Alright, I'm just going to come out and say it. Tonight's episode was probably my personal favorite of Glee so far.
Now, I know there are a lot of people who 1) Dislike GaGa (how dare you?!) 2)Dislike Glee and/or 3) Will dislike this particular episode of Glee regardless of their Gleek status. I acknowledge number 3 while anyone who falls within numbers 1 or 2 should reevaluate their feelings and come back (Note: if you return with feelings still in-line with numbers 1 and 2, repeat and try again). You may be asking yourself, "Why does he like it so much if he's willing to acknowledge #3 for other people?" The answer is relatively simple: this episode strikes an emotional chord with me even though a lot of its storyline is kind of lame.
Before we move on, note that there are some decent SPOILERS ahead so this is SPOILER ALERT for those of you who haven't watched the episode or even haven't been keeping up with the last few. SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT! My job is done here. Now, on with the theatricality.
Let's start with the latter part of my answer. Face it. The "high school dress code squelching individuality" premise that leads us to the awesomeness of GaGa is rather weak, though perhaps not totally unexpected when you're dealing with a show that relies heavily on archetypes and severe stereotypes to make its point. That reliance isn't necessarily a bad thing (though I know a lot of people see it that way), you just have to take it for what it is. Remember, the show is a raging satire. You have to take it that way. Taking it too seriously is to doom it to failure. There are way too many things in life to be serious about. Glee is not one of them. Take it easy and enjoy the ride.
Reverse tangent and back to the point. The storyline here isn't incredibly coherent and you can tell that we're in the doldrums leading up to the season finale with the culmination of a nearly a year of awesome with the much anticipated regionals episode ("Journey"). We do, however, see the convergence of several story lines coming to a somewhat reasonable conclusion: Rachel meets, talks with, and gets some closure with her mom, Kurt and Finn explode on each other (mostly Finn being an ass - more on this later), and Puck finally learns what it means to have fathered a child with Quinn. These are all things that have been brewing in the "back nine" of Glee and we've all been wanting to know what would happen. Yet, throwing them altogether at once makes each one of them slightly less satisfying to see. The whole episode could have just as easily been about only Rachel/Shelby or Kurt/Finn and it would have been stronger. That being said, I still enjoyed everything story-wise, perhaps just less than I would have otherwise.
Now on to first of the two parts that made me really love this episode. Simply put - GaGa.
I mean, how can you not love Glee going GaGa? Bad Romance was fantastic, complete with decked out GaGa attire (we have a jumper!). All of the ladies of Glee looked fierce and totally worked it! Can we talk about how Naya Rivera's (Santana's) voice has been the best kept secret on the show? Or how Dianna Agron can bring it like nobody's business? Perhaps most impressive was Chris Colfer rocking the GaGa heels. I mean, I don't know how he did it quite honestly. I know that some of the best gays have taken turns in their mother's heels, but not those ferocious foot monsters! At the end of the day, the Glee Cast version of Bad Romance will be rocking my speakers for quite a while. As far as Poker Face goes, I know that a lot of people have hated it. All you have to do is search Twitter with "Glee" and "Poker Face" to find that probably well over 1/2 of the people who commented thought it was sacrilege. I, however, think it worked well in the context of the show. I saw a lot of similar comments on the iTunes page for Glee: The Music, Vol. 3 - Showstoppers. Everyone thinks that Glee ruined Poker Face. First, it's pretty much inspired by a version that the Lady herself often performs live as opposed to the original version:
Here it seems to work to remind us that Shelby and Rachel, while mother and daughter, won't hold back when it comes down to regionals. Show choir is srs bznss after all. And while "I Dreamed a Dream" from last week's episode was technically a duet between Idina Menzel and Lea Michele, this takes on a different quality because we can actually singing to each other instead of simply about each other.
This brings up an important side note about the songs of Glee. While we can listen to them on iTunes and usually buy them a bit in advance, often it's the emotional attachment and response that comes with the story that we see played out in the episode that really makes these songs worth listening to. Sure, they're great on their own, but when they remind us of what it was that accompanied the song, they're that much better. Just sayin'.
Without much more fanfare, I also have to say that I loved the guys of Glee doing "Beth." Along the lines mentioned above, it takes on a different meaning when you understand why it is that Puck is singing it (and can we mention how hot Mark Salling is? I mean, come on. Puck sundae? Yes, please and thank you).
We finally see him take on some redeeming qualities that we haven't seen for a while (since his attempts to raise money for Quinn and the baby). Also, entirely unrelated to the singing itself, Dianna Agron keeps bringing humanity to Quinn that I would have never thought possible at the beginning of the season. Her facial expressions during the song made me want to run and hug her. However, that would have resulted in an awkward moment with my TV screen, so I simply teared up instead.
Now, on to the second part of what made tonight's Glee one of my personal favorites. In a way it's rather bittersweet, but the Finn vs. Kurt storyline really made this episode connect with me. Perhaps this is because I just identify with Kurt on a lot of levels. While I was never flamboyant in the way that Kurt is portrayed, I shared a lot of fears, loves, and trials. I was lucky in that I never had overt issues with any of my friends when I came out to them (at least not in an in-your-face kind of way) in much the same way as Kurt did. I'm fairly certain that a lot of this had to do with selective friend-picking. Yet, the Kurt/Finn explosion when they start sharing a room really reminds us that it's not always kitties and rainbows (no pun intended... or is it? no, not really) even when things look okay on the surface. Up to this point, Finn had seemed to be kind of comfortable with Kurt being gay, and flamboyantly so. Sure, they had awkward moments, but nothing that suggested a blow-up like this was coming our way. When we see the worlds of gay and straight collide in a closed space, though, the tables turn and we see the real issues spring up.
The truth of the matter is that, like Finn, I've seen so many straight guys that are comfortable with their gay friends only up to a point. There's like an invisible line that you toe where it's okay to be gay as long as you aren't letting it show too much, as though simply being in the presence of "the gay" risks exposure to the gay cooties. I experienced a lot of this in college. Whether or not it was real or perceived doesn't make a ton of difference. Simply the perception that it exists means there's probably some truth to it. Moreover, it's even harder when you feel like you can't really be yourself around someone you consider to be one of your closest friends and even worse when you're trying to suppress feelings for said friend because you're trying to respect them (a la Finn and Kurt). All of this I know from personal experience and all of it is echoed in tonight's episode (and some of the one leading up to it). Then to see Finn finally explode was both painful and heartbreaking because it somehow seems to confirm what can be lurking under the facade of calm "tolerance" that many straight guys seem to express. Remember, there's a big difference between "tolerance" and "acceptance." Does that mean all guys are this way? Not at all. This is a fictional television show, after all. But it's one of those deep dark fears that it taps into.
During the fight, Finn drops "faggy" all over the place and this is perhaps what stings the most. A lot of people use "gay" or "fag" and try and justify it because they say it's harmless and isn't derogatory. But, especially today, you would never use the "N" word casually (unless maybe if you're black - there's a stage where minority groups will recapture derogatory words for themselves and gays are getting there with "that's gay" and "fag" but that doesn't mean that it's okay for the majority to use it, especially when it maintains the negativity) or "retard" when talking about someone who is mentally handicapped. It's the insinuation behind the usage that makes it hurtful moreso than it being directed at a particular person (in this case, Finn never calls Kurt a "fag" but it doesn't matter). If someone is doing something and you say, "Pfft, that's gay," you've probably said it because you think that person is doing something dumb or out of place or distasteful. The insinuation though is that it's all of those things because it's gay. Thus, there's an underlying belief that being gay is a negative thing. Is all of this conscious? Probably not. That doesn't mean it isn't hurtful, though. Sure, you can say that we're always having to be politically correct, but if you're saying that, you're probably in a majority group where you never have to worry about your feelings getting hurt. Wait until you're on the other end of it and see how it feels and then we can talk.
The two ways the episode digs us out of that hole is with Kurt's dad and Finn at the end of the episode. Kurt's dad here personifies what I've always wanted in a friend - someone who would be willing to stand up for me no matter who or what I was with the utmost veracity. It left me speechless and puts Finn in his place. Lastly, Finn's appearance in the red GaGa dress at the end to come to Kurt's rescue was both priceless ("That's why I'm here... in a shower curtain...") and heartwarming. As a bit of GaGa trivia, it was the dress that she wore when she met the Queen (of England). Fitting that Finn should wear it to come to the defense of his gay friend =P. Why is it that you can break my heart and mend it in under 25 minutes? Why, Glee? WHY?!?!
Anywho, until next week remember to watch out for jumpers!
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