Glee: "Funeral"

Season 2, Episode 21

A 50/50 episode tries to recapture the season one magic

Glee, perhaps more than any other show, tends to fall on the forest side of the “trees among the forest” conundrum commonly discussed in most television criticism. Given how often Glee adds, drops, and picks back up on plotlines, almost every episode review will at some point talk about how certain events go against earlier events in the scene, or less rarely, those moments that are surprising within continuity.

And tonight’s Glee again enters into that discussion, as tonight’s episode both aped and made references to season one episodes, to the point it was never quite certain whether the show was intentionally trying to act as if the past season or so had never happened.

“She was the nicest person I know, and I am the meanest. So why am I still here?”

-Sue

Sue’s sister was originally introduced as the antidote to Sue mean side, as a way for the show to balance her out and make seem like a more balanced, kinder individual. (And let’s not even get into the fact that the show used a mentally challenged woman as a plot device.) But since that first appearance, Jean has been used sparingly, having made just a few more appearances in the first season and only one appearance during the second. And during that same time, Sue herself had gotten meaner and more evil, essentially turning into a giant cartoon villain. This cannot be a coincidence.

And I would say that it seemed like the show set out to correct this path that the character has taken by giving her a more realistic and meaningful storyline tonight. But instead I suspect that either a) the actress who plays Jean died or in some other way permanently cut ties with the show, meaning that a script had to be made to write the character out of the show or b) Ryan Murphy really wanted to make sure that Jane Lynch wins a second Emmy. Either way, the current path that Sue has been on for most of the season kept me from enjoying this story as much as I would have liked, since I knew that any changes we saw in Sue tonight wouldn’t be permanent, and it wouldn’t be long until she was back to being her villain-ish self.

Yet despite all of this, I did enjoy this plotline, and I thought that it is one of the strongest stories that the show has done this season. Even though we haven’t really gotten to know Jean, we have gotten to know what Jean means to Sue, and having Jane Lynch to sell all of these moments tonight went a long way to covering up for the fact that Jean was never really a character so much as an emotional McGuffin for Sue. Sue sadness was everywhere in Lynch’s performance tonight, and everything here – including the Willy Wonka-themed funeral – worked, as it was all couched in this idea that letting go of out dead loved ones is more for us than it is for them. But perhaps most surprising is the fact that Sue’s one-liners tonight also took on that emotional weight, and finally for the first time in the series, who could see how Jean’s hardships had turned Sue into the bitter person that she is.

But all of this talk of Jean had another drawback – it felt like we had done this all before, and though the return of this beat did have some grand emotional payoff, I can’t be sure if there were any real implications for the show’s overall plot. Sue was the show’s original breakout character, and though she had been usurped in that role by Kurt, I can’t see the show letting her go this early, and I’m sure they will find some contrivance next season to bring her back at the beginning of next season.

Yet the show didn’t stop there with the character reversal, as in the closing minutes the show also wrote out Terri, who is apparently moving to Miami. While I actually believe that we won’t be seeing any more of Terri – you’d have to go back to season one to find a time when Terri’s was actually a worthwhile addition to the show, and even then you’d have a hard time making that case – I’m not sure why the show felt compelled to give her the closing grace note that it did. Terry, much like Sue, has become such a villain that it’s really hard to care about her one way or the other, but unlike Sue, she’s not instrumental to the plot any way whatsoever, so would anyone have cared if she just disappeared, not questions asked?

“The glee club dealt with that whole ‘boys singing songs meant for girls’ thing. It’s kind of old news.”

-Kurt

I was never going to like the kids’ side of tonight’s episode, but that was mostly because Jesse is still around, and his douchiness just continues to grate my soul, and it doesn’t help that his presence here doesn’t add anything to the show. I find it hard to believe that Will would give Jesse the free rein that he did (even if Will ultimately made the final decisions), and I would find it even harder to believe that Rachel would fall for this guy again, given how big of a douche he is.

But even more distracting were all of the little references to last season – Rachel putting a gold star sticker next to her name on the sign up board, the various members having to audition for the spotlight in the competition, the group once again preparing for the competition – it was clear that the script was trying to set up some sort of comparison scenario wherein we see how far the group has come since last year.

And while I applaud the show for actually trying to create and stick to a theme, the ill effect of this particular idea is that it caused this viewer to become extremely aware of the fact that not much as actually changed. Just take Finn’s break up with Quinn. It was a well-written and acted scene to be sure, but it was also hindered by the fact that given how shallow Quinn has been over the past few months; it’s hard to take seriously the idea that she’s actually sad about the relationship ending, especially given that SHE ONCE AGAIN RAISED THE ISSUE OF BEING PROM QUEEN. But where does this leave us? With Finn once again loving Rachel, and Rachel once again involved with Jesse? If that’s the case, then what the fuck was the last year or so of plot about? The show has hit the reset button back to last years, and it makes all this time we’ve spent on various stupid plotlines feel like an even larger waste than it already did.

I get and respect that Glee is trying to reconnect with last season, that it is trying to become more serialized, especially by having the characters act like their past actions have effects for their presents. (It’s sad that this is a big step for the show.) But up until this point, the show has dicked around with elements like logical plot and continuity, so it makes this change into heavier serialization much harder to swallow. I’m not saying that the show should stop in its quest; it’s just that fans of the show have been burned before, so it might take everyone quite a while to get on board.

But even as I write this, full of hope that Glee can change, that it can become the better show that we know it has the potential to be, I know deep down that it isn’t true, that this little dalliance in the land of serialization is just a pit stop on the road back to the chaotic norm for this show. And that it what aggravates me the most.

Other Thoughts That I Couldn't Fit In:

·         So Will really is going to Broadway? Did I miss something, or did the show just decided to undo a plot conclusion from two weeks ago?

·         Though I should be happy that most of the songs this week were meant only to be fun, and not have any sort of emotional impact, clumping four of the five of them between two acts, with only bits of dialogue separating the songs really screwed with the episode’s pace. (Unlike say, “Prom Queen”, where even though the songs were clumped into one half of the episode, there was still enough action between each one that it didn’t feel like  a slog getting through them.)

·         Don’t even talk to me about the fact that the show is already doing some more original songs. Just…gah.

Quotes, Etc.:

“You kind of sing and dance like a zombie who has to poop.”

“You’re nickname is Panda Express.” “But I’m not Chinese.” “Neither is the food at Panda Express.”

“Do you know what happens in Vocal Adrenline is somebody dies during a performance? They use them as a prop, like in Weekend At Bernie’s.”

“Correction, you had feelings for him, he made breakfast on your head.”

Actually, I would like to see Jesse judging Brittany’s cat.