You smell like Craigslist.

[ellydash]

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. ;______;

Comments

[spacebetwixt.livejournal.com]

I didn't love everything about this episode. I felt like they tried to put too many things into the episode, so I wasn't entirely invested in all of the storylines, and they wrapped some things up too quickly and neatly.

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.

[ellydash.livejournal.com]

I'm still back and forth on the ep as a whole, tbh. Overall, I'm definitely in the positive category - nothing really made me rage, which is awesome! Also, Sam and Mercedes are the cutest ever! - but agreed that there was too much going on to make it really quality. (Or, you know, Glee quality.)

Most of the kids singing was fantastic. I'm really not a big Tina fan, mostly because Jenna's acting just rings so false to me, but I absolutely love her voice - it's so clear, and she did a fantastic job on ABC.

Mercedes is a senior, I'm pretty sure. Almost positive Sam was a sophomore when he started at McKinley, so he'd be a junior this year. Judging by upcoming spoilers, it looks like we've got a great chance of seeing the two of them end up together at some point! :D

I also like thinking that him and Puck know each other through fight club, but I doubt it'll ever be brought up again.

Someone better write fic for this, because it's a goldmine scenario waiting to happen. With Finn and Blaine - boy, Finn sure does spend a huge amount of time needing to apologize for something he did, doesn't he? And yeah, it really did seem like Blaine was taking out his anger with Finn on Sam - being sick and tired of having his opinions overridden and all - so I can understand why he blew up, not that it was fair to Sam.

Kurt was flawless this week. My favorite Kurt is snarky egotistical Kurt, so I loved his verbal takedowns of Sebastian.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes to the focus on female friendships this week being awesome. More of that please, Glee.