ellydash | I just want to live here and

First off, sorry for skipping a week! That sounds immensely conceited - I'm sure none of you were just sitting around last Tuesday night/early Wednesday, moping about NO GLEE TALK ON

ellydash's JOURNAL, MY GOD, HOW WILL I FILL MY LIFE WITH MEANING - but I still feel a little guilty for disappearing. Life's been immensely, wonderfully busy for the last month or so, and I didn't want to make a post and not have the time to reply to comments - plus, there wasn't much I was interested in talking about last week besides Puck Puckerman and Quinn "Really? That's - well, okay, I guess that's what they're going to do with her now" Fabray. (Which we can totally still talk about, if you guys want!)

This week, though: lots for discussion. I don't know how much I actually liked this episode, but I want to talk about it, which is more important to me, tbh.

Finn broke my heart. I feel a little guilty for developing this sudden interest in S3 Finn, because he's bothered me on a consistent basis, and occasionally downright angered me, since "Theatricality." Having ~emotions about the problems of a straight, white cis-dude, especially when he's been such a shit so often, feels weird. (And before you say it, I don't have ~emotions about Will, other then general delight in his earnest, off-the-mark terribleness and rage over his more egregious offenses.)

That being said, I'm really interested in what's been going on with him this season. Finn's always been on the top of the high school food chain, and now he's seeing his future yawn out in front of him, and that future is unstructured, without any obvious opportunity - and pretty scary. He clearly doesn't know what he wants out of life, other than to be "special," somehow, like Rachel and Kurt and Blaine, but his skill set isn't their skill set. (That, to me, is where the upset over Blaine last week was coming from - Finn trying to cling as hard as he can to his leading man status, because he's completely terrified that for the rest of his life, he's going to be an extra.) I wasn't expecting the Finn/Rachel first time to be so blatantly within this context of reassurance, but it really was. It's like they're confusing the love they think they feel for each other with the need they both have to feel safe, for very different reasons.

Kurt and Blaine were really compelling for me, too, from a character standpoint, and they usually don't hold my interest much. The car fight scene felt realistic, very IC for both of them, and Chris Colfer acted the hell out of it (also, is it just me, or is Darren's acting getting better?). I like Kurt/Blaine so much more as a ship when there's some interesting conflict that challenges what they have, both outside - the WSS casting issues - and inside the relationship. They had a bunch of little moments tonight that worked really well. I especially loved Kurt's fingers running over his own hand after Blaine walks away in the hallway scene (see gif). Chris is so goddamned good at finding the small things in his performance, those tiny movements that make Kurt and Blaine's connection come across as something that doesn't end when the scene does. (As a side note, could their crotches have been any further apart when they were in bed? I'm imagining Standards and Practices marking the distance between them with a tape measurer.)

Finally, Shannon. Okay. I totally love Shannon Beiste - you guys know that - and I'm always down for her to have more screentime, even when that screentime makes her a little more problematic (see: her comments regarding Kurt and gender). And I'm thrilled that she's getting a love interest, because she deserves to have an awesome guy romance her, and it's just really cool seeing an unconventionally attractive woman in that context. However (and you knew that was coming) I'm really not thrilled with the fact that we're seeing, yet again, a plotline where Shannon feels unattractive and unappealing to the opposite sex, and a conventionally attractive man - or, in the case of one Will Schuester, a man we’re supposed to think is conventionally attractive - tells her how beautiful she is, end of plot. Isolated, it's not the worst, but in the context of Glee, where so many conflicts seem to distill down to "woman acts crazy or has insecurity; man steps in and resolves situation," it really doesn't sit well with me. At least this time she didn't get a pity kiss, I guess.

Other thoughts:

- Artie, stop it. Seriously, stop it. I had to turn down the volume during his sex talk with Shannon, I was so embarrassed for both of them. And what the hell was with the whole "you need to have sex in order to be sexy" thing? I realize there needed to be some sort of catalyst for the virginity storyline, but that was some lazy, stupid writing.

- "You can't do this with your brother!" Rachel, I can show you a whole lot of fic that begs to differ.

- I usually tune out the Dalton scenes, but that French teacher in the red skirt? WOW. Oh, wow.

- Really, really wish "A Boy Like That" hadn't been intercut with Blaine/Sebastian. I get what they were trying to do with it, and I appreciate the attempt to shake things up stylistically, but I really just wanted to watch Rachel and Santana have inappropriate chemistry, tbh.

- Cried with laughter at ND's "acting" in West Side Story, especially Puck and Rory. Ages ago, I read a fantastically terrible Glee/Titanic crossover (don't judge my life choices, okay) that had Puck uttering the line, "Ah, forget it, boyo. You're as like to have angels fly out your arse as get next to the likes of her." Tonight's line readings were almost as good.

- Curious to hear what you guys think of Karofsky's return. I've got some mixed feelings about it myself.

- Loved the shot of Mercedes in the audience supporting her friends.

- Kurt's possessive shimmy on the dance floor when he cut in between Sebastian and Blaine may have been my favorite moment of the entire episode.

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A few things I liked:

- Kurt being possessive
- Sebastian's brazenness
- Klaine's first real fight
- the fact a teen gay couple had SEX on prime time TV, on a conservative station at that
- Cory's acting, for once
- Santana/red dresses
- the Blaine/Sebastian "flirting" (more like Sebastian flirting and Blaine being squirrelly, lol)
- Mike's mom

A few things I didn't like:

- Artie implying that to have passion as an actor, you needed to have sex
- the Warblers' number :/
- the intercutting of "Boy Like That" and the Blaine/Sebastian scene. I found it distracting :/
- MIKE'S DAD >:(

Yay, I was hoping you'd comment! I know you like Karofsky, and while I'm not really a fan of the character, tbh, I absolutely wanted to hear your perspective on it. ♥

I think a lot of my discomfort with the Karofsky storyline comes from the way it's been handled, and, as you point out, all the gaps that haven't been addressed. Like, the kiss got so much of the narrative/fandom focus, because it was the Big Reveal and all, but what really affected me was that scene in the hallway with the wedding topper - which was clearly suggestive of potential sexual assault. (Kurt's expression of horror was so chilling.) And I felt that, having raised that, the show didn't adequately deal with it, you know? Sure, they had Karofsky apologize, but iirc it was a pretty generic apology, and it didn't acknowledge how incredibly disturbing it was that they had this character dance around the line between physical/emotional bullying and sexual assault, which imo really deserved to be specifically addressed.

I do like that Karofsky seems to be at peace with himself, and that Kurt seems to be in a good place as far as what Karofsky did to him, but you're right, it would've been nice to know more about how they were able to get there, because I'm guessing it wasn't easy for either of them. So interesting about the Burt costuming - I did notice he looked pretty Burt-esque.

I think a lot of my discomfort with the Karofsky storyline comes from the way it's been handled, and, as you point out, all the gaps that haven't been addressed. Like, the kiss got so much of the narrative/fandom focus, because it was the Big Reveal and all, but what really affected me was that scene in the hallway with the wedding topper - which was clearly suggestive of potential sexual assault. (Kurt's expression of horror was so chilling.) And I felt that, having raised that, the show didn't adequately deal with it, you know? Sure, they had Karofsky apologize, but iirc it was a pretty generic apology, and it didn't acknowledge how incredibly disturbing it was that they had this character dance around the line between physical/emotional bullying and sexual assault, which imo really deserved to be specifically addressed.

Yes! The cake topper scene disturbed me way more than the kiss or the death threat. I remember watching that scene, and being upset by it to the point of physical discomfort hours after the episode had ended. It was very disturbing and you're right, they never did address it. I doubt it'll come back up because Glee is kind of hit-or-miss with their continuity. :/ It would've been nice, though.

But, now watch, sometime in S4, Kurt, who's now a freshman at NYADA or Julliard, will get a package in the mail with a note from Karofsky saying that he found the cake topper while clearing out his closet (hurr hurr) and apologizing for taking it from him and scaring him so much, and he thought Kurt should have it back. /crawls into this headcanon and never leaves

I do like that Karofsky seems to be at peace with himself, and that Kurt seems to be in a good place as far as what Karofsky did to him, but you're right, it would've been nice to know more about how they were able to get there, because I'm guessing it wasn't easy for either of them.

I really do like Karofsky as a character. I think there's a lot there to explore with him but I doubt they'll ever really get into his background, though. I've resigned myself to nothing but three second glimpses of Karofsky until the end of S3. :P I'm kind of disappointed that, like, they had this chance to take that storyline and write the hell out of it and tell a really compelling, important story, but put it on the backburner. I know Glee is about the music and used to be mostly about the comedy, but I felt like if they'd taken the time to introduce this story thread, they should have also . . . woven a complete story out of it rather than letting it fray and fall apart, oh god this analogy sucks. /tl;dr

So interesting about the Burt costuming - I did notice he looked pretty Burt-esque.

I think what they did with his clothes was pretty clever, actually, if a bit obvious. It kind of felt like neon lights blinking over his head: "LOOK AT HIM! WE DRESSED HIM UP LIKE BURT, WHO IS AWESOME! THIS MEANS KAROFSKY IS NO LONGER A THREAT TO KURT!! UNLIKE SEBASTIAAAAAN!"

Unrelatedly, I need more Sebastian. I don't want to be That Fan™, but the looks that passed between Blaine and Sebastian gave me Feelings™.

I just want to live here and - and make art.

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