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May. 30th, 2010 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmic_llinWell, I watched both Doctor Who and Glee tonight, and... gah, I don't feel equipped to respond to Who yet. So here's what I thought of Glee...
OK, so, first of all, overall I really liked this episode. It had some good messages, songs were awesome, outfits were fabulous, there's always room for Gaga. I'm loving the stuff with Shelby and Rachel even if their parting seemed a little contrived to me - but I get that they moved that storyline on very fast and maybe they want some time now to develop things a little more gradually. That's cool. And they sing great together and have nice chemistry, so.
Also, I'm so happy that they're focusing more on Tina now, she has so much to offer. And it's nice to see the kids hanging out in different combinations. But, no Sue today? OK, I get where there was so much going on there wasn't really space, but it's a bit of a shame!
Anyways, my main beef with the episode was Finn. Like, his whole storyline was about learning that different is ok, etc etc, and for him to come to his big realisation at the end of the episode, he first had to have the opposite reaction, because he can't learn a lesson until he does something wrong. I think that was a good thing for the show to do, because so far Finn has generally been portrayed as the hero - when he does something decent it's highlighted as really impressive, and when he does something fail-y we get a big monologue about how hard it is for him with the glee club and football and school work, so we're always set up to sympathise/empathise with him. It's not that I don't like Finn as a character, but I think the show gives him more credit than he deserved sometimes.
Anyway, I think the trouble they had this episode was that, for the story to work, Finn initially had to have a strongly homophobic reaction to Kurt, but because he's the main protagonist and the audience knows he's supposed to be such a good guy (although in my opinion we're told this more often that we're shown it), he couldn't just get annoyed with Kurt one day and call him a fag. So we ended up with this contrived scene (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
carawj and I both thought at first that it was a dream sequence) where Finn is forced to move in with Kurt without any warning, or apparently any time to adjust to the idea before the actual move. Does this seem realistic to anyone? I mean, we've seen how much his mum cares about him, is she really likely to uproot him like that without any warning at all?
So, Finn's already thrown off balance and feeling that his wishes and concerns have been ignored, and then Kurt gets to redecorate their new shared room. Now, I know that Kurt can sometimes be a little too into his fashion and interiors and what-have-you, but he's not completely stupid - I find it really hard to believe that he would honestly think Finn would like that room. After all, Finn is similar in a lot of ways to Kurt's dad, and Kurt knows how the rest of the house is decorated. Is he honestly this dense? I don't think so.
It seemed to me that they were having to write Kurt, his father and Finn's mother all out of character (and devoid of any kind of common sense or concern for Finn's feelings) in order to come up with provocation severe enough for Finn to insult Kurt without seeming like a complete jerk. All so that, at the end of the episode, he can realise what he did wrong and save the day and go back to being the hero. And I just don't think it's fair to the other characters to bend them out of shape like that just so that Finn can learn a lesson while still seeming like the wronged party.
Hmm... this got long. But I feel better! Your mileage may vary...
OK, so, first of all, overall I really liked this episode. It had some good messages, songs were awesome, outfits were fabulous, there's always room for Gaga. I'm loving the stuff with Shelby and Rachel even if their parting seemed a little contrived to me - but I get that they moved that storyline on very fast and maybe they want some time now to develop things a little more gradually. That's cool. And they sing great together and have nice chemistry, so.
Also, I'm so happy that they're focusing more on Tina now, she has so much to offer. And it's nice to see the kids hanging out in different combinations. But, no Sue today? OK, I get where there was so much going on there wasn't really space, but it's a bit of a shame!
Anyways, my main beef with the episode was Finn. Like, his whole storyline was about learning that different is ok, etc etc, and for him to come to his big realisation at the end of the episode, he first had to have the opposite reaction, because he can't learn a lesson until he does something wrong. I think that was a good thing for the show to do, because so far Finn has generally been portrayed as the hero - when he does something decent it's highlighted as really impressive, and when he does something fail-y we get a big monologue about how hard it is for him with the glee club and football and school work, so we're always set up to sympathise/empathise with him. It's not that I don't like Finn as a character, but I think the show gives him more credit than he deserved sometimes.
Anyway, I think the trouble they had this episode was that, for the story to work, Finn initially had to have a strongly homophobic reaction to Kurt, but because he's the main protagonist and the audience knows he's supposed to be such a good guy (although in my opinion we're told this more often that we're shown it), he couldn't just get annoyed with Kurt one day and call him a fag. So we ended up with this contrived scene (
carawj and I both thought at first that it was a dream sequence) where Finn is forced to move in with Kurt without any warning, or apparently any time to adjust to the idea before the actual move. Does this seem realistic to anyone? I mean, we've seen how much his mum cares about him, is she really likely to uproot him like that without any warning at all?So, Finn's already thrown off balance and feeling that his wishes and concerns have been ignored, and then Kurt gets to redecorate their new shared room. Now, I know that Kurt can sometimes be a little too into his fashion and interiors and what-have-you, but he's not completely stupid - I find it really hard to believe that he would honestly think Finn would like that room. After all, Finn is similar in a lot of ways to Kurt's dad, and Kurt knows how the rest of the house is decorated. Is he honestly this dense? I don't think so.
It seemed to me that they were having to write Kurt, his father and Finn's mother all out of character (and devoid of any kind of common sense or concern for Finn's feelings) in order to come up with provocation severe enough for Finn to insult Kurt without seeming like a complete jerk. All so that, at the end of the episode, he can realise what he did wrong and save the day and go back to being the hero. And I just don't think it's fair to the other characters to bend them out of shape like that just so that Finn can learn a lesson while still seeming like the wronged party.
Hmm... this got long. But I feel better! Your mileage may vary...
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-30 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-30 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-30 11:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-31 09:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-31 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-30 11:22 pm (UTC)Hmm. As you've known for years, my interests in telly are such that even being poked in tender parts with sharp sticks wouldn't ever, ever, ever get me to watch Glee, but you're the first person in my orbit ever to describe an episode, so thank you for delineating the horror far more clearly than Wikipedia managed :P
However...I have a lot to say about Who. Possibly a lot, and possibly about all of Who. So I'm thinking I'll make a post over at Cosmics, so everyone can join in on discussion if they wish...
(Which I have now done!)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-31 09:33 am (UTC)And ooh, have read your Who post and am pondering... reply later today!
And yes, sorry, this week got away from me a bit because we had double deadline at work... I am planning to do sorting out for post office-y errands today (am also sending Marmite to the Russians!), and then actual sending things tomorrow as today's a bank holiday. Will I still have the right address for you?
no subject
Date: 2010-05-31 09:46 am (UTC)I now I sent you a text about the rainbow lorikeet brawl, but did I send you one about having gone with
DVD yayness! Best posting address is Himself's office - I'll email you with that address now, in case you've lost track of it :-)
Speaking of things postal, ooh ooh ooh I forgot it's Bank Holiday weekend back home! That means that - I hope! - there will already be torrents up for Part 1 of Going Postal and maybe even Part 2 by now. I know I was ever so 'meh' about it but I gradually got won over by the trailers and the dedicated Sky TV site, and am very excited about seeing it...not least because I want to have Claire Foy's babies :P
p.s. Sending Marmite to Russia is a good idea - why should the West be the only ones to suffer? :P :P :P