Glee Season 2, Episode 19 Television Review

Glee Season 2, Episode 19

Television Review

By our guest blogger, Catherine Fuentes

Normally I’m not a fan of Glee episodes that are entirely devoted to one artist (although, if memory serves, I feel I did enjoy this season’s Britney Spears episode). By that logic, I should have hated an episode centered around not only one artist, but around one album.

When that artist is Fleetwood Mac, and that album is “Rumours,” I really can’t find anything to complain about.

A musical highlight of the season thus far was when Santana, Brittany and Gwyneth tackled “Landslide,” which to me was ‘Glee’ at its most tender and poignant, so I was excited to see how the cast handled a legendary album of justly deserved classics. In short: I was very impressed.

Plot wise, I liked this episode of ‘Glee.’ I liked the return of Kristin Chenoweth’s drunk and hilarious April, I liked seeing Sue donning her costumes from every walk of pop culture to scheme at the local coffee shop, and I liked how Brittany started a video blog, Fondue for Two, with her obese cat. The humor was there this episode, and for me, even with a musically top-notch episode, if the writing isn’t sharp, the episode as a whole falls flat.

As hilariously perfect as April is, the best part of her ‘Glee’ appearances are not her one-liners, but the fact that we get to hear Kristen Chenoweth sing. Although I couldn’t imagine an alternative, April and Mr. Schue’s duet of “Dreams,” was, of course, amazing.

As happens with all high school romances, Brittany and Artie’s came to an end, as he realized that Brittany might be reciprocating Santana’s love. Of course, the only appropriate tool to cure heartbreak on ‘Glee’ is by singing, so he sang a lively version of “Never Going Back Again.” I felt it showed Artie’s depth, and that he really is a vital character: in comedic moments, and musically as well.

My favorite song of the night was Santana’s secret love song to Brittany, “Songbird.” I love to see Santana being vulnerable, and this was such a perfect continuation of her brilliance during “Landslide” earlier in the season. Clearly, Fleetwood Mac helps bring forth a gentle – and really, really talented – side to Santana.

Finn and Quinn sang “I Don’t Want to Know,” in a highly awkward choir-room performance. They were perhaps appropriately angry, but it just seemed so forced and painful to watch when you factor in quizzical reaction shots from Mr. Schue and the rest of the glee club. Musically, I wish we got to hear Quinn sing a bit more, since she has the better voice out of the two, and I feel the quality of her voice should lend itself well to Fleetwood Mac’s music.

Rachel sang an amped up version of “Go Your Own Way,” putting a female spin on a song performed by a male, which is my very favorite thing about good covers. I didn’t really care for the premise of the performance – Rachel using her song as an excuse to flirt with Finn in front of Quinn, who forbade the two from singing duets, saying their relationship is worth more than the glee club winning nationals – but she sounded fantastic.

The episode ender was a fun, cute version of “Don’t Stop.” In the night’s heavy and depressing moment, we learned that Sam and his young siblings are living in a cheap motel room with their parents, who can’t find work. It was nice seeing his character get developed – and explanation given to all the motel room rendezvous that were fostering all the rumors in the episode – but I really hate when Glee gets so heavy. Sam got to sing a solo, and the entire cast danced and played with his younger siblings, making everyone feel a little better about something.