Tag Archives: Blaine Anderson

TV: Glee Season 2 Final in Pictures.

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In last night’s Glee final, New Directions make it to New York! (New York! I love New York!)

They eat designer sandwiches on the steps of some landmark that escapes me at the present moment, reminiscent of Blair, Jenny et al. having lunch on the steps in Gossip Girl.

From here, they sing a mash-up of “I Love New York” and “New York, New York” in Central Park while Santana gets her flirt on with a cop.

Finn is inspired by the group’s songwriting efforts (that they’ve come to the Big Apple with nary a song to sing at Nationals only days before the competition speaks volumes about the laissez-faire attitude of both the New Directions and their leader, Mr. Shuester), and asks Rachel out on a date now that he and Quinn are toast. He takes her to Sardi’s, where they run into Patti LuPone, who Rachel accosts, telling Patty she’s one of her idols. Patty tells Rachel to never give up (or something), and that Finn is cute. Sage advice there!

Meanwhile, the other man in Rachel’s life (no, not Jesse St. James Douche), Kurt, wakes Rachel up to go have Breakfast at Tiffany’s, followed by a Wicked duet at the musical’s home theatre, the Gershwin, of “For Good”, harkening back to their season one sing-off of “Defying Gravity”. It was a teary rendition for me!

Mr. Shue also has his Broadway moment, singing a song from April Rhodes’ musical, CrossRhodes, which can conveniently be found on Matthew Morrison’s debut album! He later chooses to shun his New York dreams in favour of staying on at McKinley.

Cut to Nationals, where the New Directions perform their two hastily composed original songs, “Pretending” and “Light Up the World”. During the former, Rachel and Finn share an impromptu kiss in the heat of the moment, which the whole club berates and blames them for losing the competition.

Oh, Sunshine also makes an appearance. No doubt to segue into a cameo or recurring role in season three.

Back in Lima, Kurt and Blaine are having coffee when they encounter Mercedes and Sam, who claim they “ran into each other in the parking lot”. When they think Kurt and Blaine are out of ear- and eyeshot, they hold hands whilst waiting to be served. New couple alert!

In the hallway of McKinley High, Will and Emma marvel at the banner erected to congratulate them on their twelfth placing in the competition, and Mr. Shue presents the class with a trophy for their (dismal) efforts. Until next year’s Nationals…

Related: Glee Gets Down on Friday at the Prom.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Born This Way” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Original Song” Episode.

Gwyneth Paltrow Addresses Tabloid Culture & Her Haters.

Glee “Sexy” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Blame it on the Alcohol” Episode.

How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Elsewhere: [Jezebel] Glee: Can’t Make it There, Can’t Make it Anywhere.

Images via MegaVideo.

TV: Glee Gets Down on Friday at the Prom.

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So Rebecca Black has officially permeated the zeitgeist, with “Friday” being performed by Puck, Artie and Sam at McKinley High’s junior prom on last night’s episode of Glee.

And despite Quinn’s monotonous efforts to be crowned prom queen, along with Finn as her king, she lost out to “queen” Kurt.

Kurt’s date Blaine told Kurt of what happened to him at his last prom (he and another gay friend were set on by the school homophobes and gang bashed) and that he wasn’t 100% comfortable with attending, but he went for Kurt anyway.

Kurt’s dad, Burt, was concerned that Kurt’s “royal wedding-inspired” tux, which he handmade himself, wasn’t appropriate and that Kurt shouldn’t draw any extra attention to himself and Blaine.

Kurt thinks, despite Santana and Karofsky escorting him to and from classes as part of their Bully Whips anti-bullying squad, that McKinley is really coming around to the idea of gay acceptance, because he hasn’t been physically or verbally abused since returning from Dalton Academy.

Hatred builds up inside if we can’t let it out, and it seems that the kids at McKinley let it out sneakily and quietly, by “secret ballot” for prom queen.

But you know Kurt: he sucked it up and went out there in front of the school to tell them… “Kate Middleton, eat your heart out.” Okay, I was expecting something a little more inspirational than that, considering the “gay prom” issue is one that’s rampant in the U.S., and also here, as a recent episode of SBS’s Insight will attest.

But I suppose we have Chris Colfer’s Golden Globes speech to comfort us.

And, as is Glee’s trademark, the controversy was wrapped up nicely into one 42-minute episode and McKinley’s homophobia will live to fight another day.

Until then, let’s get down on “Friday”!

Related: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Born This Way” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Original Song” Episode.

Gwyneth Paltrow Addresses Tabloid Culture & Her Haters.

Glee “Sexy” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Blame it on the Alcohol” Episode.

How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Elsewhere: [SBS] Gay in School: SBS Insight.

Images via Showbiz Nest, I Am Thea 07, Maurissa Weiner.

TV: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Original Song” Episode.

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Firstly, just let me say, what’s up with the pathetic episode title? Perhaps the writers could have taken a leaf out of the glee club’s fictional book and called the episode “Get it Right” or “Loser Like Me”, the names of the episodes two, um, original songs.

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Quinn has brought up the whole prom thing with Finn a couple of times in recent episodes, but last night her plan to take out the title of prom queen and king with Finn was put into full force.

I found it very odd that Quinn, the girl who last season was ostracised from the Cheerios, the “cool group” and her own family when she became pregnant, reverted to the vapid character we were introduced to in the early days.

I’m not a big fan of Quinn’s in general, but I felt that she grew tremendously as a character over the course of a year, while characters like Mr. Shue and Rachel Berry (who—coincidentally?—happen to be Glee’s two most annoying characters) remain stagnant. But, as I said in last week’s review, this is Glee, and when have we ever expected storyline consistency from it?

When Quinn befriends Rachel in an effort to keep her away from Finn, we see her true aspirations: Quinn claims she wants Rachel to realise her full potential and become a star, while she manages a real estate company and Finn takes over Burt Hummel’s mechanics business. Quinn believes there’s nothing outside of Lima for her and Finn (I wonder how Finn feels about this; knowing his girlfriend thinks he has no potential?), which I don’t buy. I thought Quinn’s pregnancy changed her for the better; part of the reason she gave up her baby was because she couldn’t give it the life it deserved. Doesn’t Quinn deserve a good life, too?

Quinn’s pregnancy also proved she’s just a loser like the rest of New Directions, which was the theme for their regionals set. Blowing Sue’s Oral Intensity (what ever happened to Vocal Adrenaline?) and the Warblers out of the water with their original songs, the first of which was written and performed by Rachel, who finally grasped the craft of songwriting (but not without an initial slip-up this episode with the song “Only Child”. On the plus side, Brittany said “My Headband” was her favourite song!), using Quinn’s taunts about starving for a “schoolgirl fantasy happy ending” with Finn as fodder.

What started out with an irritating voiceover from wannabe queen bee Quinn and some fantastic digs at Blaine’s monopoly over the Warblers’ solos, ended nicely with some “original songs” for Glee to make a mint from, instead of giving all the royalties to the initial artists; the underlying message that we’re all just losers; and Blaine’s epiphany that Kurt’s “the one”—with a gay kiss to boot!

Related: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Blame it on the Alcohol” Episode.

How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Images via MegaVideo.

TV: The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Blame it on the Alcohol” Episode.

By Posted in TV Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

 

Blame it on the alcohol, indeed.

This week’s episode deals with McKinley High’s Alcohol Awareness Week, after Principal Figgins exclaims that there have been six alcohol-related suspensions in the past week due to the alcopop phenomenon and pop music promoting the consumption of alcohol.

So what better time for Finn and Puck to convince Rachel to have an unsupervised party at her house, right?

Body shots, Brittany getting her kit off, karaoke and spin the bottle ensue, creating a drunken love triangle between Rachel, Kurt and Blaine, where someone is bound to get hurt. And you can’t blame that on the alcohol.

In my experience, people don’t do things drunk that they don’t already want to do sober. It gives them liquid courage, if you will. Which, funnily enough, is what “Blame it on the Alcohol” is all about. Who knew that listening to Jamie Foxx would pay off?

But “the alcoholic teen-vomit fetishist” (Sue’s words, not mine!) Mr. Shuester doesn’t approve of their rendition of the song, so instead they perform “Tik and also Tok, by Key dollar sign Ha,” as Principal Figgins introduces it at the school assembly. And that’s so much better how?

But for all their seemingly sexual acceptance (Kurt, Blaine, Brittany and Santana and their “scissoring”), Kurt’s comment about bisexuality made me question how accepting the show really is:

“‘Bisexual’ is a term gay guys in high school use when they wanna hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change.”

Sounds a bit like Miranda’s reasoning that bisexuality is a blanket term for guys who turn out to be gay and girls who turn out to be straight, thus explaining the man-drought, on Sex & the City.

But it wouldn’t be the first time Glee’s ostracised their characters and potential audience members who may identify with them.

Related: How to Make a Woman Fall in Love With You, Glee Style.

Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Elsewhere: [Jezebel] Glee: New Directions’ Alcohol-Fuelled Bisexual Awakening.

[Jezebel] Glee: Everyone’s Duetting It (Except Kurt).

[Jezebel] Why Glee Still Needs to Work on Diversity.

Images via YouTube.

TV: Glee “Silly Love Songs” Review.

By Posted in TV Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

 

Last night’s episode of Glee had some semblance of a storyline, unlike most of its companion episodes this year.

Santana was ousted by the glee club as a bitch, Puck serenaded Lauren, who refused to be wooed by his misogynistic rendition of  “Fat Bottomed Girls”, and Finn attempted to court Quinn at his Valentine’s Day kissing booth.

By far the best song of the night was Artie and Mike’s collaboration on Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T.”, which I have taken the liberty of embedding below.

Another key story arc was Kurt’s continued infatuation with Blaine, who serenades another man with Robin Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone” (again, below), another standout. Not to worry; although Blaine is rebuffed by his love interest, and Kurt confesses his feelings for his, the two are back being besties before the night’s through.

Don’t you just love how life on Glee comes packaged up nicely with a pretty ribbon on top after forty minutes…?

Related: The Underlying Message in Glee‘s “Furt” Episode.

The (Belated) Underlying Message in Glee’s “Never Been Kissed” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “The Rocky Horror Glee Show” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Duets” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Grilled Cheesus” Episode.

The Underlying Message in Glee’s “Britney/Brittany” Episode.

Images via Shulman Says, Soul88, TV Hamster.