Glee- Season 4, Episodes 15-17 and a list of the few tolerable songs this season

It's funny that Glee did a guilty pleasure episode this week, since Glee is the ultimate guilty pleasure. We love the singing and dancing, occasionally the humor, and the moments when the show is spot-on. It does social commentary really well. The plots and characters however? Dumb dumb dumb. In fact, if we were to watch a few random episodes of this show before seeing the first season, we never would have gotten into it in the first place. But we're here, and we enjoy Glee, stupid or not.



After Emma runs out on her wedding, she disappears for a few weeks. Will decides to give her space until Finn steps in with a great plan to get Emma's parents to cough up the location. That Ginger protection group thingy was brilliant. Will finds Emma and they decide to date and get to know each other again. That's all fine. We don't really care about this couple anymore.

We were much more interested to see Will's juvenile reaction to the news that Finn kissed Emma. Since the kiss had nothing to do with the running and Finn is obviously a CHILD, we thought Will would cut him a little more slack. Finn did own up to it, after all, and he's a friend. But Will pouted and moaned and spent a whole episode "feuding" with Finn before he let Finn run off. Actually, that's a good thing. Going to college to become a teacher sounds like a good path for Finn.

We're pretty happy with how the NYC plots are going. Rachel, Kurt, and Santana are a perfect roommate threesome. We wish they'd spin off into their own show, as per the original plan. We're so glad nasty Brody is gone and that Rachel isn't pregnant. Isn't it great that the weird, older hipster dude Kurt was dating just seemed to fade off into the background of supporting characters, of which this show has too many?

We don't care, but we're entertained. Question: Where in the world has Joe Hart (the dreadlocks guy) gone? He's just disappeared from the show without a word.

Girls (and Boys) on Film: B
Feud: B-
Guilty Pleasures: B

And now for the tolerable season 4 songs (so far)

• New York State of Mind by Marley Rose and Rachel Berry- It was a good (and ballsy) introduction for Marley. It was appealing and relaxed.
• 3 by Tina Cohen Chang, Joe Hart, and Sam Evans- This is the kind of cover that drew us to Glee in the first place. It was engaging, different from the original, sexy, and well-done.
• Crazy/You Drive Me Crazy by Marley Rose and Jake Puckerman- We like mashups that go well together. This one didn't knock our socks off, being all sweet and quiet, but the more we listen to it, the more we like it.
• Oops...I Did It Again by Rachel Berry- While her teacher wasn't impressed, we thought this was the Britney Spears cover Rachel was going for when she butchered Hit Me Baby One More Time. The secret was changing the arrangement, starting off with a different part of the song, and adding in some big notes. We don't think it was as sexy as Lea Michele wishes it was, but she sounded damn good.
• Give Your Heart a Break by Rachel Berry and Brody Weston- Once again, we have ample proof that the best Glee songs come about when Glee doesn't just rip off the original note-by-note. Changing it up is the way to go. After all, we already have the original song. You have to bring something new to the table. Making this a duet was a great first step, but then the show made the genius decision to back it with piano.
• Teenage Dream (acoustic version) by Blaine Anderson- The original Blaine cover can't be beat, but this one had so much emotion that the stripped-down version earned a place on our iPods
• Don't Speak by Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, Blaine Anderson, and Kurt Hummel- This song annoys us, but this cover almost won us over.
• The Scientist by Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, Finn, Emma, Santana, Britt, and Will- Our favorite cover of this song is Natasha Bedingfield's, but we also loved the Glee version.
• Everybody Talks by Jake Puckerman and Kitty Wilde- Kitty is a Broadway vet, and this is the first time we noticed. She was stuck singing backup, a few lines, and an obvious harmony, but we could still hear the talent. We think this song works better with two people.
• Holding Out for a Hero by Marley Rose and Kitty Wilde- This is the song where we realized The New Rachel had one vocal ability Ms. Berry struggles with: rock. Just listen to the bridge. Marley sounds like one of the 80s rock goddesses. Way more convincing than Rachel's over-the-top rock wail.
• Some Nights by New Directions- This is a great song and almost impossible to butcher. Its lyrics are depressing, but the Glee cast made it sound...fun.
• All That Jazz by Rachel Berry and Cassandra July- This is another one that's hard to ruin, and we don't think our girls did. Props to Kate Hudson for keeping up pretty well, vocally.
• Being Good Isn't Good Enough by Rachel Berry- The kind of song we still watch this show for.
• Don't Dream It's Over by New Directions- It's nice to hear this song when it isn't butt rock.
• Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself) by Jake Puckerman- We hate this song. It's annoying on the radio and way overproduced. Ne-Yo has this thin, aggravating voice. The lyrics are about YET ANOTHER girl who needs a boyfriend to feel her own self-worth. So much hate for this song, seriously. But Glee slowed and stripped it down, added an actual singer,  and made it into something acceptable.
• Make No Mistake, She's Mine by Santana Lopez and Sam Evans- Surprisingly engrossing.
• Getting Married Today by Emma Pilsbury, Mercedes Jones, and Mr. Schue- Cute. Mostly because of the song, not the performances.
• In Your Eyes by Will- We can't even explain why we liked this, but we did.
• Unchained Melody by Jake Puckerman and Ryder Lynn- We loved the duet version and lovely arrangement. It's a pity the boys weren't vocally strong enough to take it to the level we wanted.
• How to Be a Heartbreaker by Brody Weston and Rachel Berry- Good song choice.