Glee - The Comeback review

For the most part, season 2 of Glee spent most of its time making theme episodes, tributes, and trying to have things be as BIG as possible. It also spent a lot of time worshipping its favorite celebrities and trying to get attention. The past two episodes have not been like that. They’ve been back to form. The Valentine’s Day episode was amazing, and this one was good as well.

Granted, the episode was very weird. But awesomely so. Still, it felt a little off. We can't decide. It was like the show’s writers wrote it while they were a little drunk, but still having a good time. We can see how some people might think this episode was a dud. But we think the songs and Finn’s lines to Rachel at the end of the episode upped the grade to at least a B. It left us feeling happy and satisfied and still into the show.

One of us was cringing at the idea of a Justin Bieber tribute, but what happened was less of a tribute and more of a nod that actually served the story. We were especially amused by Sam wearing the purple hoodie for the whole episode. One of us thought the Glee versions of the Bieber songs were better than the originals, because Sam actually sounds like a man old enough to be singing about love. The other blogger vehemently disagrees.

The songs were diverse and good. We thought there was no reason for Glee to cover Rent’s “Take Me or Leave Me” after the movie version of the song (the best version, in our opinions). But then Lea Michele and Amber Riley brought the house down. We don’t think they’ve ever had a duet before, and it’s about time. Also, as to who won, we’ve never seen a bigger tie. They have such different soprano voices, yet they went together well. They need to start a band. We also enjoyed the My Chemical Romance cover, but we strongly agree with Rachel and Finn that it’s not Regionals material. We wonder what sort of song the show is going to write for the kids to sing. We’re sure it’s going to be saccharine-sweet and sunshine-y. Hopefully it shows off the cast’s voices. Hopefully it isn’t as unbearably hopeful and lame as most of the songs written for American Idol finales, because that’s what we’re expecting.

The Sam/Santana/Quinn/Finn plotline was also a success. One of us doesn’t think Sam is dumb. He’s just naïve, young, and dorky! And his James Earl Jones impression, while creepy, was actually pretty good. The other blogger thinks he is, as Santana put it, “As dumb as a bag of wet hair.” He made a smart decision at the end though. Quinn is a horrible person for cheating on two of her boyfriends in just a couple of years.

What didn’t work for us was the Sue plotline. Unfortunately, this took up a lot of the episode. Did she discover the healing power of music and helping cancer kids? Yes. But she also took the dark side when she betrayed Will in the end. Showing Sue’s soft side so strongly makes her inconsistent, rather than well-rounded, like the show is trying for. There was no reason to have her and Will in the hospital singing to kids. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t entertaining, and most kids who watch Glee can’t just waltz into a hospital and start singing, because they were inspired by the show. We felt manipulated, not touched. Sue didn’t even look like Sue. She looked like the kindly older woman next door who gives you candy and lets you play with her dog. She looked like Jane Lynch (who is reportedly the nicest person ever in real life). It wasn’t a grudging softening with a reluctant smile; it was a complete break from character. The only cool thing about this scene was that it was filmed in a real hospital children’s ward, and the kids got to play with the actors and be on Glee. Ok, we guess that might be worth the dud of a scene.

A lot of people watching the show in the beginning complained that Sue was too mean. Then the show started softening her. First, they had Sue showing kindness and a good relationship with her mentally retarded sister. That was the most believable softening of Sue and showed us another side that didn’t negate her bad (and hilarious) traits. They should have stopped there. Since then, they’ve showed her having a truce with Will, saving the Glee club at the end of season one (which one of us actually liked), and now SINGING WITH CHILDREN AND THE GLEE CLUB? It was funnier when she was pure evil and calling people out based on physical traits. Now she’s just schizo. There’s no need for the character to commit Sue-icide. The writers may have already ruined her. Remember that ghastly wedding to herself? We DID like when she ripped the hat off of a kid’s head and screamed, “You know how I feel about hats!” That’s the Sue we find amusing.

Right now, the funniest characters may be Lauren and Santana. Santana’s mean little speech to Sam had us chuckling many times (“I wants on them froggy lips.”) The thing the two girls have in common? Cutting honesty. We were upset when we first learned that Sam and Quinn were breaking up, because they had mad chemistry, but after she cheated on him, we are ready for him to get his hot Latina revenge. We know better than to get attached to Glee couples.

Now, we are off to buy some leg warmers to wear on our arms. That had a cute 80s vibe, no?

Episode Grade: B+