S06.E04: The Hurt Locker, Part 1

[Tara Ariano]

Part 1 of 2. Rachel proposes a deal with Will that will improve her squad's chances at the invitational, while Sue continues to meddle by hypnotizing Sam and coercing him into coming on to Rachel in hopes of throwing her off her game.

[Cranberry]

[Eolivet]

Ian Brennan is basically certifiable. I feel like I just watched an hour-long meta-parody. So much effort expended to appear to care so little.

 

ISIS Awareness Week and the drone chasing the students was funny the first time. But the rest...wow.

 

...What was that?

[camussie]

Another boring episode with way too much meta.  Sue's vendetta long ago lost its luster.  What didn't bore me, annoyed me.

• All of the Sue stuff.  I realize she has always been a cartoon character but even this was too cartoonish for my tastes.  What was new and funny in season 1 is just tired now
• Sue's rant to Will was like Santana's rant to Kurt last week - way too long, very much a tired retread, and way too much meta
• Rachel playing on Will's nostalgia for ND/McKinley annoyed me and worse yet him allowing it grated.  As for VA, I don't blame them for not liking Will nor questioning his ability as a coach given that he did come across bi-polar. Nor do I blame Carmel's principal threatening his job. It is a sad day when Blaine comes across as the most competent coach of the bunch.
• The bizarro Figgins stuff was stupid.  I am sure the writers thought it was fun and cracky but a little of that goes a long way and we passed a "little of that" back around season 2 or 3
• If they are indeed making a go of Sam/Rachel having it get its start because he is hypnotized was dumb.  He didn't even remember the kiss and from the preview he is still hypnotized next week
• The writers desperately trying to make Glee relevant through things like drones, ISIS, and hunger game references is just sad

 

Other notes:

• Unlike what was claimed over and over. Sue didn't see Sam/Rachel in a chemistry-laden moment and decide that she had to use that to get to Rachel.  She just walked up to him out of the blue and hypnotized him.
• "A Thousand Miles" sounded better in the episode than the pre-release but it still was over-produced and the visuals looked very much green screened even though I know they filmed it outside. Strange
• As tired as I am of Sue's antics I thought "I'm a bitch" was the best song of the episode.
• Blaine was surprising mature about Kurt dating. 
• It was cruel of Sue to set Sam up to woo Rachel in order to break her heart given the reason Rachel hasn't dated is because she has been grieving Finn
• Sam was not part of ND when Rachel did "Run Joey Run" although at this point it wouldn't shock me if they re-did it with Sam in the Finn part.
   

Finally Glee managed to truly offend me this week by having Sue say something to Will about "Sanduskying" his kids.  The writers crossed a line there.  Nothing funny about child rape.

Edited January 24, 2015 by camussie

[MizStaken]

Yeah what was that indeed? Brian Botiano and a ball gag from Tom of Finland. Wow, just wow.

[barbarylane]

The demise of this show is just so sad. No "glee" at all any more. I'm just watching trying to get to the end, but tonight I came pretty close to shutting it down mid-hour and calling it a series.

[SadieT]

I get why Will initially agreed not to go hard in the Invitational, ND has way more to lose than the other two teams, and I get why he re-neged on that decision when he thought Rachel was trying to sabotage him, but what's Blaine excuse for being such a dick? He doesn't have to take it easy on ND if he doesn't want to, but the way he was talking to Rachel and Kurt was beyond condescending. From the way Kurt was rolling his eyes while Blaine talked, it's hard to see why Kurt wants anything to do with Blaine. 

 

Finally Glee managed to truly offend me this week by having Sue say something to Will about "Sanduskying" his kids.  Seriously the writers crossed a line there.  Nothing funny about child rape.

 

Yeah, that was way out of line. Like grossly so. Child molestation isn't funny, not even in a dark humor sort of way. 

 

It was cruel of Sue to set Sam up to woo Rachel to break her given that the reason Rachel hasn't dated is because she has been grieving Finn

 

 

I feel bad for both Sam and Rachel. They're both being manipulated in this situation. Sam because he's such an idiot and Rachel because she's in a vulnerable place. Also, Sue trying to destroy New Directions by breaking Rachel's heart is a complete retread. They did this in season 1 (Hell-o) when Sue had Santana and Brittany pursue Finn in order to break Rachel's heart. Been there, done that. 

Edited January 24, 2015 by SadieT

[madhacker]

This episode and next week's are obviously for one purpose: to give Jane her last big spotlight. But it was kinda cool seeing Darren play the piano even if it was so short.The only thing I'm looking forward to is the Klaine elevator scene, but only to see those guys get back together (although I would've written it that it's Rachael and Sam who traps them and not an elevator, but at the staircase at Dalton (you know which one I'm talking about.)), but that would be logical, something that Glee's not real good at.

189

Edited January 24, 2015 by madhacker

[camussie]

I get why Will initially agreed not to go hard in the Invitational, ND has way more to lose than the other two teams, and I get why he re-neged on that decision when he thought Rachel was trying to sabotage him, but what's Blaine excuse for being such a dick? He doesn't have to take it easy on ND if he doesn't want to, but the way he was talking to Rachel and Kurt was beyond condescending. From the way Kurt was rolling his eyes while Blaine talked, it's hard to see why Kurt wants anything to do with Blaine.

 

 

I don't get it at all.  His current kids had been working on their numbers all summer and expecting them not to perform those to help out his old glee club is bad form.  It says I don't care what hard work you have put in, my previous glee club is more important  As for Blaine, I don't think he was condescending.  I think he was explaining why he wouldn't throw the invitational for them. 

Edited January 24, 2015 by camussie

[ComfySweater]

The meta ran thick and tried too hard. Sam got a shot at the one girl left from original New Directions he hadn't tried before. Sue's still the go to plot device for anything that would otherwise be impossible to pull off even using Glee logic. Kurt's old guy was rather manipulative to lie about his age and guilt trip him like that, but I find it hard to care. They tried too hard to make it the worst mismatch possible short of having him be Walt Disney's defrosted head grafted onto Sue's body. The Karofsky stuff was frat house prank level juvenile, and they pounded home once more that this guy is completely wrong for Blaine.  I get it, they want me to think Klaine should get back together because these mid-game relationships are awful. Instead it just makes them look like idiots who don't know how meeting people and dating works. 

 

I can't even muster up any outrage. That was just the same old stuff regurgitated in the same old ways. Zzzzzzzzzz

 

Knowing there's a part two of this possibly sparked more of a reaction in me than anything else in the episode. Do we have to?

[vb68]

Is it a re-con that Rachel needed/wanted piano lessons?   For some reason I thought she could always play.

 

Kurt on a date with Micheal Kuzak was hella weird for me.   Maybe next they can bring on Susan Dey.   They would have an excuse to sing "I Think I Love You."    Well that would be a step up from this mess. 

Edited January 24, 2015 by vb68

[Advance35]

Well Rachel's outfits CONTINUE to be my favorite thing about the show.

 

It's too bad they are running with the Hypnosis angle because Rachel's chemistry with Sam exceeds the non-existent, anti-chef she had with Finn.    I found there moments sweet.   And they have an easy chemistry.   Though I guess at this point "Sam and Rachel" trending World Wide is what RIB consider a job well done.  But I enjoyed their interactions so I won't complain.

 

Although WHERE was the head of Vocal Adrenaline when Rachel actually went to McKinnely.   He is HOT.    And I totally saw him checking Rachel out in the beginning of the episode.    Make him a senior, give him a personality, FF at the end of the show a year or two and have him and Rachel meet again and you've got yourself an endgame.   Did I mention he's HOT.   

[ancslove]

I don't mind Rachel asking, and Will agreeing, that Vocal Adrenaline go easy on New Directions.  It was only Invitationals, not Sectionals.  And I think it's pretty clear that VA would "win" anyway - Rachel was just asking not to have a huge bloodbath.  It's the Glee equivalent of a sports team deciding not to go for the 100-0 score, except the stakes are even less because Invitationals is not a real competition.  Plus, ND hadn't asked to have an Invitationals (or rather, to participate in an Invitationals), that was Sue blindsiding them and forcing the issue by offering to host.  I don't think Rachel and Kurt would have even thought about publicly performing, without a full roster.

 

My only other thought about this episode, beyond how boring it all was, is that was a really cute bear cub.  Can we keep him?

 

ETA:  Oh, second thought!  There is no way that Rachel would panic when hearing that middle C is the bridge between Bass and Treble Clef.  She knows how to read music, she just doesn't play piano!  (Which I think is also a retcon, I'm pretty sure she could at least pick her way around the keys to match pitch.)

Edited January 24, 2015 by ancslove

[camussie]

Rachel knows how to at least pick notes on a piano.  In "Showmance," the second episode of the series, she was helping Finn train his voice, and she would play a note and have him match it.    Also IIRC when she was writing her original songs she was doing so at a piano.  

Edited January 24, 2015 by camussie

[SadieT]

I don't get it at all.  His current kids had been working on their numbers all summer and expecting them not to perform those all to help out his old glee club is just bad form.  It says I don't care what hard work you have put in, my previous glee club is more important As for Blaine, I don't think he was condescending.  I think he was explaining why he wouldn't throw the invitational for them.

 

But it literally means nothing at all to Vocal Adrenaline. Plus they're a bunch of little assholes who don't respect him at all, so I don't blame him for allowing his allegiance to lie with the New Directions. Also the sole purpose of Sue setting up the Invitational was to break New Directions' spirit so that the kids would be disheartened and the club would disband, allowing Sue to permanently eradicate the arts from McKinley, so I definitely understand why Will would not want to contribute to that. For one, he's obviously big on arts education, and he truly believes Glee changes lives, so of course he'd want to protect the club. Telling his VA kids to just take it easy and go out there and have fun rather than destroying the competition isn't some despicable act. Misguided maybe, but Will's heart was in the right place. Vocal Adrenaline and the Warblers have nothing to lose or gain in the Invitational, New Directions has everything to lose. It's like letting a kid beat you at a board game because you don't want to be the jerk who goes hard against an 8 year old in a game of checkers. The New Directions are a little handicapped at the moment, so I don't see a problem with Will agreeing to give them a chance to get it together and gain some confidence before he goes all out and crushes their dreams at Sectionals. 

 

And there was just something about the way Blaine was talking that came across as condescending and smug. Maybe it was just Darren's delivery but he was super unlikeable in that scene. 

Edited January 24, 2015 by SadieT

[Craphole Island]

All the Sue stuff was really just too much. But, I didn't hate "Bitch" actually, so there's that.

 

And you know what? I actually liked the Sam/Rachel scenes quite a bit. I thought Chord and Lea had pretty good chemistry. I just really hate HOW we got to those (with the stupid hypnotizing plot). I'm not even saying I want them together, i just enjoyed their scenes and am interested in seeing more. And I enjoyed "A Thousand Miles", but I agree it looked green-screened even though it wasn't. Weird.

[Hana Chan]

We're now a third of a way through the season and absolutely nothing of consequence has been accomplished thus far. We're just going through the motions until the next Big Moment.

 

Darren has never been the strongest actor in the cast (by a long shot), but his performance was so wooden that he just drained the energy out of every scene he was in. He was completely lifeless here, not smug enough to actually come across like an asshole to Rachel's request to go easy on ND and when Dave called about the intruder in their apartment? I react more strongly when someone takes my apple out of the office fridge.

 

Sue always worked best as a cartoon character. Someone on Tumblr calls her a trickster in a track suit and that was on full display here. She exists to create havoc around her and that was on full force tonight. No one was immune (although she genuinely seemed to think that getting Blaine back for Kurt was for his benefit - her motivation towards her actions with everyone else was pure maliciousness). For the most part I found her entertaining because she knows exactly what buttons to press to make the puppets dance. And she serves a purpose by making unsympathetic characters (or at least characters that act in an unsympathetic manner) more tolerable to the audience.

 

Note to the Glee Wardrobe Dept. - I very much approve of how tight you've managed to get Kurt's entire wardrobe this season. Keep up the good job.

 

A lot of wasted time this episode. It's hard to get worked up over a meaningless invitational with no real stakes.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Hana Chan

[phoenixrising]

I've been team get-Rachel-a-love-interest for a long time. I didn't want anyone in the Glee club (or formly in it) to be the guy, because that seems weirdly incesty, and odd? Also, Sam has already been with every girl, and he did not need to complete the record. I also just kind of hate him. 

 

However, I could perhaps tolerate this plot if we were acknowledging how big of a deal it is for Rachel to be into a guy again. And if Sam hadn't so callously rejected her (seriously why the fuck did he bring up her butt in that conversation that was not even remotely funny), it would be fine. 

 

This is actually a huge deal for the show, but they made it a joke. Also kind of nonconsensual? It's messed up. I hate it. I hate it more than any ship to ever exist in the history of shipdom. Klaine and Bram used to be my most hated ships, but this one has officially taken the cake. I hate it. 

 

The rest of this episode? Yeah, it was boring. When that Klaine conversation was the most tolerable part, there's a problem. Well, except when the VA kids said they didn't like Will. That was hilarious. 

[camussie]

The question is which came first?  His over-allegiance to ND or the kids at VA not respecting him?  I think the argument can easily be made that he has been half assing it with VA this whole time because that isn't where he wants to be and the VA kids have picked up on that so they don't respect him.  

 

As for being concerned about break ND spirit where was his concern that he might alienate his club and upset them?  It isn't in dispute that they had been working hard all summer.  I just think it is crappy to expect them to forget all of that hard work and instead perform last minute numbers Will assigns because he is way too nostalgic about his old club.  

 

To be fair I also have never really agreed with the writers that a team who does thing on the fly, but has heart, is more deserving of accolades and respect than a team who practices yet isn't warm and cuddly.

Edited January 24, 2015 by camussie

[CleoCaesar]

To quote Chandler Bing, "That was one of the worst things ever. Not just on television."

 

Is Ian Brennan unwell? That was one of the most cringe-inducing, embarrassing, unfunny episodes in this show's history. And that is saying a lot. I honestly can't think of a single redeemable moment. Other than Lea continuing to look really good and maybe the "Whip It" number.

 

The first 2-3 episodes of the season were clearly a fluke.

[vb68]

One minor thing that I liked was at the beginning in Sue's hurt locker.  It said "missing" above season one Matt.    Small thing I know, but I'll take it.

[Myrna123]

I feel so stupid for thinking this show can't keep getting even more awful and then it does. Just more and more and more and more awful.

Where do these show runners get their ideas about what (once upon a time) viewers found charming about this show? How can they be so insanely off base about what the last, few remaining viewers would like to see? I think there's some heinously evil Fox intern who has hypnotized the writers into churning out this pathetic drivel in the hopes of driving every last one of them permanently from the entertainment business.

[Hana Chan]

The one thing about this episode that I will buy is that because root vegetables have higher IQs than Sam that he was so quickly and easily hypnotized.

 

And I never thought I would say this, but there was a decided lack of the new noobs. I would have happily traded every instant of the boredom that was Samchel to have the noobs featured more prominently.

[willgracefan]

I get what the writers are trying to do this season, I really do. Make jokes about past storylines that all got us to where we are today. In those moments I actually find myself smiling remembering the scene where Cory Monteith sang "I can't fight this feeling anymore" or bringing up missing ND members, like Rory, Matt and Joe. But the rest of the filth that came out of Sue's mouth? Sanduskying, Horrible. The writers got us into this mess. And I even can't even believe I'm still here to watch the final result.

[phoenixrising]

The one thing about this episode that I will buy is that because root vegetables have higher IQs than Sam that he was so quickly and easily hypnotized.

 

And I never thought I would say this, but there was a decided lack of the new noobs. I would have happily traded every instant of the boredom that was Samchel to have the noobs featured more prominently.

 

I would choose the newbies over basically every storyline happening with the originals right now. 

[camussie]

One other note:

• As someone who surprisingly liked Rachel coaching ND in the first 3 episodes I wanted her attitude to be checked tonight.  What she asked Will was annoying enough; however, when VA ended up giving it their all her stink eye towards Will came across like she thought she was owed this and she was furious Will didn't deliver.  I think it would have worked much better if Rachel's reaction was hurt rather than anger.  Anger just made her come across as entitled and that isn't what I want for the character right now.  Rather I want her get back to the resilient and determined person she once was instead of looking for special treatment in order to succeed.

Edited January 24, 2015 by camussie

[halfbakedpotatoes]

Ugh. Terrible. And maybe it's just me but I thought there was something tone-deaf with having a "sensitive" storyline about Bieste transitioning one week, and Iqbal Theba dressing as a woman for laughs the next.

[phoenixrising]

Ugh. Terrible. And maybe it's just me but I thought there was something tone-deaf with having a "sensitive" storyline about Bieste transitioning one week, and Iqbal Theba dressing as a woman for laughs the next.

My friend made the same comment. But that's the glee way

[Sara2009]

It could be argued either way( since this show is unintentionally ambiguous), but personally I think VA have never respected Will, and that's why he feels out of place there. I don't think he's been half-ssinf it this whole time, but I don't think we'll know for sure one way or another for awhile.

[fakeempress]

This was awful. I can't muster any other thoughts at the moment. 

[tom87]

I must be immune I felt no hate or no love. It was just kind of there.

 

 

I think 90% of it was meta.

 

I didn't fine the Kurt and Rachel wanting the teams to go easy horrible considering the circumstances, but they laid on the guilt to Will a bit much I was side eying the shot to the picture of Finn.   I do not blame VA for being pissed though

 

Hopefully this was just setting up Will to go back to ND when Kurt and Rachel finally go back to NY.  

 

It is annoying they are treating Rachel's first foray back into dating as a joke.   I thought their scenes were fine though. The practicing the piano on his hands was even kind of cute.   I still wish they weren't going there.

 

Darren's "acting" when he refused to go a easy on ND may have been the worse line read in glee .

 

Kurt's date was boring and I hope their is actually some follow up otherwise it seemed worthless.

 

Sue is just to ridiculous to waste  writing about.

 

 

Rachel piano = she knows enough to do  scales and tune a piano.

Edited January 24, 2015 by tom87

[bobbyjoe]

Harry Hamlin-- part of gay history for his role in "Making Love" back in the 80s-- would have been a great, cool cameo if he'd just been an older gay man who gave Kurt advice.

 

Instead, the show has to FUBAR the whole thing by making him some guy who creepily misrepresents himself on the internet.

 

Never underestimate late-period Glee's ability to totally screw up what could have been a good idea.

[Casual Viewing]

I want to thank each and every one of you intrepid Glee viewers who reviewed this episode and have saved me the tedium and pain of watching it myself. I will be giving this one a miss since it sounds like a mess.

[Cranberry]

I watched for a few minutes, saw Sue hypnotizing Sam and telling him to steal Will's mail, saw Harry Hamlin hitting on Kurt, and noped right back out of there and watched a movie instead.

[heyerchick]

Episode just finished downloading. I'm going in....

[heyerchick]

...aaaand a lot of that was just really uncomfortable to watch.

 

I don't see any chemistry between Rachel and Sam, and Chord is just not operating anywhere near the same level as Lea in their scenes together. The lights were often on but nobody was home with Finn, but that was because there was a really good actor behind it. Sam is just flat to me. 

 

Sue has been pretty irrelevant since season 2 because the writers utterly refuse to evolve the character or her storylines, so most of this episode was a colossal waste of time.

 

As someone who was a pretty devoted Kurt-Blaine fan until Blaine cheated and then basically blamed Kurt for 'making' him do it, and since then just as fervently anti-Klaine, a dark part of myself was quite amused by the Klainer meta part of the episode. There really are people who want Kurt back with Blaine no matter how much they've outgrown one another or how incompatible and unhappy they are in close quarters. As much as they've cemented anything in canon, the writers have cemented the fact that Kurt can't stand living with Blaine, hardly a recipe for future happiness or relationship longevity, but...Blaine *MUST* get his romantic prize, in those eyes. Get Kurt to the altar even if he has to be dragged down the aisle (not hyperbole or exaggeration, I've actually seen that exact sentiment expressed and enthusiastically endorsed).

 

Personally, I am comforted by the utter, unassailable certainty that sure as day follows night, Kurt will divorce Blaine because he can't actually bear to be in close proximity with him for any length of time, and fulfill his true destiny of beating off those circling hordes of New York hotties Glee pretends don't exist. Now that's a happy ending I can get behind.

 

It would be kind of awesome if the show remembered its subversive roots and that's how everything ended - Rachel and Kurt skipping merrily off to New York, a little sadder, a lot wiser, and filled with hope and determination to build their new adult lives and fulfill their dreams on the Broadway.

Edited January 24, 2015 by heyerchick

[Gulftastic]

That was bad. Far too much evil Sue nonsense and idiot Sam. The hypnosis plot was the kind of thing that ruined seasons 4 and 5.

[RealityCowgirl]

Watching several spoilers play out on the screen wasn't as bad as predicted. It was worse. Eegads.

Edited January 24, 2015 by RealityCowgirl

[Primetimer]

After being endowed with some depth and development, Sue whips back to arbitrary villainy, in maybe the most nonsensical episode of Glee yet.

Read the story

[Gulftastic]

But...but...the fork!!

[darkestboy]

That was pretty dreadful actually.

Once upon a time, maybe Sue's loony antics and perceived slights over nothing might have been amusing but it was a long time ago and dedicated a two parter to it is just flatout insanity.

Sabotaging Will is one thing but using Sam to toy with Rachel is just pathetic too.

Plus, when the hell did Sue ever give two ¤¤¤¤s about Klaine? Her bizarre attempts of getting them back together were idiotic at best and irritating at worst.

At least Kurt and Blaine were mature in the episode. Karofshy had some moments too.

Not really feeling Vocal Adrenaline as an actual threat either, 5/10
 

[Sara2009]

The Sandusky reference bothers me a bit. Will is definitely overly involved with the kids, but he's never come close to actually doing anything sexual to them, so I think Ian went a little too far.

[coolbeans3131]

I just found this episode insufferably boring. Far too much Sue. I tuned out her tired old rant at Will after about 20 seconds. Zzzzzz

 

I thought Kurt was looking good though, so there was that at least.

[Hana Chan]

I found the mocking of the Klaine fandom rather enjoyable. Not only was Sue displaying all the worst tendencies of that group of fans (their irrational demands and bullying to make the pair connect no matter how poorly suited they are), but she also turned it on it's head. Now it was Kurt who was the center, the perfect one who's reluctant partner must be forced to his side regardless of how stupid an idea it is. Blaine was the one portrayed in the dress, while Sue waxed poetic about how appealing Kurt was.

 

Normally I don't like this kind of mocking of the fans, but after having to deal with the obnoxious Klaine/Blaine stans for so long, I can't help from feeling a bit of malicious enjoyment at their expense. And it was nice to see Sue's version of affection for her Sweet Porcelain back in full effect.

[vb68]

 

That was bad. Far too much evil Sue nonsense and idiot Sam. The hypnosis plot was the kind of thing that ruined seasons 4 and 5.

 

Yeah, remember when Sam thought he had an Australian twin?  I don't see much difference with the hypnosis.

 

They should just have Sue conspire with Wile E. Coyote.  It's pretty much on the same level.    

[DollEyes]

     Well, that happened and for the most part, it sucked. I found the mocking of Klainers, like the rest of the episode, extremely tacky and creepy. The way I see it, Sue's obsessing this much over the relationship of a couple of former high school kids that's none of her business and never has been says much more and much worse about her than it does about Klaine or Klainers, for that matter.  After this episode, if Klaine do get back together, I hope that it happens organically, without any outside interference from anyone, especially Sue. I don't want to see Kurt "dragged down the aisle" either, but if Kurt and Blaine can manage to solve their problems and they believe that things can work this time, then I have no problem with that. As for Kurt divorcing Blaine, I'll believe that if I see it. It would serve Sue right if Klaine eloped, which would mean that she doesn't get to keep the promise that she never should have made to Becky in the first place. Sue needs to concentrate on her own life and butt out of Kurt and Blaine's, separately and together. 

 

  Sue's latest rant at Will was easily the worst thing about the episode. Will's not "perfect" by any means, but Sue's is so not the one to be judging him when she's done way worse where the students in general and the Glee Club in particular are concerned. At least Will has never built a shrine to a former high school couple, pimped out any of his students to destroy another team and he sure as Hell hasn't had booty calls in his former students' apartment, like Sue has.  As for Sue's dissing Will's relationships with the kids, how many adult friends does she have?  What about Sue and Becky? Inappropriate doesn't even begin to describe their relationship. About Sue's accusing Will of not knowing who Matt, aka "Shaft" was, this from the woman who called Tina & Mike "Asian" & "Other Asian."  Hypocrite is the kindest word I've got for Sue, who had better suffer karmic retribution of epic proportions for the massive amount of shit she has said and/or done by the series finale. 

Edited January 24, 2015 by DollEyes

[Glorfindel]

I can’t with this show anymore. This week I wasn’t so much angry and cringing all the time like I was last week, but I was just bored and a bit baffled with the stupidity of it all (and that was with knowing the spoilers beforehand).

All the meta was irritating, lazy-ass writing that uses not 1 but 2 of Sue's OTT lunatic schemes to set up storylines that really deserve more attention and care, and I was not amused by seeing Figgins in drag right after the Beiste storyline of last week. We also got yet another ‘funny’ long rant this episode. At least this time Sue’s rant was pointed at Will and the things he did (and she's the one accusing him of 'Sanduskying when she has a secret love-shrine dedicated to 2 of her former students), not also the actor, but still…..

It all screams pathetic and desperation to me, if this is all the writers can still come up with in their attempts to stay edgy and funny. And count the ISIS, Hunger Games and Game of Thrones references as being pathetic and desperate as well, with the Sandusky remark as a new offensive Glee low (and that’s saying something).

 

What annoys me the most about the storyline of Sue being an OTT crazy Klainer is that although the writers have already done a grand job in completely ruining Klaine with their seasons 4 and 5 storylines, I feel that this episode with Sue scheming to bring them back together destroys Klaine even more, and in a more irredeemable way too imo. If the writers can’t even take one of their endgame couples serious anymore, why should we as the audience?
All those fights Klaine had last year could still have been fixed in a somewhat acceptable way if Kurt and Blaine were allowed to talk and work things out now, or even simply acknowledged what went wrong and then seeing them trying to improve, together. But we see nothing of that. Instead we get Sue going batshit shipper crazy and scheming to get them back together, even when Kurt protests twice he doesn’t want to and Sue slutshames Karofsky in the process (the same guy she cried for when he tried to commit suicide FCS). The writers are basically saying that this is the main justification of Klaine getting back together in the end: because Sue aka Klaine shippers want it, no matter how stupid and forced their reunion will be.

 

Although this Walter guy was nice to Kurt and seemed ready to be rejected by a much younger man (again?) he still intentionally misguided Kurt into seeing him in the first place, and deliberately did not tell him about his marriage. Also: Kurt/Chris looked awful young in this scene, while 63 old Harry Hamlin did not look still 50-ish imo, so brrrrrr. 

I hope there’s more to this storyline than just Kurt being disappointed in a guy again, or else it was pointless. Unless the only purpose of this scene was to show us that "Porcelain" really is not able to get any other decent guy besides wonderful acapella dreamboat Blaine.

 

Darren’s acting in this episode was horrible. His acting skills are never anything to write home about imo, but it seems he’s getting even worse every episode now. The way he read that text message from Dave was terribly wooden and unbelievable. His flat acting also prevents me to get any clue on how Blaine is feeling about Kurt or Karofsky, which is not helping their storyline at all.
On the other hand: Max Adler’s high-pitched voice during the bear scene was hilarious. I don’t understand why they brought back Karofsky this season, and especially not why they have him acting the way he does (as it seems to contradict the Karofsky from earlier seasons) but at least Max is having fun with it.

 

If Rachel wanted this unexpected Invitationals to be a good experience for the new ND kids she could have told them she knows they were not ready yet to compete against those other teams but that they were going to make the best of it and use it as an opportunity to learn from the best. Not asking the other teams to go easy on them, which is not fair on the Warblers and Vocal Adrenaline but also not fair on the new ND.

I also didn’t like Rachel guilt-tripping Will by reminding him how much McKinley and glee club did for him (especially not when the camera then panned to Finn’s plaque) as glee club and Will also did a lot for Rachel back then, including getting her accepted at NYADA.

 

I never thought I would want more screentime for the new ND kids, but they seem interesting characters, and really: anything is better than the storylines we're getting now. Their background reactions are funny, but I found the obviously throwback to season 1 of ND looking shocked at Vocal Adrenaline with mouths open irritating. We get it: season 6 is basically repeating season 1, only without its original magic.

 

Although I can understand why Will has sentimental feelings about ND and Rachel, he shouldnt have sabotaged his own kids of Vocal Adrenaline. Because that’s what he basically did. He didn’t just ask or tell the VA kids to take it easy on ND, no: he deliberately changed their songs at the last minute so they would not be able to rehearse the new songs on time to give an A+ performance. That is what bothers me the most about this storyline.
And then later, when Will is pissed at Rachel for personal reasons he backtracks and uses the VA kids again just to get back at Rachel, without giving them an apology or real explanation. No wonder they don’t like him and think he’s bipolar.

 

Samchel……….let’s just say I was bored stiff. Not even the stupid plot of Sam getting hypnotized and him kissing Rachel without his conscious consent is enough to get me to care even one bit about them.
Actually: about the only things I was thinking during their storyline was “Why not ask Kurt for piano lessons, as he’s at McKinley with you all the time while Blaine has to commute?” and  “You really don’t learn to play the piano so well that fast”, lol.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Glorfindel

[camussie]

The Sandusky reference bothers me a bit. Will is definitely overly involved with the kids, but he's never come close to actually doing anything sexual to them, so I think Ian went a little too far.

 

 

It would have gone too far no matter who it was aimed at.  As I said above there is nothing funny about child rape.  

[futurechemist]

Maybe it's good Glee is ending this year.  The show couldn't figure out what it wanted to be.  Was it going to be like Degrassi, where it stays at the school and focuses on the somewhat different group of students that are in the glee club each year?  Or was it going to be like Saved by the Bell, where it focuses on a core gang through high school and then inexplicably into college?  Naming the show "Glee" made it seem like the former.  But then the show realized they had struck gold so they couldn't let the popular actors/characters go.  So the show is awkwardly straddling both the old and new characters.  So now we have episodes like this where Will seems to be choosing his former glee club over his current glee club, every glee club in the region has ties to McKinley, and the show needs to keep finding arbitrary reasons for the original characters to come back to Lima.  

[galax-arena]

You know that Klaine is a horrible ship when Sue ships them.