S06.E11: We Built This Glee Club

[caracas1914]

The character was all of 19 and while I hate "they're just young" excuse for WTF plot turns on Glee, Rachel not feeling that things were right and aligned would fit such a usually driven and confident person, albeit one with insecurities.

 

Totally agree that because it came so quickly as so easily (as Funny Girl was literally her second professional audition period) that she ended up not really appreciating it and was so quick to toss it aside the instant someone else dangled a shiny prize in front of her nose.

 

 

I think her tossing it aside (AGAIN just my head canon) was also because it wasn't how she envisioned it, I think she fully expected to have Finn by her side somehow, and if not, I think his death shook her up to the point where nothing seemed quite the same for her.

 

Anyways, the show just said she had a "hard year".

Edited March 16, 2015 by caracas1914

[Hana Chan]

There's age and there's maturity. There are very mature 19 year olds and others who can't be trusted to cross the street by themselves. Rachel is not the most mature person in the world (and we see that in how badly she handles when things don't go the right way for her immediately). A mature 19 year old might be able to handle the pressures of being a professional on Broadway, but Rachel just wasn't. She was fine when everything went well and she was praised, but she couldn't handle things not going exactly according to plan.

[caracas1914]

Totally agree that Rachel wasn't mature, and the show has never pretended she actually is.

 

Sigh, they could have handled her demise so so much more better, oh well. 

[camussie]

I think that is what they were going for with the "hard year" comment but I feel it is it is too late for them to say well the reason Rachel made those bad decisions is because she lost Finn.  I'll be honest and say I never got the impression Finn's death really impacted the day to day lives anyone but Puck and his mom.  In a way that makes sense because Finn wasn't part of the NY contingent's day to day lives so, while they mourned him deeply, him not being there was not that different from their lives before he passed.  

 

If they wanted me to buy into Rachel was making these dumb decisions because Finn wasn't there they should have done it at the time instead of telling us now that was the driving force behind it.  For example, they could have easily made a big reason Rachel was freaking out about opening night was because it wasn't how she envisioned it at all since Finn wasn't there.  Instead her freak out was based on online reviews.

Edited March 16, 2015 by camussie

[dizzyizzy01]

I think the hard part was the real-life circumstances of why Finn died on the show.  They really couldn't/didn't want to dive into the deeper stuff around Rachel's mindset.  Everything was kept at a fairly superficial level, and while it still amounted to horrible storytelling and I wish they had gone a different direction around her story, it's understandable why they avoided that idea all last year.

[caracas1914]

Everything was kept at a fairly superficial level, and while it still amounted to horrible storytelling and I wish they had gone a different direction around her story, it's understandable why they avoided that idea all last year.

 

Exactly.   It would have come across badly  no matter how they did it if they invoked the loss of Finn with Rachel's mindset through the while Broadway debacle.

[camussie]

And I get that* but to try and go back and say it now smacks of retconning.  It also smacks of giving Rachel a pass for her very stupid decisions, especially since Rachel has yet to take ownership of them (everything fell apart).  If they understandably didn't want to address it then they should have left it out now and just had Rachel say at any point this season I made some dumb decisions because I let my ambition get away from me. She could have even then said that has always been a struggle for her and because everything was so messed up last year she let it get the best of her.  

 

*I have long said that given real life sensitivities I understood why they never delved that deep into Rachel's grief.  

Edited March 16, 2015 by camussie

[dizzyizzy01]

Which is why I prefer that they didn't go down the Funny Girl story line at all because they retconned her character without any explanation.  She never wanted to go to LA or be on TV.  She's never had any issues with work ethic or commitment before.  The kid that grew up wanting to be on Broadway her entire life and who did the rehearsals, workshops, out-of-town runs all happily suddenly abandons it all for Hollywood?  It just wasn't good writing.

[Hana Chan]

We like to scream about agency for characters, that they be allowed to make choices on their own and not be unduly influenced by the actions of others. We hear that often enough when Rachel has to endure other characters telling her what to do that she was fully capable of making her own decisions. Well, that goes for the bad choices as well as the good ones. Trying to pin the ultimate reason for Rachel making stupid and short sighted decisions on Finn's untimely death is, to me, trying to insulate her from her bad choices (which we expect her to be rewarded for her good ones).

 

The problem is that Rachel has a long history, going back well before Finn died, of making poorly thought out, short sighted decisions that she ends up having to walk back from. This is the girl who quit ND over not being given a song that she wanted, and who jumped into a school election after having promised to support a friend. The idea that a character who thought that stuffing ballot boxes to get an end result that she wanted would not eventually make mistakes that damaged her own career is pretty hard to swallow.

[dizzyizzy01]

Stuffing ballot boxes to help a friend (in an incredibly misguided way) and quitting a club when you are 14(?) because you feel it doesn't support your needs (rightly or wrongly) is a big jump to abandoning your life-long dream.

[Hana Chan]

Rachel was a senior in high school when she stuffed the ballot box, Less than two years later, she was on Broadway. We're not talking about an enormous stretch of time. I'm just showing a long pattern of doing things without really weighing out that consequences  that go back long before she lost Finn.

[dizzyizzy01]

I can buy some poor decision making on her part like the understudy fight or even the NYADA stuff.  The abandoning something she's worked for her entire life for something she also very recently and very strongly stated she did not want (LA and TV) was not believable IMO.

 

I mean the election stuff also had to do with wanting to get into NYADA, to NY, and ultimately Broadway.  That was also stupidly written but it is what it is.  I don't know what student elections have to do with performing arts school applications, but it's Glee.

[tom87]

I can buy some poor decision making on her part like the understudy fight or even the NYADA stuff.  The abandoning something she's worked for her entire life for something she also very recently and very strongly stated she did not want (LA and TV) was not believable IMO.

 

I mean the election stuff also had to do with wanting to get into NYADA, to NY, and ultimately Broadway.  That was also stupidly written but it is what it is.  I don't know what student elections have to do with performing arts school applications, but it's Glee.

All that works with the idea she wants everything to much more  than the idea she gets bored or some how hasn't worked hard.

[caracas1914]

Hey, it's still out of character for Rachel to have gotten bored and wanted out of her BW dream, but anything would have been better than how the actual storyline played out...it was just horrible.

[ancslove]

Wants everything too much, and is afraid that nothing will last. And that actually makes sense after losing Finn, there was no stability or safety for her anymore, and so she grabbed at everything, to find something that would stay.

[caracas1914]

Wants everything too much, and is afraid that nothing will last.

 

The problem with that is that the producer told her the success of the show depended on her.  It's hard to envision Rachel being that heartless/careless with the livelihood of everyone involved in the BW production; which was driven home several times on the show when they were in rehearsals.

 

She just didn't dump the show, she basically screwed everyone else involved.

Edited March 16, 2015 by caracas1914

[ToxicUnicorn]

What is even going on with this show anymore.

This is me.  What the what?  I saw an ad two more episodes, and looked in.  Why is Beiste a man?  Did she have an identical twin?  Why is that Sam?  Why has Blaine not aged his style at all?  Where did Santana go?  Why is Jesse St. James blond?  So many questions.  (ETA: whoops, I mean twin who could grow a beard.  Whatever kind of twin that would be in a Ryan Murphy show.)

 

I've always enjoyed Rachel's song, so her duet with Groff was a treat.  The rest of it made very little sense, and the New Directions' singing at Sectionals (which I loved the first year or two) was really subpar.  It looked as though Vocal Adrenaline wasn't even trying to lip sync.  The broken wings number was funny, though.

 

Anyway, it's about time this show was put to bed.  I guess I'll go back to watch the trophies montage sometime.  Count me in as one who still associates Finn very affectionately with this show.

Edited March 17, 2015 by ToxicUnicorn

[Omnihelix]

Now we'll never see Rachel Berry play the beloved Broadway character Segovia Shade. Pity. 

[Hana Chan]

She just didn't dump the show, she basically screwed everyone else involved.

 

Which is all the more reason that there should have been very real consequences and repercussions for what she did. Whether or not Rachel's decision to quit Funny Girl made sense for her character may be debatable, but once the show went there it had an obligation to treat it as a very serious mistake that would justifiably ended her career for the foreseeable future. The idea that she could quit a show (very possibly causing it to close and have the investors lose everything) and then not just get an audition because a high school friend pulled a few strings on her behalf, but gets hired because her ex-boyfriend is in the cast was stretching things well past the point of any believability.

 

But this has been the inherent weakness in Rachel's storyline from the very start. That she would eventually succeed and obtain all of her goals was never anything at all at doubt so Rachel never suffered a setback that didn't just vanish in an episode or two. She could totally biff her audition for a competitive school, and still get admitted. She could quit that school and her show and still get multiple options so that she could quickly be put back on the path to success. It's hard to get invested in her storyline because there's no reasonable hint of risk that just maybe she might not make it. Rachel's endpoint is set in stone and the storyline gets warped and twisted to make sure that she finishes as the biggest star ever. And it's the main reason why I found the storylines of Kurt, Finn, Santana and others more compelling in a lot of ways, because nothing was certain for them.

[romantic idiot]

Was Jesse always that hot?

Yes.

 

In all truth though St.Berry has been my OTP forever, mainly because Jesse truly gets who Rachel is, who she could be and what she needs to do to nurture her talent.  Will's quote from Ballad "I know it isn't always easy for you Rachel, and I know there are things about yourself you'd like to change. But you should know that there's some boy out there who's going to like you for everything you are. Including those parts of you that even you don't like. Those are gonna be the things he likes the most."  That is totally Jesse.  So thank you Jon & Lea for making this happen!

This. 

 

Has J.Groff always been so hot? 

 

And again, yes. 

And Groffles pushed his hotness factor because he deepened his speaking voice (to appear older, I imagine). 

 

Yes, that is all I have to say. I don't care about anything else, I had Jesse & Rachel together. 

 

Wait a minute, except - WTF - Blaine got into a school that Jesse couldn't get into? I call foul. 

[jaytee1812]

Wait a minute, except - WTF - Blaine got into a school that Jesse couldn't get into? I call foul.

I think NYADA is a school for rich kids with mummy and daddy (or daddy and daddy) paying their way. Actual talent who need to work for it goes elsewhere!

[romantic idiot]

I'd agree but Jesse is loaded and that escort guy wasn't...so...Carmen had a earache that day I guess.

[truthaboutluv]

I didn't find it any more believable that Kurt got into a school Jesse didn't but that's just me. Not to mention what little I saw of Brody and Adam's talents didn't sell me on "most prestigious performing arts academy" ever. Hell I'm still sticking to my head canon that NYADA is a sham school that's just stealing money from these kids. Blaine may in the end be lucky and come out on top, flunking out and going to NYU. And didn't Elliot/Starchild also say he was rejected by NYADA which is why he was a student at NYU?

Edited March 17, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[jaytee1812]

Not to mention what little I saw of Brody and Adam's talents didn't sell me on "most prestigious performing arts academy" ever.

Hiring teachers who very publicly had a meltdown, drink during class hours and sleep with students also doesn't scream "most prestigious performing arts academy."

[Ceeg]

I'd agree but Jesse is loaded and that escort guy wasn't...so...Carmen had a earache that day I guess.

 

I headcanon that Brody slept his way into NYADA. It's the only explanation.

[caracas1914]

He had the body for it.

[Florinaldo]

A good competition episode, which harked back to the ones I enjoyed most, i.e. in S4 and S5. The usual elements were in place, generally well used. Including the sacrificial third choir, a bit ridiculous in concept and in execution as always (those Mylar wings!), destined for third place but celebrating nevertheless about coming in last.

 

I guess last week's episode immunised me against another overuse of Sue because even though there was a bit too much of her again this week, I found it easier to distract myself from her. I have a question regarding her concluding speech. Are we supposed to take it at face value that she was manipulating things all along to bring out the best in Will and his charges through a vast cunning plan, or were we to conclude that this was just her way of rationalising the outcome and falsely take credit for events since S1? I favour the latter option considering all we know about the character, but I am not certain what the writers' intent was since they appear to lean heavily in her favour.

 

I did not quite understand what Roderick's brilliant idea was to avoid Spencer taking the cortisone: having him hop on crutches did not seem that imaginative while swinging on an untested chandelier may not be the safest course for an injured person.

 

I have a theory that one of the reasons ND-W won is that Jane frightened the judges into giving them the crown. She does make the most scary faces just about every time she sings, and this was no exception. Also, she quickly jumped to a premature conclusion when she decided that the lead Warbler wanted to relegate the girls to the background; at least she eventually lost that stick up her ass and she and Skylar were supporting each other as they waited for the results.

 

Full credit to the Warblers for addressing ND's (and Will's) deficiencies in the dancing department; it has been a problem since S1 and despite Will's half-hearted attempt with his booty camp in S3, it was mostly swept under the rug. I guess it took some new members' single-minded earnestness to efficiently press the issue and gain Kitty as an ally.

 

Sedillo did a good job with the directing, including the numerous sequences involving a good number of people. I think that his familiarity with the cast and the characters, acquired through his long service as the show's DP, may also have contributed to the increased number of wordless background reactions or interactions between the characters, like the coaches acting all mentor-like while Will delivered the big speech.

 

What the hell kind of shawl was Kurt wearing for the competition? I had a great-aunt who used to crochet or knit similar things, but even at her dottiest she never wore them and always only draped them on sofas or armchairs. Kurt looked prematurely senile wearing that.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Florinaldo

[Sara2009]

Will is a wonderful dancer, though. Or were you just referring to his overly encouraging style of teaching?

[caracas1914]

Sue is so annoying, the switchbacks on whether she hurts or aids the Glee club.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Will is a wonderful dancer, though. Or were you just referring to his overly encouraging style of teaching?

Unfortunately, Will's dance skills have not translated to improving the overall dance level of ND, which is what I think the original poster was talking about. He had booty camp once or twice and that was it. I am not saying I expected him to turn them in VA level dancers overnight but his solution was to let the sucky dancers keep on sucking and we will just give Brittany and Mike some dance solos to balance out the suckiness.

[Florinaldo]

Unfortunately, Will's dance skills have not translated to improving the overall dance level of ND, which is what I think the original poster was talking about.

 

Quite. Since I mentioned Will's booty camp initiative, I thought it was clear that I was referring to his work as a teacher (like the simplistic choreography he was rehearsing in this week's episode), not to his personal dancing abilities.

 

Edited March 18, 2015 by Florinaldo

[caracas1914]

Unfortunately, Will's dance skills have not translated to improving the overall dance level of ND,

 

Eh, it's more just a plot device, since it's been shown since Season 1 that New Directions will never be able to match the precision choreography of such groups as Vocal Adrenaline.

 

Despite their dancing limitations, Will got them to Nationals for 3 consecutive years, the last two winning and coming in second.

So all the drama about getting them up to snuff dancing wise is just a retread/

 

Unless Roderick and Spencer are magically transformed, it's still going to be the same old, same old.

 

The solution this year is so fucking stupid, say, if Carmel High had burned down the Vocal Adrenaline would have made up their additional dancers, so it still wouldn't have been New Directions finding ways to improve their core  dancers or recruiting, it's just adding new outside dancers because of a pullled out of their asses plot device. 

 

Again so fucking stupid just because Ryan Murphy has such a raging hard on for prep school boys.

Edited March 18, 2015 by caracas1914

[natyxg]

Did Jane Lynch bribe someone? Is that what's happening? So much fucking SUE. STOP.

 

I thought the ND performances were surprisingly good, but we have seen the same episode a million times by now. So meh.

 

And fuck Sue.

[shoregirl]

I have watched the Rachel and Jesse scenes again (and again and again). I love that a spotlight goes on Jesse when we starts to sing. We're they doing a tech rehearsal, running through lighting cues or does Jesse have spotlight guy for just these types of occasions? I like to think it's the later. It really is ridiculous that Blaine got into Nyada and Jesse didn't.

[Glorfindel]

Unfortunately, Will's dance skills have not translated to improving the overall dance level of ND, which is what I think the original poster was talking about. He had booty camp once or twice and that was it. I am not saying I expected him to turn them in VA level dancers overnight but his solution was to let the sucky dancers keep on sucking and we will just give Brittany and Mike some dance solos to balance out the suckiness.

It would also have helped if Will would have had the setlist ready well before the week of the competitions, and had actually rehearsed the songs and dance-routines longer than just in the last few days.

[Hana Chan]

Given that Will is supposed to be an "advisor" to the actual directors (Rachel and Kurt), why was he given so much prominence in training the choir before Sectionals. I thought that the whole point was for him to support Rachel and Kurt while they directed, not have them standing in the background trying to get the kids to smile while they danced.

[Sara2009]

Given that Will is supposed to be an "advisor" to the actual directors (Rachel and Kurt), why was he given so much prominence in training the choir before Sectionals. I thought that the whole point was for him to support Rachel and Kurt while they directed, not have them standing in the background trying to get the kids to smile while they danced.

I got the impression that Will became the actual director off-screen. Neither Rachel nor Kurt seemed put out by him taking the lead, so I figured something must have happened that we didn't see. I wonder if a scene was cut, or if the writers are really just

that incompetent.

Or maybe Rachel and Kurt just wanted him to take on a bigger role. The problem is that this is all guesswork.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Sara2009

[ancslove]

My best logical guess is that both Kurt and Rachel knew they were leaving sometime soon anyway, and they started transitioning the glee club over to Will. If Rachel gives her notice in the middle of the school year, she can point to a conveniently free Will to step back in.

[Sara2009]

My best logical guess is that both Kurt and Rachel knew they were leaving sometime soon anyway, and they started transitioning the glee club over to Will. If Rachel gives her notice in the middle of the school year, she can point to a conveniently free Will to step back in.

That's what I think too. I wish it had actually been stated on the show, though.

[ancslove]

Well they did have Kurt explicitly say he's returning to Nyada soon, Rachel's decision had to be done soon, and Blaine had been accepted into NYU. And then Will told ND that Kurt and Rachel were going to be leaving, before turning the floor over to Rachel. This is one time on Glee when I think the dots are all there and lined up, so I don't mind the final result being passported over.

[Florinaldo]

I think that even of Will had started rehearsing the competition songs weeks in advance, the number of dancing-challenged ND members like Kurt, Rachel, Sam, Finn, Puck and at times Mercedes would have made it impossible for the group to make any real progress on the choreography front.

 

My best logical guess is that both Kurt and Rachel knew they were leaving sometime soon anyway, and they started transitioning the glee club over to Will. If Rachel gives her notice in the middle of the school year, she can point to a conveniently free Will to step back in.

It is indeed the most logical assumption but as Sara2009 said, it is too bad that the show, as per its usual practice, did not bother to explain it.

 

There is also the fact that Will was a teacher to the three of them and is an older adult; that would confer on him a natural authority to which they could still defer to. But again, the show did not directly address it, except perhaps in a line or two in previous episodes.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Florinaldo

[caracas1914]

Yes, I think it was telegraphed that Kurt was there only temporarily, as part of his NYADA curriculum study/intern program thing. 

[camussie]

Given that Will is supposed to be an "advisor" to the actual directors (Rachel and Kurt), why was he given so much prominence in training the choir before Sectionals. I thought that the whole point was for him to support Rachel and Kurt while they directed, not have them standing in the background trying to get the kids to smile while they danced.

 

 

That was something that really bugged me in this episode.  It seems like Will, was the one who finally took the time to connect with these kids but it was Rachel and to a lesser degree Kurt who got credit for inspiring them.  My eyes about rolled out of my head when Kurt told Rachel that they had inspired these kids.  I was like when did that happen?  Not two weeks ago Rachel was talking about how she barely knew them and now she is their inspiration?  

 

That is also why I think for all of RM's blather about the importance of arts education he is full of it.  If we go by this season teaching doesn't require a special set of skills or even commitment.  As long as you are a talented performer you will still be inspirational no matter how little you invest in the kids you are coaching.  Really RM's writing is the epitome of that horrid idea of "those who can't do, teach" meaning the truly talented people "do" but hey if they are down on their luck and need to regroup they will be aces at teaching as well no matter what level of effort they put in.  Meanwhile those who aren't truly talented teach because teaching is a fallback profession that doesn't really require a special skill set.  

 

How I wish Rachel's parting word to Will in the finale would be something like "Being here at McKinley gave me what I needed to get my life back on track but I realized through this experience that I don't have what it takes to be the kind of teacher every kids needs.  I have always appreciated what you did for all of us but after trying your sweater vests on for size I now truly realize how special it is what you have done for all us and will continue to do for the all of those who are lucky enough to spend time in this choir room."  

 

It would be a nice way to acknowledge that those who excel at teaching are just as talented and special as those who were born to be on stage.  

Edited March 18, 2015 by camussie

[Camera One]

I don't mind the new kids, but it's just strange that in the freakin' penultimate main characters like Kurt and Sam practically have cameos.  Did Blaine even say a word?

 

Sue sets a car bomb, and she still strolls in and out of McKinley?  Shouldn't she be... uh, in prison?  

 

Does Rachel's so-called arc this season even fill 30 minutes?  

 

This episode was pretty much a throw-away.  Waste of time listening to Vocal Adrenalin and the Bird Choir. 

Edited March 21, 2015 by Camera One