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You smell like Craigslist.
Okay, first things first: I have a lot of Sam, Quinn and Mercedes feelings that might be best resolved in their choosing to have a polyamorous relationship. I’m just saying.
First off, Sam. SAM. SAAAAAAAM. I feel like I can’t write his name without threatening some kind of devolution into hysterical typing where I just interchangeably henpeck the letters S, A and M in various orders while shrieking with joy. This dude is legitimately my favorite character, and he’s almost definitely going to get ruined somehow now that he’s back, but until then, I’m just going to put a lot of really happy words about him on the internet. Yeah, he wasn’t perfect tonight – that condescending speech to Quinn about her “rich white girl problems” really bothered me – but I’m so thrilled to see him that I can’t find it in me to spend much time kvetching or, you know, have perspective.
Instead, I’m just going to focus on how starry-eyed the Sam/Mercedes moments tonight made me. The grin threatening to burst on Mercedes’s face when she was walking away from Sam down the hallway; how proud Sam looked during the Troubletones performance; that embarrassed and thrilled reaction she had during ABC: all of it was magic. This is all so unfamiliar to me – getting to see one of your OTPs actually become/be canon. I feel like I should talk to some Kurt/Blaine shippers to figure out how to process it. It’s like eating a lot of really great gouda when you usually don’t have any extra money to buy really great gouda, and you’re overwhelmed by how full you are, but the gouda is just so awesome that you want to keep eating. MORE GOUDA, GLEE. BRING THAT SHIT ON.
Mercedes herself continues to be flawless. She’s grown into her own this season, and she’s done it on her own terms; I especially love that she refused to come back to ND without making sure first that things would be different. It feels weird saying I’m proud of her, because lol fictional character, but you know, I’m really proud of her.
And then, Quinn. I just, Quinn’s storyline leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. It feels all wrong to me, like they’ve just thrown her into the mud and let her wriggle there for episode after episode, without bothering to ask questions about why she’s this messed up. It seems like we’re supposed to think Quinn’s problems have to do with her lack of perspective, judging by the “fix” she got tonight – apparently it’s as simple as getting her to appreciate her youth and the time she has with her friends. But what we’re being shown is Quinn leaping from irrationality to irrationality with no contextual acknowledgement that if she’s this divorced from reality, there’s something majorly, majorly wrong with her, and she needs way more help than her friends can give. It’s frustrating as hell, and I can’t bring myself to care about it as much as I’d like to, because there’s no sense that anyone involved in writing her has any interest in making this psychologically realistic.
The way she reached out to Mercedes at the end, though? That was beautiful. I’ve missed seeing their friendship so much, and seeing them dance together made my heart happy.
Is it heartless to say I didn’t much care for the Papa Chang/Mike/Tina storyline? I feel like that’s probably a very unpopular opinion. I didn’t hate it, but it felt so familiar and overdone, and tbh I kind of understand where Mike’s dad was coming from. Not that Mike shouldn’t embrace his dreams, if that’s what makes him happy, but a solid backup plan is a really important thing when you’re going for a career in the arts (or, hell, the humanities in general), and a little gray area would’ve gone a long way here. It was nice to see Tina speak and do things, too, but would it be too much to ask for her to have her own plotline that doesn’t revolve around her boyfriend? Don’t answer that.
Other things:
- Fuck it, the Troubletones should’ve won. I’m totally biased, and ND was pretty solid, especially during ABC, but the Troubletones killed. The music tonight on the whole was actually way better than it’s been for a long time, and I loved hearing so many different voices in one episode (especially Tina! Yay, Tina!). “We Are Young” was one of those moments where the song paid off because it benefited from storylines and context, and it reminded me that when it comes down it, my real OTP for this show is everyone/everyone.
- Finn did things tonight that were worth talking about, I guess. Whatever, I'm sure they were offensive somehow even though I didn't really pay attention.
- Kurt and Rachel singing along with Harmony. ♥_____♥
- PUCK PUCKERMAN, WHAT IS YOUR HAIR AND IS THERE EVEN A CURE FOR IT ANYMORE THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE A NUCLEAR OPTION. Like, is that an actual life choice Mark Salling made? Did he lose a bet? Are the hairstylists on the show trying to confuse him? Is he hiding all those unsold copies of Pipe Dreams in that waxy wave? I swear, I missed entire stretches of dialogue because I was giggling too hard to hear anything.
- I lost it at Will’s creepy “Hey guys, I’m here now, yeah! Aren’t we awesome? Hey, remember when I was a major character on this show? Wasn’t that fun? That was cool, right?” laugh at the very end. Like, legitimately got teary from cracking up.
- RIP Troubletones. ;______;
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This is the best description tbh, lol. I've very rarely had an OTP that went canon but the few times it did happen, there was a lot of keymashing, and "hey guys. GUYS. GUYSSSS. IT'S CANON! C-A-N-O-N!" and I felt like screaming out windows or something. It's a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, or something.
lol overinvestment in fictional charactersI don't really care for the Changs storyline either. I feel the same as you - I mean, it's good to want to follow what you really want to do but like. Not everybody gets their dream, and in reality, a dancer's career is usually over at 35 (unless they become a teacher or something), so, yeah.
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Quinn, yes. Ugh. The epic condescension towards her this ep was infuriating (esp from Sam, who usually behaves much better than this). But I was grateful (!) for the small favor of having Rachel, another girl, ultimately be the one who gets through to her. At least it wasn't "straight white dude fixes crazy girl's problems." And Rachel has a perspective that's genuinely relevant, as Shelby's bio-daughter, and the adopted daughter of parents who as a gay couple are often de facto considered unfit.
The thing that was driving me most crazy while watching the episode was the whole WE NEED TO ENJOY BEING YOUNG BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST TIME OF OUR LIVES OMG. It's a basic fact of lit/media for/about young people that it's always by and for adults primarily, and reflects adult fantasies of what young people are/are supposed to be. And omg, it was so incredibly obvious and clunky that the characters were mouthpieces for the 40-something writers looking back with fond nostalgia at their teen years in that ep. Glee, when it's good, is usually quite smart about examining the cultural construct of "what it means to be a teenager" -- characters like Rachel and Kurt are constantly aware of how much their expectations are shaped by media narratives about teenagers and how much their realities often fail to live up to that. And RIB are also very good at not overtly idealizing the state of being a teenager -- if anything, Glee-when-it's-good is all about how much that often SUCKS. So it's major tonal dissonance (on Glee? My word!) to suddenly be all "be GRATEFUL that you're YOUNG." Because dude, that's a perspective that generally only comes with age and nostalgia. The only character I could buy that from was Sam, because he's been forced out of normative-teenagerhood into responsibilities labeled adult -- and it's almost entirely people who HAVE adult responsibilities that think teenagerhood is something to hold on to.
(One of the things I always appreciated about Will, back when he had, like, characterization and stuff, was that he had a really interesting mixture of that idealizing "best time of my life omg" thing combined with a real understanding, because he sees it every day, of how shitty teenagerhood can be, and yet he still clings to those fantasies of himself and the kids around him. It always struck me as something very real, and embodies the conflict around how we think about teenagerhood in our culture -- especially those of us adults who love and consume (and CREATE!) teen narratives. He was like a window onto those ideas, while still being a real flawed person in his own right. oh, for those glory days when Will was interesting!)
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Beyond sick of saint!Finn, though. And everything Blaine. I mean, lol okay, Finn is threatened by Blaine's talent (figured that was Finn's beef)? Uhh, way to bag on the other members who have ALWAYS had better talent that you, like Artie who sings circles around everyone.
It’s like eating a lot of really great gouda when you usually don’t have any extra money to buy really great gouda, and you’re overwhelmed by how full you are, but the gouda is just so awesome that you want to keep eating.
Welcome to Brittana. Were we have been eating American cheese, with treats of Cheddar for those special occasions, for the past two season. NOW SUDDENLY GOUDA. THE GOOD STUFF IS STUPENDOUS. Lol, though. I was torn over being sarcastically (or not so) bitter that, "HERE LESBIANS, HAVE A HANDHOLD," but also LKAJFL;KASFJ BRITTANA HANDHOLD ALKDJFAL;. I mean, Santana initiated public affection. Help.
Your cheese analogy could be used for Quick, too. Season 1 we got Cheddar. Season 2 we suddenly became violently lactose-intolerant and now. CHEESE.
I hear you on Quinn. We've seen this before. I'm not holding my breath that this Quinn will last 'till the end. BUT. Okay. I was happy that somehow the episode kind of ended up being about her. Like, she was kind of the hero. And oh my Jesus, refreshing as fuck to have a girl solve a problem without having a guy spoon feed her through it and/or a girl be the cause of a problem for once. And with Rachel being the ultimate *sigh*
SAMCEDES ♥♥ GET HER, SAM. I'm glad that it ~looks~ like there won't be a Quinn/Sam/Mercedes battle.
I didn't have issue with Sam. I saw some, "Wow, Sam's changed," comments last night. Uh, I would hope that he's changed given what he's been through.
I have been Troubletones all the way, and their number cemented why they are better. That number was genius. I mean, they did waacking. Which came from gay and latino discos (and who is gay and latina?!), while singing disco. *slow clap for Ryan and Zach on that one* Buuut, on a re-watch I enjoyed ND just as much if not more, no matter manipulating it all is because we always see ND's full set-list and not the competitions. Their choreography matching the era of the song was great, too. It's nice to know that we will very well see Mercedes, Santana Sugar (oh god, I hope so) and Brittany get a number along with ND.
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First off, things I enjoyed:
- I actually did enjoy the Mike/Tina/Mike's dad storyline, but I think that's probably because it hit pretty close to home. IA that a solid back-up plan is required, but I'm relating 100% on the "one half of the family doesn't support your dreams and it's tearing errbody apart" bit, so from the very beginning Mike's storyline this season has meant a lot to me. I think HSJr has been doing a great job with the acting/singing as well as the dancing, so I hope they continue giving him focus :D
- sam Sam SAM SAM! omg omg omg he's back bb he's back idek what to do with myself i'm just all a-flutter~! His and Mercedes' faces just made the episode for me <3_____________________________<3
- Puck's hair has crossed that thin thin line between horrifying me and giving me great joy, and it was perfecting in its awfulness.
- HOW ABOUT MERCEDES THO? CAN WE TALK ABOUT MERCEDES? Because oh my goodness but she has grown. Making requests for herself and being confident that she can make them happen, leading a choir thhrough (what I imagine to be) a flawless setlist (I mean we only heard IWS/S and it was glorious.) I just have so many Mercedes feelings all the time because it's like we're watching her grow into this amazing person ;______________♥
So continuing on that plot bunny vein from a few weeks ago wherein somehow Rachel and Mercedes become co-captains, here's how I'm seeing it:
So as competition (regionals? Nationals? IDEK.) nears, Will starts worrying about the sheer numbers the other teams have -- that whole Wall of Sound thing he was talking about last season. Mercedes mentions that the rest of the Troubletones would probably be willing to join ND, because they really enjoyed being in the TT, and Will is like ~seized~ with the idea of all of those
nubile young bodiesvoices. Only problem is, the TTs are all Cheerios, and they heard through the magical Cheerio grapevine that it was Finn who got overheard, so out of solidarity or something idk, they refuse to be captained by him. In fact, they say they want Mercedes because she did such a fantastic job. Finn fights it, but after a brief period of inner struggle Rachel embraces the idea and convinces him to do so as well (because it's her last year at school and she really wants to win this competition, no matter the cost.) AND THEN CO-CAPTAINS AND DUETS AND UST AND AWESOME THINGS LIKE THAT.The not-so-good-things:
- Troubletones should have won, tyvm.
- I'm sure there was more but I'm choosing to focus on the positives this week and also I have to leave so yeah.
D'JA SEE MY ICON? DIDJA SEE IT? SAM/MERCEDES COME TO ME ~~~
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Yes. This.
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And then, Quinn. I just, Quinn’s storyline leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. It feels all wrong to me, like they’ve just thrown her into the mud and let her wriggle there for episode after episode, without bothering to ask questions about why she’s this messed up. It seems like we’re supposed to think Quinn’s problems have to do with her lack of perspective, judging by the “fix” she got tonight – apparently it’s as simple as getting her to appreciate her youth and the time she has with her friends. But what we’re being shown is Quinn leaping from irrationality to irrationality with no contextual acknowledgement that if she’s this divorced from reality, there’s something majorly, majorly wrong with her, and she needs way more help than her friends can give. It’s frustrating as hell, and I can’t bring myself to care about it as much as I’d like to, because there’s no sense that anyone involved in writing her has any interest in making this psychologically realistic.
^This^
Quinn has potential to be an incredible three-dimensional character, but they just throw her around like she doesn't matter and it's very frustrating.
But there was a lot that made me really happy too. Just about all the kids got a chance to shine. I love Tina singing. She has such a sweet voice, and even though she's not a powerhouse belter, her voice is still strong. I wish we heard more of her. I'm not the biggest fan of Jenna's acting on the show, but I think she shines on stage, and is probably a really great theater actress.
Sam and Mercedes - they're so lovely together, and Mercedes is really adorable. I remember seeing the prom episode and when he asks her to dance, I got shipper feelings because they had such a nice chemistry, but thought it would never happen. Then we got the scene in the Lima Bean with them, and I was so happy until I heard Chord wasn't coming back, so I lost hope. But now Sam's back and him and Mercedes better become canon,
because Mercedes and Shane is really awkward and uncomfortable to me and his way of supporting her annoyed me.Is it confirmed what year Sam and Mercedes are in? I would assume they're seniors, but I can't remember it ever being explicitly stated.
I like that Blaine finally exploded (even though I think he should have apologized to Sam) because I like Finn better when his apologies make sense and feel genuine even if I'm not sold on Blaine being the most "talented well-rounded member" of New Directions. I'm glad we got a little more information about Blaine, because for a character that gets so much screen time, we still don't really know a lot about him. I also like thinking that him and Puck know each other through fight club, but I doubt it'll ever be brought up again.
I liked Kurt's everything in this episode and found him adorable.
But what I loved most of all this episode was all the female friendships. Girls being supportive of one another, girls being strong and caring of one another. Also, girls knowing what they want and not settling for anything less. Last week was supposed to be about girl power except it was anything but, and this week, they did such a good job showing strong females, and it was glorious.
And Sugar was once again absolutely amazing even though she had no lines.
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SAM. Love u, Sam. His storyline about being pushed out of teenagerhood and having to be an adult resonated with me, a lot. I liked the chat with his parents in theory, but it was a little cheesy in practice. I liked Sam being a stripper in theory, in practice, in abs, in everything. What I'm saying is, someone bettah write fic where Sam gives
QuinnRachelBlainePuckSugarWillMike ChangMercedesEVERYONE a private ~show.Sugar is the best. I totes snarfed my bourbon when she yelled 'tickles.' Honorable mention: Harmony. Shit gurl, you cray and I love you for it.
Finn. Le sigh, Finn. Can you just be the dumbest and have silly one-liners about Backdraft: The Musical and being really good at looking busy, please? I'm trying to wash from my brain everything that Finn has done in the past few episodes because if I don't do that, I will go insane, and I will take you all with me. When he fist-bumped Blaine during the TT performance I CACKLED and was like "the only explanation is that he needs glasses and a hearing aid." But then I was sad because I knew what was gon happen.
Artie's line about tingling in a 50% tingle zone was hilar, not sry2say.
Speaking of tingle zones: The Troubletones, ladies and gents. No commentary needed.
Quinn, your storyline is so fucking odd I can't wrap my mind around it. I get what Sam was trying to say to Quinn, and it would be fine if she was like "oh no, I flunked my Trig test and my life is OVER" but girl has ISSUES and is trying to get CUSTODY of the baby she put up for adoption by ruining someone else's LIFE, so, uh, Sam—you should probably keep your advice to yourself. The whole thing is just so very Glee, and not in a good way. I guess at least they are acknowledging that Shelby is messed up, too? I dunno, I think they have no idea what the HALE they are doing with this mess. WEIRD, I KNOW, USUALLY GLEE'S STORYLINES ARE SO WELL-THOUGHT-OUT WITH FOCUS AND CLARITY.
I'm glad you have that unpopular opinion about Mike's storyline. During Tina's scene with Chang Sr. in his office, I was just like "uhhhhh sry Tina but Big Daddy Chang has a point."
Kurt was the most perfect Kurt that ever Kurted in this ep. JUST PERFECT.
And then of course I mean at the end when Will had the trophy and made the little "4 you" gesture and pointed out into the audience Emma was there but like Rachel was standing right next to her and well I ju—YOU GET THE IDEA.
The only crime is that we didn't get Puck Puckerman reaction faces when the other clubs were performing. A TRAVESTY. He we probably too busy feeding that thing that lives on his head now.
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*Your Sam/Mercedes and just Sam and just Mercedes feelings are basically mine. The one exception is that Sam's speech to Quinn didn't really bug me. He's never actually been around for any of the most traumatic, screwed up times in her life, and I can see how "Quinn dyed her hair pink and went punk for a while" (which is probably all he heard about it from Finn and Rachel) would read to him as "rich white girl problems."
*Can we talk about Sebastian for a second? And how I still hate him? Are we stuck with him and the Warblers until Regionals? (Although, he does bring out Bitchy!Kurt, who I have missed dearly, so maybe he can come back. Once.)
*Mike Chang: I'm pretty cool with this storyline, but I think it probably should have been wrapped up earlier in the season. West Side Story would have been a more natural place to end it, but I get why they wanted to have it resolved at the actual glee club competition. I'm actually hard-core on Tina's side with this, though. I've known a lot of folks who've gone into the performing arts (mostly on the instrumental side, but still), and . . . for you to get good enough to be able to do the thing you really want to do with your life, you don't have time for solid contingency plans. A friend of a friend double majored in music performance and chemistry to have something to fall back on, and he didn't graduate for six years. And honestly, very few of the people I know who went to school for something that's more "useful" have been able to get into those fields anyway. Everybody's plan B is "I'll figure something out if I have to," and I don't think that's a bad way to think as long as you know what you're getting into. It seems like Mike and Tina understand that. [/end rant]
*The thing that *is* kind of bugging me is how everyone suddenly wants to be a performer. I have a lot of theories as to why RIB+ might be doing it, but none of them are very unified right now. It's just bugging me.
*Apparently I'm alternating good and bad here, so here's some good: I was *so* proud-parenting at my baby gays dancing together onstage for "Survivor/I Will Survive." Like, all of my Brittana feelings.
*I mean, TT totally should have won, but if ND had to win, I don't mind that it was for a performance where basically every character got to sing. (Sorry, Rory.)
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I like the Mike storyline, except - and this is going to sound harsh, but I honestly cannot think of a better way to say it - someone needs to give Jenna acting notes. Her comedic timing is great, I love Jenna's singing voice, and I love Tina as a character, but her delivery in some of those lines was just... really bad.
I would like/have ~~~feelings about that storyline any way they did it, probably, because I'm one of those people that decided to 'throw away childish things' and pursue a career I could actually support myself in, but going through that decision, I don't know, I just have all of the creys for Mike and his dad and his mom and Tina.
And I had actual coherent thoughts about the episode but then when Sam did his little body roll thing and Kurt was trying to do it in the background, I just kind of got stuck on that.
Oh and Rachel's dress! Oh my goodness was I stuck on that. Except the Quinn issues, well, I mean, at this point, if I'm saying "at least it was Rachel that fixed her?" then it's a problem. In general, I also just thought Rachel was pretty great in this episode, and Mercedes, too.
Also, my best friend said - "You know my list? The one that has Will Schuester on it? Well, Finn is on it too!"
Oh Finn. Just. Stop.
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