show is too unbelievable, I say escapism at its best, bring it on! Love it for what it is. And hats’ off to Chris Colfer’s fabulous counter-tenor voice and overall performance.
I like the Finn/ Will realtionship and how they kind of pararelle eachother! And they are both super hawt.
OMG, it was just a treat from start to finish…. except maybe for the Terri horror. She is starting to grate, big time…. but her bit with the blonde at first was hysterical, no thanks to terri ‘ dishonesty FEEDS a marriage, they’ll die without it’…..
Wonder if Terri saw Will kiss the teach after the big win……
Kurt was the bomb. Even the overdoing of Single Ladies didn’t seem overdone in his hands…. what a cutie. And I loved his Dad’s scenes….. somehow I knew he knew, and I was hoping it’d be cool at the end. ‘ you’re sure, right? ‘ was another priceless line.
This episode was awesome! I would normally have more to say but since I’ve been watching the office all day, Glee is not fresh in my mind.
Also, “chic” not “sheik” unless you were making some cue ball reference that I certainly don’t get.
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