After much much too long, Glee finally returned and its post-Superbowl show earned huge ratings too. But was the episode as super? Well I was a bit unsure at first. For a start off, the episode was about 5 mins longer than normal – and oddly it felt more leisurely in pace. There is also the anticipation factor. When you are a huge huge fan of something, you are so excited to see a new episode, it always feels like a bit of a let down. I remember back to the days of the height of my Xena:Warrior Princess obsession. A friend in the US would send me video tapes and I was just so excited when a new tape popped through the door, it was hard to relax and watch an episode objectively.
After watching the new Glee episode, The Sue Sylvester Shuffle (weird name, she does no dancing..) I was not totally bowled over, however, on listening to the tracks on YouTube later and listening to my favourite Gleeful Podcast I found a lot to enjoy about the episode.
For once the storyline was strong, but in some ways almost too serious! The bullying football team are forced to join Glee club for a week, meanwhile insane Sue wants to liven up the Cheerios Nationals bid by shooting Brittany out of a cannon! The Glee Club and Footballers prepare a mash up of Thriller and Heads Will Roll, but after Karofvsky gets a taste of his own slushie medicine, he and the other meatheads pull out. It is up to Finn to try and pull everyone together.
I am not quite sure if I am ready to sympathise with the bullying jocks yet. Karovsky has been a constant menacing threat on the show and the other dumb jocks simialarly ignorant. OK so it was fun to see them join in, but a bit too pat.
Meanwhile, I was thrilled to see Mecedes and Rachel go for a coffee with Kurt and Blaine, although the Warbler’s Bills, Bills Bills number was totally arbitrarily shoe horned into the episode.
Rachel and Puck sang together -for I think the first time – but the Thriller/Heads Will Roll number was the standout. However I had trouble recognising who was who in that crazy zombie make up! Artie’s voice suited the Michael Jackson song well.
We saw the return of top dogs Finn and Quinn in this episode. OK so Finn did a similar thing in the Sectionals episode back in season 1, but Quinn was much more pro-active than we have seen her in ages. She questions Sue, leads the rebellion about Brit and the cannon and ultimately leads the three of them out of the Cheerios. However, the episode ended with a kiss between Quinn and Finn – do we really want to go there again?? I
It is great to have Glee back, and a strong episode, with another in a few days! Woo Hoo!
Another show with a strong episode was House. This week’s episode saw Cuddy’s mother as the patient of the week, in a really emotional and surprisingly serious episode. There was very little of House’s madness or anything light hearted. He was trying to do the best he could because of his feelings for Cuddy, but that also made House not quite as confident about his actions as usual. I have always been a big Huddy fan, and I love that they are showing a proper relationship between two adults. It is by no means perfect, but also not filled with petty bickering and teasing as I thought it might be. House acts in an underhand way -as usual – but for the best of intentions. He also calls Cuddy on the way she lets her mother walk all over her, forcing her to stand up for herself. It was a great episode for a look at their relationship.
Meanwhile, Amber Tamblyn’s young doctor might be brilliant, but she looks utterly miserable working with House. I know she’s a temporary guest star, but I would say to that character to get out now before she totally falls apart! House is a lunatic!
New cop series The Chicago Code had it’s premiere. As a big Jennifer Beals fan from her L Word days, I was glad to see her get a lead role on a network show, and it looks like it could be interesting. To be honest, this first episode was a bit grim and we don’t really know anyone yet. The characters look like they could be interesting to get to know, but I’m reserving judgement for a bit.