- As I noted over on Twitter, Lima, Ohio and William McKinley High School seem quite vulnerable to several Establishment Clause claims. (Though they were careful to choose only non-expressly-religious Christmas songs to appear in the episode.)
- As noted over at HitFix, if you had Brittany in your office pool for "most three-dimensional character of the season so far," you've turned a nice profit. (And Coach Beiste is probably running in the top 3, alongside Kurt.)
- We get a passing reference to Rachel's Judaism, but Puck's goes unmentioned?
- Even by the relaxed standards of Glee, the Kurt/Blaine number, while lovely, had absolutely no narrative tether to the rest of the episode.
- Apparently, Brittany S. Pierce and Hermione Granger share a deep and abiding dedication to the welfare of elves.
- We established last year that Will's parents apparently live nearby--they've apparently disappeared, since Will spending Christmas alone was a major plot point.
- For all the problems I had, there was a lot of funny stuff--Mike Chang's wish that supplied the post title, Will's list of potential gifts to give to Sue ("1. Dog Robot 2. A Soul")--and some authentically heartwarming stuff (the final scene, "I don't hate Christmas. I just hate you.").
At its best, the show remains a ton of fun, and even when it's misfiring, there are enough moments that work that I'm not going to abandon it any time soon, despite a shaky start to this season as they try and figure out a way to balance the overly large ensemble while at the same time adding even more characters to the mix--seriously, the show now has 15 performers billed as regular (though some do not appear in every episode), plus Mike, Sam, Figgins, and Blaine, who are regulars in all-but-title, which is way too many.
Well, didn't Will's dad decide to go to law school last year? (Worst. Idea. Evar.) Not that the *writers* remembered it -- or at least they didn't bother to drop a line in about it for narrative continuity. But you know, whatever -- at least I remember it and wasn't bothered by Will's spending Christmas alone. (Again, I mostly remember it because, well, SpyDaddy doesn't need to go to law school.)
ReplyDeleteYes, he was going to go to school part time, after Will and the Acafellas inspired him to "follow his dreams"--no reference to "moving away" was ever made. Personally, I'd love to see SpyDaddy and Debra Monk again, especially if they got to sing.
ReplyDeleteHow in the world does one cast Debra Monk and Victor Garber without intending for them to sing?
ReplyDeleteI noted to Matt that McKinney-Vento is the federal legislation that guides school districts in regard to homeless students. It's not a charity and you wouldn't call kids "McKinney-Vento."
ReplyDeleteChristmas trees are generally acceptable in schools, as long as there are also symbols of other religions. Didn't see those and can't believe they got a full-on shot of Rachel singing that "Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year."
Ah, I didn't recall the "part time" bit.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I suppose I should be more clear -- I wasn't bothered by Will's spending Christmas alone not because I felt it was consistent with last season but because I just don't ever expect Glee to have narrative continuity. There is literally no connection to real world timelines -- or even to Glee-world timelines from season to season. I've basically made my peace with it and now enjoy Glee for what it is and try to avoid getting frustrated with its (many) shortcomings.
Though, like Watts, I did have big big problems with the ReWalk. (And, earlier this season, the Schu-Bieste kiss.) I wish the writers would hire someone whose sole job is to take the temperature of a given plot for offensiveness.
And now I accidentally deleted my earlier comment when I meant to reply to it. The universe doesn't want me to harsh on Glee, I guess...
ReplyDeleteThe reason the ReWalk bothered me wasn't because it was offensive, but because it was the straw the broke the camel's back for me in terms of the this show's relation to any sort of reality. A. It's not available yet commercially if the manufacturer's site is to be believed, B. It's gotta be way more expensive than even the wealthiest of high school football coach's could afford (unless Bieste has a personal fortune we have yet to hear about), and C. There's no way Artie could use it just right out of the box like that, right? Wouldn't there be months of physical/occupational therapy?
Add that to ridiculous stage sets these kids can afford, the new costumes every week, the overprocessed vocals, and everything else that makes this show completely detached from anything vaguely resembling reality and I just can't take it anymore.
My dad says all the time, "Buy the premise, buy the bit." I just can't buy Glee anymore. At all. In any way.
FWIW, I would also like Channing Tatum to stop being in stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe best part about that line was that a commercial for THE DILEMMA (Vince Vaughn/Kevin James movie that Tatum has a part in) came right after it, at least in the LA market. Anyone else catch that? Too funny.
ReplyDeleteExactly what I have been wondering for a year.
ReplyDeleteThere's enough that I like about Glee to keep me watching - like k, I gave upon "reality" intruding here a long time ago. But for heaven's sake - Brittany believes in Santa, and she sold every line in this episode. And Bieste's speech about patience really got me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Grinch plot was ridiculous, but I really love Becky and Sue together, and I loved "Baby It's Cold Outside" and Kurt's line about loving a kid who is actually gay being a step in the right direction regardless of how little that whole bit had to do with anything. (Though it did lead to the awesome fur-hooded track suit.)
At this point, I'm in the show for the brilliant moments, and I'm just kind of ignoring the rest.
I accept that "Glee" is flawed, but I found a whole episode about Christmas, even the secular side of it, a bit much in the same season as an episode about the varying religions and spiritual choices of the characters that ended with the idea that talking about religion in school was bad, although the Sue grinch part redeemed it a smidgeon.
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