Glee - Funeral review

Why would Mr. Schue hire Jesse as the Glee Club’s “show choir consultant” when the poor boy clearly needs to go out and get a real job? That job can’t pay too well. Still, we aren’t complaining much, since we like him and his voice. His cracks were true and funny. Dear American Idol: Hire Jonathan Groff as a judge instead of Randy, and have him judge as the character of Jesse St. James.

We loved how the audition idea just turned the episode into an excuse to just have one amazing solo after another. Our favorites were Santana’s and Rachel’s. One of us hates the song “My Man,” but Rachel just made her love it. If only all of her expressions during the song didn’t make her look like she was doing The Ugly Cry, because she looked like a troll during the whole number. Nice emotion, but can’t she practice looking pained AND attractive at the same time?

Mr. Schue totally ruined the plan of having Rachel sing every song at Nationals (yes, please!!!) by propounding his togetherness philosophy. No fun. We’ve already heard the original group songs they will be debuting next week. They are ok. Not as good as the last two. The group number is loud and annoying, shrill and twee. It’s called “Light Up the World” for heaven’s sake. Groan. The duet number between Finn and Rachel sounds like something that could grow on us, but we didn’t love it right away.

As for Sue dealing with the death of her sister: Ern TOTALLY called that death as soon as Sue kicked Becky off of the squad. It helped to know that there was going to be a death, but still. Let the record show: Ern rules. We think the show making Sue a good guy and friend of the Glee club is a mistake every time it does it. Part of what makes Glee great is its villain. But she saved the Glee club and NOW she claims to not be interested in terrorizing it anymore. We love that she has a soft side, but that side should be reserved for her sister, Jean.

Most of the Sue stuff this week WAS touching, but Sue’s letter that she and Will read at the funeral ruined an otherwise sob-worthy scene by being completely lame. The Willy Wonka theme was adorbs though. And one of us LOVES the song Pure Imagination. That might be our favorite cover. The best one we’ve heard is Maroon 5’s, but unfortunately they spliced several lines from an Obama speech into the beginning, middle, and the end. Whether we like Obama or not makes no difference. We don’t want a speech interrupting a perfectly nice song. Release a music-only version, Maroon 5!

Sue promised to embark upon a political career and join the House of Representatives, running for the Sue Sylvester American Liberty Party so that she can change the health care system because Jean didn’t get the free health care she deserves. That just doesn’t sound like Sue (the last part). Sue is all over the place and, this season, she hasn’t had much to do. We miss the Sue from the first half of the first season. Pure evil, out to take down the Glee club, full of one-liners, and with only a soft spot for people with Down Syndrome. Because those people are sweethearts, and no one could hate them and be tolerable. Terri moved away to Miami and said a sweet goodbye to Will. We will miss her, but it was a nice departure.

Finn and Quinn SO needed to break up. We know that there are actually people who want them together, but they are not us. Quinn needs to grow as a person, and we are starting to think that Finn should just go away. Maybe one of our readers is rubbing off on us, but he’s starting to be a bore. And Jesse is right: His singing is not up-to-par with the other guys’. It looks like Rachel is going back to Jesse for a second (which is how long Glee relationships last), even though he is clearly a douchelord and the show is gunning for her to end up with Finn. Finchel is a couple we are over, even though we were so into him in season one.

The other songs were “Try a Little Tenderness” by Mercedes, which was loud and straightforward, and “Some People” by Kurt. While we like Kurt’s drama and one of us think his singing has improved a LOT in season two, Jesse was right again. Linda Eder, Bernadette Peters, and so many more have killed this song, and this male version was the equivalent of those demo people on karaoke tracks. It’s time to retire the Gypsy songs, Kurt.

Episode Grade: B-