The show should have treated the drinking episode with pure, Heathers-like dark humor, not half PSA and half funny episode. You can’t have a PSA in the episode where hangovers last from Saturday morning until Monday. It would have been gone by then, even if they had enough to black out. Also unrealistic? How good and autotuned Rachel and Blaine sounded singing when they were that drunk. Not that we didn’t enjoy the heck out of that number, which was the best, most simple, and most fun song of the night. But what on earth was Rachel wearing and where did she get it? Don’t her gay dads have enough style to dress her? We are loving her hair though. Straight bangs were just too harsh on her.
Rachel’s song about her headband made us laugh out loud. Thank God the character Rachel isn’t REALLY writing the songs with dumb Finn. We read that Max Martin, maker of such top 40 hits as….well, most P!nk songs, boy band songs, and other very popular pop, helped write the original Glee songs. Nice.
The Rachel/Blaine kiss was awesome. They go great together. Too bad Blaine is really gay. We love both Rachel and Blaine drunk. When Blaine’s hair is a little more wilder, he’s even cuter (what’s with us and hair, this post?). Kurt was dead-on with his hilarious words to Rachel after she went on a date with Blaine. He was less dead-on with his words to his father about how he wished his father would be able to give him advice on gay loving. What was that? His father is accepting. Does he really need to know the technicalities of what went on in the Brokeback Mountain tent to be a supporting father? Also, he was treating Kurt just like he would if Kurt were straight. Most 16-year-olds aren’t allowed to have lovers spend the night. That’s just good parenting, gay or straight. He was also a douche to Blaine in this episode. But we like when the show allows Kurt to have faults, rather than portraying him as this tragic, perfect martyr. He’s a real character.
We liked the final performance, because Heather Morris has charisma, but the Ke$ha cover was completely unnecessary. The vomit was funny though. Ern is happy to say she has never been vomited on; Leeard has not been so lucky. The best part of the episode, for one of us, was when Sue played Will’s accidental drunk dial meant for Emma over the school’s loudspeaker. We loved Emma’s little smile, and Will’s mortification was very funny. After suffering this trauma, Will took it out on the Glee kids by having them sign a pledge not to drink until Nationals. It was a heartfelt moment. Will gave the kids his number in case they got drunk and needed a ride home or an adult to call. This is actually a cool move. Ern’s school principal did this at the beginning of every school year. Some kids actually did call him when they were in trouble. They had to endure a mother of a lecture though….We’re sure Will would just throw out a few platitudes and then go off to mack on Bieste again.
Overall, the fun moments outweighed the awkward and preachy ones.
Episode grade: B
I agree with almost everything in your review of this episode. One thing I wish they'd shown was at least ONE character who didn't drink for value reasons and how hard it is to hold out when everyone scoffs at those values. Now THAT would be real for a bunch of Glee club kids.
ReplyDeleteAgree. We would have nominated Sam for that storyline. He's a guy, he's a nerd, and he's trying to cover up his dorkiness to fit in. It would have worked. Most real Glee club kids do NOT party like a band of strippers. Unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of things I didn't like about this episode. It seemed obvious that the writers couldn't agree on a message. Should we go with the "It's not good, but they're gonna do it so just preach common sense" theme? Or the "Alcohol is awesooooome" theme? Or maybe we should just say that underage kids shouldn't drink.
ReplyDeleteSo they threw in all three and it was totally off the wall in its final message. All I know is that I've seen lots of people throw up alcohol and it's never been silver.
Basically, my feelings on the subject boil down to this... drinking is way overrated. I didn't do it in high school. I started my sophomore year in college, and hit it hard. Our weekends went Wednesday through Sunday, despite 3 hour 8ams every Thursday morning. We drank anything that would boost our BAC to the "can't see or walk straight" level... or even the "can't see or walk" level. But the fun part was hanging out with friends. The drinking was just what we did.
Now that I'm out of college, I have A glass of wine, a beer or two, a drink or two. Responsible drinking. I was raised around it and it was a big part why I didn't go crazy in high school or even for a while into college. For Will to quit having A beer in the evening was stupid.
They should've taken a stance. There are things that are illegal when you're young because you're not responsible enough to handle them yet. There are adults who still aren't responsible enough, but as adults, they can make those choices because they will bear the consequences too. As teenagers, you can't even pick an outfit, let alone drink responsibly.
Oh yeah, and all the songs SUCKED. Ke$ha's cover wasn't any better than the original (though fun to watch), Blame It was a crappy song to begin with (though fun to watch), Don't You Want Me was just a boring old song (though hilarious to watch).
The only redeeming thing about this episode was the Blaine/Rachel make out and subsequent rejection. I'm ready for the next episode. Too bad I have to wait two weeks!
"They should've taken a stance. There are things that are illegal when you're young because you're not responsible enough to handle them yet. There are adults who still aren't responsible enough, but as adults, they can make those choices because they will bear the consequences too. As teenagers, you can't even pick an outfit, let alone drink responsibly."
ReplyDeleteCould not agree more. People who drink heavily in high school are our future meth heads, for the most part. It really is the friends you are with who make it good.
I just wish they made the Rachel/Blaine relationship go on a bit longer. It really was the only interesting part of this episode. And what the hell was Rachel wearing? It looked like it was made out of a curtain. You'd think they'd make her costumes a bit better, cause realistically, the only person who I could ever see wearing anything like that is a grandma.
ReplyDeleteIt looked like the prom dresses one blogger's aunts wore in high school. That was the style a long time ago. Maybe it was just to show that Rachel was given something like that by a relative and she never let it go/saved it for her first party. We kind of like when she is really childlike. It's endearing. She's so ambitious that sometimes you forget she's a baby.
ReplyDeletethe style of the dress was in style in the '60's. jessica mcclintock actually bought the company and called it Gunne Sax by Jessica. it was based out of SF and designed for the flower child lovin hippies. they can actually be really cute but i felt like it was a little over the top myself.
ReplyDeleteand side note, unless you're a gay highschool student, its really lame to insult what curt should or shouldn't want from his father.
Yeah, we apologized for that later. We just think burt is a great dad, and kurt is sometimes too hard on him. Most parents wouldnt come close in that situation
ReplyDelete