Wednesday, September 22, 2010

META STASIS: So, Glee. On the one hand, last night's season premiere was one of the strongest episodes of the series. For me, the show is at its best when it is funny, and last night was full of funny moments. Some were good writing in its ordinary form (Britney's summer vacation, Coach Beiste's nonsensical Arkansan vernacular, Asian camp); some were just good performing (best deadpan comic timing by a person with Down's Syndrome, ever); a great many were meta (the intro reciting Internet complaints about the show; Finn's terrible dancing; Finn and Artie's half-baked idea of making Artie into a football player, which felt like a riff on the absurdity of the Kurt/football storyline last season). The new characters worked for me, especially Coach Beiste, an expertly-performed and fully rounded character who replaces the one-dimensional Coach Tanaka (the two new singing kids worked too, primarily because they didn't seem as square and out-of-touch as three quarters of the incumbent Nude Erections). I'm not capable of commenting fairly on the songs, since they're not up my alley, but at least they seemed well-chosen, well-staged, and well-placed within the smartly unambitious plot of the first episode.

But it wouldn't be Glee without some stupid decisions, would it? I thought the opening device of appropriating (for laughs) common criticisms of the show was brilliant. I thought Ryan-Murphy-as-Kurt's response to the criticism was petty and defensive. Yes, it is far harder to create something like Glee than it is to criticize it. That is true of literally every work of professional entertainment, from poetry to pornography. So nobody should criticize anything ever? Perhaps Murphy should develop a thicker skin.

And what about the way the show abandoned plots and characterizations it had worked so hard to develop credibly? Last season, Quinn grew up, had a baby, learned to be a supportive teammate instead of an icy queen bee, and chose to reject the Cheerios. Rachel developed a complicated emotional relationship with her mother, the long-time coach of the rival Vocal Adrenaline (a woman with some alleged sexual chemistry with the chemically inert Schue). Tina and Artie hooked up in a way that made more sense than other relationships on this show. But somehow, in an offscreen summer, Quinn reacquired her cheer-conniving (coming to school with a plan to backstab Santana and appeal to Sue's venality to get back into the Cheerios), Idina Menzel vanished, and Tina suddenly chose abs over Artie. I guess everybody should buckle in for another season of plot whiplash.

11 comments:

  1. I agree with the comments about plot whiplash, save for that Shelby Corcoran's disappearance was explained--recall she said she was quitting coaching VA so she could be a mommy to Quinn's baby. 

    Also, some really weird billing stuff going on--three people (Heather Morris, Naya Rivera, and Mike O'Malley) promoted to main cast, and Jayma Mays and Jessalyn Gilsig not listed in regular cast.  The latter wouldn't be that odd--recall that Stockard Channing had a similar deal with West Wing, where she was listed in credits only in episodes in which she appeared--save for that O'Malley didn't appear in the episode either.

    Finally, Lea Michele's bangs--pro or con?  I currently go with "con," but can persuaded on this point.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I assumed the vanishing of the Idina Menzel character was based on the actress' schedule. Wasn't that always designed as a recurring role?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marsha11:44 AM

    I liked, but didn't love the episode, for mostly the same reasons you state. Also, I hate hate hate "Empire State of Crap" or whatever that song is, so that sucked.

    But wow, did I love Coach Beiste. What a fantastic new character, and both writer and actress did a phenomenal job of making her full-formed very quickly. I really hope her nonsensical exclamations (and Sue's complete confusion over them) will be a running gag, and I think they'll quickly become among my favorite lines of the episodes, along with Brittany and Sue's.

    And Sue's little history lesson about the Mexican Indians selling Mahattan to George Washington was awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm not a huge fan of the Jay-Z version of Empire State of Mind, but the Alicia Keys "broken down" version is quite excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I thought of people at this blog when the remark about Schu's rapping came up. Made me smile.

    I hate Rachel's bangs. I think they age her. Loved her version of What I Did for Love though.

    I liked the episode overall, but I really thought Quinn's character was lovely last year, and her friendhsip with Mercedes especially, and now that is just erased? I'm annoyed.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rachel just gets more and more hateful each episode. I want to see less of her.  And I wish that Sunshine had stayed with New Directions - I would have liked to see someone else get all the good solos.

    I hate that "New York" song (it always feels like it's building to something and never quite gets there; and the awful grammar of "city where dreams are made on" drives me nuts.)

    I didn't recognize the song that the new blonde kid sang, but I liked it, and hope he sticks around.

    As for abandoned plots/developments:

    I didn't like that Tina dumped Artie, although it felt true to the brevity and ADD of high school relationships. 

    I felt like the show wrapped up Shelby's arc neatly (if unbelievably) this season, when she said she wanted a life of her own, and adopted Quinn's baby.

    It made sense to me that Quinn fought to get back in the Cheerios. I really liked her character development last year, but I can see how the cold realization of starting a new school year after being branded a slut, with no boyfriend, and no cheerleader outfit, and being one of the still-dorky Glee clubbers would cause her to seek out some higher social status again. But I do hope that she remains both human and friends with Mercedes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. J. Bowman2:32 PM

    Did not like.
    I'll post my one thought on the show's continued ignorance of school calendars once I get back to my room, but so much of this was nonsense, and The Quinn plot in particular felt like a reset on an otherwise complicated character. I'm close to only watching this show to get to Raising Hope.
    Speaking of which, I really liked Raising Hope, and not just because they played "Punk Rock Girl" during a flashback. That was a strong first episode. Not so much Running Wilde, which I really wanted to like more Han I actually did.

    ReplyDelete
  8. laura3:56 PM

    In Tina's defense, I think she mentioned that Artie spent an entire month ignoring her and playing Halo; besides, in work situations sometimes love blooms ... I thought the episode had its strengths and weaknesses, agree on the Empire State of Mind song, and also hope they find a few more fresh faces for Nude Erections.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh poor transferred Matt. We never knew you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. spacewoman4:58 PM

    I laughed out loud like, 5 times during Raising Hope.  That's pretty good for a pilot. 

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jennifer11:47 PM

    I'm sad for Matt too. I kept hoping that kid would get some lines. How much would it suck to be in on the Glee hype for a year and then get dropped? Especially when the other guy gets to be a star?

    ReplyDelete