Hana Chan

If there is one thing that really, really frustrates me about these spoilers is the implication that Blaine ends up washing out of NYADA will be blamed on Kurt since Blaine was so depressed over being dumped by his "soul mate". In real life it is not idiotic to end a relationship where you aren't happy and where you and your partner are constantly fighting. Or to question getting married when you can't even manage a few months of living together. Or to doubt being with someone who needs you to feel small in order for him to feel big. Kurt has a right to end a relationship that it's a good or healthy one for him, or to recognize that they got back together for all the wrong reasons. You can love someone and still recognize that you just can't be together. Sometimes you just grow apart and there are a lot more reasons to justify Kurt and Blaine ending their relationship than there are staying together. But because Blaine is weak and needy and cannot manage without Kurt, getting to the point that he ends up expelled from school is on Blaine. It's not Kurt's responsibility to sacrifice his own well being all the time in order to keep Blaine happy and secure. They just aren't good together and an mature writer wanting to tell an interesting story would recognize that it's not a failure for couples to actually break up and stay broken up. Blaine isn't served by Kurt always giving in to keep peace and Kurt certainly isn't served. They are better off apart and finding partners that are better able to match their needs.

I'm still betting that the whole Blaine/Karofsky "relationship" is an act to make Kurt jealous. And if that's the case, I hope that it opens Kurt's eyes to just how toxic and manipulative a person Blaine is. First, that the guy that he "dates" after their breakup is the guy who spent years terrorizing and assaulting Kurt (despite Kurt having since forgiven him). This follows Blaine's infidelity and all the manipulative games he's played. It's going to be hysterical for the show to try to make Kurt about to be the "bad guy" here when breaking off an engagement because you've come to the realization that neither you or your partner are ready and because you're just not happy with the situation makes you a bad person in things. It's not Kurt's fault that Blaine turns into a puddle of self-indulgent goo over it and ends up getting expelled for poor grades. My best hope is that Kurt sees Blaine with Dave (who really deserves so much better) and gets the wake up call that they just don't belong together and walks away and never looks back. If this is a game to manipulate Kurt, it would be a horribly cruel capper on a relationship that hasn't been healthy since season 2 (and even then had it's awful moments).

There is no other lead actress in a TV series that doesn't have a long list of TV/Film credits on their CV to compare Lea to. She is in a rather unique situation so you cannot compare what she is earning to someone who's been doing TV or film for years. You keep trying to compare what a new actress who has never worked in TV before to those who've got real track records and it doesn't work. A new doctor hired at a hospital just out of medical school is not going to earn the same as someone hired who's got a 20 year career behind him, even if that doctor just graduated from Harvard. This was Lea's first acting job outside of Broadway. No one knew if it would work. So she was not going to be paid the same as someone who's CV they could look at and make a more qualified assessment. Thinking that she is going to earn the same as someone like Sandra Oh, who had a long line of TV and film projects before she got signed to Grey's Anatomy or Amy Poehler who did years of film and TV before getting signed to Parks and Recreation is pointless because she doesn't have the same experience background that they do. It doesn't matter in the end that Lea was "the lead". She was an inexperienced actress (as far as TV goes) in her first part. So she's not going to pull in the same amount of money, even six seasons in. Show me another actress in a lead role in her first TV acting job earning more than Lea and then we'll have something to talk about. Otherwise this is comparing apples to oranges.

Joshua Jackson also had a long TV and film career before he was cast in Fringe. That's really what it boils down to. This is Lea's first job in this field. There is no business in the world that is going to pay a brand new face at the same level as another person who'd been in the field for years. It just doesn't happen. It doesn't matter how profitable Glee was (and let's be honest, it hasn't been all that successful since season 3 ended). Lea wasn't even coming to Glee as an internationally known stage or film star. 99% of Glee's audience never heard of Lea before Glee and her pay reflected that fact. No one knew if Glee would be successful (or as successful as it was), or if Lea would be successful in the part. Again, her contract was in line with the cautious expectations that you would expect from a studio towards a new actress. Glee was Lea's chance to prove that she could be a marketable TV actor and she accomplished that rather successful. So next time around, now that she's a known quantity to a TV audience, she'll command more money. But for her first show? It just was never going to happen.

Christina Hendricks was one of the female leads on Mad Men and earned 100 grand for the final season. Now I'll grant that she wasn't quite at the level that Lea was in regards to position, but she was a major female character in an ensemble cast. In a show that has garnered numerous Emmy awards during its run and was a major ratings and critical success (Hendricks herself was nominated for an Emmy five times which beats out Lea's award nominations for Glee). She also has an established film and tv career prior to Mad Men. I cited Robin Williams earlier because while his TV show didn't air for long, he is an Oscar winning actor (as well as a multiple Oscar nominee) who has a long track record of being a very profitable and bankable actor. If there is an actor who should command a huge payday, Williams would have been at the top of the list but his pay per episode wasn't much more than Lea's. We can go in circles around this for ages. The reason that most of the young cast didn't command the money that more established actors can in highly profitable shows is because most of them were unknowns when they were cast. That automatically reduces what they can demand in compensation compared to what other more established actors can. For many, Glee was their first TV role. I have no doubt that if Lea signs for another TV project after Glee that she can demand a great deal more, but in the entertainment business a new face just can't demand the big bucks until they've proven themselves. Unfortunately for the Glee cast, by the time they proved that they were deserving of high pay (especially Lea, who was the female lead and Chris who earned some of the most important awards and nominations), Glee was already on a downward rating slide and they were already tied into their contracts. They could have gone on strike if they felt that their compensation was unfair in relation to the shows profits (other casts have done so), but Glee was already fading at that stage. Glee has been invaluable for Lea in exposing her to a wider audience who might never have heard of her otherwise and if she plays her cards right, can provide enough a boost to launch the kind of mainstream career she wants.

Glee is barely entering its sixth season. Rightly it should have been canceled after the disaster that was season five (and is only getting this abbreviated final season because of a contractual obligation - the fact that the show is only getting 13 eps to close out is very telling of just how low it has fallen). But that's not really the point here. Kerry Washington is an award winning actress in a critical and ratings darling and is earning a lot less per episode than Lea. You have a lot of actors who are far better known than Lea and who have much longer records of work and who's shows are at least as successful as Glee (in longevity and rating) and are earning less than Lea is. Lea's salary is actually towards the higher end of average for tv actors in lead roles. Especially when you consider that this is her first television role. I can't compare her to someone who's been doing television for 20 years, or someone like Mariska Hargitay who has been carrying her show for 16 seasons.

I'm reaching the point where I just can't be too upset that the odds are that Chris will get minimal focus in Glee's final season. He's got so much now going out outside of Glee (with his animated film set to open in mid-January and start filming the Noel Coward biopic right after he finishes filming Glee) that the only consideration Glee deserves at this stage is to satisfy his contract and to just wind down the clock. He's already gained everything possible that he could hope for - critical acclaim, legitimate acting awards and a strong industry reputation as a talented, hard working actor - and Glee is no longer in a position to help anyone's careers at this stage. Hopefully Chris will have some enjoyable scenes (what little they can tear away from Lea and Darren) and get some halfway decent work done so that the final season isn't a complete waste of his time and talent.

Actually the ratings would be a big consideration in whether or not actors could demand higher pay. Other casts have gone on strike (or even quit) over pay disputes. If Glee was still a ratings and critical success, the actors would be in a much better position to demand higher paychecks. And who are we comparing Lea to? Are we comparing her to actors like the cast of The Big Bang Theory, which is still a big rating success and regularly earns major awards? Or an actor like Ashton Kutcher who was hired for Three and a Half Men because he was already seen as a bankable actor that could draw viewers? Lea was a relative unknown to anyone outside of Broadway before Glee, so it's expected that she could not demand as much as those who've been in TV and films for years and have proven track records. Hell, Robin Williams, probably the most well known and bankable comedic actors "only" earned 165 grand for his last TV series. And while Lea did get some credible award nominations in the past, she hasn't earned any of the top industry awards or her work on Glee. So I'm not seeing the rationale that she's underpaid. We're comparing apples to oranges.

Again, I'm keeping in mind that this is Lea's first mainstream television job. She is not going to earn the say pay as someone who's had at least one successful series under their belts when starting. And while Glee did make a boatload of money early on (through ITunes sales, the tour and other merchandise), I have no doubt that profits have steeply declined in the past two years, so we could even make the argument that at 100 grand per episode that Lea is now being overpaid (given that the show is limping to it's final end). Regardless, the Glee cast would not the first time that a cast didn't make as much money as they might have expected had it been known just how huge the show would become. I remember that when the original Star Wars film came out and became the biggest grossing film ever, a big deal was made over how the cast (who were mostly unknowns with limited film careers) didn't get paid nearly enough when you consider all the money made. But given that no one really expected a sci fi movie to become such a huge blockbuster, it's understandable. They negotiated better contracts for the next films. I don't doubt that Lea (and some others in the cast) will command more money in their next projects, but I'll be blunt. 100 grand per episode and having my summers to myself to work on my own projects? I wouldn't exactly be complaining.

Well... it's this just a load of oy that is certain to make absolutely no one left in the audience happy. That Rachel, a college drop out (who only completed one year at NYADA) and who personally destroyed her own career on Broadway and not television would be pegged as the best person to revitalize a high school show choir is beyond absurd. And using her TV money? If her show got canceled early, I deeply doubt that there's that much money to begin with (since the network would only have to pay her for the episodes that she actually filmed and contracts always have cancelation clauses to free them from obligation in case the show bombs) and seriously... since she's got zero chance of finding professional work for the extended future, shouldn't she think about saving that money to actually live on? Yes, I know... I'm an idiot for trying to apply logic to this show. Sorry that her fathers are divorcing (agree that they probably couldn't get Jeff Goldblum back). I'm betting that to continue the astonishing level of gross that they will be divorcing over blaming one another for Rachel's career bombing. Since they were so overly invested in making their little girl a star. Yeah... Glee would go there. And Dalton... a top prep school would also decide that a college wash out (and Blaine would have gotten expelled in his freshman year!) would be the best musical director for their choir that they could find. Either standards are really, really low there or after the Warblers steroid scandal the school couldn't attract any legitimate candidates for the position. Still, am feeing a huge grain of satisfaction that the one who had to work hardest to actually get into NYADA and didn't have the easiest time there is the only one who's actually managing to see his education through there. The only positive... Kurt and Blaine ending their engagement and breaking up and it's Kurt's decision? Excellent. Best outcome I could have possibly wished for. And Blaine getting expelled from NYADA because he was so depressed over Kurt dumping him and returning to Ohio a "loser"? Icing on the cake. I'm calling it now... the whole Blaine/Karofsky thing is about Blaine trying to make Kurt jealous because seriously...? Ick. I know that Dave was an asshat in the beginning, but he doesn't deserve to be paired with the Grease Stain. And if it is legit... all that "soulmate" bullshit that Blaine's been peddling over the past two seasons is going to look even more shallow and pathetic. I love that they haven't even filmed the first episode yet and Glee's train wreak status seems to be set is stone. This is going to be fun simply because of the utterly craptastic mess that the show has made of itself.

Oh, I would love to see Rachel interact with Sue. Because Sue will not sugarcoat just how completely Rachel fucked her own career every single time they came within 50 yards of one another. And take enormous pleasure in doing so. I can easily see Rachel looking for sympathy from all the usual suspects who had been quick to offer support to her in the past, and find that it's not exactly forthcoming because it's Rachel's own fault that she's lost everything. It was Rachel's decision to quit NYADA in a manner so arrogant that Ms. Tibideaux wouldn't spit on her if Rachel was on fire (if Ms. Tibideaux would deign to spit on anyone). It was Rachel's choice to quit Funny Girl (after getting a very, very explicit warning about just what would happen if she fucked with te show again). Rachel had all the success she'd dreamed of right in her hands and she threw it all away because she couldn't control her ambitions. It's going to be interesting to see her being told just that right to her face.

Admittedly Lea did sing more during the 2010 tour, but not much more than Cory (since the majority of songs except for her two solos were duets with Cory or group numbers where she and Cory sang lead). Even so, the number of songs she sang were far fewer than any singer leading a band would sing while on tour (especially when you consider that they only toured during the summer when they weren't filming and singers with bands tour for months at a stretch).

I've always found threads on boards (unless expressly stated) to be pro and con regarding the actors and the characters. As far as the Glee tour goes, the entire cast worked incredibly hard. Lea has several prominent songs, but so did others. And Lea didn't do the dancing that Harry, Heather and even Chris did (his version of single ladies was a major hit at most performances). Regardless, it was a challenge for the entire cast, do perform so many shows and have such a heavy travel schedule to deal with. It wasn't easy on anyone. Lea would have had some experience with a heavy performance schedule that some of the others (who didn't grow up on Broadway) wouldn't have and I would expect that someone with her experience would know how to maintain her voice when performing nightly. Any singer who is touring (and not depending on backing tracts) have to be able to maintain their voices. As for Lea singing the majority of the songs, here's the set list for the 2011 tour. 1."Don't Stop Believin'" - Full cast: Lea Michele and Cory Monteith soloists 2."Dog Days Are Over" - Full cast: Jenna Ushkowitz and Amber Riley soloists 3."Sing" - Full cast: Lea Michele and Cory Monteith soloists 4."I'm a Slave 4 U" - Heather Morris 5."Fat Bottomed Girls" - Mark Salling 6."I Want to Hold Your Hand" - Chris Colfer 7."Ain't No Way" - Amber Riley 8."P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" - Harry Shum Jr., Kevin McHale 9."Born This Way" - Full cast: Chris Colfer, Jenna Ushkowitz, and Amber Riley soloists 10."Firework" - Lea Michele 11."Teenage Dream" - The Warblers 12."Silly Love Songs" - The Warblers 13."Raise Your Glass" - The Warblers 14."Happy Days Are Here Again / Get Happy" - Lea Michele and Chris Colfer 15."Lucky" - Dianna Agron and Chord Overstreet 16."River Deep – Mountain High" - Amber Riley and Naya Rivera 17."Don't Rain on My Parade" - Lea Michele (May 21-28 and June 16-18 only) 18."Jessie's Girl" - Cory Monteith 19."Valerie" - Naya Rivera 20."Loser Like Me" - Full cast: Lea Michele and Cory Monteith soloists This means that Lea had one solo (except for the nights when she performed DROMP when she had 2), one duet and some solo parts on 3 songs. Hardly the majority of the show. This is not to belittle what Lea did do, but it was clear to me that they designed the set list in order to ensure that no one singer was overly strained by having to carry too much of the show.

Everyone worked their asses off on the Glee tour. It was a brutal schedule so my sympathy for Lea is no more than for the rest of the cast. She's a talented performer, but let's not make her a martyr. Glee has been extraordinarily good to Lea for a very, very long time.

I have no issue with Rachel being featured prominently since her humiliating return to Lima is going to be the catalyst to the season. But I am tired of her (and Blaine) always being treated as if her storyline is the only one that matters. I can take it for one episode, but not an entire of season of focus being fixed completely on her. I would like to know what is going on with other characters, Kurt in particular, and see how their storylines get wrapped up. The Funny Girl debut ep was a bore to me musically with Lea singing nearly everything and this promises to be little better. It's a cheap tactic to give Lea an Oscar winning song from a hit film sung by Indina (or Darren to get a song that is still currently on the charts) to try to generate some iota of interest. I have no issue with Lea and Darren getting songs, but I'm tired of it being to the exclusion of everyone else in the cast.

I have to admit that I love the title. Since the focus will be heavily on Rachel's crash and burn of a career "Loser Like Me" is more than appropriate. And as predicted, lots of "woe is me" solos for La Berry. And is it really surprising that all but one song in the episode would be sung by either Rachel or Blaine (or them together)? Disappointing, definitely. But not surprising. And I'm totally laughing at the misuse of Let it Go - a song about empowerment in the face of the worst adversity and it's going to be wasted on Rachel just because if Lea's not copying Barbra, she's copying Indina. The one good thing (and I'm clinging to my silver lining) is that if Kurt isn't singing in an episode called "Loser Like Me" it's because he isn't a loser. He still has NYADA and Broadway and when he comes to Lima, it's going to be as a rising star. So I don't mind him not having a ton of focus here. If anything, If Kurt appears in the first episode at all, I'm expecting him to be there merely as a counterpoint to Rachel (a rather bitter reminder to her of what she no longer has) and to be her cheerleader as she regains her confidence. I don't see any real storyline developing for Kurt this season - which has me sad but at the same time grateful since it gives the writers less chance to wreak his character.

I think that everyone's got at least one show in their history that against better judgment they kept watching well past its expiration date (X-Files, am looking at you). Like a lot of people here, I'm seeing Glee through to the end but I've lost pretty much all the enjoyment that the show used to bring me. I've been watching since the pilot first aired and grew very attached to this show and am often surprised that I still have the level of emotional investment that I do. I get genuinely angry at the level of astonishing stupidity that's been polluting my TV for the past two seasons. But I can't bring myself to stop watching. To save what's left of my sanity, I'm just looking at everything that happened following the season 4 finale as the most poorly written AU. In my happy little head canon, Rachel didn't turn into a raging idiot who threw away all of her professional chances and is only going to achieve any of her goals after a lot of real challenge. Kurt never reconciled with Blaine and is still happily dating Adam Crawford and making a name for himself at NYADA. The NY trio wasn't invaded by the never ending pool of suck that is Blam and McKinley vanished into a black hole.

Even more amusing when you consider that Chris's animated movie is slated to open in mid-January, right around the time when what little PR push Glee is likely to try should be happening. So while they're trying to scrape together some media interest for Glee, Chris will be doing interviews and attending premiere events for his film. The irony is absolutely delicious.

Realistically, Rachel would have to turn ND over to Will (if that's how it plays out). it's not as if she has a college degree that would qualify her to be hired as a teacher. A college drop out who fucked her own career isn't exactly the kind of person most high schools would be looking to hire. What I would love to see as far as Rachel goes is a renewing of her love of performing by working with ND. She's been so goal focused for the past few seasons that I feel that she's completely lost just performing for it's own sake. That would go a long way to getting her head back into the right place so that she could focus on trying to rebuild her career.

I don't think that the writers checked in since season 3!

In defense of Sue's part in the storyline, arts programs tend to be the first things cut when budgets get slashed and I could see Sue willing to do that rather than sacrifice something else (like the athletics programs). I'm tired of her being this rabid anti-arts crusader every five minutes, only to change her mind at the end. It's tired and it's been done before (not that this has ever stopped Glee). While it may make sense for Rachel to come back to Lima (if her career really is in complete tatters), there's no logic in Kurt, Blaine, Artie or Mercedes setting foot there for more than a day or so. The boys are still in school and starting to branch out professionally and Mercedes is touring to support her recording career. I get that they have a lot of sentimental feelings for their old choirs, but what kind of a message is it that the show wants them to sacrifice/postpone their professional prospects when they've only just started to explore them.

Having a tv show fail after one successful (or semi-successful) season would not be nearly as devastating for Rachel's career prospects as having it flop early on. Given that it's just six months after The Untitled Rachel Berry Project, either the network decline to pick up the show (which happens to a lot of pilots) or worse, the show aired but was a critical and ratings disaster and got canceled after the first episode. If Rachel gets bad reviews, that would pretty much kill her chances for a tv career. Rachel's storyline could be interesting if it's handled right. I have no issue with Rachel getting some kind of opportunity before the end of the season so long as it's reasonable. I would love to see Rachel trying to mask just how badly she screwed her career, not just to everyone else, but to herself as well because let's be honest... she's the one that everyone expected to be the biggest star coming out of McKinley and she destroyed her chances by wanting too much too quickly. I can see her trying to sweet talk Kurt into staying with her rather than returning to NYADA because she has never been one who was willing to suffer alone (and it would gall her that Kurt would have what she didn't). Maybe in the finale let Rachel get word that there was an off-off Broadway show that was willing to take a chance on her and she would have the opportunity to start slowly rebuilding her career from the bottom.

I have to admit that I am really, really shocked (in a good way) that they are actually going there and having Rachel's acting career on the rocks. Her tv show a flop, presumably blacklisted from Broadway after quitting Funny Girl (and I would not be surprised if there is a lawsuit lurking in the background) and NYADA closed to her because she completely burned her bridges there. They've been setting up Rachel for a big professional fall for a long time now, but kept giving her the magic escape trapdoor. Guess they decided that it's the last season so they might as well go crazy and actually have her deal with some consequences of her decisions. I can totally see her trying to guilt Kurt into sticking around Lima with her since he still has all those opportunities and prospects that she so carelessly threw away waiting for him in NY. I'm hoping that it does come to a head and Kurt stands up to her that she shouldn't expect him to sacrifice his career goals just to make her feel better about totally fucking hers up. Am glad to see that Amber will be back as a regular because they need a more than just one girl and a bunch of white guys to carry this show to the end. Am still expecting it to be a complete and utter train wreak of epic proportions and will make the finale of True Blood look like a masterpiece in comparison.

I'm betting that the writers were genuinely not expecting Chris to be available for filming the first few episodes, hence we have him being shoehorned into Rachel's storyline (because if they're paying their GG winning actor, they might as well use him). As for Blaine... I think that they meant for him and Karofsky to start getting closer while Kurt was "away" (given how well we know of Blaine's ability to stay faithful when separated from his "soulmate"). Whatever real storyline they might have planned for Kurt will probably not happen until midway through the season (when they expected Chris to be back for filming). Now they're going to have to either write an off-screen break up for Klaine, or have Blaine really look like a total asshole and cheating again. They're at the point where they are going to make an eventual Klaine wedding impossible to justify. Even so, it just shows the writers for the total hacks that they are. Chris has been stating in interviews all summer that his movie isn't filming until after Glee finishes production, and with production already pushed back because of the reduced order (and BTS negotiations with the network), there was plenty of time for the writers to make adjustments without looking like total amateurs. It really goes to show just how badly things are being handled behind the scenes.

If it's only a six month jump, then one of two things are going on with Rachel. Either her pilot failed (not picked up by the network) or she waiting to hear if it's going to be picked up (because they won't film further episodes without the network picking up the show). So she's either biding her time while waiting to hear back about the show or she's actually in Lima at loose ends because she's... gasp... totally fucked her career. She wouldn't have been in LA long enough to have grown bored and disenchanted with being a TV film star (the way they wrote off her Broadway career). Kurt getting NYADA credits is... questionable. Yes, volunteering can get you credits if you're doing work in your field but not as a substitute for actual classwork. It makes absolutely no sense for Kurt to sacrifice a semester of classes (and the intensive training that he's at NYADA for) to schlep out to Lima to work with his old show choir. A week or two... maybe. But I just can't see Kurt staying there the whole time. Maybe just long enough for Rachel to get things off the ground before he either returns to NY for school or finds some kind of professional opportunity. As for Blaine and Karofsky (gonna say it again... Dave does not deserve this)... makes no sense unless Blaine stays in Lima while Kurt goes back to NY. Maybe Blaine drops out of NYADA on the promise of his benefactor getting him work (which didn't materialize) and like Rachel he's in Ohio because he screwed up his career prospects. Or Kurt has broken up with Blaine and this is a conspiracy to make Kurt jealous so that he takes the Grease Stain back. Either way... just can't get myself to give a rat's ass. I was expecting a lot more of a time jump since they now have to explain what happen to the old noobs (who were all underclassmen and should be there) and we get new noobs to take their places. But like everything else here, it just makes no sense. .