Sorry that this post is very delayed. I was attending a Glee event! Amber Riley, Cory Monteith, and Mark Salling were all at Bryant Park doing “Carol-Oke” raising awareness for Toys for Tots. Sadly, they didn’t sing any carols, but I did get the chance to interview all three of them! I have some exciting Glee scoop and info including what Amber wants to sing on Glee, what Cory wants to see from his character, and what Mark’s most challenging part of filming is…but I’ll post all of that next week for the Fall Finale!
But anyway, let’s talk last night’s episode of Glee! The episode, titled Mattress, centered around the Glee Club preparing for sectionals, and their photo in the yearbook. In previous years, their photo has been defaced, and this year it looked like Glee was not going to get a picture after all. The Club seems more than okay with this (Kurt points out some hilarious de-facings). But Mr. Schue decides that Glee should have a photo, and has to fight Figgins and Sue. The Glee club settles on a compromise, and elects Rachel to be the “captain” and represent the club in the yearbook. Rachel gets Finn to agree to be her co-captain, but after being hassled by the football team Finn doesn’t show up. During Rachel’s photo session, she learns that the photographer is going to direct and cast a local commercial. She decides that this would be a great way for the Glee club to look cool (and earn some yearbook/street cred) and they shoot a music video for the commercial. They sing “Jump,” by Van Halen while flipping and jumping on the mattresses. I really loved this musical number. It’s great to see them just having fun and being themselves–no drama or slushees. Meanwhile, Quinn is determined to get back on the Cheerio squad (and into the yearbook photo), and she ends up saving the day. After the commercial, the mattress store sends all the kids mattresses. Mr. Schue ends up sleeping on one (more on that later), thereby disqualifying the Glee Club from sectionals because they accepted a gift (and forfeited their amateur status). Quinn goes to Sue (uniform and baby bump and all) and threatens to tell Principal Figgins about all the gifts all the Cheerios received. She insists that Glee got their own full page picture (one of the Cheerios pages), free of charge. After she gets what she wants, she declares she doesn’t want to be on Cheerios anyway. I really enjoyed Quinn sticking up for herself. She is turning into such a wonderful, well-developed character.
However, the most memorable storyline of this episode wasn’t the whole yearbook fiasco. This episode was Jessalyn Gilsig’s (Terri Schuester) chance to shine. I interviewed her last month, and she was delightful. I was thrilled to see her get her big scene, even if it was very upsetting to watch. Mr. Schuester, while looking for his pocket squares, stumbles upon one of Terri’s baby pads (what she has been using to make her look pregnant). He asks her what it is and discovers by looking for himself that Terri isn’t actually pregnant. I could see the despair in both Will and Terri’s eyes, and it was such a poignant moment. Terri was vulnerable, scared and unsure, and you could say the same about Will. He was duped, but he still loves Terri. She did what she had to in order to hold onto her relationship, but this moment had to come. It wouldn’t be Glee (or realistic) if Quinn just handed her baby over to Terri and everything worked out fine. Moments like these are what keeps Glee grounded. Will didn’t break out into song (and sadly neither did Terri–Jessalyn, we’ll get you your solo!) or do anything cliched. It was just a real moment, full of real emotions. It was brilliant acting on the part of Jessalyn Gilsig and Matthew Morrison. And while I was always sort of rooting for Emma and Will all along, I don’t think Terri and Will are over. Many bloggers and critics alike had expressed that they didn’t like or find the need for Terri’s character. I feel quite differently. I thought this was one of the best moments from the show so far this season, because it was so honest and adds a lot to Will’s character. If he had a perfect home life, he wouldn’t be as interesting or unique of a character.
And I have said this much without talking much about the music. “Smile” by Lily Allen is such a wonderful song, and I was so glad to hear Lea Michele and Cory Monteith sing it. Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” is also great (and another tear inducing number), that ended the show quite nicely. Schuester said because he was the only one who accepted a gift (by sleeping on one of the mattresses because of his home troubles), he won’t go to sectionals so the Glee Club can still compete. I was sad there weren’t more musical numbers, but I hear that next week’s show more than makes up for it. I don’t even want to think about the fact that next week is the last episode until April, so I’ll just continue to appreciate Glee for all it is. I would have to disagree with the assertion that it has become over-rated. I love it, and I’m not afraid to say it. Every episode can’t be “Wheels” or full of Kurt dancing to Beyonce, but every episode has its great moments, and its even greater musical numbers.
Quotes of the Episode:
“While they were in there, I told ’em to go ahead and yank out those tear ducts. Wasn’t usin’ ’em.” -Sue Sylvester
“Aside from nudity and the exploitation of animals, I’ll pretty much do anything to break into the business.” -Rachel
And because I know you want to listen to it over and over, here is Smile (Charlie Chaplin version):