I did not have high hopes for this episode of Glee. The kids get drunk and Will goes country with Beist. Hmm. I listened to previews of the sings and apart from the Human League classic, Don’t You Want Me, they seemed like pretty forgettable songs too. However, the episode turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected and one of the best for a while. My Lea Michele fan status is well declared here, and I just laughed non stop during her attempt at song writing – My Headband. How Lea Michele managed to sing that with a straight face I do not know. There has been press this week that the show will be airing two original songs in future episode. My Headband doesn’t look like it will be making it to the next CD or the next competition!
Then we had the Rachel Berry Houseparty Train Wreck Extravaganza! Poor Lea Michele wore the ugliest dress in existence (and incidentally, she is definitely the cast member who has had more slushies, food and this week vomit in her face than anyone else!)
The party turned into a wild affair complete with Brittany stripping and doing body shots, before snogging Sam, Rachel and Blaine getting frisky and a rather funny run down from Finn about the types of drunks the girls were. In the interests of fairness, I hope we get similar clichéd generalisations about the guys at some point..
After their kiss, Rachel asks Blaine out on a date, much to Kurt’s horror. I rather liked this little twist. No one seriously could think Rachel and Blaine would be a couple, but he is very cute and charming and Rachel is super talented and gorgeous. It can be easy to forget that the characters are only supposed to be 16 or 17 as the actors are a lot older, but I think it is fair enough that they might still be finding out about themselves. I was also happy that while Kurt was upset, he didn’t get too mean or angry at Rachel (but did it really take her THAT long to tidy up from the party? She had time to go to school the next day then go out on a date with Blaine possibly another day later.)
I am really enjoying the character of Coach Beist. She looked like she might be another Glee caricature when she was introduced, but her friendship with Will is so nice. Their country and western night out was a bit of light relief for Will.
As is nearly always the case, the New Directions assembly performance doesn’t quite go to plan, but great to see Brittany take the lead – not that her voice is a standout, but her dancing and performance skills match any pop star in my opinion! Heather Morris is fab! Also a Figgins heavy episode is always a good thing.
As a Joni Mitchell fan, I liked Rachel’s attempts to become a singer/songwriter and the Joni mentions, but all in all this really was a good episode. Teen drinking has been an issue pretty much forever. As Will says, it is something all adults frown on but looking back, didn’t we all try it? Ask any adult and they will probably have a story about the first time they got drunk as a teen. (I still find the US drinking age of 21 as opposed to our UK 18 odd. Must make being a student much more complex!) Glee managed to address it without being too preachy, indeed I bet more conservative parents groups will probably not be happy that the kids were getting drunk like this. Like Grilled Cheesus and religion earlier in the season, they are having a go at a few thorny issues this season on Glee.
The Good Wife focussed mainly on Diane this week as her sometime boyfriend Kurt McVeigh (Gary Cole) returned. It was also the first appearance of Ugly Betty herself, America Ferrera, who I was a little disappointed to see ONLY interacting with Eli Gold (Alan Cumming). I love Eli, but any sort of romance is icky and I prefer him as a total heartless bastard. He was kind of taken with her, indeed, her character was lovely. Hope she gets to meet other cast members.
Another solid episode, although a bit light on the Alicia and Kalinda front. Was that Kalinda’s husband who was calling her?
V continued the drama by giving Tyler a haircut (please, take the whole head off!) while Erica put her foot down to take charge of the Fifth Column which included a bit of world travel. It was all a bit blah blah blah this week. I’m hoping they get on with things and start the battle proper soon. Still too much talk.
On Pretty Little Liars the frothy mystery continues, with more cute boys that our girls can swoon over. We had one of the occasional flashbacks when we see the girls with the late lamented Allison, and whenever we meet her, you wonder why oh why the girls hung around with the amoral bitch! Aria and Ezra continued their creepy teacher/pupil love, Spencer seems to be rather into Toby (see, I’ve FINALLY worked out who everyone is!!!) Once again though, the red herring count is ridiculously high. I do hope we get some answers at some point. Only problem is once they do that, the show is over!
The Chicago Code is building up to be a pretty enjoyably complex drama. I could do without Jennifer Beals’ odd Chicago twang (even if she is a Chicago native herself it sounds weird.) but the politics and personal interactions are intriguing. Still a tad slow at times, but it’s quality stuff.