First of all, I adore my editor for that headline (yes, I don’t write the headlines ever, that’s all editor’s choice), and second yes, I noticed a few typos give it time to refresh, but —-
Glee is at its worst when it muddles its messages, which was clearly the case tonight. In an episode that should be about kids who are looking for approval and the various ways they do and don’t achieve that (Kurt, with his loss at the election but the steadfast support of his boyfriend, Santana with the club and her parents acceptance in the face of the greater world and her grandmother’s negativity), we got the completely opposite message from Sue’s quest to prove her straightness like the assumption of lesbianism would ruin her. Maybe it’s Glee being the real world where hypocrisy flourishes, but sometimes Glee should be the fantasy, for narrative clarity at the very least. And that’s not even addressing the pointlessness of the Puck/Quinn/Shelby situation, that serves no great purpose except to highlight Quinn’s further spiral and pluck at tired teen TV tropes. It even manages to muddle the closing song, with Shelby’s awkward longing for Puck mixed ineffectively with Santana and Kurt’s actually compelling constant cravings.
Because seriously. I loved little bits of this episode but when you throw in Sue’s weird heteronormative quest it becomes such a depressing message. Couldn’t she just ignore the accusations? Why do we need a weird adult love triangle now? On the flip-side, I am excited about Santana and Kurt’s new journeys for the rest of the year, and finally Rachel having something that she does that’s self-serving have real consequences for her life. Yes, the kids are alright, but they’re going to be adults really soon and if they don’t want to end up like the rest of Lima they need to actually learn something from their time at McKinley.
